Avenging Spider-Man #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Yeah, OK, this issue wasn't for me.  It might be for some people, but I'm not that guy.  I feel like this issue is one of those Deadpool stories where I'm supposed to think that it's HILARIOUS simply because Deadpool is involved.  Instead, I just found it odd, with the faux hilarity of Hynpo-Hustler's retro speak overshadowing everything else.  It's a shame, because any Deadpool/Spidey adventure should be as close to a slam dunk as possible.

Venom #25 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Bunn actually manages to save the concept of this arc for me with this issue, but I'm not sure if I like where the series is going as a result.

In fighting the "Monsters of Evil," Flash tries to summon happy thoughts.  When he realizes that he has none, he instead decides to focus on his rage as a motivator, using it to take control of the monsters and set them against Hellstrom.  As I said last issue, I don't really buy this idea that Flash's life is so dark and dreary that he literally has not a happy thought, but Remender and Bunn both seem to think that it's the case, so I don't see much point belaboring the point.  At least, in this issue, Bunn has Flash use that darkness for good purposes, if you will, so it no longer simply motivates him to whine about his childhood.  (Harsh but true, lately.)  Interrogating Hellstrom later, Flash learns that he was able to control the demons because of the mark he received from Mephisto as part of the "Circle of Four" arc.  According to Hellstrom, all the Hell-Lords are marking their potential heirs as they prepare for the Descent, when one of them will fall farther than the others and become the "true" devil.  (I'm intrigued that the Marvel Universe apparently doesn't have a "true" devil.)  Hellstrom informs Flash that one of the two of them (or someone else marked by Mephisto) will become a devil once the Descent has happened, controlling a corner of Hell.  Hellstrom justifies his alliance with the DAO as using all the tools available to him to make sure that he wins and suggests to Venom that it's better for him to run Hell than someone really bad.

As I mentioned above, I actually think that it's a pretty intriguing concept, this fight for the throne of Hell.  The problem is that I don't really want to read about Flash being part of that contest.  I liked this series when it was Flash conducting espionage and fighting to keep control of the symbiote.  But, now, it's all monsters and demons.  It's why I hated Peter Finch's "Batman:  The Dark Knight:"  these sorts of stories just seem to be a poor match for a human character who's better lurking in dark shadows and fighting human villains.  As such, even though I liked what Bunn did here, I think that I'm done with this series once "Minimum Carnage" ends.  I'm just not that interested in the story that Bunn wants to tell to justify spending $5.98 a month on it.

Avenging Spider-Man #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Reviewing a Deadpool issue is difficult.  Reviewing a Deadpool issue where he pairs with Spider-Man is really difficult.  Reviewing  a Deadpool issues where he pairs with Spider-Man in a dream is pretty much impossible, so I'm not really going to try.  I'll just say that this issue wasn't anywhere near as much fun as I expect from a Deadpool/Spidey team-up issue.  The prospect of Wade going to school with Peter, even in a dream, seemed to have much more potential than Shinick actually realizes here.  We'll see how next issue goes.

Venom #24 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

At the end of the day, Bunn loses me here for two reasons.

First, I don't believe that Flash can't contact the Avengers.  OK, sure, he couldn't contact them last issue because his cell signal was blocked when he entered Hellstrom's building.  I still thought it was a ridiculous excuse then, but, whatever, fine.  But, he's free now.  If he could claw himself to that reporter's apartment, he really couldn't get himself to Stark Tower?  Bunn is running into the problem that comes with having an independent hero join a superhero team, particularly one who allegedly exists outside the bounds of normal society.  Slott has always seemed to have a good sense of knowing when it would be reasonable for Spidey to call in the Avengers and when it wouldn't.  But, I feel like Remender and Bunn have had to go to increasingly desperate lengths to justify why Venom wasn't picking up the phone and asking for help.  They seem to default to Flash not wanting to admit a mistake, something I thought that we had moved past at the end of the Savage Six arc, but still seems to be haunting us.  The problem with it is that it makes Flash look like an idiot.  I'm all for a flawed hero, but, at some point, if Flash doesn't want the Avengers' help, you begin asking why he's on the Avengers in the first place.

Second, Bunn seems to want us to believe that Flash's soul is so dark that he's capable of trapping a demon and not vice versa.  Honestly, I just don't know where to start.  Suffering years of abuse at the hands of your father and turning to alcohol to help soothe that problem doesn't make you evil.  It's almost like I'm supposed to believe that Flash isn't the guy who lost his legs saving a fellow soldier or made peace with Peter Parker.  Bunn seems to be making the point that Flash is bad at his core and I'm just not OK with that.

As I'm pretty sure I've said before, less demons, more espionage.

Amazing Spider-Man #693 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

*** (three of five stars)

Favorite Quote #1:  "Peter Parker, you're not who you are because your Uncle Ben died.  You're who you are because your Uncle Ben lived.  All the gifts he gave you, everything you needed, was already in there."  -- MJ (so wise)

Favorite Quote #2:  "Hate it whenever they say 'Plan B.'  That's super-villain code for 'Blow everything up.'"  -- Spidey, after the Alpha clones fail to exhibit powers and the Jackal announces that he's going to Plan B

Summary
In the aftermath of his fight with Giganto, Alpha departs, leaving the "cleaning up to the professionals."  Spidey tries to tell him that it's a team effort, so he can't just leave, but Alpha does exactly that.  Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four attach some drill cars to Giganto so that they can return him to Subterranea.  When Spidey offers to go, Mr. Fantastic reminds him that his job is to take care of Alpha.  Depressed, Pete heads to MJ's, telling MJ that he's haunted by the fact that he still sees Alpha as the person that he would've become had Uncle Ben not died.  MJ tells Pete that he is who he is because Uncle Ben lived, not died.  Pete says that he'd like to believe that she's right, but he argues that he's way too self-centered.  He really believes that Ben's death was the reason why he worried about losing everybody else important in his life.  At that moment, he realizes that Andy doesn't have a mask and leaves MJ to go find him.

At Andy's, Chrissy appears, only to discover him in bed (only kissing) with a cheerleader.  Fleeing his room in tears, Chrissy leaves.  Meanwhile, at the front door, "Dr. Warren" appears with his "daughter," Princess, who he claims is a big Alpha fan.  Andy's mom remarks to their ever-present lawyer that they need to beef up security when they move into the city and the lawyer warns them to have a chat with their son lest they have a "Bieber-style paternity suit."  "Princess" then attacks, firing a web from her mouth.  Andy overhears from upstairs and attacks Princess with his energy-projection power.  However, since he can only use one power at once, he can't activate his force field in time to protect him from the projectiles that Princess fires from her mouth, hitting both Andy and the cheerleader and knocking them unconscious.

Spidey arrives several minutes later to discover organic webbing like he used to have.  He leaves, but talks to a member of the paparazzi who saw the whole thing.  The paparazzo notes that someone with Spider-Powers clearly took them given the webs.  Spidey proclaims his innocence, but the paparazzo accuses him of being the one who painted a target on the kid.  Later, at Horizon, Glory Grant is arguing with Max Modell, telling him that she's adding child endangerment to the "growing list of grievances" that JJJ, Jr. has with him.  Max claims that he only intended for Andy to be a mascot and Glory reminds him of the "industrial accident which could have killed him."  Pete arrives, only to find Aunt May and JJJ, Sr. there as well.  Pete says that he claims responsibility for Alpha and that JJJ, Jr. should leave Horizon alone.  Aunt May suggests that he shouldn't bear that burden by himself, but Pete says that it is his burden.  May informs Pete that they're there because they're getting an earlier flight to Boston because he's so busy, but offers to stay if Pete thought it would help.  He tells them to go so that he can clean up the mess and Aunt May kisses him good-bye, telling him that she raised him right.  Pete promises to see them before they leave and then chats with Max, who offers his help in finding Alpha.

In Pete's lab, Max notes how tricky it is to trace alpha-energy, since one of the properties of it about which he was most excited was the fact that it doesn't leave a residual trail.  As they work, Pete suggests that he should leave Horizon, saying that all the trouble that Horizon has suffered lately (Alpha, disrupting Morbius' drug trials, not double-checking Grady's time door) had to do with his "connection" to Spider-Man. Max refuses to hear such a thing, noting that Pete has not only given Horizon some of its best inventions but also allowed its staff to become heroes, helping Spidey save the city from the Spider-Island virus and stop Dock Ock before he could destroy the world.  Max says he wouldn't trade the ability to do that for the world and they recommit to the project at hand.  They eventually realize that they can track the organic fibers from Andy's clothes from when he was first hit with alpha-energy and splice them with the Spider-Tracer, hoping that the similar charge leads Spidey to Andy.  En route, Pete reflects on how he couldn't have invented the device without Max, and thinks of his other role models, people like Captain Stacy, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May.

