Hitch isn't exactly covering new ground with this first arc, but it doesn't mean that he isn't telling an interesting story.
In a way, it's a familiar Superman story. After all, Rao is really just an extreme version of Superman. He stokes all the same fears in the establishment that Superman did when he first appeared on the scene. In fact, the story that Hitch is telling here isn't dissimilar from the one that Straczynski is telling in his Earth One volumes. After Rao topples the corrupt dictators of Africa, other countries at the United Nations worry what he'll do when he decides that their human-rights records are unacceptable. Rao appears and basically validates their fears by saying that more force may be necessary.
Meanwhile, Batman is...skeptical. In a way, he postulates the problem through the prism of Newton's Third Law of Motion: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If Rao is terraforming the desert in Africa and healing the sick around the world, then some cost must be paid. Superman essentially believes that Rao is above such a law, but Batman remains unconvinced. He invites Superman to follow with him one of Rao's first acolytes, an allegedly "reformed" convict, to see who's right. Elsewhere, we learn that the Speed Force interacting with the wormhole sent Green Lantern into Krypton's past; some soldiers escort him to meet Rao at the end of the issue. Also, Diana is trapped in Olympus by some mystical force that appeared after the Greek gods fled.
Again, it's a familiar story, but still an intriguing one. Hitch has managed to play his cards close to his chest. Rao becomes slightly more aggressive, if you will, in this issue, but we still can't point to him doing anything evil, per se. Unless DC comics is going to close up shop and declare its universe happy with Rao, I'm guessing that Batman is going to find something. But, Hitch keeps us guessing about what that something will be. All in all, it's good stuff.
*** (three of five stars)
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Grayson #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
To be totally honest, I'm not really sure what's going on here.
Let's start with the good. Dick's fight with himself (or, at least, his doppelgänger) is hilarious at the start. He begins by taking a good look at his ass and, noting that he's never previously seen himself from that angle, comments that he isn't really what "all the fuss is about." (Amazing.) He then fights the doppelgänger while delivering a commentary on how he's expecting that he's Clayface but, just once, he'd like it to be Killer Croc behind the mask. He delivers the seeming coup de grâce -- a headbutt to the nose while leaning toward the doppelgänger to kiss him -- and remarks that it's a metaphor for every time he's had a crush on a girl.
Then, Seeley gets serious. Recovering from the blow, the doppelgänger comments that it might've gone that way with Barbara, but Koriand'r would argue that she head-butted him first. King does a great job here of portraying the shock on Dick's face; you can essentially see his blood run cold. The doppelgänger then cuts to the quick as he attacks again. He tells Dick that he's always seen the fighting as entertainment and asks what one-liners he used when Damian and Jason died or when Barbara was paralyzed. He asks what joke comes to mind when he thinks about his loved ones crying at his fake funeral. He asks whether he used a hilarious story to tell Agent 1 about Agent 8's death. With each comment, Dick insists that he stops, forcing him to get seriouser and seriouser. In the end, an enraged Dick charges him, but the doppelgänger then activates his hypnos to stop him.
It's here where it gets weird. It's clear that the doppelgänger works for Spyral, giving the control that he possess over Dick through the hypnos. He tells him that "they" learned everything about him and then came after him because he was weak. He then utters a word that knocks Dick unconscious. Meanwhile, Agent 1 awakens as the hypnos implants bleed from his eyes; seeing clearly, he discovers that the doppelgänger was Agent 8. However, he later tells Helena that it was Maxwell Lord, the head of Checkmate, framing Dick. Disgusted at the spy game, Dick leaves and radios to Batman that he's coming home. The issue ends with Agent 8 walking down a street with Dr. Netz, telling her that Agent 1 will tell the story about Lord and "they'll" never know all that they did to drive away Agent 37.
I have a lot of questions. First, I was confused why Dick was surprised that Agent 8 (as we'll now call her) knew who he was. Doesn't everyone know who he is? But, then I remembered that we still pretend that the world only knows that he was Nightwing and doesn't know that he was also Robin. [Eye roll.] More to the plot at hand, I'm not really sure what Agent 8's goals were here. Dr. Netz refers to Dick's arrival on the scene as an "interruption" and congratulates Agent 8 for capitalizing on it. As such, it doesn't seem that getting him to leave Spyral was the point of her impersonating him. Initially, we found her poised to kill Agent 1. Again, it seems unlikely then that she always intended to leave Agent 1 alive so that he would provide the cover story about Lord to Helena. Otherwise, she would've deactivated his hypnos earlier. If her plan was to kill him, then you have to ask where the killing was going to stop? Was her plan to kill all of Spyral's agents as Dick? If so, why did they chose Dick as the doppelgänger? Even if so, what was the goal of killing all the agents? Was it just to get Spyral to go to war with Lord and his Checkmate organization? Instead of leaving Agent 1 alive, was she going to kill him and leave some telltale clue at his body pointing Helena to Lord? If she was, then why risk keeping Agent 1 alive after the "interruption?" Netz implies that the game that Agent 8 was playing here is part of Netz's competition with her sister, Agent Zero, but we haven't really seen Kathy in ages so it's hard to tell. If it is, how did setting Helena after Checkmate help Netz in the game? Also, at some point, someone has to explain how Agent 8 is still alive. In other words, as I said, I have a lot of questions.
Finally, I'll say that I had a "digital-comic moment" here, where the hypnotic splash-page didn't work because I couldn't remember how to lock the screen on my iPad. Given how crucial that scene is to the plot, it was frustrating to say the least.
I was inclined to give this issue two stars, given just the remarkable number of questions that the denouement raises. But, Agent 8's taunting of Dick is such amazing character work -- using Dick's pathological need to keep the fighting that he does "entertaining" against him -- that I gave it a three. But, we really, really need some clarity on what we just saw here, and we need it soon.
*** (three of five stars)
Let's start with the good. Dick's fight with himself (or, at least, his doppelgänger) is hilarious at the start. He begins by taking a good look at his ass and, noting that he's never previously seen himself from that angle, comments that he isn't really what "all the fuss is about." (Amazing.) He then fights the doppelgänger while delivering a commentary on how he's expecting that he's Clayface but, just once, he'd like it to be Killer Croc behind the mask. He delivers the seeming coup de grâce -- a headbutt to the nose while leaning toward the doppelgänger to kiss him -- and remarks that it's a metaphor for every time he's had a crush on a girl.
Then, Seeley gets serious. Recovering from the blow, the doppelgänger comments that it might've gone that way with Barbara, but Koriand'r would argue that she head-butted him first. King does a great job here of portraying the shock on Dick's face; you can essentially see his blood run cold. The doppelgänger then cuts to the quick as he attacks again. He tells Dick that he's always seen the fighting as entertainment and asks what one-liners he used when Damian and Jason died or when Barbara was paralyzed. He asks what joke comes to mind when he thinks about his loved ones crying at his fake funeral. He asks whether he used a hilarious story to tell Agent 1 about Agent 8's death. With each comment, Dick insists that he stops, forcing him to get seriouser and seriouser. In the end, an enraged Dick charges him, but the doppelgänger then activates his hypnos to stop him.
It's here where it gets weird. It's clear that the doppelgänger works for Spyral, giving the control that he possess over Dick through the hypnos. He tells him that "they" learned everything about him and then came after him because he was weak. He then utters a word that knocks Dick unconscious. Meanwhile, Agent 1 awakens as the hypnos implants bleed from his eyes; seeing clearly, he discovers that the doppelgänger was Agent 8. However, he later tells Helena that it was Maxwell Lord, the head of Checkmate, framing Dick. Disgusted at the spy game, Dick leaves and radios to Batman that he's coming home. The issue ends with Agent 8 walking down a street with Dr. Netz, telling her that Agent 1 will tell the story about Lord and "they'll" never know all that they did to drive away Agent 37.
I have a lot of questions. First, I was confused why Dick was surprised that Agent 8 (as we'll now call her) knew who he was. Doesn't everyone know who he is? But, then I remembered that we still pretend that the world only knows that he was Nightwing and doesn't know that he was also Robin. [Eye roll.] More to the plot at hand, I'm not really sure what Agent 8's goals were here. Dr. Netz refers to Dick's arrival on the scene as an "interruption" and congratulates Agent 8 for capitalizing on it. As such, it doesn't seem that getting him to leave Spyral was the point of her impersonating him. Initially, we found her poised to kill Agent 1. Again, it seems unlikely then that she always intended to leave Agent 1 alive so that he would provide the cover story about Lord to Helena. Otherwise, she would've deactivated his hypnos earlier. If her plan was to kill him, then you have to ask where the killing was going to stop? Was her plan to kill all of Spyral's agents as Dick? If so, why did they chose Dick as the doppelgänger? Even if so, what was the goal of killing all the agents? Was it just to get Spyral to go to war with Lord and his Checkmate organization? Instead of leaving Agent 1 alive, was she going to kill him and leave some telltale clue at his body pointing Helena to Lord? If she was, then why risk keeping Agent 1 alive after the "interruption?" Netz implies that the game that Agent 8 was playing here is part of Netz's competition with her sister, Agent Zero, but we haven't really seen Kathy in ages so it's hard to tell. If it is, how did setting Helena after Checkmate help Netz in the game? Also, at some point, someone has to explain how Agent 8 is still alive. In other words, as I said, I have a lot of questions.
