Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The July 17 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Age of X-Man Omega #1:  Like many events, this one ends without any real consequences.  The problem with that resolution is Thompson came close to making it interesting at the end here.

As the X-Men confront X-Man, they discover that they will functionally murder everyone born in this world to return to their world.  As some of the X-Men push to do so, X-Man wryly notes how mad they were in their world when someone made life and death decisions for them but how easily they're willing to make them for everyone else here.  Nevertheless, Nate tells the X-Men that they just have to plunge the Life Seed into his chest and they can return home.  Just as Magneto seems ready to do that, suddenly we have another options.  The X-Men are simply sent home through Nate.

Thompson even then seemed to be going somewhere interesting, as people like Colossus and Nature Girl express the desire to stay.  But, Nate insists that everyone has to go, without explaining why.  In fact, he later breaks that rule when he somehow splits Magneto into two, allowing one version of him to return and another version of him to stay in this world where his dreams were realized.  In the end, it's simply done.  At some point, Thompson quickly explains Dani's presence in both this world and in the "real" world as happening because a part of Dani will always living inside Nate.

But, again, before we can really explore that idea, we move onto the next issue at hand that Thompson has to resolve.  If you thought this experience would've made Nate realize relationships have value, you'd be wrong.  In fact, Thompson really sidesteps that issue entirely.  Nate and Magneto decide to reinvent this world without the secret police or the relationship ban, but it means we never really learn why Nate decided he needed those things in the first place.  Nate is basically accusing the X-Men of denying themselves Utopia, but he never acknowledges that a Utopia with brainwashing and secret police probably isn't one, as this experience shows.  After all, it isn't like the secret police were just there to make sure the X-Men didn't remember their pasts; the pregnant woman who bore a child in the "X-Tremists" mini-series pretty clearly wasn't someone from "our" world.

In other words, this event was clearly conceived as a placeholder to give Hickman time to build his world, so I'm not going to spend too much time on it.  I'm just sad I spent so much money on it.

Batman #75:  [Sigh.]  I don't even know what to say here, to be honest.  King leaps about 30 steps at the start of this issue when it begins simply with the word, "Later..."  Honestly, I'm fine with that, if only because I hate this run and can't wait for it to end.  You know you're in a bad place when the people who love this run will be disappointed that we won't see the outcome of Bruce and Thomas' fight in the desert while the people who hate this run will be thrilled just to be closer to the end. 

Anyway, all we know is that Thomas is now the Batman of Gotham and Bruce is wandering some snow-laden, wind-swept mountain looking for yet another guru.  All the villains in Gotham as well as Gotham Girl and Thomas are working for Bane, with most if not all of them under Psycho-Pirate's influence.  King tries to make this development interesting by leaning into the ridiculousness, such as making Joker and Riddler detectives working a beat.  They're tracking down villains, like Two-Face here, who resist Bane's rule.  When they find them, the rebels are subject to Psycho-Pirate's ministrations.

Meanwhile, Bruce is looking for the aforementioned guru.  I mean, seriously, does he have a guru on every mountaintop?  The "guru" turns out being some kid who easily slices his neck; the kid and his friend strip Bruce to his underwear and bolt.  (They're working for someone apparently connected to Bane, but I don't care enough to re-read that part.)  Catwoman appears from nowhere to save him, with no explanation for why she's there.  But, Batman can also be almost murdered by small children now, so why do we need explanations?

Even giving King the mulligan on the time jump, he leaves all sorts of questions unanswered and seems unlikely to answer them.  We learn that Gotham Girl is somehow keeping all of Bruce's "fancy friends" (to use Thomas' term for them) from entering Gotham, and it seems preposterous that the Justice League would be so afraid of Claire (or protective of Alfred, as Thomas alleges) that they'd just give up Gotham.  Moreover, as a forced-seeming part of the "Year of the Villains" event, Bane asks Luthor to arrange for the U.S. government to surrender Gotham to him.  Along with Hugo Strange's presence as the commissioner, this development makes it feel like King had no ideas left but replayed "Arkham City" a few too many times.

At some point, Thomas asserts Bruce is "broken," but, honestly, I don't know why.  He seemed fine in the desert.  He's certainly faced more difficult circumstances, and I don't understand why he's searching for a guru when he could just go to one of his safehouses, have the Bat-family meet him there, and mount an attack on Bane.  Whatever.  I'm done. I just can't do it anymore.

Transformers #9:  I wanted to love this series, but I'm done now.  (Man, it's a bad week for comics.)  It's just too effing slow. Ruckley is definitely building to something, but we seem many, many issues away from learning what it is, and I don't have the patience for that right now.

Uncanny X-Men #22:  This series wasn't perfect, but it's still one of the most solid runs on the X-Men since Lemire's short-lived "Extraordinary X-Men."  The X-Men are always at their best with their backs against the wall, and Rosenberg continued to deliver realistic challenges and setbacks for the X-Men as we progressed through the series.

By the time the rest of the X-Men return, it's really just Scott and Logan facing down the Sentinels with Dr. Nemesis, Emma, Hope, Moonstar, and Mystique on the sidelines.  In this issue alone, Fabian Cortez, Havok, and Multiple Man die.  Of course, Hickman's imminent arrival on the scene has made it pretty clear that these deaths are temporary.  After all, the relaunched "New Mutants" series has Chamber, Magik, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane, and they're all dead or missing at this point.

But, Rosenberg wisely keeps the focus on that proverbial wall, as the X-Men decide to undo what Emma did:  they'll fight not hide.  If I had one complaint about Rosenberg's writing, it's that his plots were strong but he sometimes struggled to convey emotional connections between the characters.  For example, Cyclops and Danielle are just monologuing here, where they're really having an important discussion about how Dani (and likely others) see the X-Men as being all about Scott, Jean, and Logan, with the rest of them serving merely as disposable red shirts.  Reading this series, it's hard to argue with her.

My biggest complaint is with the simply awful art, which gets even worse somehow when Messina handles the action sequences after the X-Men return.  Although I'm not a fan of Hickman, I do feel like it's time for a stable creative team to take the reigns of the X-books.  We'll see how that goes shortly.  All in all, though, I tip my hat to Rosenberg here for taking a pretty difficult situation and delivering a solid run that asked some core, existential questions about who the X-Men are.  Were that we got more of those stories.