Pete tracks Alpha to an abandoned school and realizes that someone who could take down Alpha might require more than just him to defeat him.  But, before he can call for the Avengers, a group of Princesses attack Spidey.  One of them hits Spidey with its projectile thing and he loses consciousness.  Elsewhere in the school, the Jackal has placed Andy in "carbonadium shackles" and a white-sound helmet to neutralize him, with his parents, lawyer, and the cheerleader in webbing behind him.  The Jackal exposits that he's going to clone him, making "a perfect world of Alpha-males."  The Princesses arrive with Spidey and the Jackal congratulates him for having "out-mad-scienced" him.  He observes that his "Spiderzons" (better than "Princesses") schooled him, but then realized that their powers shouldn't work on Pete.  Revealing that he was playing possum, Peter attacks the Jackal, shattering him, to his surprise.  The real Jackal appears around the corner, noting that he always sends in a clone for a slugfest.  He then reveals that his first "batch" of Alphas are ready, kings to match his "Spider Queens."  (Aha.)  Pete is shocked by the potential threat that cloned Alphas would be and the real Alpha attempts to break his bonds.  However, the cloned Alphas are revealed to have no powers, since the alpha-energy didn't alter Andy's DNA.  Frustrated, the Jackal sends the Spiderzons to eat the hostages to distract Peter so that he can't free Andy.  He then decides to harvest alpha-energy from Alpha and Pete expresses concern, since he looked into removing Andy's power and realizes that it can't be done without killing him.  While fighting the Spiderzons, Pete gives Andy a rousing speech about not surrendering and digging deep, telling him that his friends and family are counting on him.  He then corrects himself, saying that the whole world is counting on him to prevent the Jackal from getting alpha-energy.  Andy breaks the bonds, declaring that the Jackal can't have his power because it's the only thing that makes him special.  Stating that he'd rather die that lose it, he destroys the clones.  (Spidey expresses dismay that Alpha got the wrong message from his speech, deciding to act to preserve his "specialness" rather than saving the world.)  The Jackal, seeing the writing on the wall, pushes the "big red button," destroying the Spiderzons and fleeing.

Andy's parents, shaken, tell him that they're sorry.  Before his mother can tell him that it's not worth risking his life to continue being a superhero, he stops her, saying that he understands that life has a lot to teach him.  Spidey thinks that he's talking to him, but he's really talking to the lawyer, telling her that he's the most special thing in the world and needs to set his sights higher.  She agrees to help (for fifteen percent) and he later emancipates himself from his parents.  Later, MJ comes to Horizon with food for Pete, who apologizes for all the time that he's spending with the Avengers and Alpha.  MJ expresses hope in Pete's continued effort to train Alpha, but Pete tells her that it's a ruse, that he "promised" Alpha a spot on the Avengers if he continues coming to Horizon for regular tests.  In reality, he's testing Alpha to strip him of his powers.

The Good
1) Have I mentioned that I love MJ as a bartender?  Because I love MJ as a bartender.

2) One of the things that I feel Slott is handling really deftly is using Alpha as a Rorschach test for Pete.  When Pete sees Alpha, he sees the person that he would've been without the tragedy of Uncle Ben getting killed to ground him.  But, Slott (and MJ) make it clear that Pete would've never become Alpha, because he was too good of a person to start.  For example, last issue, Slott drew a difference in his voice-over narration between Pete and Andy before they ever got their powers, noting that Pete already felt a responsibility to use his gift in science to apply himself whereas Andy was so lazy that he didn't even bother trying to discover if he had a gift.  MJ elaborates on that thought here, reminding Pete that Uncle Ben was the one who taught Pete about responsibility.  She then delivers the lovely speech quoted above about Peter being who he is not because Uncle Ben died, but because Uncle Ben lived.  I'm glad Slott gives her this moment, even if Pete initially overlooks the advice, content with his guilt over Ben's death as the explanation for his overdeveloped sense of responsibility.  He's been using the last few issues to show how special MJ is, how she's really the only person who understands Pete.  I'm now worried he's going to kill her in "Amazing Spider-Man" #700 and, Slott, I'm telling you right now, you better find that bunker fast if you do.

3) Slott's continued use of Superman as a fictional character in "Amazing Spider-Man" continues to make me laugh.  It just doesn't get old.  I loved Chrissy announcing that she's Lois Lane.

4) I liked the tribute to Pete's role models as part of Slott's 50th anniversary tale.  Leave it to Slott to keep up the theme throughout this arc and not just drop it the minute the anniversary issue was published.

5) I was wondering how Slott was going to work the Jackal into this story and he made a pretty compelling case, since I absolutely Miles would be attracted by both the possibility of getting his hands on alpha-energy as well as the opportunity to rub salt in Peter's wound.  I love how Pete isn't even surprised that Miles didn't die in "Spider-Island."

6) Slott ends the issue taking up the hypothetical from last issue, namely, whether Alpha, when faced with a situation like the death of Uncle Ben, would rise to the challenge.  The answer, as we learn here, is no.  Instead, he focuses on his "specialness" rather than his heroism, ignoring the potential consequences to his family members.  Last issue, Slott raised some generational issues and I think we see them here, too.  After all, it's not like Pete had quite the same possibility of exposure to the mass media that Alpha has.  Maybe he would've just shaken off Uncle Ben's death to sleep with supermodels a lot sooner than he eventually did if he had the same distractions.  But, Slott puts their differences squarely on the shoulder of Pete's influences in his life, from Uncle Ben to Captain Stacy to Aunt May.  It's a great approach, because it rings absolutely true.  When Andy's parents show concern for him, it's too late.  But, Pete's people have been with him the whole way. Great stuff.

The Unknown
MJ seems to chide Pete a bit ethically at the end of this issue, raising the suggestion that Pete doesn't get to decide to strip Alpha of his powers.  To be honest, I think it's a pretty weak argument, since Pete was responsible for Alpha getting his powers and Alpha represents a pretty clear threat.  Spidey himself compares Alpha to the Beyonder or the Dark Phoenix.  But, combined with his apparently more aggressive view of his enemies, it seems to be part of Slott's attempt to move Pete on the ethical scale from Lawful Good to Chaotic Good.  I'm still not buying it, but we'll see where we go from here.

The Bad
I didn't, for the life of me, understand why alpha-energy is untraceable but somehow using the organic fibers from the clothes that Andy was wearing when he was first exposed to it would allow Spidey to trace him.  Did the energy hitting the organic make it traceable?    How did that work?

Hawkeye #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This is the greatest comic ever written.  Period.  I could talk about getting to see Hawkeye's ass.  I could talk about the amazing gag of seeing the Hawkeye head covering Hawkeye's "head."  I could rave about the pitch-perfect comedic delivery .  I could discuss how impressed I am that Fraction has actually managed to create a voice for Hawkeye in just three issues and that his voice is so strong that I felt like I "heard" this issue more than I read it.  (I felt like Clint and Kate were in the room with me during their discussion in the car, particularly when he yelled, "Driiiive!!")  I could marvel at the characterization that makes you feel in your gut that Clint would absolutely not wait for duct tape, would absolutely offer to buy a car in cash off a hot girl, and then would absolutely sleep with her after completing the transaction.  I could talk about the beauty of the "return" of the boomerang arrow at the end.  But, it would be wrong.  By picking out the discrete moments of this issue that I enjoyed, I would undermine the beauty of the whole issue, where all these moments flow and fold into one another in a way that I can't possibly praise sufficiently.  It would be like such humming a few different bars of a symphony.  It would be wrong so I'm not going to do it.  Read the issue.  Issue of the year, decade, century, artform.  This is the greatest comic ever written.  Period.

New Avengers #31 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Have I mentioned how excited I am about Bendis leaving the Avengers?  If I haven't lately, let me just make it clear.  I am excited about Bendis leaving the Avengers.

This issue is basically everything I hate about Bendis.  First, as I mentioned in my review of "Avengers" #31, he once again shows that he just can't let an old plot stay dead.  In that issue, it was his decision to bring back a crazy Simon Williams in a way that made no sense, having him apologize for his previous attack on the Avengers despite the fact that his thesis that the Avengers do more harm than good got some significant evidence in the form of "Avengers vs. X-Men."  In this issue, we once again get an evil Victoria Hand.  Bendis has always found Hand to be a lot more interesting than she is.  If you had never read a comic previously and read his entire run on "New Avengers," I think that you'd come to the conclusion that Hand was the Rasputin of the Marvel Universe, subtly controlling every event in some way, shape, or form.  Here, Hand is the vehicle for some sort of multidimensional threat that seems pretty obviously to be Brother Voodoo.  To me, it seems to defy belief that some sort of magical entity would chose Hand as its vessel when it could've chosen someone like Captain Marvel in the first place, but then I remember that we're dealing with Bendis.  He seems constitutionally incapable of admitting that people don't like Hand as much as he does, so he's just going to keep trying to make us see her the way that he does.  It obviously doesn't work and this issue suffered, as usual, for it.

Moreover, everyone is jokey as ever, with the dialogue spoken by everyone but Luke Cage and Jessica Jones seeming to be completely interchangeable.  Captain Marvel's speech to Jessica Jones feels like it could've been delivered by pretty much anyone in the Mansion and the less said about the forced hilarity of Iron Fist's conversation with Dr. Strange the better.  Once upon a time, I might've found it funny, but, now, I'm just too tired of Bendis' schtick to care.

Basically, Bendis needs to go.  It's time.  It's actually past time.  He needs to go.

X-Factor #245 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Despite the fact that we all knew that Alex was leaving to head the Avengers/X-Men team formed in "Uncanny Avengers" #1, David makes it feel organic here, like the decision to leave came first and the decision to lead came second.