Finally, I'll say that I had a "digital-comic moment" here, where the hypnotic splash-page didn't work because I couldn't remember how to lock the screen on my iPad. Given how crucial that scene is to the plot, it was frustrating to say the least.
I was inclined to give this issue two stars, given just the remarkable number of questions that the denouement raises. But, Agent 8's taunting of Dick is such amazing character work -- using Dick's pathological need to keep the fighting that he does "entertaining" against him -- that I gave it a three. But, we really, really need some clarity on what we just saw here, and we need it soon.
*** (three of five stars)
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Batgirl #43 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue starts a new arc for Babs, but it also feels like old-home week. Alysia and Jeremy make appearances, though it's not exactly good news.
Someone is letting tigers loose at night in tech offices in Burnside, leaving behind dead techies working the night shift. Random, yes? The first victim is at Luke Fox's new firm, Foxtek, and Babs heads there to offer a hand. A scan of the biometric device reveals that Qadir is the one that let in the tiger, but Qadir is eavesdropping and denies it. (He also hears Batgirl flirt with Luke, something that upsets him.) Babs returns to school, where she runs into a grumpy Jeremy. Nadimah tells her that it's because his awful ex-girlfriend is in town, but we don't learn more because reports hit the wires that a second victim has been found at Vitasoft. Babs goes there, only to discover Frankie already on the scene. Frankie lets Babs know that another former Burnside College student opened the door, just like Qadir. Babs again tells her that it's not safe for her to be in the "field," and they part on not great terms. That night, Babs ditches Alysia as she's trying on wedding dresses after an algorithm that she designed suggests the next victim. Babs is able to stop the tiger and save the woman. Later, Frankie tells Babs that Jeremy is the only person with connections to all three victims and would-be victims, but a disbelieving Babs refuses to hear more. Frankie takes action in her own hands, steals Babs' cowl, and meets Qadir in a dark alley dressed entirely in black leather. She convinces Qadir that she works with Batgirl and asks him to design a specific device to help ID the real culprits. Meanwhile, Alysia's fiancée Jo goes to a location where she's been hiding the tigers; she and their activist group liberated them before they got sold to a private zoo. However, Jo is panicked when she realizes that someone is using the tigers for the attacks. Before she can move them, she's attacked by a woman dressed like a tiger.
Wow. Just writing that summary made me realize what a layered story Fletcher and Stewart are telling. For me, the most interesting part is Frankie's fascination with helping Babs in the field. The authors are playing it close to their chest whether Babs is trying to protect Frankie because of her disability or for some other reason; it would certainly seem hypocritical if it were the former. But, that said, Babs also had years of training as Batgirl under her belt before she had to adapt to fighting in a wheelchair, so she's not exactly wrong to be worried that Frankie might get herself hurt. It certainly doesn't bode well for Frankie (or their friendship) if she insists on putting herself out there. Moreover, we also have the Jeremy problem. Hopefully, it's his ex-girlfriend behind the attacks, but you never know. Fletcher and Stewart would really up the realism if he were actually to become a bad guy. After all, simply because Babs was interested in him doesn't mean that he doesn't have a dark side. She also has Luke now, so Jeremy's totally disposable. (Too soon?)
*** (three of five stars)
Someone is letting tigers loose at night in tech offices in Burnside, leaving behind dead techies working the night shift. Random, yes? The first victim is at Luke Fox's new firm, Foxtek, and Babs heads there to offer a hand. A scan of the biometric device reveals that Qadir is the one that let in the tiger, but Qadir is eavesdropping and denies it. (He also hears Batgirl flirt with Luke, something that upsets him.) Babs returns to school, where she runs into a grumpy Jeremy. Nadimah tells her that it's because his awful ex-girlfriend is in town, but we don't learn more because reports hit the wires that a second victim has been found at Vitasoft. Babs goes there, only to discover Frankie already on the scene. Frankie lets Babs know that another former Burnside College student opened the door, just like Qadir. Babs again tells her that it's not safe for her to be in the "field," and they part on not great terms. That night, Babs ditches Alysia as she's trying on wedding dresses after an algorithm that she designed suggests the next victim. Babs is able to stop the tiger and save the woman. Later, Frankie tells Babs that Jeremy is the only person with connections to all three victims and would-be victims, but a disbelieving Babs refuses to hear more. Frankie takes action in her own hands, steals Babs' cowl, and meets Qadir in a dark alley dressed entirely in black leather. She convinces Qadir that she works with Batgirl and asks him to design a specific device to help ID the real culprits. Meanwhile, Alysia's fiancée Jo goes to a location where she's been hiding the tigers; she and their activist group liberated them before they got sold to a private zoo. However, Jo is panicked when she realizes that someone is using the tigers for the attacks. Before she can move them, she's attacked by a woman dressed like a tiger.
Wow. Just writing that summary made me realize what a layered story Fletcher and Stewart are telling. For me, the most interesting part is Frankie's fascination with helping Babs in the field. The authors are playing it close to their chest whether Babs is trying to protect Frankie because of her disability or for some other reason; it would certainly seem hypocritical if it were the former. But, that said, Babs also had years of training as Batgirl under her belt before she had to adapt to fighting in a wheelchair, so she's not exactly wrong to be worried that Frankie might get herself hurt. It certainly doesn't bode well for Frankie (or their friendship) if she insists on putting herself out there. Moreover, we also have the Jeremy problem. Hopefully, it's his ex-girlfriend behind the attacks, but you never know. Fletcher and Stewart would really up the realism if he were actually to become a bad guy. After all, simply because Babs was interested in him doesn't mean that he doesn't have a dark side. She also has Luke now, so Jeremy's totally disposable. (Too soon?)
*** (three of five stars)
Star Wars #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
The fact that you can hear Harrison Ford screaming "She's not my wife!" throughout this issue again shows how amazingly Aaron has captured the characters' voices.
We don't get any more information about Han and Sana's relationship here, other than the fact that they seem to have very different interpretations of the past than each other. Han says that Sana isn't his wife; she says that she is. Sana says that Han often plays a con where he rescues a princess and refuses the reward (waiting for a "bigger" prize); Han says that it's not true. They seem to be more like business partners than anything else, but, if Aaron makes anything clear here, it's that their relationship is "complicated." For her part, Leia isn't all that interested in getting to the bottom of the story. When Sana announces that she and Han should sell Leia to the Empire, Leia grabs Han's gun and holds the two of them hostage. Unfortunately, she's a little late, since Sana's already called in the troops.
Again, both Aaron and Immonen do a great job of bringing these scenes to life. Aaron's script crackles with energy. You not only hear Harrison Ford's voice pleading with Leia to believe him, but you hear Carrie Fisher sigh when Leia realizes that she's had enough. Moreover, Immonen is a marvel at facial expressions. The scene where Leia is walking away from the two of them, rolling her eyes, should be taught at art school for all the information that just this look conveys to the reader. (The script is again great here. "You know what? This...this is none of my business. I'm just gonna...go. And you two can...yeah." Indeed.)
But, Han and Leia are not, natch, the only ones getting in trouble. Luke, in a typically Luke way, decides to go into the meanest bar on a "world of pirates and outlaws" and ask someone to smuggle him into Coruscant. To be fair, it's a solid plan: after realizing that Obi-Wan's diary is nothing but stories, he decides to go to the Jedi's home world to see if he can learn more about actually being a Jedi. Unfortunately, he'll still a farm boy from Tatooine; as the pirates and outlaws try to attack him, he pulls out his lightsaber. It obviously gets everyone's attention, but not the way Luke hoped. They want it for it, not because they fear Luke. But, Luke refuses to trade it for a ride (even though he doesn't have any actual credits to offer for one). The pirates and outlaws then precede to attack again. Earlier, we had seen someone radio to someone else saying that he was going to get "it" for his boss, and we end Luke's story with this someone grabbing the saber and making a break for it. Immonen is again on fire here, not just with the fight scenes themselves, where you feel like you're watching a moving picture, but also the hilarious last panel of the story where Luke leads the outlaws and pirates after the thief.
Again, it's all just great. The characters say and do things like they should say and do. I don't know how Aaron does it, but I'm glad that he does.
***** (five of five stars)
We don't get any more information about Han and Sana's relationship here, other than the fact that they seem to have very different interpretations of the past than each other. Han says that Sana isn't his wife; she says that she is. Sana says that Han often plays a con where he rescues a princess and refuses the reward (waiting for a "bigger" prize); Han says that it's not true. They seem to be more like business partners than anything else, but, if Aaron makes anything clear here, it's that their relationship is "complicated." For her part, Leia isn't all that interested in getting to the bottom of the story. When Sana announces that she and Han should sell Leia to the Empire, Leia grabs Han's gun and holds the two of them hostage. Unfortunately, she's a little late, since Sana's already called in the troops.