X-Force #10:  This issue is incredibly rushed, spoiling the momentum that Brisson had built to this point.  First, we have Rachel as phoenix ex machina.  She takes down Stryfe fairly quickly and frees the mutants under his influence; the freed mutants and X-Force then make short work of the MLF.  But, the issue then devolves into time-travel nonsense.  Nate is committed to using his and Rachel's powers to wipe Stryfe's mind of these events, for reasons that aren't entirely clear to me.  But, even if they are valid reasons, they would also presumably mean that Rachel should also wipe Nate's memories of this event as well, if the goal is to keep their memories from messing with the future.  Rachel tries to convince Nate to let her kill Stryfe given the...ahem...strife that he causes Nate in the future.  But, Nate says that he has to go through the strife to become the man who so inspired X-Force.  I get that, but, if true, it implies that elder Cable knew younger Cable was going to kill him, because Nate is essentially saying they're in a time loop.  In other words, if Stryfe's future actions turn younger Nate into older Nate, then we're in the same timeline.  But, I though the whole point of younger Nate going into the past was that older Nate wasn't doing what he was supposed to do, because younger Nate's timeline changed when older Nate allowed the original X-Men to stay in the present.  Their return to the past might've saved younger Nate's original timeline as is, but I still feel like Nate would be at least partly outside of it, because Rachel doesn't wipe his memories here.  After all, the whole problem with the original X-Men in the present was the fact that they couldn't go home with the memories that they had.  Brisson might've had time to explain away that part in another issue or two, but instead we're just supposed to roll with it.  Cable, amirite?  It's a shame, too, because I really liked this series, even as other people soured on it.  Oh, well.

Sorry for this depressing review.  At least with the mutant decks cleared, hopefully we've got brighter days ahead of us.

Also Read:  Marvel's Spider-Man:  City at War #5; Invaders #7; Nightwing #62; Star Wars:  Tie Fighter #4

Not-Even-Remotely New Comics: The June 26 and July 3 Non-Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #24:  This issue is really solid.  Spencer uses a session between Mysterio and his new Ravencroft therapist to tease out details about the mysterious goblin that we've seen lurking in the background these last few issues.  We learn that Quentin thinks that he went to Hell after he committed suicide in his battle with Daredevil.  (Wha?)  In Hell, we learn that this goblin endlessly tortured Mysterio and that the goblin is possibly a condemned soul who rose through Hell's ranks to devil.  He was also an enemy of Spider-Man, and he sent back Mysterio to enact his plan against Peter.  Spencer throws us off the trail here by having the therapist walk us through a theory that Quentin invented his death and condemnation as a way to deal with his terminal-cancer diagnosis.  The therapist provides a number of examples to support his claim, and you almost believe him at the end.  Of course, the goblin arrives, throwing that theory out the window and prompting the therapist to flee.  The goblin then unexpectedly murders Mysterio because he's somehow arranged Peter to see this moment in his dreams.  He taunts Peter by telling him that he won't appear to face him until he guesses who he is.  It seems clichéd, but Spencer really sells it.  This entire issue feels like "Faust," with all the bargains and side deals with devils.  It also explains why Peter's vision of Mary Jane during "Hunted" seemed so real, since we learn the goblin can (somehow) directly affect Peter's thinking through dreams and visions.  The goblin then provides a hint to his identity, calling himself "Kindred."  At first, I thought we were dealing with Harry Osborn, and we still may be.  But, now I wonder if it isn't someone like Ben Reilly or some other clone with a soul.  I'm just glad that we're getting some information at this point.

Mr. and Mrs. X #12:  Marvel seems insane to cancel this series.  But, it looks like sales fell in almost half from issue #3 to issue #12, so it did what it had to do, I guess.  Given "West Coast Avengers'" cancelation as well, I worry that readers aren't appreciating the kind of emotional yet hilarious stories that Thompson is telling.  Or maybe people just got tired of stories involving power-inhibitor collars?  I don't know.  Whatever the reason, I definitely feel like comics telling these stories aren't finding their footing lately, particularly since I see "Invaders" near this series on the sales lists.  At any rate, Thompson does her best here.  She gets to wrap up this series in less of a rush than "West Coast Avengers," and I'm glad that we at least got to walk down this road with her.  It's unbelievable that after so many years she's really the first author to explore the root of Rogue's problems with her powers, and I'm glad that she at least had time to do that.  Hopefully Marvel gets to a point where she can return to telling these sorts of stories soon.  I would love for her to take over "Amazing Spider-Man" one day.  Here's hoping.

Spider-Gwen:  Ghost Spider #10:  This issue ends the same way every other Spider-Gwen series has ended, with Gwen committing to live her life despite the challenges in doing so.  The problem is, the challenges never really change and she never really accomplishes this goal.  At first, we had Matt Murdoch as the shadowy figure and Rhino as the powerful enforcer; now, we have Miles Warren and Man-Wolf.  We had Gwen dealing with her Spider powers not working after she lost them and replaced them with shots; now we have her  Venom powers not working.  After fifty issues, it's hard to see such a great character just spinning her wheels.  It's like each successive creative team is nervous about doing anything that could impact the story that the next creative team will tell, so they just change the names and keep telling the same story.  We even return her to the Multiverse here despite her seemingly abandoning it in this volume, undoing the one step toward progress that we've had.  In other words, I sadly don't think that I'm following her into the next series.  Fare ye well, Gwen.  See you in the next inevitable "Spider-Verse" event.

Star Wars:  Target Vader #1:  I'll admit that my first thought was that I'd be more interested in this series if they didn't decide to make the protagonist a cut-rate Han Solo cyborg, down to (sort of) recreating the Greedo cantina scene and everything.  But, it was clear that I was supposed to recognize him, and some Googling revealed that he's the asshole from Han's squad in "Star Wars:  Han Solo - Imperial Cadet."  I feel like Thompson could've done a little bit more to help make that connection clearer.  Without it, it all feels derivative and rushed. Thompson also wants us to be surprised when it turns out the Hidden Hand isn't just a smuggler outfit running guns for the Rebellion, but actually part of the Rebellion itself.  I mean, is it that surprising?  They're a pretty scrappy group, the rebels, by definition.  At any rate, I feel like I shouldn't complain, because this premise is the sort of "edge of the Empire" story that I keep saying I want to see.  I just wish this one was a little more interesting at the start.