I forget sometimes that David wrote the first era of this team, way back when, since it seems so unbelievable that he's been writing it for so long.  But, when you read what he does with Alex and Lorna here, you remember how well he knows the characters and how Alex and Polaris never seem to have as much of personalities as they do when David writes them.  I think it's particularly true of Lorna.  She's often portrayed as a completely insane harpy, whereas David has always portrayed her as a level-headed woman who occasionally has problems that she finds overwhelming to handle.  (I mean, Magneto is her father and she killed her parents by accident when she was a child.  You tell me you'd handle those revelations well.)  She gives a lovely speech here about how she likes the people in X-Factor because they're not about being mutants all the time.  Lorna has always seemed more or less ambivalent about her power, like she'd be willing to give up the whole X-Men business if she felt like she could really manage it (or, at least, convince Alex that he could).  As such, it makes sense that she'd be more comfortable on a team that focused on something other than fighting for mutant rights all the time.

In fact, Alex is the one lost in the wake of "Avengers vs. X-Men" and David makes it clear that he's really struggling to understand this brave new world.  As I mentioned in my "Uncanny X-Men" review, he is really the only X-Men leader left standing and he seems to be feeling that pressure here, unsure what to do now that no one is telling him what to do.  It's actually why I'm so excited to see him lead the Avengers squad, since, as David underlines here, it does give him an opportunity to define himself as something more than an X-Man or Scott Summers' brother.  In fact, David is giving both Alex and Lorna the chance to define themselves as something more than what they've been, in particular, something more than just a shadow of the Scott/Jean couple.  It's going to be exciting to watch them do just that.

Looking forward, it seems that our new team is going to be Madrox, Layla, Longshot, Lorna, M, Rictor, and Shatterstar.  I have to say that I would definitely be happy to run into that crew at a bar somewhere (except M, who I'm resigned as someone that I have to accept to get the others).  Although "Breaking Points" hasn't been flawless in its execution, David has done what he wanted to do, paring down the team and starting us on a new road.  Exciting stuff, particularly in the hands of someone as talented as Peter David.

Uncanny X-Men #20 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Kieron Gillen brings "Uncanny X-Men" to a close (again), focusing on the members of the Extinction Team who we haven't seen since the end of "Avengers vs. X-Men," namely Colossus, Danger, and Magik.

Honestly, I've thought the Danger/Unit story has been completely uninteresting since it began, so I normally wouldn't even discuss it in any detail here.  However, it's worth mentioning in connection with the Colossus/Magik storyline, because Gillen is forced to wrap up both ongoing sub-plots this issue as we transition to the the era after "Avengers vs. X-Men."  Impressively, he manages to do so without making either resolution feel rushed.  Unit's decision to leave makes sense, since he previously made it clear that he was just spending time on Earth to see how everything went with the Phoenix Force.  With Phoenix gone, he can now leave.  In terms of Colossus and Magik, we learn that Magik has always had the power to break Cyttorak's hold on Colossus and does so here.  This revelation may feel deus ex manchinay, but it does actually fit with the way that she's been portrayed since "Avengers vs. X-Men" started, essentially as someone who's finally been driven insane by years of demonic possession and age fluctuations.  As we saw hinted elsewhere (I can't remember the issue, maybe the last one), she reiterates that she wanted Colossus to experience his time as Juggernaut so that he could understand the darkness that drives her and convince him that she doesn't deserve his love.  She seems to accomplish her task, as Colossus tells her that he'll kill her the next time that he sees her.

The third story covered in this issue is Mr. Sinister revealing that he used his powers to replace Kate Kildare and posed as her to gain access to Cyclops in prison.  The death of Kate is accepted with a chillingly matter-of-fact approach by Cyclops and it's hard not to notice how similar he is in tone to Sinister here.  Sinister seems to imply that he'll be Scott's inspiration to leave prison since, in his words, no one else could stop him.  It's an interesting moment, if only because it's the first one to focus on the idea that Cyclops is one day going to leave prison.  For now, the various authors have gone to significant lengths to make it seem like we really are going to see Cyclops imprisoned for a significant period of time.  Gillen reminds us here that said period of time is likely to be a lot shorter than we think.

AVX: Consequences #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is mostly dedicated to the conversation between Logan and Scott that we were promised last issue, with Logan trying to convince Scott that it's in the best interest of mutantkind for him to convince the wayward members of the Extinction Team to surrender to authorities.  As usual, I'm struggling to see Scott's side of the debate.  I certainly get his desire to be a martyr, but more because I think Logan's right that he simply wants to die.  Scott claims he wants to be a martyr, but never really explains why he would be one.  In fact, once again, Scott seems to get the question wrong.  He seems to think that he would be a martyr because he was "right" on the question of whether or not the Phoenix Force would reignite the human race.  But, everyone else knew that the question, the real question, wasn't a "yes" or "no" question.  The real question was whether it was worth risking the world to rekindle the mutant race, particularly since the end of the world would, obviously, result in the end of mutantkind, too.  It's still a question that Scott doesn't even bother acknowledging, even though he himself came close to answering it by becoming Dark Phoenix.  For him, it was all about rekindling mutantkind.  At the end of the day, he saved the mutant race.  Period.

The amazing thing is that Scott still doesn't understand that it's more complicated than that.  When Logan tells him that the mutant race that he's rekindled is hated and feared even more than it used to be, Scott doesn't even blink.  (Heh.)  He doesn't understand the point that Logan is trying to make, that the Avengers and the X-Men have to do everything they can to allay the world's concerns over a rekindled mutant race lest every mutant finds himself hunted by Sentinels.  Gillen raises interesting imagery with that statement, making you wonder whether Hope rekindling the mutant race is going to lead to Bishop's future, but not because of the Six-Minute War that Hope causes in that timeline but because of the devastation that Scott caused in this timeline.  But, again, Scott is so far removed from reality that he sees the actual lives that the new mutants live as a secondary concern.  He's beyond caring about Professor X's dream, of addressing humans and mutants peacefully coexisting.  To his mind, he's saved mutantkind; how mutantkind lives is someone else's problem.

Gillen manages to convey this point of view in a way that you can tell that Scott has to tell himself these things to live with himself and it's the part of him that truly understands the damage that he's inflicted on mutantkind that wants to be killed.  He's left a broken, lonely man hoping someone will end his misery.  It's a stark change from what he was and I wonder where we're going to find him at the end of this mini-series.  For anyone not reading this series, I would actually really recommend it, because I feel like it is addressing a lot of the questions about Scott's perspective that I know a lot of us had at the end of "Avengers vs. X-Men."

Avengers #31 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I can't tell if my disappointment with this issue has to do with the plot or if I'm just so damned tired with the way that Bendis sets up stories that I just can't do it anymore.

Bendis drops us in medias res as some woman on a speeder bike in a "Dune" setting escapes some dudes on speeder bikes.  One of the dudes manages to destroy her bike and attacks her, but she defeats him, making her way on foot to her destination, a city in the distance.  Meanwhile, at Avengers Towers, the Avenger are enjoying a break after the events of "Avengers vs. X-Men" when Cap is surprised by a visit from Simon Williams.  Simon apologizes to Cap for the Revengers, telling him that he feels like he's in the middle of a nervous breakdown.  Cap offers to help him, but, before Simon can accept the offer, the Rulk attacks.  Simon makes quick work of him, announcing to no one in particular that he knew it wouldn't be easy and pledging to make amends.  He then disappears.  In "Dune" land, the woman has arrived in the city and convinces someone to transmit a signal using an Avengers membership card, a signal that eventually wakes up Tony from his nap.  Tony assembles the Avengers to inform them that the signal came from inner space and the scene ends before we learn who transmitted it.

As usual with Bendis, this issue shows the hint of promise for the rest of the arc, but I'm not convinced that it's going to fulfill that promise.  The best parts of this issue involve the mysterious woman.  I'm guessing that she might by Yellowjacket, a.k.a. Rita DeMara, since she was resurrected after "Chaos War" and it would make sense that she would somehow find herself stranded in inner space.  The worst parts of this issue involved Wonder Man.  I never bought the Revengers storyline, and I don't know why Bendis insists on returning to this subject.  Throughout his run, Bendis just seems to have these moments where he refuses to let a plot die, no matter how much it should die.  I mean, why bring in Wonder Man now to apologize?  Didn't Cyclops just prove him correct?  Couldn't you argue that the Avengers and the X-Men did make matters worse, just by their mere presence?  I'm not saying I personally would argue that, but I think someone like Simon could make a pretty compelling argument to that effect.  Why have him apologize now then?

Looking at the issue on the whole, the inner-space sub-plot doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Simon Williams sub-plot.  How Bendis marries these two sub-plots is obviously going to determine how this arc goes.  I'm trying to optimistic.  I am.  Really.

Avenging Spider-Man #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I...am not a fan of this issue.  I found that Wells went a little too far in trying to make Aunt May interesting and wound up leaving her almost unrecognizable.  I mean, I like an Aunt May who isn't just a frail oldster.  But, Wells almost gives us the return of Evil May here.  I kept expecting Mr. Negative to be lurking in the background somewhere, cackling evilly.