Again, both Aaron and Immonen do a great job of bringing these scenes to life. Aaron's script crackles with energy. You not only hear Harrison Ford's voice pleading with Leia to believe him, but you hear Carrie Fisher sigh when Leia realizes that she's had enough. Moreover, Immonen is a marvel at facial expressions. The scene where Leia is walking away from the two of them, rolling her eyes, should be taught at art school for all the information that just this look conveys to the reader. (The script is again great here. "You know what? This...this is none of my business. I'm just gonna...go. And you two can...yeah." Indeed.)
But, Han and Leia are not, natch, the only ones getting in trouble. Luke, in a typically Luke way, decides to go into the meanest bar on a "world of pirates and outlaws" and ask someone to smuggle him into Coruscant. To be fair, it's a solid plan: after realizing that Obi-Wan's diary is nothing but stories, he decides to go to the Jedi's home world to see if he can learn more about actually being a Jedi. Unfortunately, he'll still a farm boy from Tatooine; as the pirates and outlaws try to attack him, he pulls out his lightsaber. It obviously gets everyone's attention, but not the way Luke hoped. They want it for it, not because they fear Luke. But, Luke refuses to trade it for a ride (even though he doesn't have any actual credits to offer for one). The pirates and outlaws then precede to attack again. Earlier, we had seen someone radio to someone else saying that he was going to get "it" for his boss, and we end Luke's story with this someone grabbing the saber and making a break for it. Immonen is again on fire here, not just with the fight scenes themselves, where you feel like you're watching a moving picture, but also the hilarious last panel of the story where Luke leads the outlaws and pirates after the thief.
Again, it's all just great. The characters say and do things like they should say and do. I don't know how Aaron does it, but I'm glad that he does.
***** (five of five stars)
X-Tinction Agenda #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue is pretty standard fare. Rogue and Triage are set to work trying to cure the Extinction Plague, the Genegineer uses the remains of Warlock's body to animate an adamantium skeleton that he built for Cameron Hodge, and the X-Men arrive to free their people. In the end, the Genegineer is successful, and the two teams of mutants are going to have to pull together to stop him. Guggenheim tries to infuse it with some emotion, but I'll admit that I'm finding it hard to engage with the story that he's telling. He seems to want me to see both sides, but it's hard to side with the X-Men, since their position is pretty much that the Genoshans should just die quietly and not bother them. Maybe they'll see the light next issue.
** (two of five stars)
Monday, October 5, 2015
Spider-Verse #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
OK, now we're getting somewhere.
We ended last issue with Gwen running into Peter Parker, despite the fact that he has a gravestone next to hers in the cemetery. It turns out Peter lost his powers (it's apparently a long story, shockingly), but he's come out of hiding to warn her that Norman really is a villain. As if Gwen needs more proof, Venom bounds at them from the shrubs: Norman sent him to tail her, but his hatred of Peter got the better of him. Gwen and Peter manage to flee to a music store where Gwen uses an amped up guitar to knock Venom unconscious. Meanwhile, the scientifically minded members of the Web Warriors work with Norman and his staff to get to the bottom of the Web that connects them, while Ham brings Anya to the buffet. There, he reveals that Norman occasionally sits on his "Caesars Palace chair" and rants about killing Doom. Anya gets Ham to show it to her, while Gwen and Peter step up their game: Peter Snapchats a photo of him on the Brooklyn Bridge to Pavitr, inviting Norman to come "talk." They know that it will force Norman to go crazy (as Venom did), and they're right: Norman gathers up the Six and heads to the bridge. Meanwhile, Anya grabs the rest of the team to show them the chair. It turns out that it's a Siege Perilous, but, before they can learn more, a Thor arrives to claim possession of it.
Honestly, I wasn't feeling this series, but I'm totally on board here. Costa uses Ham's personality to explain why he seems so ambivalent about Norman. I was expecting Costa to go with mind control to explain why Ham went with Gwen in issue #2 but seemed completely unperturbed by Norman's crazy in issue #3. Instead, he does me one better: Ham is resigned to humans doing ridiculous $^!*. He just goes and gets some waffles whenever they do it. Honestly, it's great. It totally makes sense in the context of character that is, after all, a talking pig. Plus, it's not like it only works in Norman's favor. It's this disinterest in human motivations that leads Ham to show Anya the chair, since it's not like he's loyal to Norman or thought through the implications of it. (More waffles anyone?)
Beyond Ham, the issue is interesting because it's another villain trying to take on Doom. As the cracks in Doom's facade appear in the main title, they're appearing in the tie-in issues. Regent in "Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows" is also hoping to take down Doom, and I feel like Korvac in the "Korvac Saga" is also a candidate if he keeps his cosmic powers. Costa does a great job of using this development to further the overall plot of the event, reminding us that Doom's control has never been as great as it may have appeared.
All in all, it's definitely an improvement over the previous issue or two, and I'm excited to see how it all ends. (It better at least involve everyone apologizing to Gwen for being wrong about Norman.)
*** (three of five stars)
We ended last issue with Gwen running into Peter Parker, despite the fact that he has a gravestone next to hers in the cemetery. It turns out Peter lost his powers (it's apparently a long story, shockingly), but he's come out of hiding to warn her that Norman really is a villain. As if Gwen needs more proof, Venom bounds at them from the shrubs: Norman sent him to tail her, but his hatred of Peter got the better of him. Gwen and Peter manage to flee to a music store where Gwen uses an amped up guitar to knock Venom unconscious. Meanwhile, the scientifically minded members of the Web Warriors work with Norman and his staff to get to the bottom of the Web that connects them, while Ham brings Anya to the buffet. There, he reveals that Norman occasionally sits on his "Caesars Palace chair" and rants about killing Doom. Anya gets Ham to show it to her, while Gwen and Peter step up their game: Peter Snapchats a photo of him on the Brooklyn Bridge to Pavitr, inviting Norman to come "talk." They know that it will force Norman to go crazy (as Venom did), and they're right: Norman gathers up the Six and heads to the bridge. Meanwhile, Anya grabs the rest of the team to show them the chair. It turns out that it's a Siege Perilous, but, before they can learn more, a Thor arrives to claim possession of it.
Honestly, I wasn't feeling this series, but I'm totally on board here. Costa uses Ham's personality to explain why he seems so ambivalent about Norman. I was expecting Costa to go with mind control to explain why Ham went with Gwen in issue #2 but seemed completely unperturbed by Norman's crazy in issue #3. Instead, he does me one better: Ham is resigned to humans doing ridiculous $^!*. He just goes and gets some waffles whenever they do it. Honestly, it's great. It totally makes sense in the context of character that is, after all, a talking pig. Plus, it's not like it only works in Norman's favor. It's this disinterest in human motivations that leads Ham to show Anya the chair, since it's not like he's loyal to Norman or thought through the implications of it. (More waffles anyone?)
Beyond Ham, the issue is interesting because it's another villain trying to take on Doom. As the cracks in Doom's facade appear in the main title, they're appearing in the tie-in issues. Regent in "Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows" is also hoping to take down Doom, and I feel like Korvac in the "Korvac Saga" is also a candidate if he keeps his cosmic powers. Costa does a great job of using this development to further the overall plot of the event, reminding us that Doom's control has never been as great as it may have appeared.
All in all, it's definitely an improvement over the previous issue or two, and I'm excited to see how it all ends. (It better at least involve everyone apologizing to Gwen for being wrong about Norman.)
*** (three of five stars)
Loki: Agent of Asgard #17 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
OMG, this issue is AMAZING. It really defies recapping. I'll give it my best, but you should really read it yourself.
I think the best way to describe this issue is that Ewing uses all the tricks that writing about a Trickster God allows him. When the older Gods demand tribute in the form of the stories that Loki holds of the younger Gods, Loki refuses. He tells them that Gods are really just the product of stories that are so amazing that they take form. If the younger Gods are the product of the stories that humans told, the older Gods are the product of stories that the younger Gods told. As such, Loki uses his power as the last younger God to dismiss them. It's a beautiful contemplation on the importance and power of myth. Hopefully some professors uses it one day in class.
But, we have one last bridge to cross until the end. Loki strips away the mask (literally) that King Loki wore, revealing the self that he could've been had said self not traveled into the past to bring about his future self sooner. Our Loki tells him that he might've screwed up the implementation, but the plan was sound. The ego-death that our Loki suffered let him put behind the anger that King Loki felt, and he's able to walk his own path. If King Loki was driven mad by everyone's failure to let him be a new him, our Loki doesn't carry that same baggage. King Loki cries with relief, and our Loki sends him to his happy ending (a.k.a. the crystal in our Loki's staff). Then, he invites Verity to go with him through a door into the future when "Secret Wars" has concluded.
Seriously, it's just an amazing, amazing end to our Loki's story. As cheesy as it sounds, I really feel weirdly privileged to be here for it. It's just a testament to Ewing's story-telling abilities that he was able to tell such a tightly crafted tale for so long. Man, I'll miss this series.