Transformers #8:  Ruckey is trying here, but, OMG, this series is moving at a glacial pace.  Even Megatron's conversation with Termagax is boring, despite Ruckey using it to hint at the larger story that he's telling.  Termagax implies that she's only willing to return from her exile if a series of events occur, such as the Ascenticons securing a quarter of the Senate seats or someone finding some unnamed artifacts.  (She also asks if the Autobots released so-and-so.  I'm assuming that so-and-so is the one prisoner who Orion Pax won't allow released, as mentioned a few issues ago.)  We learn later that Megatron wasn't there to convince Termagax to leave her exile, but to confirm that she doesn't plan to do so, so she won't interfere with his plans.  But, again, we're still just getting hints about plans.  At some point, someone is going to have to do something to put one of these many, many plans into action.  But, I'm pretty sure that I won't be here to see it.

Uncanny X-Men #21:  This issue is solid.  Rosenberg does an excellent job of staying in control of the chaos, as Emma sends the X-Men on a rescue mission to implement her plan of wiping away humanity's memories of mutants.  Although she succeeds in her mission, the cost is high:  Banshee is killed, Callahan strips Illyana of her mutant powers and thus brings back Darkchilde, Darkchilde tears out the Gem of Cyttorak and sends Cain...somewhere, and Hope and Logan are injured.  Earlier, Callahan also stripped Triage of his mutant abilities, and Logan mercy killed a dying Velocidad after Callahan used his powers to manufacture new Warlocks, who Rosenberg turns into the new Sentinels.  In the end, we're left only with Cyclops, Havoc, Mirage, and Multiple Man.  In other words, Rosenberg brings the X-Men to a moment of triumph, but one with few X-Men left to celebrate.  As usual, Marvel has ruined this moment with its relentless advertising of the upcoming Hickman era:  we already know that pretty much everyone is returning.  But, Rosenberg does what he can with the constraints that he's been given, and I applaud him for that.

The Weatherman, Vol. 2 #1:  If the first volume of this series was a breakneck tour of the galaxy's precarious status quo, LeHeup goes in the opposite direction here.  Rather than spreading his focus across several groups of actors as he did in the first volume, we have one team with one mission:  find Dr. Nyseth and, hopefully, Ian Black's mind somewhere on Earth.

After keeping Earth a mystery for the first volume, LeHeup somehow met all my expectations when we first arrive.  First, he starts off the issue with two soldiers' banter about how boring it is guarding Earth.  It's here that we first get the sense that everything isn't as it seems.  I think LeHeup had alluded to the fact that some people on Earth might be alive, but I had no idea that it was as many as we see here.  LeHeup makes it clear that entire cities of people are still alive, and you immediately begin to wonder if people off-Earth know that.  In a conversation the Martian president has with a lobbyist eager to kill the remaining population to cut up the spoils, LeHeup hints at just one reason the galaxy's leaders might want that information to remain hidden.

But LeHeup also shows that it isn't like life as normal is continuing down there.  We're introduced to one of the outposts, where people are sent on suicide missions by lottery, presumably as a form of population control.  We also learn that the remaining population is expected to succumb to the virus within three months.  LeHeup goes one step even further, as the team arrives in New York and is unaware a group of zombie-like humans are following them.  Now you begin to see the chaos in store for them.

But this series avoids sliding just into simple sci-fi conjecture with LeHeup's laser focus on Nathan.  He's his usual idiot self here, though he has moments of reflection, like when they stumble upon the skyscraper-sized pile of skeletons in New York.  But the most heart-breaking moment is when Nathan is left to eat alone after all his companions leave.  He's left simply with an image of his now-dead dog as company.  LeHeup and Fox turn it into a meditation on not just what Nathan has lost, but what everyone has lost.   It's hard to see any happy ending for Nathan, but the glimmer of one is one of the many things that keeps me returning.

The Wild Storm #24:  It's almost impossible to sum up this issue, coming at the end of Ellis' two-year journey in this world.  In a lesser author's hands, the denouement would feel rushed.  Craven kills Cray!  Jackie kills Craven!  Jackie takes over IO!  But, in Ellis' hands, it feels more like the dominoes all falling into place.  That said, Ellis leaves some dominoes still standing, leaving you at the end of this issue feeling like we've just gotten a glimpse of the complicated dynamics at play.

First, Ellis presents the hypothesis that we're at this point because Craven was an incompetent leader.  Slayton mentions how crappy of a manager of Earth Craven was right  before Clay kills Slayton and saves Craven.  Jackie refers to him as a "scared little emperor."  I accept this hypothesis at face value; you don't get to the point where Skywatch is willing to destroy New York in its war with IO and not believe that Craven didn't play a role in that escalation.  But, I wish Ellis had taken the time to go into a little more detail about why Craven sucked at managing the planet so badly.  Ellis hints at a larger reason as his eyes glow red with rage right before he decides to kill Cray.  Was he a Kheran?  Right now we don't know.

After the Authority takes out the Skywatch sleeper agents, Angie goes after Skywatch itself to stop the diamond spike that Bendix dropped.  Jackie agrees to help her.  The surprise comes when Craven tries to stop Jackie, believing that she's a traitor.  He's totally unhinged in this conversation, and Jackie fries him with some sort of electric blast from her head.  She then buys Angie time to synthesize all her powers.  Apollo flies Angie to the rapidly descending spike and then Shen sends a door through her telepathic link with Angie, allowing Angie to send the spike right at Skywatch.  Boom.