It's hard to put my finger on the overreach exactly, but I think it's the fact that May is way too sharp with Peter here, sharper than she's ever been.  She's incredibly dismissive of his pain, both as a child and as an adult.  It's made all the worse by the implication that she knows that he's Spider-Man.  I once read something by a former Spidey author or editor (maybe Wacker) where he felt that Aunt May didn't realize that Peter was Spider-Man until the early 200s.  Before that, she was so incredibly negative about Spider-Man that it would''ve been extremely cruel for her to subject Peter to that ongoing criticism while he was trying to save the world (or at least Queens).  She was easier about Spider-Man after the early 200s, implying that she had realized that it was Peter.  I feel like that logic applies here.  If she knew that Peter was Spider-Man, then maybe she shouldn't be so dismissive of his belief that he was responsible for Uncle Ben's death.  It would at least raise the possibility that she didn't know the whole story and that maybe she should let Peter tell her.  By refusing to do anything of the sort, she seems to be happy to let Peter wallow in his pain, which isn't exactly the Aunt May I know and love.  I'm not saying she has to be only supportive all the time.  Slott did great work with her in "Amazing Spider-Man" after Peter got exposed as doctoring photos, telling him that he had to take responsibility for his actions and keep going.  Wells does successfully invoke that aspect of May here, where she tells Peter in the days after Ben's death that he has to get out of bed and face the world.  I recognized that Aunt May.  But, the Aunt May who laughs at Peter's attempts to honor his uncle and dismisses his assertion that he was responsible for Ben's death without even asking why he feels that way isn't the Aunt May I know and love.

Ben also gets a remake here, being revealed not to be the unfailingly supportive uncle we knew him to be but a frustrated jock trying constantly to push sports on nerdy Peter.  The less said about that revelation, the better.

After Jay's chat with Peter in "Amazing Spider-Man" #692, I had expected some sort of heart-to-heart with Aunt May that raised the possibility of them having a veiled discussion of him being Spider-Man.  But, I didn't expect it to also raise the possibility that Aunt May is a mean old bat.  I think I'm just going to mentally delete this issue from my memory and keep my view of May as provider of unquestionable support and excellent wheatcakes.

Venom #23 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Cullen Bunn begins his solo run on this series and it's mostly a mixed bag.  And, by mixed bag, I'm being nice because he's new.

I thought the issue started off well, once you got past the overly long recap sequence that this series seems fond of doing almost every issue.  Bunn almost immediately delivers a pretty funny scene where Flash meets with a tabloid reporter to get some background information on the Department of Occult Armaments, a "secret Nazi occult weapons division."  The reporter is sharp-tongued, quick-witted, and super-hot, characteristics that result in Flash remarking, "She scares the Hell out of me."  Bunn plays up Flash's intimidation to great comedic effect, giving us a side of Flash that we haven't really seen in this title yet.  Although I wasn't really sure why the Secret Avengers had no better source on the DAO than a tabloid reporter, I was willing to overlook it since we at least got some good dialogue.  Unfortunately, everything more or less goes downhill from there.

First, although Hawkeye ominously warns Flash that he's "only" on a reconnaissance mission at the start of this issue, we never really learn why the Secret Avengers have decided to start watching the DAO.  Second, Flash completely disregards these instructions, despite knowing that he's on thin ice with Hawkeye in the first place after his revelations last issue.  Flash seems to have a good reason to dive into the DAO's headquarters headfirst, given that he heard "what sounds like screaming babies."  I mean, it's hard to argue with screaming babies.  But, it's also screaming babies in the headquarters of a "secret Nazi occult weapons division," so you think that even Flash would've found a way to request back-up assistance before diving into the fray guns ablazin'.  He claims that his signal died the minute he entered the building, but it seems like he could've prettily easily just exited the building, requested immediate help, and then re-entered to help the aforementioned screaming babies.  I thought Flash coming clean with the Secret Avengers last issue was a sign of his maturity, that he was going to stop believing that he could (or had to) do everything by himself all the time.  But, apparently, it was just an uncharacteristic moment of self-awareness and we've regressed to the mean, with him blundering into a situation without asking for assistance, despite how easy it would've been to get said assistance.  Finally, we get a completely bizarre sequences where we learn that Damion Hellstrom is apparently running the DAO, a revelation that makes Flash realize (a little too late) that he needed the aforementioned backup assistance.

It's Flash's fight with Hellstrom where I really thought Bunn lost control over the issue's narrative.  Rather than using this fight sequence to reveal why the Secret Avengers care about the DAO, Bunn somewhat oddly turns it into a grudge match between Flash and Hellstrom, with Flash chastising Hellstrom for turning on his former allies and going all evil.  Given that they were only "teammates" for a short time during the "Circle of Four" arc, Flash seems WAY too emotionally involved here.  (Plus, it seems a little unrealistic that Flash would be so surprised that the Son of Stan went evil.)  To make matters worse, Bunn tries to pin Flash's angry reaction to Hellstrom on his apparent fear that he's just like Hellstrom because he's a killer.  It's a stretch, because it seems a long way to go from Flash feeling justified to kill bad guys on occasion given his soldier sensibilities and, you know, worry that he's in the same league of evil as the son of Satan.  But, even if Flash did worry about it, why would it make him mad at Hellstrom for changing sides?  Is he afraid he's going to change sides?  Equally bizarrely, Hellstrom then decides to prove this point by forcing Flash to embrace the more violent side of Venom.  But, it doesn't really prove his point, since, after all, Hellstrom had to force Flash into it.  If Flash really were a monster, he wouldn't need Hellstrom to push him as hard as he does here to get him to reveal it.

In the end, I think that it's pretty clear that I''m just not sure where Bunn was going here.  We started the issue seemingly returning to the days of Flash going on covert missions but ended it yet again talking about Flash's tortured soul.  We get it.  In fact, we just spent the better part of the last 22 issues exploring it.  Crappy things happened to Flash.  We KNOW.  Can we please see him even attempt to move past it?  I think, at this point, this series needs to shoot more for "Captain America" and less for "General Hospital."

Amazing Spider-Man #692 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

**** (four of five stars)

Favorite Quote:  "One scientific mishap, and hours later I'm sewing a costume.  Deja didly vu."  -- Peter

Summary
An omniscient narrator introduces us to Andy Magurie, a student at good ol' Midtown High.  But, unlike Peter Parker, Andy doesn't have much going in his favor.  His parents aren't all that engaged in his life, with the narrator describing his mom as "not the most hands-on parent" and his dad as "not much better."  Life isn't much better at school, where he's a straight-C student with lousy SAT scores and no extracurricular activities.  He's also a social outcast, pining for a cute (in a "nerdy/Asian/Tina Fey kinda way") girl named Chrissy and marveling at how a new guy at school, Mark Hunsacker, is already dating the head cheerleader.  As we learn from the narrator, Andy has never really done anything to improve his lot in life, since doing so would require more effort than he's willing to expend.  But, in a rare moment of decisiveness, he forges his dad's signature on a permission slip that he forgot to sign so that he can go to a science demonstration at Horizon Labs.  (Dun dun dun!)

At Horizon, Peter is set to reveal his "Parker particles," a "hyper-kinetic form of energy tied into the forces of universal expansion itself."  Watching from the sidelines, Tiberius Stone comments about the fact that they're making the revelation in front of high-school students and Max Modell responds by noting that Horizon could use the good publicity after the Dr. Morbius and Lizard incidents.  Stone observes that a spot has opened in the think tank (thanks to Morbius' departure), but Max tells him that he's not ready to chose him this time.  Stone says that he gets the message "loud and clear" and secretly disengages the safety systems on Pete's invention.  As such, the device goes wild.  Peter bounces around the room to save the students, cursing himself for wanting to "[show] off to all the young Flash Thompsons and Liz Allans of the world."  Just as Chrissy is set to be hit by a blast, Andy saves her, taking the blast on himself.  Chrissy asks "Randy" if he's OK but suddenly part of the device begins to fall on them.  Andy suddenly displays an energy-projection power and destroys the falling device, saving himself and Chrissy.

Hours later, Andy's parents and their lawyer are berating Horizon for the accident and Max notes that he's called in the world's "top super-human specialists" to examine Andy.  Pete is joined by the Beast, Hank Pym, Iron Man, and Mr. Fantastic and they begin the examinations.  Iron Man notes that the energy source has permeated every cell of Andy's body and that he should be able to discharge it in "standard superhuman ways."  They confirm that he has several abilities, namely energy projection, strength augmentation, super speed, force field, and flight.  However, the Beast notes that he can only manifest one power at a time. Mr. Fantastic pulls Pete aside, telling him that Andy's power is tied to the Universe itself.  As such, it'll grow with the Universe, "without limit."  He calls Andy an "alpha-level threat."  Pete laments inventing Parker particles and Mr. Fantastic tells him that he didn't invent them, that he did so years earlier but knew that "there are some genies you don't let out of the bottle."  He tells Peter that Andy is his responsibility to train, observing that someone of his power needs one-on-one attention, more than Avengers Academy can provide at this time.  Mr. Fantastic talks to Max, who proposes that Andy becomes Horizon Labs' "spokes-super-hero," Alpha.  Andy's parents accept the offer, since it's more than they'd likely get in a settlement.  Max tells Pete that he'll be overseeing the "Alpha Project," designing his gear and working with him like he does Spider-Man.  Later that night, Pete rues this turn of events as he finds himself sewing another costume after a scientific mishap.