***** (five of five stars)
I think the best way to describe this issue is that Ewing uses all the tricks that writing about a Trickster God allows him. When the older Gods demand tribute in the form of the stories that Loki holds of the younger Gods, Loki refuses. He tells them that Gods are really just the product of stories that are so amazing that they take form. If the younger Gods are the product of the stories that humans told, the older Gods are the product of stories that the younger Gods told. As such, Loki uses his power as the last younger God to dismiss them. It's a beautiful contemplation on the importance and power of myth. Hopefully some professors uses it one day in class.
But, we have one last bridge to cross until the end. Loki strips away the mask (literally) that King Loki wore, revealing the self that he could've been had said self not traveled into the past to bring about his future self sooner. Our Loki tells him that he might've screwed up the implementation, but the plan was sound. The ego-death that our Loki suffered let him put behind the anger that King Loki felt, and he's able to walk his own path. If King Loki was driven mad by everyone's failure to let him be a new him, our Loki doesn't carry that same baggage. King Loki cries with relief, and our Loki sends him to his happy ending (a.k.a. the crystal in our Loki's staff). Then, he invites Verity to go with him through a door into the future when "Secret Wars" has concluded.
Seriously, it's just an amazing, amazing end to our Loki's story. As cheesy as it sounds, I really feel weirdly privileged to be here for it. It's just a testament to Ewing's story-telling abilities that he was able to tell such a tightly crafted tale for so long. Man, I'll miss this series.
***** (five of five stars)
Inferno #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
The "next issue" box at the end of this issue tells us that everything gets worse...much worse. Honestly, it could've well been the tag line for this issue as well. (It makes you wonder just how bad things are going to get.)
Illyana has so thoroughly taken over the Outer Boroughs that Dr. Strange arrives and offers her the Baronship of Inferno. (This guest appearance may confirm that the events of this series all happen before "Secret Wars" #1, where we saw Madelyne in charge of Inferno. It's clearly not happening simultaneously with the main title, since Dr. Strange has been dead for a full issue at this point.) Meanwhile, in his search for Illyana, Colossus and his team stumble upon the X-Men as they're battling N'astirh and his forces. They manage to defeat them, but it doesn't exactly improve their situation: no one has any idea how to defeat Illyana. Enter Mr. Sinister, revealed to be the person that saved Tabitha and sent her to track down Colossus and his team in the first place. Sinister has a plan, and it's pretty clear that the X-Men are going to have to work with him if they want to have a hope of defeating Illyana.
Hopeless really does a great job of playing against the usual "in our darkest hour" tropes here. First, Jean is committed to trying to get Scott to lead the X-Men in escaping New York, and she seems the only reasonable person of the lot. Instead, Scott tries to rally the troops to take the fight to Illyana, but N'astirh interrupts his monologue. Plus, when Colossus apologizes to Scott for not listening to him, Scott doesn't accept it; he places the blame squarely on Colossus and confirms that he was right.
As I've said in other reviews, the best part of "Secret Wars" is the authors' ability to tell stories that don't have happy endings. This series continues to be a great example of that. If everything gets worse next issue, "happy" isn't likely going to describe the ending.
*** (three of five stars)
Illyana has so thoroughly taken over the Outer Boroughs that Dr. Strange arrives and offers her the Baronship of Inferno. (This guest appearance may confirm that the events of this series all happen before "Secret Wars" #1, where we saw Madelyne in charge of Inferno. It's clearly not happening simultaneously with the main title, since Dr. Strange has been dead for a full issue at this point.) Meanwhile, in his search for Illyana, Colossus and his team stumble upon the X-Men as they're battling N'astirh and his forces. They manage to defeat them, but it doesn't exactly improve their situation: no one has any idea how to defeat Illyana. Enter Mr. Sinister, revealed to be the person that saved Tabitha and sent her to track down Colossus and his team in the first place. Sinister has a plan, and it's pretty clear that the X-Men are going to have to work with him if they want to have a hope of defeating Illyana.
Hopeless really does a great job of playing against the usual "in our darkest hour" tropes here. First, Jean is committed to trying to get Scott to lead the X-Men in escaping New York, and she seems the only reasonable person of the lot. Instead, Scott tries to rally the troops to take the fight to Illyana, but N'astirh interrupts his monologue. Plus, when Colossus apologizes to Scott for not listening to him, Scott doesn't accept it; he places the blame squarely on Colossus and confirms that he was right.
As I've said in other reviews, the best part of "Secret Wars" is the authors' ability to tell stories that don't have happy endings. This series continues to be a great example of that. If everything gets worse next issue, "happy" isn't likely going to describe the ending.
*** (three of five stars)
Sunday, October 4, 2015
House of M #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Hopeless does a solid job of getting us where we need to be quickly and organically. (In other words, we're not subjected to Bennettesque expository sequences to understand the status quo.) The master of his domain (literally), Magneto chafes under peace, but he's going to get his secret wish for some action given that Quicksilver is colluding with Namor to overthrow him. Luke Cage leads the Human Resistance Movement, but Magneto's Red Guard launches a surprise attack that decimates it; Black Cat, Hawkeye, and Misty Knight are the only ones to escape, thanks to the intervention of Death Locket. Wanda is reduced to playing the role of suburban housewife, cleaning up messes that Speed and Wiccan leave in their wake. I can't say that it's all that exciting, but it does have potential, particularly if Hopeless explores the hypocrisy of Magneto persecuting humans to nearly the point of extinction.
** (two of five stars)
** (two of five stars)
Guardians of Knowhere #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Um...OK? Bendis tacks sharply in this issue, with Angela and Drax dispatching Yotat in the issue's first few pages and the focus almost immediately shifting to Angela's confrontation with Gamora over her lack of faith. Given that Yotat got his own origin issue in this series, I thought that he was going to be the overarching villain throughout it. As such, it's weird to see him dismissed by the sixth page. Is he going to return at the end? It seems doubtful, since Bendis seems to be doubling-down on Angela's fight with Gamora. But, then, why introduce him in the first place? It feels vaguely like old Bendis, where plots get changed willy-nilly. The good news is that the conversation between Angela and Gamora is really well done, with Bendis and Deodato beautifully conveying Gamora's sense of isolation over her belief that Doom isn't god. For that, it earns three stars.
*** (three of five stars)
*** (three of five stars)
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Slott gets right to work here, and I have to say that I'm really impressed by how much ground he covers without it feeling forced.
We learn right off the bat that it was S.H.I.E.L.D., not Regent, that grabbed MJ and Annie at the end of last issue. Moreover, we learn that Sandman is a double agent; he tries to convince Peter to follow him to safety, but Peter (not really all that surprisingly) refuses. So, while MJ and Annie find themselves safe and sound in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s safe houses, Regent arrives on the scene and takes Peter and Flint captive.
At the safe house, we get a lot of information quickly. The Avengers have been using the Spot's abilities for the type of mission that they just launched to save MJ and Annie, but it's slowly killing him. Ben Urich tells MJ that he has been covering for the Parkers at the "Bugle" for years to help Peter's identity stay hidden, but MJ reveals that Peter's inhibitor chips were really why they had successfully avoided detection. Hawkeye immediately realizes that the inhibitor chips could help them win the war, since all they would need to do was get some of Regent's blood to inhibit his powers. (You have to wonder if Peter thought of that. If he did, then it's all the more guilt that he's been shouldering.)
Meanwhile, at Regent's HQ, we learn something very important: Regent only has so many "goes" of each power that he steals before he loses access to it. He uses one of his "dead telepaths' abilities" to learn Peter's identity and, from Flint, the location of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. While he sends his minions to take out S.H.I.E.L.D., he monologues to Peter that he's really a good guy: all he wants to do is defeat Doom. The interesting part of this revelation is that Regent refers to Doom as a "mad god." It makes you wonder what he knows exactly. (Presumably, we'll learn next issue.)
At the safe house, almost all Regent's enforcers arrive to do battle. Jarvis leads the Power children through one of Spot's portals, but Annie defies her mother and stays to fight. The heroes hold their own, buying enough time for Flint to open one of Spot's portals that he had hidden inside of him, providing a back door into Regent's HQ. Clint leads Dagger, Mockingbird, and Prowler through the portal to collect some of Regent's DNA, and Annie and MJ follow them to save Peter.
Next issue is clearly going to be epic. Of most interest to me is why exactly Regent thinks that Doom is a mad god. This series might prove to tie into the main event a lot more than I thought that it would. Moreover, Regent puts Peter into his farm of superheroes here, announcing that he's dead like the rest of them. But, since he appears on the cover for next issue, it seems possible that all the heroes are actually alive but in some sort of suspended animation. Talk about a battle royale if they all awaken!
*** (three of five stars)
We learn right off the bat that it was S.H.I.E.L.D., not Regent, that grabbed MJ and Annie at the end of last issue. Moreover, we learn that Sandman is a double agent; he tries to convince Peter to follow him to safety, but Peter (not really all that surprisingly) refuses. So, while MJ and Annie find themselves safe and sound in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s safe houses, Regent arrives on the scene and takes Peter and Flint captive.