At IO, Baiul think she's going to take over IO, believing that she's rid of Jackie because she saw her kill Craven.  She gloats that she planned everything so perfectly and that she's surprised in the end that it was so easy because Jackie just vaporized Craven.  But, Jackie then reveals that she planted an "unauthorized" weapon on Baiul and security takes her into custody.  Jackie King:  IO chief.  Meanwhile, Skywatch now stands revealed and we learn someone (Angie?) dumped a bunch of IO-related documents on the internet.

Ellis includes all sorts of Easter eggs along the way here, like Voodoo seemingly using her power to save Angie (or Miles' husband, it's unclear to me).  He also recalls previous attacks on Skywatch:  Angie first has Jackie run her bot attack on Skywatch so they can get an image of the station, even though I though the Wild C.A.T.s did that first?  Isn't that the bot attack that started the war, with Bendix thinking it was IO but it was actually the Wild C.A.T.s?  Or did the Wild C.A.T.s just take advantage of IO's attack?  I can't remember.

Anyway, it's all complicated, right?  If I re-read this series from the start, I feel like it would be clearer to me just how many loose ends Ellis leaves here.  Voodoo never really materialized as anyone important.  Zealot initially seemed like she was going to play a major role but then faded into the background.  Ditto Michael Cray, and he even had his own series.  Most importantly, I can't remember the last time we saw the Wild C.A.T.s, as the last six or seven issues have mostly focused on the Authority.  The Comicbook Database tells me that we haven't seen Grifter since issue #16, which Ellis explains by the fact that he's in hiding because IO now knows that he's alive.  That makes sense, but would Marlowe really sit out this war?  Ellis wants us to believe that he would (as he does so here), but it's hard to believe that Ellis doesn't even bother to tell us what Marlowe and his team are doing right now.  They've got to be scheming somewhere, right?

What was it all about then?  In the end, Jenny Sparks says it was all about Angie learning how to use her powers so she could help people, not the secret history of the world.  But, that feels...unrealistic.  Angie spent most of the series in the background.  Sure, she saved New York, but that really just puts her in the same category as everyone else here, doesn't it?  In other words, I'm not disappointed, but I also can't say I'm totally satisfied.  I think it makes the most sense to look at this series as the first arc of a larger story, with Ellis setting the groundwork for the series and stories that will follow.  If so, I might find myself more satisfied as the loose ends that Ellis leaves here later get addressed.  I hope that's the case, given how exciting it was to read this series at the start.

Also Read:  Conan the Barbarian #7; Detective Comics #1,006; Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8; Marvel Comics Presents #6

Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The June 12 Non-X Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #23:  This issue feels slapdash, but it does what it needs to do.  Spencer ticks off the list of future threats emerging from "Hunted," with the Vulture reforming the Savage Six, Kraven, Jr. assuming the mantle of Kraven the Hunter, and the Chameleon thanking Sergei (at his grave) for sparing him the Hunt and pledging destruction and doom in the future.  But, most importantly, Spencer thankfully throws out the "Women in Refrigerators" plot, as we learn MJ's injury came from slipping on Peter's costume and putting an arm through the coffee table.  (She seems pretty OK given the severity of the cuts that should involve.)  The creeper Goblin we previously saw hanging over her has taken the form of an inchworm -- yeah, I don't know how either -- observing Peter tearfully hugging her.  The inchworm -- er, Goblin -- exposits that he's keeping MJ safe from her greatest threat -- Peter -- so that they can be together.  If we were dealing with the post-collegiate versions of these characters, I'd say the creeper Goblin was Harry Osborn, but that makes less sense now.  I guess we'll see, though I admit I have problems caring?  Like, I thought the joy of Spencer getting MJ and Peter back together was that he'd avoid these sorts of clichés.  Oh, well.

Detective Comics #1,005:  I'll be honest that I'm not sure why DC felt the need to introduce the Arkham Knight to the comics continuity.  In the video game, it was Jason Todd, thought killed by the Joker.  As we learned last issue, it's now Jeremiah Arkham's secret daughter, Astrid.  Raised in Arkham surrounded by convicts, she believed that Batman was the bad guy, particularly after he allegedly killed her mother.  It's a lie Jeremiah allowed to persist because it meant that he could escape culpability in wife's death.  (What a therapist, this guy.)  After her previous dry run of setting off a small sun in Gotham, Astrid now tries to blind Gotham's citizens so they can't see Batman.  To her, he's an agent of the darkness and shadows so, if everyone is blind, his power over them fades.  In other words, she's crazy.  For all the hoopla of introducing the Knight, it just feels so ho-hum, yet another lunatic with some diabolical plan that Batman easily foils.  (Also, why go with the dry run and alert Batman to your existence?  Why not just blind everyone from the get-go?)  The end sequence of Batman and Robin surveying the city days later feels directly lifted from a "Batman:  The Animated Series" episode, the first time I've felt that way about Tomasi's writing.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7:  I've been enjoying this series a lot, but this issue is an unfortunate miss.  Taylor leans very, very heavily into eye-rolling clichés, from Marnie telling Peter that she didn't know May was a superhero to the cartoonishly villainous local businesspeople who prompt May's aforementioned "super heroics" when confronting her about opening F.E.A.S.T.  It all feels rushed, as Taylor is more than capable of providing a better script that got across the same message.

Invaders #6:  Zdarsky continues to make this series tense and unexpected as something that almost never happens in the Marvel Universe does here:  the heroes lose.  Cap fails to stop Namor from launching his bomb, which turns 3,000 people in a coastal Maine town (as well as Nay and Roman) into Atlanteans.  Zdarksy also doesn't avoid pinning blame on Steve; in a character-honest approach, he has Tony frequently point out the fact that he told Steve they needed to act and not try to reason with Namor.  I'm intrigued to see if Steve doubles down next issue on his belief that he can save Namor or if he accepts that he's too far gone.

Transformers #7:  I had been disappointed by the slow pace of this series, but Ruckley really kicks it up a notch here.  I can't believe he actually killed off Rubble!  Bumblebee is devastated, and LaFuente and Burcham do a spectacular job here using the all-yellow panels to convey his grief, letting us know Rubble is dead before we're told. That event is the catalyst for all sorts of developments.