Later, Alpha debuts on a TV commercial advertising Horizon's "aPhone."  (It's "Alpha-fast!  and Alpha-tough!")  Off-camera, Andy's dad tells their lawyer that they want part of the sales, since it'll be the best-selling product of the quarter, and Andy's mom criticizes him for only now taking an interest in Andy.  Monday at school, Andy is welcomed by a huge crowd of students cheering for him.  He's greeted by Chrissy (and Hunsacker noting that Chrissy is crazy because she could've been a superhero had Andy not shoved her aside).  Andy invites Chrissy to come to his "secret lair" that night to see the new Alpha t-shirts (she's wearing the only one on the market) and then "accidentally" bumps into Hunsacker, sending him flying.  Spidey, meanwhile, observes Andy from the rooftop.  Later that night, Pete has dinner with Aunt May, JJJ, Sr., and MJ.  He's distracted and he apologizes when he doesn't hear Aunt May telling him that she was sorry for not being in town for his big presentation.  He tells her that he's glad that they weren't because it was a disaster.  Aunt May expresses concern for his job, given how much he loves it and talks about it, and Pete acknowledges that he talks about it too much.  He then changes the subject and tells them that MJ now runs a nightclub.  At the end of the evening, JJJ, Sr. pulls Pete aside telling him that Aunt May is worried about him.  He chastises Pete for not calling after the world almost ended a few weeks earlier.  When Pete tells him that he was "busy," JJJ, Sr. scolds him, telling him to find time and be responsible.  The two leave (wondering if Pete and MJ are back together) and MJ asks Pete wants wrong.  Pete explains about Alpha, telling MJ what a jerk he is, and MJ tells him that he can't stand Alpha because he's doing everything Pete wanted to do when he got his powers.

Elsewhere, Andy is getting to first base with Chrissy, who interrupts to show him the Alpha fan page she developed.  However, when Andy sees all sorts of comments on the site about him being a poser, he departs, announcing that he's going on patrol to show them what a real hero can do.  He's intercepted by Spidey, who tells him that "Mr. Fantastic and the rest of the Spandex Brigade" have decided that he needs to be enrolled in the "Sidekick Program."  He informs him that he may one day have the greatest power of all the superheroes, but he has to learn that he also has the greatest responsibility.  He then teaches him basic rules:  saving lives always come first, regular punches for regular crooks, super-punches for super-villains, etc.  Spidey then gets a call from the Fantastic Four and tells Andy to stay put because he's not ready to fight that level of a fight yet.  Arriving on the scene, Pete finds the FF fighting Giganto, who apparently wants to mate, but, um, can't find a mate because he's the last of his kind.  However, before the team can take down Giganto, Alpha arrives, having decided that Spidey was just testing him.  After announcing, "Iiiiit's cloberrin' time!" Alpha takes down Giganto with one punch.  He then announces to the assembled crowd that he's the most powerful superhero of them all, that Mr. Fantastic and the Avengers think that he's ready for the big leagues, and that they gave him Spidey as his sidekick.  An enraged Ben tries to get at him for violating his trademark rights and Mr. Fantastic expresses disbelief that Spidey told him about how powerful he is.  Spidey contemplates the monster he created while, elsewhere, the Jackal watches the events from his lair and declares, "I gotta get me some a' that!"

The Review
If I had to suffer through the disappointing "No Turning Back" arc to get this issue, it was totally, totally worth it.  Slott delivers an ingenious twist by creating a Peter Parker for the Millennial set.  Slott is so sharp that it's hard to absorb the multiple layers of stories that he tells in this issue, let along review them.  But, I'll give it my best.

The Really Good
At the end of the day, the genius of this issue is Slott creating a new Peter Parker with a more modern sensibility.  I'm pretty sure that Alpha isn't going to last.  He's way too powerful to have rattling around the Marvel Universe.  We already have one Franklin Richards; we probably don't need a second one.  I'm assuming that some accident will happen that will remove Andy's powers just as quickly as the one that gave him his powers in the first place.  But, Andy actually isn't the point.  The point is that Slott is using Andy to reflect on Peter and whether Peter could exist today.  After all, Andy is everything that Peter wasn't, everything that everyone complains kids now at days are.  He's a lazy student, he's got uninterested parents, he's happily average.  As Slott says in his narration, "not failing is good enough." As such, he only starts to make something of himself when the power to do so is dropped into his lap.  He doesn't have to sacrifice anything to become special.  In that way, Slott makes it clear that he's already different from Pete, who, before becoming Spider-Man, strived to be an excellent student.  In fact, Pete confides to MJ that he finds Alpha annoying, because, as MJ notes, he's doing all the stuff that Pete wouldn't do when he first got his powers.  It's here where Slott is clearly setting up the parallel to Peter and exploring the myth of Spider-Man.  Peter realized that his powers weren't all fun and games when he failed to stop that robber and lost Uncle Ben as a result.  Slott makes it clear that Andy will probably face a similar predicament, though it's unclear which path he'll choose.  When faced with his own Uncle Ben, will Alpha rise to the occasion?  Peter already had a sense of responsibility when confronted with his failure to save Uncle Ben.  Alpha, not so much.  Will Andy realize that great powers brings with it great responsibility?  Or, will he continue to take the easier path?  It brings the myth into the modern era, making us ask the question if we still could produce a Spider-Man anymore.  Alpha may not be Peter; he might take advantage of his new powers to get some cheap thrills.  But, does the myth of Spider-Man hold true?  Does great power bring with it great responsibility?  Slott is really exploring that question here and I can't wait to see his answer.

The Good
1) I loved the tribute to Stan Lee's narration of the early issues of "Amazing Spider-Man."

2) One of the more interesting aspects of this issue is that Pete himself hasn't totally learned the "with great power comes great responsibility" lesson.  After all, he uses his genius to create something that he shouldn't have created, letting his need to prove himself to high-school bullies and superhero geniuses override his common sense.  Sure, Pete takes responsibility for his mistake, agreeing to take Alpha under his wing to guide him.  But, it's his ego that causes the mistake in the first place and reminds us that Pete hasn't quite gotten over his past, even if it happened 50 years ago.

3) Continuing on that theme, he actually disappoints TWO father figures in this issue, Mr. Fantastic and JJJ, Sr.  Talk about a rough go of it!  (Though, to be fair, I think JJJ, Sr. probably has a bit of nerve to lecture Pete about family, after he disappeared on his own family for all those years.  But, he still makes a valid point, so I'll go easy on him!)

4) I loved Andy saying "Pyoo!  Pyoo!  Pyoo!" every time that he used his energy-projection powers.  Hilarious.

5) MJ!  (Needless to say, I loved even the hint that MJ and Pete might be together.)

6) "Poochie.  What's a 'Poochie?'" A "Simpsons" reference in "Amazing Spider-Man?"  BEST.  ISSUE.  EVER.

7) I loved Spidey giving Andy a noogie.

The Unknown
1) Let's talk about Andy.  He's certainly not exactly the most likable character.  He's annoying and impulsive and selfish.  At this stage, Slott could go a few ways with him.  It all goes to his motivations.  Did he save Chrissy because he wanted to save her or because he wanted her to notice him?  Is he trying to be a superhero because he wants to be a superhero or because he thinks it would be cool to be an Avenger?  Slott is clearly leaving us in the dark at this point.  At some point, his character will be revealed.

2) I will say that the inclusion of the Jackal here seemed a bit superfluous.  I wonder what Slott has planned for him.  It'll be big, for sure.

The Bad
OK, I really don't believe that the "safeties" for the demonstration could've been disabled with a simple turn of a knob.  Seriously, it's this moment that prevented me from giving Slott a five for this issue, because it's so unbelievable.  Plus, did no one ask after the event why the safeties disengaged?  They couldn't tell that it happened manually, from right where Stone was standing?  Given that Max should also be suspicious that Stone was responsible for stealing the Spider-Sense Jammers, shouldn't he have both eyebrows fully raised at this point?

Amazing Spider-Man #691 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

* (one of five stars)

Favorite Quote:  [This space intentionally left empty.]

Summary
Spidey faces down the Horizon Lizards...only to discover them acting completely docilely.  Sajani informs him that humans and lizards aren't natural enemies, so it makes sense that they're not attacking.  Spidey hears gunshots and follows the sound to Carlie, who tells him that she had just fired some warning shots at the Horizon Lizards approaching her.  When Spidey tells her what Sajani said, Carlie wonders why then the Lizard has been trying to kill Spidey for years.  Spidey hypothesizes that it was Dr. Connors driving the aggression, just in time to spot "Dr. Connors" holding the Lizard Formula.  The Lizard exposits that he had decided not to revert to his Lizardform, but realizes that he now has no choice lest Spidey capture and imprison him.  He injects himself with the Formula and Spidey realizes that, when he completely resumes his Lizardform, he'll be able to control all the other Horizon Lizards.  He webs up the still-transforming "Dr. Connors" and makes a break for an exit, instructing Carlie to see if she can figure out a way to cure everyone.  Spidey uses the Lizard as a battering ram to bust through the security panels and suddenly finds himself confronting him at South Street Seaport.  The Lizard reveals a new form, one that he calls his final one, and attacks Spidey.

In Horizon, Carlie informs the non-Lizarded Horizon members that she has a copy of Dr. Connors' final formula; Sajani and Uatu agree to help reverse engineer an antidote.  Meanwhile, the Lizard begins attacking everyone around him, cursing humanity for its ability to feel, touch, taste, and enjoy things that he can't as a lizard.  He tells Spidey that he hates him most of all, throwing him into Horizon's outside wall.  Uatu appears in the hole that Spidey created and hands him one of Morbius' harpoons, filled with the cure as well as a sonic agitator, necessary to dissolve the metal once injected.  Spidey engages the Lizard, realizing that he has to inject the cure into his brain, something that could kill him.  With Madame Web watching, wondering if he will "forever cut another's skein from the great web of life," Spidey realizes that the Lizard will kill the people around him if Spidey doesn't stop him.  He decides that saving dozens is worth the risk, leading Madame Web to comment, "It's decided."  However, before he can attack, the Lizard attacks him.  Suddenly, the Lizard gets distracted when everyone around him appears as Billy or Martha and Spider-Man appears as Dr. Connors himself.  Spidey realizes that part of the Lizard wants him to use the antidote, since, by viewing Spidey as Dr. Connors, he's obscuring the fact that Spidey's holding the harpoon with the cure (since it's in the hand that the Lizard sees as Dr. Connors' missing arm).  Seeing his moment, Spidey injects the LIzard, who survives, telling Spidey that he failed, that he's "not human."  Spidey visits the Lizard later, expressing relief that he's alive, even though he claims that the men harbored at the Raft mean "nothing" to him.