At the safe house, we get a lot of information quickly. The Avengers have been using the Spot's abilities for the type of mission that they just launched to save MJ and Annie, but it's slowly killing him. Ben Urich tells MJ that he has been covering for the Parkers at the "Bugle" for years to help Peter's identity stay hidden, but MJ reveals that Peter's inhibitor chips were really why they had successfully avoided detection. Hawkeye immediately realizes that the inhibitor chips could help them win the war, since all they would need to do was get some of Regent's blood to inhibit his powers. (You have to wonder if Peter thought of that. If he did, then it's all the more guilt that he's been shouldering.)
Meanwhile, at Regent's HQ, we learn something very important: Regent only has so many "goes" of each power that he steals before he loses access to it. He uses one of his "dead telepaths' abilities" to learn Peter's identity and, from Flint, the location of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. While he sends his minions to take out S.H.I.E.L.D., he monologues to Peter that he's really a good guy: all he wants to do is defeat Doom. The interesting part of this revelation is that Regent refers to Doom as a "mad god." It makes you wonder what he knows exactly. (Presumably, we'll learn next issue.)
At the safe house, almost all Regent's enforcers arrive to do battle. Jarvis leads the Power children through one of Spot's portals, but Annie defies her mother and stays to fight. The heroes hold their own, buying enough time for Flint to open one of Spot's portals that he had hidden inside of him, providing a back door into Regent's HQ. Clint leads Dagger, Mockingbird, and Prowler through the portal to collect some of Regent's DNA, and Annie and MJ follow them to save Peter.
Next issue is clearly going to be epic. Of most interest to me is why exactly Regent thinks that Doom is a mad god. This series might prove to tie into the main event a lot more than I thought that it would. Moreover, Regent puts Peter into his farm of superheroes here, announcing that he's dead like the rest of them. But, since he appears on the cover for next issue, it seems possible that all the heroes are actually alive but in some sort of suspended animation. Talk about a battle royale if they all awaken!
*** (three of five stars)
Book of Death #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Interesting.
It seems that the conflict that we're seeing here is one imported from the future. Darque, the "Corrupted One," has followed Tama, the Geomancer, into the past to destroy her. It seems that Darque is likely the future version of David that we saw lay waste to the world last issue, but Venditti hasn't yet revealed how he became "corrupted." In "The Valiant," the Immortal Enemy referred to a Dark Age whenever he successfully killed a Geomancer. Is it possible that these Dark Ages are brought to fruition by corrupted Geomancers, as Darque seems to be? If so, it'll be interesting to see how David eventually transforms into Darque.
In the meantime, Gilad schools Unity, using Ninjak's Batmanesque preparation to combat any member of Unity against X-O Manowar in the form of Ninjak's specially designed swords. Moreover, since he engages them in the desert, Livewire's technopathic abilities are rendered useless. However, the battle (and Gilad's certainty that Tama isn't behind the recent ecological phenomenon) give pause to Unity's masters, leaving them to wonder if maybe Gilad is telling the truth that she's not the guilty party. I guess we'll all see, won't we?
*** (three of five stars)
It seems that the conflict that we're seeing here is one imported from the future. Darque, the "Corrupted One," has followed Tama, the Geomancer, into the past to destroy her. It seems that Darque is likely the future version of David that we saw lay waste to the world last issue, but Venditti hasn't yet revealed how he became "corrupted." In "The Valiant," the Immortal Enemy referred to a Dark Age whenever he successfully killed a Geomancer. Is it possible that these Dark Ages are brought to fruition by corrupted Geomancers, as Darque seems to be? If so, it'll be interesting to see how David eventually transforms into Darque.
In the meantime, Gilad schools Unity, using Ninjak's Batmanesque preparation to combat any member of Unity against X-O Manowar in the form of Ninjak's specially designed swords. Moreover, since he engages them in the desert, Livewire's technopathic abilities are rendered useless. However, the battle (and Gilad's certainty that Tama isn't behind the recent ecological phenomenon) give pause to Unity's masters, leaving them to wonder if maybe Gilad is telling the truth that she's not the guilty party. I guess we'll all see, won't we?
*** (three of five stars)
Justice League #43 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Wow. Johns and Fabok are off the charts here. I gasped three times in this issue; it's a lot of gasping for just 22 pages. They both build to these moments slowly but surely; when they come, it's like launching a slingshot that you've primed as much as you can.
We begin with Steppenwolf summoning Kalibak to go to Earth to take on Grail. Johns makes it clear how unpredictable that battle with be, portraying Kalibak as basically one step above feral. We then immediately move to Batman on the Chair, and Johns again shows us why we should be worried. Bruce is even more arrogant than he normally is, since he's pretty much positive at this point that he has all the answers. Cyborg, Diana, and Hal all take different tacks to try to get him off the chair, fearing for his mental stability, but he insists that he can handle it. Meanwhile, Luthor and Superman are trapped on Apokolips and encounter the slaves that Darkseid has set on them.
It's here where we get Gasp #1: after the slaves attack, Luthor and we are shocked to see Superman bleeding. Fabok sells this moment beautifully: we not only see the shock on Luthor's face, but we observe something close to fear in Superman's eyes when he realizes that he's weak in front of Luthor. Meanwhile, Scot Free appears before the Justice League and apprises them of the situation: they've got to convince the Anti-Monitor to leave Earth as soon as possible, before Darkseid arrives. Batman decides to head into space to get more information on the Anti-Monitor in case he refuses to leave; Hal essentially forces him to take him with him. The rest of the team (Cyborg, Diana, Flash, Power Ring, Shazam, and Steve) go with Scot to find Grail. (She herself has been casting a spell to summon Darkseid.) Meanwhile, Clark and Luthor are trying to flee the hordes, and Clark is forced to accept Luthor's hand to fly; they realize that his problem is that Apokolips has no sun. (This epiphany results in the amazing exchange where Clark laments that he's becoming human, and Luthor responds: "You'll be powerless. You'll never be human." Awesome.)
On Earth, everything goes from bad to worse. Darkseid and Kalibak arrive, and we get Gasp #2 in the next scene. It's possibly the best splash page that I've ever seen, with the Anti-Monitor, Grail, and their troops charging at Darkseid, Kalibak, and their troops. Fabok gives us this image from a perspective behind Diana and Scot, as Diana relates the story of Odysseus trying to decide between Charybdis and Scylla. I've rarely seen art and words combine to convey a message (how powerless Diana feels as a leader to chose between two bad options) as they do here. It's an amazing sign of teamwork between Johns and Fabok. In the end, Diana leads the Justice League into an uncertain battle as Luthor is forced to hurl Clark into a firepit in the hope that the solar energy will recharge him. It does, but we get Gasp #3: Clark emerges as a corrupted form of himself and threatens to kill Luthor (something that he says he should've done years earlier).
Throughout the issue, Diana narrates about her distrust of the gods. With the issue ending with Anti-Monitor and Darkseid coming to blows just as a dark Superman emerges from (literally) the pits of Hell, you can see her point.
***** (five of five stars)
We begin with Steppenwolf summoning Kalibak to go to Earth to take on Grail. Johns makes it clear how unpredictable that battle with be, portraying Kalibak as basically one step above feral. We then immediately move to Batman on the Chair, and Johns again shows us why we should be worried. Bruce is even more arrogant than he normally is, since he's pretty much positive at this point that he has all the answers. Cyborg, Diana, and Hal all take different tacks to try to get him off the chair, fearing for his mental stability, but he insists that he can handle it. Meanwhile, Luthor and Superman are trapped on Apokolips and encounter the slaves that Darkseid has set on them.
It's here where we get Gasp #1: after the slaves attack, Luthor and we are shocked to see Superman bleeding. Fabok sells this moment beautifully: we not only see the shock on Luthor's face, but we observe something close to fear in Superman's eyes when he realizes that he's weak in front of Luthor. Meanwhile, Scot Free appears before the Justice League and apprises them of the situation: they've got to convince the Anti-Monitor to leave Earth as soon as possible, before Darkseid arrives. Batman decides to head into space to get more information on the Anti-Monitor in case he refuses to leave; Hal essentially forces him to take him with him. The rest of the team (Cyborg, Diana, Flash, Power Ring, Shazam, and Steve) go with Scot to find Grail. (She herself has been casting a spell to summon Darkseid.) Meanwhile, Clark and Luthor are trying to flee the hordes, and Clark is forced to accept Luthor's hand to fly; they realize that his problem is that Apokolips has no sun. (This epiphany results in the amazing exchange where Clark laments that he's becoming human, and Luthor responds: "You'll be powerless. You'll never be human." Awesome.)