First, Ratchet informs Prowl that the modus operandi is different from the one that Brainstorm's murderer used, meaning that Cybertron has two different killers on the loose.  Bumblebee isn't the only Transformer feeling guilt, as Prowl tells Chromia that he's going to get revenge, blaming himself for not finding the Voin more quickly.  Ironhide informs Orion that Sentinel Prime, Starscream, and Nautica will all return from their colony tour once they reach the nearest Spacebridge; Ironhide isn't sure if it's a good or a bad thing.

Bumblebee visits the Ascenticon Guard after his conversation with Senator Soundwave last issue.  Bumblebee tells Elita-1 that he needs to do something, as Cybertronians are dying, but Refraktor and Skytred make it clear that they don't want a Security reject on the team.  Elita-1 isn't buying their toxic masculinity, telling Bumbleebee that the Guard wants to bring about the orderly and safe change that must come, as the Autobots' way of restraint is clearly not helping anyone.  (Ruckley does a great job here of showing how the Ascenticons have a point.  I'm also assuming Ascenticons are behind the murders.)  But, Skytred can't keep his mouth shut and teases Bumblebee over Rubble's murder, sparking a fight between them and Refraktor.  Elita-1 breaks up the fight, and Bumblebee notes that he isn't wanted, but also wonders where Quake is.  (Dun-dun-DUN!)

Meanwhile, Cyclonus is clearly cuckoo for cocoa puffs, as he's haunted by the ghosts of Gridlock, Highfire, and an unidentified Transformer.  Gridlock says Cyclonus is broken after Highfire wonders why he would hang around the Memorial Crater, the site of the last battle in the war "against the Threefold Spark."  It seems the three frequently haunt Cyclonus (who Gridlock calls "boss").  Highfire encourages Cyclonus to stay focused on the "mission," but Gridlock tells him that he's wasting his time, because the war has ended and "Exarchon's gone."  Cyclonus says that no one knows that, and he's surprised when he finds a loose cable at the Crater, part of his lament that no one is performing the necessary upkeep.  He's surprised again when a smallish Transformer opens fire on him.

Again, Rubble's murder really injected some much needed energy into this series.  I'm intrigued to see where we go from here.

Also Read:  Star Wars:  Vader - Dark Visions #5

Not-Very-New Comics: The April 17 Non-Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #69:  If anything, this issue is a welcome relief as we more or less return to the present.  

After the "Knightmares" ridiculousness -- itself suffering from "The Price" interruption -- King shows us Bane and Thomas Wayne (Dadman?) sparring.  Thomas is eager to return to their plotting, while a naked Bane is obsessed with defeating him.  (Paquette does a remarkably job of keeping us from seeing a naked Bane's junk.  Bane fights with his knees in front of him a lot.)  

Meanwhile, Batman finds Selina in his nightmare.  He programmed himself this way, his failsafe for when his mind discovered that he had been exposed to the Scarecrow's fear toxin.  He admits his real fear is asking Selina why she left him, something he has to face to overcome the toxin.  She pretty much sticks to the script, telling him that she left him because he loves Batman more than he loved her.  King's on stronger footing here than he's been in a while on the issue of Selina leaving Bruce, as I'll buy the fact that Bruce's commitment to Batman -- Selina alludes to his bat-inspired pledge that fateful night years ago -- would always trump Selina.  It makes sense that it's Bruce's actual greatest fear.  

King also supplies an initial answer to the Thomas Wayne mystery here, as Bruce reminds us that his father's last words to him were "Don't be Batman."  In other words, both Thomas and Bane share a "motivation" to stop him.  But, in his sparring with Bane, it seems like Thomas doesn't want Bruce to be Batman not because he's concerned about him, but because he wants to be the only Batman.  

To be honest, this issue's main problem is that the "wedding' was almost 20 issues ago now.  We've been waiting nine issues just to return to why Thomas Wayne is working with Bane.  King really, really needs to do something, anything in this arc.  Looking at the Comic Book Round Up website's rankings, this series is one of the few series that I've seen where the readers' ratings significantly trail the reviewers' ratings.  In other words, it ain't just me.  This issue begins to get us somewhere, but King has to pick up the pace and stop testing our patience.

Transformers #3:  Nothing really happens here, though Ruckley fleshes out some of Cybertron's status quo.  Unfortunately, he does so through extensive use of dialogue.

We start with Megatron railing against the Autobots' failure to stop the attack against him.  After all, the Autobots are the security forces who control Cybertron; it was their responsibility to protect him.  At Megatron's request, Soundwave puts together an Ascenticon Guard to address this failure.  It's composed of Elita-1, Skytred, Refraktor, and Quake.  

Ruckley then shows the Autobots are spying on Megatron; when they observe this moment, Quake's inclusion in the Guard particularly disturbs them.  Orion Pax then asks Chromia why the security forces didn't intervene, and Chromia (somewhat reasonably) insists that they were there to provide crowd control, not foil an assassination attempt.  She claims that the level of security need for the latter effort is beyond the security forces' abilities at this point.  (If so, why are they spying on people?  Isn't that the sort of thing an active intelligence service is supposed to do to prevent exactly these sorts of terrorist attacks?  Are they just spying on them to know when shit is going to happen that they can't stop?  Are they spying on the Rise?  If not, it's pretty clear that politics, and not security, is motivating the spying.)  When Orion asks about the Brainstorm investigation, Chromia tells him that they had their eye on 20 suspected Rise activists; they rounded up ten, but the other ten disappeared.  Prowl interjects that someone leaked information about the raid to the Rise:  the ten Transformers that they arrested were "innocent or irrelevant," which is why they didn't get the tipster's warning.

At this stage, a Transformer named Froid interrupts the discussion, and Ruckley is laying the seeds of a larger story here.  First, we learn why Quake's addition to the Guard disturbed everyone.  Clearly a prison psychologist, Froid describes him as one of the four failures of his career; he's apparently a sociopath with a nostalgia for violence.  But, Froid then tries to convince Orion to give him access to one of his other failures.  However, Orion denies his request because Sentinel Prime (who's apparently off-planet) has made it clear that won't happen.  Clearly, whatever Froid did with his patient went well.