At Horizon, Max brings Hector to his office, telling him that he needs to conduct a private investigation into who stole the Spider-Jammer schematics.  (Earlier, he had noted both Peter and Stone were absent during the brouhaha.)

The Review
I think I'm giving Dan Slott the worst review I've ever given him.  But, truthfully, the last two issues of the Lizard arc have just been an absolute mess.  I really got the sense that Slott phoned in this issue, half-heatedly presenting several interesting ideas but failing to connect the necessary dots to make them work.  I'd normally be a little more tolerant of that, but the problem is that the end result of this mess is Slott destroying the new Lizard, who was one of the more interesting characters to emerge from "Brand New Day."

The Unknown
1) We never really got a sense whether anyone realized Peter's identity, the threat that theoretically drove Spidey to Horizon in the first place (not that he knew that).  In fact, it's now unclear whether the revelation of Peter's identity was the "threat" that led Madame Web to suggest that he return to Horizon immediately or if it she was merely trying to create the scenario where he would have to face his decision whether to inject the Lizard with the harpoon.  So, either she had his best interests at heart and it resulted in an unfortunate side-event or she's really just fucking with him.  At any rate, I'm over Madame Web.  But, at some point, Slott has to address the identity issue.

2) I'm not really sure how we're supposed to view Spidey's mental health.  Slott was starting to set up the idea that Pete was losing his grip on reality.  But, here, he seems pretty in control, even if he's embraced a darker view of villains that he usually does.  Slott tries to pin it on his guilt over Silver Sable, with Spidey pondering why he would sacrifice Sable to save the world but wouldn't sacrifice the Lizard to save dozens.  But, Spidey knows Sable isn't dead; Madame Web told him that last issue.  Does he not believe Madame Web?  Or, is he still carrying around that guilt, regardless if she's alive?  I think Slott had to be a lot clearer on that point, since this whole new attitude towards villains seems to rely on it.  Of course, I'm not actually convinced that we're going to see this view persist, since I don't think Slott has a license to change Spidey into, say, Batman.  But, we'll see, I guess.

The Bad
1) Last issue, the Horizon Lizards were all clearly aggressive, ready to attack the Horizon humans.  Then, suddenly, this issue they become all docile.  Slott gives a totally bogus explanation, claiming that a switch in their behavior never really happened, since lizards aren't naturally aggressive against humans.  However, they were certainly portrayed as threatening last issue and not just asking people for belly rubs.  Annoying.

2) I don't buy the Lizard's sudden embrace of humanity.  OK, video games and flavored Doritos are great, but I don't know if they're so great that they would convince the Lizard to give up his reptilian self.  After all, the new Lizard (the one we've seen since "Shed") has essentially been a reptilian supremacist.  He spends one day as a human and he abandons that position?  I feel like Slott needed to do more work than just the somewhat goofy events of last issue to convince me that the Lizard really had a change of heart.

3) I also don't know if I buy Slott's depiction of the nature of the Dr. Connors/Lizard relationship.  Slott wants us to believe that the Lizard side of the duo was never the violent one.  Instead, we're supposed to believe that it was Dr. Connors' rage of the lost of his arm, wife, and then son that drove his aggression.  I'm not sure that I buy that assertion in no small part because Slott contradicts himself at the end, when we see Dr. Connors in control of the Lizard...and acting docile.  Clearly something intrinsic to the Lizard's reptilian pscyhe brought out aggression.  When the Lizard was in control of Dr. Connors, he was aggressive.  When Dr. Connors is in control of the Lizard, he's not.  That seems to directly refute the idea that Connors is the aggressive one.

4) I felt like Slott really overhyped this idea that Peter was somehow willing to kill the Lizard.  I get where he was going with it, since injecting the harpoon into the Lizard's brain clearly had the possibility of killing him.  Pete certainly acknowledges as much as he's contemplating doing so.  Sure, he goes to a dark place when he reasons that it was worth trying because, if the Lizard wound up dying, it wouldn't be any great loss to the world.  But, if he really thought that he should kill the Lizard, he could've just, you know, killed the Lizard.  Instead, he's still trying to save the Lizard, just acknowledging that the remedy might actually be lethal.  Again, it was one of the parts of this issue that I felt like Slott could've made it work if he had just put some more effort into it.

5) I don't understand why Morbius' cure would work on the Lizard in the sense that Dr. Connors has now regained control over the Lizard.  Morbius' antidote wasn't a psychotropic drug intended to stimulate a different part of the Lizard's brain; it was intended to address the physical transformation of Dr. Connors into the Lizard.  I don't see how the cure would return Dr. Connors to control, even if it was injected into the Lizard's brain.  Sure, Dr. Connors "disappeared" when he ate Billy; but, it was a psychotic break, not some sort of auto-immune response.  It's not like he was locked into a metaphoric cage and the antidote suddenly provided the needed key.

6) Am I supposed to believe that Max doesn't know exactly who stole the Spider-Jammer schematics?  After all, at some point he's going to realize that someone re-set the security system.  Given that he knows that Stone had access to the system, it seems pretty reasonable to believe that he's already come to that conclusion.  Am I supposed to believe that he's going to blame Peter?  Of course, it's hard to take this whole storyline seriously, because I still can't believe that Max would've just left them IN HIS DESK.

The Really Bad
Are you fucking kidding me with the Roderick Kingsley switch?  Phil Urich killing "Roderick Kingsley" was one of the most spectacularly unexpected twists in comics, giving Slott's entire run a certain inevitable energy from the start.  Undoing this event feels like a betrayal in a way, like everything we've read over Slott's run has been a lie.  I might be overstating the case, but it doesn't help that he presents this twist in the same issue that he turns the bad-ass new Lizard into the weak-willed old Lizard.  Both developments feel like a definite step in the wrong direction.

Uncanny Avengers #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is the third one this week to address the aftermath of "Avengers vs. X-Men," in addition to "Wolverine and the X-Men" #18 and "AVX:  Consequences" #1.  Whereas those two issues focus mostly on tying up loose ends and showing us where we are in the aftermath of the fight with Cyclops, this issue is the one that looks to the future, showing us the world that Marvel wants us to see.

Right off the bat, it's jarring to read an Avengers story written with such a gritty overtone.  After years of Bendis' faux hilarity, Remender's brutal realism is a welcome relief, bringing a seriousness to the topic that it deserves.  Not a single quip is uttered in this issue (other than Thor's lame latte joke).  How could one be?  After all, Logan delivers the eulogy for Charles Xavier, Alex accuses Scott of forgetting everything Professor X taught him before killing him, Rogue places blame for the Phoenix Five's actions squarely on the shoulders of the Scarlet Witch who responds by shoving the blame right in her face, and Cap tries to find a way to appease his guilt over failing to do more to help mutantkind.  Bendis would've played these interactions like a quick montage of bad dates in a poorly written romantic comedy.  Remdner, on the other hand, presents them in a way that you feel like they would've actually gone, full of awkward pauses and heated exchanges.  By the end of the issue, you see the world that Marvel does indeed want you to see:  both the Avengers and the X-Men are struggling to find their way in a changed and hostile world.

Of all the developments in this issue, I though that the new approach to Havok is the most revolutionary.  With all the people who have led the X-Men at some point, it seemed odd at first that Cap would ask Alex to lead a combined Avengers and X-Men team, one that would represent Professor X's dream of cooperation between human and mutant.  But, Remender really sells it, having Cap frame the decision in terms of putting forward someone that both the human and mutant publics could trust.  If you look at the former leaders left standing, Alex is the only one with a clean record.  Logan has a "checkered past," as Cap put it, Rogue is a former criminal, and Storm was part of the Extinction Team.  They're not exactly ready to sit on the couch next to Ellen.  Alex is the last man standing, essentially.  In that way, it's consistent with the way Alex has always approached his responsibilities, the reluctant leader who wonders why someone else can't do it for him.  Now, he really has no choice and I can't wait to see where Remender goes with that.

Moreover, Wanda also gets a reboot here as she moves past the events of M-Day.  I loved her rolling her eyes at Rogue and declaring that she was tired of the X-Men and their martyr complex.  Remender makes you really feel Wanda's exasperation with the X-Men trying to keep the focus on her rather than accept the blame that they deserve for the destruction that the Phoenix Five wrought.  Even if Wanda opened the door to Cyclops' actions with M-Day, Cyclops and the Phoenix Five clearly went beyond her in their response.  I'm not sure that I buy Rogue's assertion that Cyclops was merely trying to undo what Wanda did, but I do buy Rogue struggling with the realization that the X-Men are now viewed by the world at large as the bad guys.  Cyclops clearly wrecked havok when he set the world on fire and Namor destroyed the nation of Wakanda.  For the first time, humans have a reason to fear the X-Men, not simply as a team of mutants, but as agents of destruction themselves.  Rogue is looking for someone other than an X-Men to blame for that and Wanda makes it clear that she's no longer willing to take on that blame.  She accepts responsibility for M-Day; everything that came after it is on the X-Men.  I'm glad that Remender uses this moment to shift the blame off Wanda onto the X-Men.  It serves to underscore an important point:  the X-Men have always viewed themselves as victims of humankind and they are clearly struggling to adapt to a world where humankind was a victim of them.  You can almost feel Rogue struggling with her outdated talking points.