On Earth, everything goes from bad to worse. Darkseid and Kalibak arrive, and we get Gasp #2 in the next scene. It's possibly the best splash page that I've ever seen, with the Anti-Monitor, Grail, and their troops charging at Darkseid, Kalibak, and their troops. Fabok gives us this image from a perspective behind Diana and Scot, as Diana relates the story of Odysseus trying to decide between Charybdis and Scylla. I've rarely seen art and words combine to convey a message (how powerless Diana feels as a leader to chose between two bad options) as they do here. It's an amazing sign of teamwork between Johns and Fabok. In the end, Diana leads the Justice League into an uncertain battle as Luthor is forced to hurl Clark into a firepit in the hope that the solar energy will recharge him. It does, but we get Gasp #3: Clark emerges as a corrupted form of himself and threatens to kill Luthor (something that he says he should've done years earlier).
Throughout the issue, Diana narrates about her distrust of the gods. With the issue ending with Anti-Monitor and Darkseid coming to blows just as a dark Superman emerges from (literally) the pits of Hell, you can see her point.
***** (five of five stars)
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Amazing Spider-Man #20.1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Man, Conway has really told a great classic Spider-Man story here. I could rave about it in a lot of detail, but I think that it's all probably best experienced as a reader.
I want to talk about two parts in particularly, though. First, I loved how well Conway really "gets" Peter. Peter realizes that he's turned a blind eye to Felicia and Yuri's descent into darkness because he had too much faith that they would eventually correct their course. One of my main complaints about authors writing Spider-Man is that they portray him as excessively naive. After spending the better part of his life as a costumed hero, he has to understand how the world works, even if he tries to see the good in everyone. Conway essentially operationalizes that here. He's more excessively optimistic, if you will, and he's aware that it's a problem. Naive people generally are incapable of seeing the darker side. Peter does, even if he doesn't like it. It's a great insight into him as a character, and it takes someone like Conway to realize tease out that part of him.
Second, Conway also lets characters change. Felicia and Yuri at this point are full-time villains. Whereas Slott played with the idea that they could be redeemed, Conway functionally moves them beyond redemption here. It's rare to see in comics. The best recent example of it is the years-long process of Cyclops becoming a villain in the X-Men, and this evolution has been so well received because of the effort that Marvel put into making sure each step of that process made sense. We haven't quite gotten that with Felicia, since her fury at Peter still strikes me as something that Slott manufactured. But, Conway manages to right the ship, making it clear that Felicia is doing what she wants to do, as is Yuri. The evolution of both characters feels totally organic, and Peter's rogues' gallery just got a lot more dangerous.
In other words, I'm a fan. I miss this sort of story, where Peter actually reflects on his role as a costumed hero, and I hope that its reappearance inspires similar ones in the future. The entire series is a solid read, even if (actually, particularly if) you're a casual fan.
**** (four of five stars)
I want to talk about two parts in particularly, though. First, I loved how well Conway really "gets" Peter. Peter realizes that he's turned a blind eye to Felicia and Yuri's descent into darkness because he had too much faith that they would eventually correct their course. One of my main complaints about authors writing Spider-Man is that they portray him as excessively naive. After spending the better part of his life as a costumed hero, he has to understand how the world works, even if he tries to see the good in everyone. Conway essentially operationalizes that here. He's more excessively optimistic, if you will, and he's aware that it's a problem. Naive people generally are incapable of seeing the darker side. Peter does, even if he doesn't like it. It's a great insight into him as a character, and it takes someone like Conway to realize tease out that part of him.
Second, Conway also lets characters change. Felicia and Yuri at this point are full-time villains. Whereas Slott played with the idea that they could be redeemed, Conway functionally moves them beyond redemption here. It's rare to see in comics. The best recent example of it is the years-long process of Cyclops becoming a villain in the X-Men, and this evolution has been so well received because of the effort that Marvel put into making sure each step of that process made sense. We haven't quite gotten that with Felicia, since her fury at Peter still strikes me as something that Slott manufactured. But, Conway manages to right the ship, making it clear that Felicia is doing what she wants to do, as is Yuri. The evolution of both characters feels totally organic, and Peter's rogues' gallery just got a lot more dangerous.
In other words, I'm a fan. I miss this sort of story, where Peter actually reflects on his role as a costumed hero, and I hope that its reappearance inspires similar ones in the future. The entire series is a solid read, even if (actually, particularly if) you're a casual fan.
**** (four of five stars)
Years of Future Past #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
OMG, this series just goes from bad to worse to terrible. At one point, all action stops so that Storm can explain the plot, and, at two separate points, all actions stops again so that Cameron can deliver monologues. Bennett even tries ol' pet peeve #3, with Chrissie commenting on Cameron inheriting Colossus' penchant for monologue (likely responding to criticism from issue #1). But, as I've always said, it doesn't really help the reader when you use your characters to acknowledge bad writing: it'd be better to avoid it entirely.
Moreover, the plot is as tired as they come. Cameron finds a magic iPad (I wish I were kidding) that proves that Magneto intended on him and Chrissie dying in their attempt to save Kelly. Apparently, he didn't want humans to see mutants as saviors; he wanted mutants to see Cameron and Chrissie as martyrs and rise against the humans. We're not really told why Magneto went this direction. I think that we're just supposed to believe that he's e-v-i-l. Maybe? Bennett doesn't really seem to concerned about motivations at this point, so I guess I shouldn't be either.
Next issue: brother vs. sister! (Yawn.)
* (one of five stars)
Moreover, the plot is as tired as they come. Cameron finds a magic iPad (I wish I were kidding) that proves that Magneto intended on him and Chrissie dying in their attempt to save Kelly. Apparently, he didn't want humans to see mutants as saviors; he wanted mutants to see Cameron and Chrissie as martyrs and rise against the humans. We're not really told why Magneto went this direction. I think that we're just supposed to believe that he's e-v-i-l. Maybe? Bennett doesn't really seem to concerned about motivations at this point, so I guess I shouldn't be either.
Next issue: brother vs. sister! (Yawn.)
* (one of five stars)
Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
The Cannonball robot reverting to its original programming and muttering "Ah'm near invulnerable when ah'm blastin'" as it "dies" made me literally LOL. The good news is that pretty much everything else in this issue is equally awesome.
I admit that I totally squealed when I saw the New Mutants (a.k.a. the New "Mutdroids"). The fact that they're robotic "friends" that Doug Ramsey created makes it all the creepier. (Of all the takes that we've seen on familiar characters in "Secret Was," this one is probably the most unexpected.) Kitty and Peter make pretty short work of them, allowing Kitty to shake down Doug for Gambit's location. (Doug apparently works for Gambit, a fact that Kitty learned by shaking down someone else.) Doug tells her that Gambit is looking to make a score at a museum but then, unfortunately for him, recognizes her as Kitty Pryde. The issue kicks into high gear at this point, because she proceeds to kill him in cold blood.
Humphries and Firmansyah wisely play their cards close to their chests in the following panels, because it initially seems like Kitty may actually be a remorseless killer. (She is from the Age of Apocalypse, after all.) Instead, we learn that she was a spy for Apocalypse that Valeria recruited essentially at the end of a gun, threatening to kill her loved ones if she didn't join the Foundation. Kitty agreed, and she now hunts down anomalies for Valeria without Doom's knowledge. It explains why she's absent in "Secret Wars" #5 when Valeria assembles the Foundation for exactly this sort of task. It also explains why she had to kill Doug, because no one can know what she's doing. (That said, you'd think that she'd take maybe a little more precaution in hiding her identity.) Peter offers to help her retrieve the artifact that Gambit is trying to steal (since, after all, she would've gotten it from him in the first issue if Peter hadn't intervened). But, of course, it's a trap. Even better, it's a trap involving Widget! Gambit fed Doug the information about the museum. Since Widget is a version of Kitty, its presence near her cancels out their powers (a fun new fact about "Battleworld"). As such, Gambit is able to trap the two of them because he wants Kitty...for his collection. (Again, creepy.)
I am very intrigued where we go from here. The first issue was more or less a cute romp that I didn't expect to get serious. But, Humphries and Firmansyah do an excellent job of moving us through the tumult of emotions that both Peter and Kitty feel in this issue (particularly Peter, as he deals with the reality that his Kitty is lost and this Kitty might be a homicidal maniac). It's this sort of heart that Humphries often got so right about Peter, and I'm glad to see it here. When you consider the fact that we've also got such a strong plot and hilarious winks like the Cannonball line, this series is really hitting above its weight.
**** (four of five stars)
I admit that I totally squealed when I saw the New Mutants (a.k.a. the New "Mutdroids"). The fact that they're robotic "friends" that Doug Ramsey created makes it all the creepier. (Of all the takes that we've seen on familiar characters in "Secret Was," this one is probably the most unexpected.) Kitty and Peter make pretty short work of them, allowing Kitty to shake down Doug for Gambit's location. (Doug apparently works for Gambit, a fact that Kitty learned by shaking down someone else.) Doug tells her that Gambit is looking to make a score at a museum but then, unfortunately for him, recognizes her as Kitty Pryde. The issue kicks into high gear at this point, because she proceeds to kill him in cold blood.