We then return to Bumblebee and Rubble, with Bumblebee promising to take Rubble to the moon given his ongoing fascination with it.  Windblade arrives and tells Bumblebee that he's wanted at the Senate, so she escorts Rubble to his quarters.  Rubble worries that Bumblebee is disappointed in him, but Windblade stresses how excited he was to be a mentor, given how few Transformers are made as a result of the Nominus Edict.  She reminds Rubble how Brainstorm's murder has everyone really rattled.  They arrive at Rubble's quarters to find Chromia there, unexpectedly.  She's there with Geomotus, who is one of Froid's patients and apparently something of an oracle.  Chromia informs them that they're using Geomotus since they don't really have any other leads on Brainstorm's murder.  Barricade and Sideswipe are apparently tracking down Rise members, and Chromia needs Windblade to go to the transmission station with her.  She then connects Rubble to her and Prowl's communicators, even though she admits they usually keep communications limited to mentors.

Ruckley had made a big deal of Bumblebee telling Rubble that he can't accidentally hail anyone since he's only linked to Bumblebee, so Chromia is clearly up to something here.  After they leave, Windblade presses Chromia, noting that she likely installed tracking abilities when linking to Rubble.  Chromia assures Windblade that the capability is inactive, but that they've got to be open to the possibility that Brainstorm's murder has something to do with Rubble.  The weird part about this suspicion is that we, the readers, know that it doesn't; we saw Rubble discover Brainstorm's dead body.  Ruckley has been spending a lot of time on the security forces' suspicions of Rubble over the last few issues, and I'll admit I don't quite get it.

We end with Orion walking through an oddly deserted valley were dead-looking Transformers are attached to the landscape.  He appears before someone named Codexa, herself attached to a crystal-looking cave, and tells her that something is going wrong.

Honestly, I'm starting to lose interest here.  I'm 100% here for nostalgia over the 80s cartoon show, and I'm happy to hang in here for a while.  But, I'm also accepting the possibility that "a while" won't be as long as I thought.

Also Read:  Nightwing #59

Not-Very-New Comics: The March 27 Non-Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Detective Comics #1,000:  For the fact this issue is 96 pages, it's largely forgettable.  I don't mean that in a nasty way.  Like, it's fine.  But, I can't say any of these stories really rise above your average "anniversary issue" fare.

Some of them were way too heavy handed, like "Manufacture for Use," where Batman finds the gun used to kill his parents and melts it down to use as the insignia on his Batsuit, and "Return to Crime Alley," where Denny O'Neil, for reasons that aren't clear to me, embitters his own "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley!" to make Leslie Thompkins loathe Bruce for the violence that he commits.

Some were fine but obvious, like the "Legend of Knute Brody," where it was clear the Bat-family was acting as the incompetent titular henchman.  Others were fine but light, like "The Precedent," where Bruce half-heartedly worries about taking on Dick as Robin given the precedent it'll set for other kids.  (Dick wisely notes Bruce himself is the precedent.)  "Batman's Greatest Case" should've been lovely, with Bruce gathering the Bat-family for a photo to show his parents, but Bruce inexplicably doesn't speak or tell anyone what they're doing; it's just unnecessarily vague.

Some made little sense or didn't seem to go anywhere.  "Batman's Longest Case" inducts Batman into the "Guild of Detection," a group for detectives looking into the universe's most complicated unsolved cases.  It took years for Bruce to solve the case that leads to his induction, and he (understandably) wonders why it took so long.  The guildmaster, "Slam Bradley," simply implies that he's still a young man (despite the Question also being a member).  "The Batman's Design" has Batman using various metahuman enhancements to chase a group of villains into a warehouse that he's rigged to take out each member, which...doesn't seem like his modus operandi at all.  (It's a shame, too, because I love Warren Ellis.)  Christopher Priest continues to be just downright bizarre with "Heretic," where a kid steals Bruce Wayne's wallet in Lhasa years ago and somehow comes to love capitalism so thus runs an underground railroad to help initiates like him escape the League of Assassins.  (Yeah, it made no sense to me.)

The best story to my mind was "I Know" by Bendis (of all people), where the future Penguin gets a surprise when he tells a paralyzed Bruce Wayne that he knew all along that he was Batman.  The "Last Crime in Gotham" by Johns hits probably the most emotional note, if you can get past the truly awful art, as Bruce wishes for his nearest and dearest to him to solve the last crime in Gotham, as committed by the Joker's dying son.

The least interesting was the most relevant.  "Medieval" introduces the Arkham Knight, who clearly isn't Jason in this iteration.  After so many random stories, though, it's lost in the shuffle.  Again, this issue wasn't bad, but for the price tag, it didn't really clear the bar DC set for itself.

The Realm #12-#13:  Not a lot happens in these two issues, as they mostly involve adversaries and potential adversaries circling one another.  But, it's fun to watch the dance.

The party arrives at Jacob's, but it's pretty clear that he and his wife, Ellen, aren't running the same type of establishment as Everett.  Although Will seems to trust Jacob somewhat in issue #12, in issue #13 he more clearly views Jacob as a means to an end (i.e., weapons) and not an ally.  Peck makes that even more clear when Jacob comments how his son Brian is bringing up supplies from the South, but Will correctly notes Jacob previously said that Brian was up North.  Meanwhile, Molly offers to help Ellen with the chores, but she refuses, taking the laundry into an underground fall-out shelter that suspiciously glows green.  Rook watches her leave the shelter later and enters, seeing something that causes her to open her eyes as the green glow reflects off her.

In terms of the bad guys, the party that Johnny Eldritch sent to find Will finds Everett instead, and I'm not sure if Everett and his already battered charges are going to survive.  The goblin and his partner (who I only vaguely recognized) run across a guy who tells them that Redjaw and his party moved through the area a little while ago, and the goblin agrees to his partner's request to "kill Bunny."  Meanwhile, Johnny assures Neera that he's on top of the search for the "key."  We learn from Neera that three pieces of the key are still missing, including one that David is obviously carrying.  Later, Bearded Guy comes close to killing Redjaw but Johnny appears suddenly and knocks out Beard Guy.  He then pulls both of them through his portal.