The decision to use the Red Skull as the first villain is a genius move, because it really blends the Avengers and the X-Men together.  It makes sense that a racist like the Red Skull would conveniently embrace mutantkind as a race to be exterminated, viewing the events of "Avengers vs. X-Men" as a declaration of war against humankind.  Of course, at some point, Remender is going to need to explain why he's not dead, but I trust that we'll get to that.  But, for the time being, the involvement of the Red Skull reminds us how much mutantkind has become Public Enemy #1 for some members of the human race and why it needs someone like Captain America vouching for it.  Taking an iconic villain like the Red Skull and moving him from Captain America's lane to the "Uncanny Avengers'" lane really helps focus your mind on the blending of the two sides.

For the first time in a long time, I'm actually excited to read a comic with "Avengers" in the title.  It's clear, from Wanda's comments to Rogue and Cap's offer to Havok, that Remender believes that it's time for the X-Men to put aside childish things and embrace their role in the outside world.  If they're going to convince the world that they're not a threat, they now need to be active in it.  I can't wait to see where it goes.

AVX: Consequences #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Kieron Gillen does exactly what he's supposed to do with this issue, showing us the aftermath of "Avengers vs. X-Men."  It's been unclear, for example, why Magneto was wanted by the authorities, but, here, Cap explains that the entire Extinction Team is wanted, to varying degrees.  The members of the Phoenix Five top the list of people that the government wants to see behind bars, but Danger and Magneto are wanted at least for questioning given their checkered pasts.  Cap makes it clear that the government needs someone to atone for the devastation that the Phoenix Five wrought, and Danger and Magneto are at least sufficiently guilty by association to require some sort of public reckoning.  Although Gillen doesn't explicitly state it, it seems clear that the other X-Men (including other members of the Extinction Team with less spotty previous records, like Psylocke and Storm) have largely been forgiven for their role in supporting Scott in the interest of focusing on the main culprits.

But, Gillen makes it clear that the threat to mutantkind is larger than just rounding up these folks.  Both Captain America and the prison warden mention the increased fear that people feel with the advent of new mutants, particularly with such a recent testimony to the violent nature of some mutants.  The X-Men are no longer the ones suffering at the hands of humans; humans have now suffered at the hands of the X-Men.  The government might only be hunting seven mutants specifically (if Danger can be considered a mutant), but it doesn't necessarily mean that it and the public believe that the others aren't also threats.  Cap clearly views the new Avengers team as a way to begin combatting those fears and it's been a while since those fears have been as front and center in the X-books as they seem to be now.  It's like the '80s all over again.  I think it makes sense, though, and actually backs up Marvel's assertion that "Avengers vs. X-Men" was going to shake up the status quo.

It's clear that Cap has some sort of plan for addressing this new status quo and Gillen leaves you wanting to know more about it.  Presumably, we're going to see Wolverine ask Cyclops to do something to further that plan next issue and I can't wait to see that conversation.  All in all, Gillen makes this issue a must-read for anyone who really enjoyed "Avengers vs. X-Men."

Wolverine and the X-Men #18 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, I'm trying to get past my hatred of the kiddie Hellfire Club, since it appears that Aaron can't go half an issue without bringing them into play somehow.  The problem is that he doesn't make it easy, since he insists on using them to introduce events that seem completely unrealistic.

The main focus of this series for a while has been characters acting oddly, though we're never actually been given reasons for this abnormal behavior.  This issue provides two examples of the problem.  First, we learn that the kiddie Hellfire Club has created a robot to act as a local pastor in order to get Idie to embrace her dark side.  Although this concept could be intriguing, Aaron fails to make it anything other than confusing.  He never explains what the kiddies would gain from forcing Idie to act rebelliously, other than causing some temporary problems at the school.  But, most importantly, he doesn't just have Idie act rebelliously; she actually seems to be exhibiting signs of telepathic manipulation.  For example, "realizing" that she was going to go to Hell "thanks" to the pastor wouldn't really be sufficient reason for her to start laughing maniacally in class while observing a fight between Glob Herman and Quentin Quire.  This moment doesn't have anything to do with Idie embracing her "bad" side; it's really just Idie acting oddly.  As such, since I'm pretty sure the robot couldn't exert telepathic control over Idie, it requires some other explanation, one that Aaron doesn't provide.  Second, Paige also seems to be losing her mind in this issue and, once again, we're not really given a reason that makes sense.  She also seems to be being telepathically manipulated, given her spacy stares and sudden rages.  But, once again, we're told that it has something to do with something else, namely her power fluctuations; however we've never really been told why her powers have been fluctuating in the first place.  Given that everyone seems to know that they're fluctuating, you'd think that Beast would've run a few tests by this point.  At any rate, I'm left hoping that Aaron is building a plot that will eventually reveal that someone has actually been telepathically manipulating the faculty and students at the School behind the scenes, since at least these sub-plots would make sense.  As it stands now, it all just seems incredibly random.

The only part of this issue that felt organic was Broo's sub-plot.  His heatbreak over Idie dancing with Quentin was palpable and his death at the end of the issue is something I'm really hoping against hope doesn't stick.  Broo has been the highlight of this series for me, mostly because he's been the only character whose motivations have felt real and relatable.  If we lose him, it'll not only be sad to see such a genuine character killed at such a low moment, with such disappointment in his heart, but it will also make it hard for me to justify continuing to get this series.  Since most of the plots and sub-plots have felt as disjointed as the Idie and Paige ones described above, the loss of the consistently great Broo moments will render this book almost unreadable, I fear, particularly if Aaron is going to continue to insist on using the kiddie Hellfire Club as his catch-all villains.

Captain America #18 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Brubaker continues to wrap up his time on "Captain America" with this issue, bringing to a close Cap's ongoing battle with Codename Brave and Queen Hydra.  The problem, however, is that it's hard not to feel like we've already read this issue a dozen times already.

Brubaker covers very little new ground in this concluding arc when it comes to Bravo and Hydra.  They yet again use madbombs and mind-control to induce fear in the population and Steve is yet again left questioning his beliefs as he confronts how easily Americans are pushed to mistrust and violence.  Rinse, repeat.  The only innovation in this arc has been the Discordians, but Brubaker has never really developed them as a concept, making them feel like afterthoughts.  I'm still not sure exactly what their deal is, other than the fact that they seem to die pretty quickly.  (In fact, on the cover, proving their irrelevance they're replaced by HYDRA agents.)  In the end, Cap's final battle with Bravo and Hydra seriously disappoints.  First, Hydra inexplicably goes insane when she realizes that the madbombs were disabled and randomly opens fire on Cap and Bravo, taking down Bravo in the process.  (So, Cap doesn't even get to take down Bravo himself.  Thrilling.)  Then, Cap disarms her with his shield and she appears to have some sort of violent spasm that causes her to fly across the room into the monitor screen, since she doesn't seem to be standing close enough to the screen to have been thrown into it the way that she's depicted as doing here.  Oddly, we learn in the epilogue that Bravo apparently shakes off getting shot repeatedly, but Hydra's tussle with the monitor has left her in a coma.

With Bravo, Hydra, and Zemo safely behind bars, Brubaker turns to the last remaining issue, the distance between Cap and Sharon.  Sharon has been worried about Steve throughout this arc and their relationship took a hit after Sharon shot D-Man.  But, Brubaker somewhat oddly just has Steve kiss Sharon and tell her that they're fine.  It almost feels like Brubaker just found himself without enough time to address their relationship and he didn't want to end his run with any ambiguity.  He normally doesn't avoid putting his characters in situations where they have to engage in actual conversation, so I'm disappointed that we don't get to see Sharon and Steve talk out their problems.  Instead, Brubaker just waves his magic wand here and we're all just supposed to feel warm and fuzzy.

Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled with this arc.  Given the recycled plots and the recent lack of any sort of emotional development, it's pretty clear that Brubaker is tired.  It's time for him to bring the same insight and energy to a character that he originally brought to this one.  Even with my disappointment over this series, I still trust him to give us a good show next issue.  Fingers crossed.

Secret Avengers #32 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, the "Black Ant?"  It could've been hokey.  Instead?  It was totally bad-ass.  Remender has been building the tension surrounding Ant-Man for months and, when it finally comes to a head in this issue, Scalera really delivers.  The new costume is awesome; you actually believe that someone named the "Black Ant" could give the Secret Avengers a run for their money.  When Scalera makes the reveal on the last page, it's like watching someone start the final countdown for a time bomb. Of course, it all comes from the work Remender has done in building up the moment, with him finally laying the cards on the table.  Of course, it's Natasha that deduces that Ant-Man wasn't protected from the Abyss because of his helmet, but because he's an LMD.  But, it's also an exhausted Hawkeye who refuses to believe it, a mistake that seems likely to compound the guilt that he'll feel when he realizes that Eric died on his watch.  Remender plays these two characters off each other in a way that feels organic, taking the opportunity to do some character work.  Since the start of this series, no author has done a great job of showing this team as an actual team, and Remender goes a long way to addressing that problem with these scenes.