Humphries and Firmansyah wisely play their cards close to their chests in the following panels, because it initially seems like Kitty may actually be a remorseless killer. (She is from the Age of Apocalypse, after all.) Instead, we learn that she was a spy for Apocalypse that Valeria recruited essentially at the end of a gun, threatening to kill her loved ones if she didn't join the Foundation. Kitty agreed, and she now hunts down anomalies for Valeria without Doom's knowledge. It explains why she's absent in "Secret Wars" #5 when Valeria assembles the Foundation for exactly this sort of task. It also explains why she had to kill Doug, because no one can know what she's doing. (That said, you'd think that she'd take maybe a little more precaution in hiding her identity.) Peter offers to help her retrieve the artifact that Gambit is trying to steal (since, after all, she would've gotten it from him in the first issue if Peter hadn't intervened). But, of course, it's a trap. Even better, it's a trap involving Widget! Gambit fed Doug the information about the museum. Since Widget is a version of Kitty, its presence near her cancels out their powers (a fun new fact about "Battleworld"). As such, Gambit is able to trap the two of them because he wants Kitty...for his collection. (Again, creepy.)
I am very intrigued where we go from here. The first issue was more or less a cute romp that I didn't expect to get serious. But, Humphries and Firmansyah do an excellent job of moving us through the tumult of emotions that both Peter and Kitty feel in this issue (particularly Peter, as he deals with the reality that his Kitty is lost and this Kitty might be a homicidal maniac). It's this sort of heart that Humphries often got so right about Peter, and I'm glad to see it here. When you consider the fact that we've also got such a strong plot and hilarious winks like the Cannonball line, this series is really hitting above its weight.
**** (four of five stars)
Friday, October 2, 2015
Secret Wars 2099 #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
I honestly don't have too much to say about this issue, because David pretty efficiently moves us from Point A to Point B.
Captain America rebels against Miguel's attempt to imprison the Defenders and recruits Hercules in her effort to help them escape. (Unfortunately, David doesn't make it clear exactly why Roberta knew that Hercules would side with her or, conversely, why she felt like the Black Widow and Hercules wouldn't. Did she just figure that Herc would like a good fight?) Miguel's attempts to get her to revert to her Roberta persona fail, so he calls in her "husband" Henry to initiate a special override sequence. At that moment, Strange appears to pull Cap through a portal to her sanctum, only to discover a panicked Roberta wondering where she is and why she's dressed like Captain America. Meanwhile, Herc manages to escape with Hulk, Namor, and the Surfer. Shenanigans will definitely ensue.
If we were dealing with the usual Marvel Universe, I'd put money on the outcome of this series being Roberta finally unifying her personalities and joining the Defenders to fight Alchemax (much as Miguel originally did). But, part of the excitement of "Secret Wars" is the sense that all bets are off. It could be just as likely that Alchemax manages to re-assert control over her. Maybe they just kill her and get a new stooge. I guess we'll see!
*** (three of five stars)
Captain America rebels against Miguel's attempt to imprison the Defenders and recruits Hercules in her effort to help them escape. (Unfortunately, David doesn't make it clear exactly why Roberta knew that Hercules would side with her or, conversely, why she felt like the Black Widow and Hercules wouldn't. Did she just figure that Herc would like a good fight?) Miguel's attempts to get her to revert to her Roberta persona fail, so he calls in her "husband" Henry to initiate a special override sequence. At that moment, Strange appears to pull Cap through a portal to her sanctum, only to discover a panicked Roberta wondering where she is and why she's dressed like Captain America. Meanwhile, Herc manages to escape with Hulk, Namor, and the Surfer. Shenanigans will definitely ensue.
If we were dealing with the usual Marvel Universe, I'd put money on the outcome of this series being Roberta finally unifying her personalities and joining the Defenders to fight Alchemax (much as Miguel originally did). But, part of the excitement of "Secret Wars" is the sense that all bets are off. It could be just as likely that Alchemax manages to re-assert control over her. Maybe they just kill her and get a new stooge. I guess we'll see!
*** (three of five stars)
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Korvac Saga #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Man, this series just keeps reminding me how much I really miss Abnett.
An open question during the first two issues of this series was where Michael's powers were. Everyone else had the same power that they had in the original Marvel Universe, but Korvac was presented as a normal human. I didn't particularly take note of it before this issue, but Abnett highlights it here when Michael is forced to use his cosmic powers to save Starhawk. In the process, he reveals just how powerful he truly is, since he essentially reassembled Starhawk's soul to resurrect him. Simon encourages Korvac to use his powers to purge The City of the Madness, but Korvac reminds him that he swore an oath to Doom to "curb" his powers to become baron. (He made an exception in Starhawk's case due to their friendship.) The issue is forced when the Madness swiftly overtakes Mar-Vell. Vance urges the Avengers and the Guardians not to kill him, due to their friendship, but Mar-Vell pushes them to their limits as he becomes an Abomination. Korvac decides to help, regardless of his oath to Doom, because it's his domain. But, in the process, he learns what Starhawk had learned on the Astral Plane: he is the Madness, a side effect of his repressed power.
Obviously, the developments here spell trouble for everyone, including Doom. It's pretty clear that Doom wanted Korvac to curb his powers because, at least in the original Marvel Universe, they would be somewhere on par with Doom's. Simon tell us that Korvac used to use his powers more freely (for example, during the "Ultron Wars"), but Abnett doesn't clarify whether he was using the full range of his powers at that time. If he was, it raises the question why he didn't make a move against Doom back then (and would agree to curb their use). If he wasn't, it's unclear why he would've imposed self-limited his powers even before he was offered a domain of his own. Either way, the fact that he's now fully in control of his powers doesn't sound like something that Doom is going to take lying down.
*** (three of five stars)
An open question during the first two issues of this series was where Michael's powers were. Everyone else had the same power that they had in the original Marvel Universe, but Korvac was presented as a normal human. I didn't particularly take note of it before this issue, but Abnett highlights it here when Michael is forced to use his cosmic powers to save Starhawk. In the process, he reveals just how powerful he truly is, since he essentially reassembled Starhawk's soul to resurrect him. Simon encourages Korvac to use his powers to purge The City of the Madness, but Korvac reminds him that he swore an oath to Doom to "curb" his powers to become baron. (He made an exception in Starhawk's case due to their friendship.) The issue is forced when the Madness swiftly overtakes Mar-Vell. Vance urges the Avengers and the Guardians not to kill him, due to their friendship, but Mar-Vell pushes them to their limits as he becomes an Abomination. Korvac decides to help, regardless of his oath to Doom, because it's his domain. But, in the process, he learns what Starhawk had learned on the Astral Plane: he is the Madness, a side effect of his repressed power.
Obviously, the developments here spell trouble for everyone, including Doom. It's pretty clear that Doom wanted Korvac to curb his powers because, at least in the original Marvel Universe, they would be somewhere on par with Doom's. Simon tell us that Korvac used to use his powers more freely (for example, during the "Ultron Wars"), but Abnett doesn't clarify whether he was using the full range of his powers at that time. If he was, it raises the question why he didn't make a move against Doom back then (and would agree to curb their use). If he wasn't, it's unclear why he would've imposed self-limited his powers even before he was offered a domain of his own. Either way, the fact that he's now fully in control of his powers doesn't sound like something that Doom is going to take lying down.
*** (three of five stars)
A-Force #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
"A-Force" has been one of the series more attuned to the developments in the main "Secret Wars" title. The fact that everything falls apart on Arcadia in this issue seems to portend that Doom is in fact slowly but surely losing control of Battleworld.
Jennifer follows the portal that opened last issue to the "Age of Apocalypse" (or maybe "Years of Future Past") Manhattan. Before she can even beat down some Sentinels, three female Thors appear to arrest her for crossing boundaries. Jennifer escapes by jumping through the portal and somehow (it's unclear how) realizes that said portal came from inside Arcadia. As a result, she realizes that Arcadia has a traitor in her midst and that this person is trying to pin the portals on Nico's friend (named, so far, ??). Before Jennifer can do anything with that information, the Thors appear to send her to the Shield. Medusa sacrifices her life to buy Jennifer and the rest of A-Force time to escape, and they ultimately hide in the body of ??.
As much as I want to like this story, I can't say that I do. Too much happens that doesn't flow logically from previous events to feel like I'm really connected to the story. For example, Jennifer seems shocked (shocked!) when it appears that Medusa is the traitor, despite everything about her character over the last two issues screaming that she would do anything to be the Baroness. But, of course, we see that Medusa was just faking out the Thors when she used her hair to entrap the rest of A-Force; she instead sacrifices herself to save Arcadia. Moreover, Jennifer also appears to be mystically attuned now since she was somehow able to ascertain that the portal came from inside Arcadia. I could continue, but trust me when I say that this series just has too many random moments like these. It's like the authors are hellbent on telling the story that they want to tell despite the action on the ground not matching that story. It's as if they forgot that they control the narrative and the action.