Back at the farm, David gives Will a modified version of the amulet that the "Spider-Guy" used against him, which should help him control the monster inside him.  (I'm glad to see David helping after swiping the amulet and not plotting something.  Though, the jury is probably still deliberating on that front.)  David leaves, and Molly and Will proceed to get drunk, as Will promises to tell her the story of the monster inside him if she explains their quest.  We learn that they're headed to Kansas City because Dr. Burke worked at a facility where they were researching the Breach.  He had an artifact and a notebook that he was trying to get to the team in Kansas City, and, again, it's pretty clear the artifact is at least one of the parts of the key.  The fact that we're in issue #13 at this point and learn that all this effort Eldritch and Neera are expending is for just one part of the key gives you a sense of how large of a story Peck is telling.  Anyway, we learn David was really just Burke's assistant, so he's not 100% clear on what Burke learned. 

All in all, I'm still fascinating with where we're going here. 

Transformers #2:  Ruckley goes to great lengths to show how upsetting Brainstorm's death is to all the Transformers who learn of it.  Chromia, Cybertron's security chief, arrives at the station with Prowl, Cybertron's best investigator.  After a cursory search for clues, they're stumped.  Chromia seems to think that it's the Rise, who we learn are the more extreme form of the Ascenticons.  (It's interesting that Megatron doesn't seem to be leading the extremist wing; I wonder who is.  Starscream?)  Meanwhile, Prowl takes Windblade to task for not more thoroughly interrogating the Voin scavengers who she and Bumblebee earlier encountered.  Chromia sends Bumblebee and Rubble to Wheeljack, where they get to watch the wonder of Cybertron's winged moon unfurl.  We learn that someone named Termagax created it; in his speech on Tarn, Megatron describes her as the first Ascenticon.  He exposits that she called for an end to the Nominus Edict, which requires kilocycles between forgings and energon rations.  Earlier, Bumblebee said that he heard the moon isn't the most efficient way to harvest energon, and Ruckley seems to be implying here that Termagax may have been overly optimistic in her thinking about how much development Cybertron and the Transformers could experience without negative impacts.  As Orion Pax predicted in a call with Chromia, events start to unfurl when a mysterious assassin opens fire on Megatron.  In the background of all these events, Ruckley also seems to be advancing a xenophobic narrative, from Prowl's hostility towards the Voin to the introduction of the Skitters.  I can't say I'm enthralled with this series at this point, but we'll see where we go.

Not-Very-New Comics: The March 13 Non-X Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #17:  I initially decided not to pin this issue with the Women in Refrigerator tag, given that Felicia threatens to gut Kraven herself if he somehow defeats Spider-Man.  (Note to self:  send Nick Spencer a muffin basket for returning Felicia to us.)  But, then we had the Mary-Jane-as-Barbara-Gordon moment, and I decided it was appropriate after all.  Beyond that, though, it's a solid start to what could really be a great event.  Spencer leans heavily into characterization here, from Felicia's struggle to comfort Billy when they awaken as captives in the Plaza Hotel to Kraven's melancholy reflections on how this new world doesn't value his ethos.  Spencer is also clearly having a great time; the twist that Kraven has everyone stashed at the Plaza is pretty great.  But, Spencer is using enough foreshadowing to let us know that it isn't all fun and games.  I applaud his decision to make Peter fight Kraven with the flu, because I feel like "Amazing Spider-Man" has always done the best job among comic-book series of showing how Peter's need to act as Spider-Man doesn't always happen at the most convenient times for Peter himself.  (If I remember correctly, he also had the flu in "Kraven's Last Hunt.")  Spencer doesn't just use the Mary-Jane-meet-coffee-table moment to show us how high the stakes are:  Ramos does a spectacular (heh) job of really showing how Kraven's son beat Peter's ass something fierce.  Then, he puts him in the black costume in a dome filled with his enemies, and you're like, "OK, game on, Spencer."  Then, he introduces Kraven robots trying to kill everyone, and you're like "OK, maybe I can look past the Mary Jane problem..."

Spider-Gwen:  Ghost Spider #6:  Jackal working with Man-Wolf!  McGuire does a good job here of introducing Gwen's new status quo, where she has to deal with the ramifications of outing herself.  For reasons that aren't yet clear, we learn that Jackal and Man-Wolf are working together to take her down, sending a group of thugs to attack her so that they can learn her fighting style.  But, they're not Gwen's only problem, as she suffers a series of headaches in the issue and is unaware that she appears to be shedding spiders.  Are they going to form the real Venom eventually?  I guess we'll see.  Meanwhile, she's hiring out her services, and we know that's going to end well.

Star Wars:  Han Solo - Imperial Cadet #5:  This story's conclusion is pitch perfect.  Han and his fellow cadets find Valance, only to discover a group of slaves seeking to escape the planet in the chaos of the Empire's attack.  The cadets learn that the slaves mine farium, and Kanina is shaken to her core, as her boyfriend Weegee is a farium miner on her home planet in the Huru system.  She realizes that the battalion heading to the Huru system means the Empire is going to enslave her people.  Han convinces her to let the cadets and he fake her death so she can save her planet.  If Marvel is looking for a good sequel to this story, Kanina leading a rebellion against the Empire on her home planet gets my vote.  I've always liked Robbie Thompson, but he's been particularly impressive here, infusing Han's four fellow cadets with solid backstories and clear personalities in just five issues.  Unfortunately, the emotional denouement -- Kanina arriving on her planet to fall into Weegee's arms as Han spends time in the stockade -- is ruined in part because of the art choices.  Weegee looks identical to Han, and Prianto's use of a sepia tone makes it seem like Kanina is happy to see Han years later, after he leaves the Empire.  I'm surprised the editors didn't catch that, particularly given how many editors the Star Wars line has at this point.  But, overall, this mini-series was one of the strongest ones that we've had so far.

Transformers #1:  As a child of the '80s, I was very excited about this comic.  As often as I complain about reboots, I'll admit Dark Horse's universe of Transformers-related comics made it difficult to figure out where I could engage.  In other words, I'm loathe to admit it, but this reboot was exactly for people like me; I apologize to long-time fans who just saw their continuity swept into the dustbin for us.  But, I also think Ruckley does a great job of offering something for everyone, as this issue starts us at the time before the Autobots and Decepticons go to war.