Looking ahead, it seems likely that we're going to finally get to the bottom of the Father's plans for the Descendants and the world.  To my mind, the Descendants have mostly been a failed opportunity; it was a cool idea, but I've never felt like Remender has focused enough attention on it to allow them to realize its potential.  It's just felt distracted, like he was more focused on the "shark v. bear" nature of putting all these villains on the same "team" rather than the story he actually wanted to use them to tell.  But, the imminent betrayal of Black Ant might be the focal point that he needs to get us to understand the Descendants and their goals.  I'm excited to see where he goes with it and how it'll affect the team after the dust settles.  At the very least, I hope that Eric eventually gets the praise he deserves.  By having him "return," it hasn't really allowed us to mourn him, particularly given the heroic yet sad way that we now know that he died.  He deserves his moment once Black Ant is defeated and the Secret Avengers realize that they've lost him.

Finally, I actually like what Remender does here with Valkyrie and Venom.  Venom not only gets the win, but he also gets the girl.  After "Venom" #22, it's nice to see him get something positive in his life.  I also think that Remender is onto something with Flash.  I think that he could use a relationship more focused on sex than emotions.  Maybe trying to maintain a relationship with someone you think is your soulmate like Betty was a little too much pressure for a guy who's also trying to figure out how you be a superhero.

Scarlet Spider #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

*** (three of five stars)

Favorite Quote #1:  "I need to handle this delicately."  [Throws Shooting Star out the window.]  "My name is Kaine.  And this is as delicate as I get." -- Kaine

Favorite Quote #2:  "You guys, you call yourself the Rangers...super heroes, right?"  "Yep."  "Good.  This one's all yours."  -- Kaine to Twister, showing a healthy sense of self-preservation

Summary
Shortly after the explosion on the Roxxon drilling rig off Galveston, CEO Walsh arrives to look into the incident.  He's informed that the magnetic field that was supposed to contain "it" failed but "it" wound up being contained within one of the workers.

In the present, at Roxxon Towers, Kaine assesses the threat posed by the Rangers, dismissing Firebird as "self-righteous," Living Lightning as inexperienced, and Texas Twister as arrogant.  (He is apprehensive of Fifty-One, who he notes "looks pissed.")  Two other members of the team are revealed to be standing behind Kaine, in the form of Shooting Star, a sharp shooter, and Red Wolf.  Star tells him to put his hands behind his head and Kaine realizes that he needs to escape.  He grabs Star and throws her out the window, into Twister's arms.  The Rangers, not surprisingly, attack and Kaine manges to evade Red Wold, Living Lightning, and Firebird before grabbing Zoe and jumping out the window.  He dodges Star's "bullets" but gets cornered by Fifty-One and Firebird.  Fifty-One starts to attack him telepathically and Kaine throws Zoe at him before he loses consciousness, entering a free fall.  He then proceeds to lose consciousness but manages to pull himself together, grabbing Zoe with a Web-Line and pulling her towards him.  Firebird goes after them but discovers that they're gone; in reality, they're hiding around the corner, thanks to Kaine's Stealth Suit.

Later, in his office, Walsh accuses Kaine of "trespassing, assault, corporate espionage," charges that Office Layton finds difficult to beleive given how helpful Kaine has been.  Walsh notes that Roxxon has been helpful to the city as well.  Twister observes that a "hero" like Kaine breaking into Roxxon might've had a reason, commenting that Roxxon might provide jobs but no one thinks that it's on "the side of angels."  An exasperated Walsh reminds them that Kaine kidnapped his daughter.  At Minute Maid Park, Kaine speaks to said daughter.  Zoe tells him that she didn't feel like she could go to the police with her suspicions about Roxxon, since it "owns the police," so she fired the rocket instead.  Kaine agrees to accompany her to Galveston to get the full story and steals a motorcycle to get there. Forty-five minutes later, Red Wolf has tracked down Kaine's scent to the Park.  Twister notes that the police think that Kaine is the answer to its prayers, and, when Star exclaims that Kaine threw her out the window, Twister comments that he threw her right at him.  Twister also notes that just because no one's been able to prove Roxxon's bad doesn't meant that it isn't.  Fifty-One "comments" that the Walsh girl is the priority and Firebird agrees, though says that she senses a "darkness" in Kaine.  Living Lightning suddenly appears, informing the team that an alarm just sounded at a facility in Galveston.  At Roxxon, Walsh boards a helicopter, informing his staff to "engage the mechsuits."  When one of his staff members protests, expressing concern over his daughter, Walsh cautions that he doesn't understand what's on the line, saying that he'd kill his daughter, the Rangers, and the Devil himself if they get in the way.

At a refinery in Galveston, Zoe leads Kaine into a huge empty room, expressing shock that it's empty, saying that "there was supposed to be bodies or something."  Kaine panics, worrying that he just made enemies of the police and the Rangers after trusting Zoe, screwing up his shot at a second chance.  The Rangers arrive and make short work of him, with Kaine realizing that dismissing the Rangers for being arrogant, inexperienced, and self-righteous was ridiculous, given that those words all describe him.  Kaine cloaks himself with his suit, but Fifty-One suddenly launches an energy bolt, collapsing the floor.  Kaine and the Rangers fall into the lab below the floor, discovering the bodies of indigenous Central Americans.  Red Wolf says that he hears screaming, and Twister apologizes to Kaine, telling his team that he wants to capture the escaping lab workers.  Kaine says that Red Wolf is right, that something else is happening somewhere, and the group follows the lab workers.  One of the workers tells them that the bodies can't contain "it" any more and suddenly a creature of energy appears, with its human host embedded in its body.

The Review
Yost brings us the next step in Kaine's evolution as a superhero, giving him his first superhero team-up and his first larger-than-life villain.  In so doing, Yost takes the opportunity to give Kaine the chance to reflect on his inexperience and his self-perceptions.  I was tempted to give the issue a four, but Yost is starting to have the Slott problem, where I expect more from him for a four than I do other authors.  It's not a bad place to be.

The Good
1) I like that Yost starts off the issue making it clear that Walsh knew exactly what Roxxon was doing at the rig off Galveston.  Last issue, it wasn't clear whether Roxxon knew that it was drilling for something other than oil; it could have just been ignoring the warnings of the employee who told the management that the pressure was too high to be oil.  But, here, we see that Walsh certainly knew that it wasn't oil.  We still don't know what the entity is, exactly, but it's clear that Walsh does, seriously upping his bad-guy street cred.

2) I don't know anything about the Rangers, but they seem like a really solid team, with a good mix of personalities.  I hope we see more of them.

3) Speaking of the Rangers, I particularly likes that Yost controlled his use of the "superheroes have a misunderstanding" device.  It's pretty clear from the start that the Rangers don't trust Roxxon or Walsh and don't all automatically assume that Kaine is a bad guy simply because Roxxon and Walsh say that he is.  Twister, in particular, is portrayed as a level-headed guy, realizing that Kaine might've had entirely valid reasons for breaking into Roxxon.  I particularly liked that he noticed that Kaine didn't just throw Star out the window, but threw her straight at him.  It was definitely a refreshing take on an old device.

4) Yost is really starting to move Kaine into a more advanced phase of superhero-dom.  Previously, he's mostly been saving people from muggers, robbers, etc.  Here, though, he has to take on a whole team of superheroes, and Yost uses his initial skirmish with the Rangers to show how overconfident Kaine had become.  When Kaine then gets his ass handed to him in their second fight, Yost makes him realize that the adjectives that he had used to describe the Rangers actually describe him.  It's a great device that really sells the epiphany that it provokes.  (Then again, I'm a sucker for parallelism.)  But, beyond realizing his own inexperience in combat, Kaine also confronts his inexperience as a detective, realizing that everything isn't as black and white as he thought that it was.  When he walks into the empty room with Zoe, Kaine suddenly wonders why he trusted her in the first place.  I mean, we eventually see that he was right in trusting her in the end, but I think that Yost does a great job showing him that he has to be more cautious, particularly with his second chance at life on the line.  In doing so, Yost also makes us see how much Kaine is coming to appreciate that chance to live a real life and not a nomadic one.  It's another step in Kaine's development as a character and it's exciting to watch.

The Unknown
At some point, Yost is going to have to spell out how Zoe knew about the bodies.  I'm worried that he's just going to have us believe that Zoe overheard it at the dinner table or something, as she seems to imply here.  If that's the case, it'll be disappointing, since I'm pretty sure that Walsh isn't that careless.  (Also, it would be nice to know what exactly she thought she was going to accomplish by firing a rocket at Roxxon.  Did she think it would just attract more attention to it?  Or, is she just really that crazy?)

The Bad
1) I had this problem during "Brand New Day" with Vin Gonzales and it looks like I'm going to have it here:  is Wally Layton the only cop in Houston?

2) I'm confused by the logistics surrounding "the entity."  When we first see it, it's possessing a worker at the oil rig off the coast of Galveston.  However, when we next see it, it's at a refinery in Galveston.  Is it the same entity?  Or, is the one at the refinery different from the one at the rig?  Yost probably should've made that a little clearer.  I am enjoying the mystery, so I'm not saying I want the answer.  It would just be helpful to have a character also express confusion so that we know it's not just us.