The main story involves Bumblebee leading a newly sparked Transformer named Rubble to a transmission station to learn the wonders of "energon engineering" from a fellow Transformer named Brainstorm.  In their journey they meet with a Transformer named Windblade.  She works for Security Operations, and she asks to accompany Bumblebee and Rubble because she's also heading to the station after Brainstorm reported some "anomalies with the monitoring equipment."  She hypothesizes that it's sabotage, leading Bumblebee to wonder if "the Rise" could be out this far.  Along their journey to the station, we learn that Rubble is in a period of exploration that all newly sparked Transformers experience, as they journey to choose their alternate form.  We also learn that they can later change their choice, as Bumblebee "left" Security Operations (where he met Windblade) to become a Search and Rescue worker.  (Windblade implies that he didn't leave Security Operations so voluntarily.)  Arriving at the station, Windblade senses something is wrong.  While she and Bumblebee scout around a bit, Rubble stumbles upon a murdered Brainstorm.

The second story gives us context to this scene.  We learn Megatron is the leader of a group called the Ascenticons.  They're marching on a place called Tarm, which seems to have some sort of religious connotation to the Ascenticons.  Concerned about safety, Orion Pax calls for a meeting with Megatron, as a fellow Senator and old friend.  Ruckley doesn't give us much information here on the substance of Megatron's dissent.  We only learn that his last rally left dozens injured, and he paints the Autobots as fascists seeking to restrict Transformers' freedoms.  Moreover, Ruckley makes it clear that Orion uses "friend" a little too loosely here; Ruckley even mentions in his interview at the end of the issue that they aren't exactly "friends.'

In other words, Ruckley manages to make the comic feel familiar yet fresh at the same time.  One of the most interesting developments is his introduction of an organic race of ape-like creatures called the Voin.  Windblade dismisses them as scavengers, though it's unclear what they would be scavenging as Cybertron does seem entirely inorganic.  Moreover, some of the Voin are connected to a floating aquarium containing a squid-like creature that speaks for the apes.  In other words, we have a lot to explore.

Winter Soldier #4-#5:  Issue #4 was so gripping that I just went ahead and read issue #5.  Jesus fucking Christ.  I've been following Higgins for a long time now, and he really takes his work on "Nightwing" to the next level here.  He's gotten the tone of each issue exactly right.  After all, RJ's cautious hope about his father, Richie, makes it clear that it's all going to end in tears, because it's a Bucky Barnes story and not a Steve Rogers story.

In both these issues, Higgins perfectly uses RJ as a mirror to Bucky's own feelings of doubt and mistrust.  RJ desperately wants to believe Richie is trying to start a new life after he was released from prison.  But, RJ is who HYDRA made him, so he's also suspicious.  For example, he doesn't believe Richie's story that he recognized RJ on television, because RJ was only a year old when Richie went to jail.  But, Richie shows him a picture that RJ's mother (allegedly) sent him, and he tells a moving story about how all he did for the time he was in prison was stare at that picture and imagine who his son was.  It's enough for RJ.  

But, it's not enough for Bucky.  Higgins makes it clear that Bucky needs RJ.  He needs to believe that he (and he alone) can save RJ from himself, because Bucky needs to believe that he can save himself.  He learns that lesson hard in issue #5, but in issue #4 he still hasn't fully come to grips with his own motivations.  The problem is that he's obviously not wrong in his suspicion of Richie.  When RJ beats away some goons who came after Richie for money that he borrowed from them, it's the proof that Bucky needs that, at best, Richie is a small-time hood who can't go straight.  After all, what kind of guy looking to go straight borrows money from a loan shark on his first day on the outside?  But, RJ has faith in him, and he convinces Bucky to do for Richie what Bucky does for other people looking to leave "the life."

The problem is, Bucky is right.  Sharon gets video of Colt paying Richie a visit, and it seems clear that Colt arranged his coincidental release to bring back in RJ.  But, it's even worse than Bucky thought, as Richie is also using his old contacts to put together a job to rob a high-stakes poker game, figuring RJ's particular skill set would come in handy.  But, Higgins goes one step further, in the other direction.  When Bucky confronts Richie, telling him to leave town, Higgins has Richie full of fury over Bucky's sense of entitlement over RJ.  Richie's right in this way:  Bucky has decided he's better for RJ, and he's impatient to be rid of Richie.  When Richie dies accidentally in their fight, Bucky struggles once again to come to grips with his lack of control.

Everything spirals into chaos in issue #5.  Colt lays in wait for RJ at Richie's place, knowing he'll come looking for his father when he doesn't show for breakfast.  He tells RJ the truth about what Bucky did, while Bucky calls Sharon for help as he plans on burying Richie's body in the woods.  Higgins uses this scene perfectly to show how much Bucky is struggling to make his own good decisions.  Sharon convinces him to tell RJ the truth, but his instinct not to do so calls into question his motivations.  Higgins once again shows us that Bucky's need to save RJ is more about him than RJ.  When RJ rejects his attempt to apologize, seeing how he heard from Colt first, Bucky is devastated.  Sharon pulls in favors to get Richie buried in a proper cemetery, but she warns Bucky she's depleting that store of favors.  Bucky tearfully admits to Sharon that he was trying to save RJ from the fate that he so clearly feels, from hating himself so much that he can't imagine someone not hating him.  Sharon comforts him, reminding him that helping someone and saving them are different paths.  She encourages him not to forget that, not to try for perfection.  His hotline rings, and despite his misgivings he answers.  Meanwhile, RJ takes out Colt dressed in his uniform and tearfully fades in to the night.

In other words, wow.  This mini-series has been spectacular from start to finish, but it ends so fucking strongly.  It's an amazing psychological study of Bucky, and I honestly don't understand why they aren't just handing Higgins the keys to this kingdom here.  We rarely get an author explore the savior complex that runs through superheroes, and Higgins does it so perfectly here.

Also Read:  Avengers:  No Road Home #5