** (two of five stars)
Jennifer follows the portal that opened last issue to the "Age of Apocalypse" (or maybe "Years of Future Past") Manhattan. Before she can even beat down some Sentinels, three female Thors appear to arrest her for crossing boundaries. Jennifer escapes by jumping through the portal and somehow (it's unclear how) realizes that said portal came from inside Arcadia. As a result, she realizes that Arcadia has a traitor in her midst and that this person is trying to pin the portals on Nico's friend (named, so far, ??). Before Jennifer can do anything with that information, the Thors appear to send her to the Shield. Medusa sacrifices her life to buy Jennifer and the rest of A-Force time to escape, and they ultimately hide in the body of ??.
As much as I want to like this story, I can't say that I do. Too much happens that doesn't flow logically from previous events to feel like I'm really connected to the story. For example, Jennifer seems shocked (shocked!) when it appears that Medusa is the traitor, despite everything about her character over the last two issues screaming that she would do anything to be the Baroness. But, of course, we see that Medusa was just faking out the Thors when she used her hair to entrap the rest of A-Force; she instead sacrifices herself to save Arcadia. Moreover, Jennifer also appears to be mystically attuned now since she was somehow able to ascertain that the portal came from inside Arcadia. I could continue, but trust me when I say that this series just has too many random moments like these. It's like the authors are hellbent on telling the story that they want to tell despite the action on the ground not matching that story. It's as if they forgot that they control the narrative and the action.
** (two of five stars)
Secret Wars #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Hickman really lays it all on the table here, giving us the secret history of the "Secret Wars." Since I didn't read his run on "Avengers" or "New Avengers," I'm not sure how much of the material that Hickman covers here is new. At the very least, it's new (and exciting) to me.
We (or maybe just I) learn in this issue that the Beyonders had grown tired of experimenting with life, so they moved onto death. They created Owen Reese as a bomb; his analogue in each reality was meant to destroy all reality when they each exploded simultaneously. However, the Beyonders underestimated the fact that Reese's humanity gave him the power of free choice. He wound up choosing to support Doom when he approached him with the truth behind the Beyonders' plan. Together, they began setting off the alternate versions of himself early to diminish the final explosion's power, creating the "incursions" that the Illuminati discovered in "New Avengers." Ultimately, they realized that they couldn't stop the Beyonders' plan, so they worked with Dr. Strange to steal their power. With that stolen power, Doom was able to save some parts of reality and created Battleworld from them.
It is honestly a solid story. If it's the first time that Hickman has revealed it since he started work on it with "Avengers" and "New Avengers," then the long-time readers of those series had to have their minds effing blown in reading it.
With the truth revealed, Hickman can now focus on the matter at hand: where we go from here. First, Doom is clearly worried (as Reese assures him that he should be) that his grip on power is loosening. Hickman hints in the conversation between Doom and Reese (who is hiding from the rest of Battleworld in a "room" located beneath the statue of him at Castle Doom) that they jointly maintain Battleworld and that their grip on it may not be as strong as Doom has led others to believe. Second, it's definitely true that Doom's hold on the truth is fracturing. Over the years, Valeria and her team have studied the energy of Battleworld and identified that Dr. Strange's power existed as almost anti-matter to Doom's power (the "god particles" that comprise all other energy on Battleworld). Although we don't learn why it would be the case (they themselves don't know), their ability to track the energy means that they know that it was Dr. Strange that dispersed the "strangers." (I'm assuming they'll learn that the strangers' powers use energy also different from Doom's.) Her suspicions heightened (since Doom tells the world a different story of Strange's fate), Valeria commits to finding the truth. When you add into the mix Thanos wandering the world on his own, you begin to realize why Doom's worried.
The exciting part of this series at this point is that Hickman still doesn't hint how it's all going to be resolved. Sure, Doom may have been a villain on Earth-616, but Hickman has made it clear that he is really the hero here. You can't dispute that he saved as much of reality as he could. Yes, he put himself on the throne, but you also understand why he had to do so: it appears that keeping the domains separate is important to keeping the peace (and perhaps the integrity) of Battleworld. Reed may well despise him for the reality that he's created, but it's not like Reed succeeded in saving the old one. In fact, Hickman is turning on its head the usual event trope where the heroes save the day just in the nick of time. What are they going to do here? Undo Doom's work and destroy Battleworld? If "saving the day" means "destroying all reality," are you really a hero? Hickman keeps this question at the center of this event, and it's why it's one of the best ones that I've really ever read. Usually, we're starting to fade at this point in an event, as some sort of logical fallacy overwhelms the story. (I'm looking at you, "Age of Ultron.") But, Hickman is not only going strong, but getting stronger. I can't wait to see where we go.
***** (five of five stars)
We (or maybe just I) learn in this issue that the Beyonders had grown tired of experimenting with life, so they moved onto death. They created Owen Reese as a bomb; his analogue in each reality was meant to destroy all reality when they each exploded simultaneously. However, the Beyonders underestimated the fact that Reese's humanity gave him the power of free choice. He wound up choosing to support Doom when he approached him with the truth behind the Beyonders' plan. Together, they began setting off the alternate versions of himself early to diminish the final explosion's power, creating the "incursions" that the Illuminati discovered in "New Avengers." Ultimately, they realized that they couldn't stop the Beyonders' plan, so they worked with Dr. Strange to steal their power. With that stolen power, Doom was able to save some parts of reality and created Battleworld from them.
It is honestly a solid story. If it's the first time that Hickman has revealed it since he started work on it with "Avengers" and "New Avengers," then the long-time readers of those series had to have their minds effing blown in reading it.
With the truth revealed, Hickman can now focus on the matter at hand: where we go from here. First, Doom is clearly worried (as Reese assures him that he should be) that his grip on power is loosening. Hickman hints in the conversation between Doom and Reese (who is hiding from the rest of Battleworld in a "room" located beneath the statue of him at Castle Doom) that they jointly maintain Battleworld and that their grip on it may not be as strong as Doom has led others to believe. Second, it's definitely true that Doom's hold on the truth is fracturing. Over the years, Valeria and her team have studied the energy of Battleworld and identified that Dr. Strange's power existed as almost anti-matter to Doom's power (the "god particles" that comprise all other energy on Battleworld). Although we don't learn why it would be the case (they themselves don't know), their ability to track the energy means that they know that it was Dr. Strange that dispersed the "strangers." (I'm assuming they'll learn that the strangers' powers use energy also different from Doom's.) Her suspicions heightened (since Doom tells the world a different story of Strange's fate), Valeria commits to finding the truth. When you add into the mix Thanos wandering the world on his own, you begin to realize why Doom's worried.
The exciting part of this series at this point is that Hickman still doesn't hint how it's all going to be resolved. Sure, Doom may have been a villain on Earth-616, but Hickman has made it clear that he is really the hero here. You can't dispute that he saved as much of reality as he could. Yes, he put himself on the throne, but you also understand why he had to do so: it appears that keeping the domains separate is important to keeping the peace (and perhaps the integrity) of Battleworld. Reed may well despise him for the reality that he's created, but it's not like Reed succeeded in saving the old one. In fact, Hickman is turning on its head the usual event trope where the heroes save the day just in the nick of time. What are they going to do here? Undo Doom's work and destroy Battleworld? If "saving the day" means "destroying all reality," are you really a hero? Hickman keeps this question at the center of this event, and it's why it's one of the best ones that I've really ever read. Usually, we're starting to fade at this point in an event, as some sort of logical fallacy overwhelms the story. (I'm looking at you, "Age of Ultron.") But, Hickman is not only going strong, but getting stronger. I can't wait to see where we go.
***** (five of five stars)
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Rebels #1-#5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
I was attracted to "Rebels" because I generally feel like the opportunity to relive history through comic books is woefully underused. (Why do I have to play "Assassin's Creed" to get my French Revolution fix?) Plus, "Rebels" isn't even an alternate history (the most commonly used way to explore the past in comic books), like Vertigo's excellent "The Royals: Masters of War" was. Instead, Wood uses a fictional character, Seth, as our POV on the early days of the American Revolution. Now, Wood makes it clear from the outset that he doesn't exactly want students taking their history exams based on the narrative that he creates here. But, that said, I learned a lot about the Revolution that I didn't know in just these five issues. In that way, it does exactly what I wanted it to do, making history come alive in a way that comic books seem ideal as a medium to facilitate.
In terms of the story itself, It's important to establish from the outset that Seth is an odd character. My main problem with him is that both Wood and Mutti conspire to make him appear twice his age. Wood establishes in the first issue that he's a 17-year-old (I believe that he turns 18 years old in issue #2), despite the fact that Mutti frequently draws him as a full grown man, full beard and all.
However, it's not just an art problem; the fact that Seth is a teenager makes it difficult to believe at times that he can do what he does over the course of these five issues. I think Wood means to use Seth's remarkable capabilities as a way of showing how mature and tough backwoods boys are compared to their weaker city equivalents. (Henry Knox is portrayed as a fey and nervous Boston twit in issue #5.) But, as a backwood boy myself, I'd say that Wood is probably overselling that. In fact, he's falling into a trap that I was hoping that he'd avoid, where Seth has essentially become the Revolutionary War's equivalent of Forrest Gump: he's secretly determining the direction of the war with his actions. He's the one that clears the way for Allen and Arnold to take Fort Ticonderoga with his bravery at Grand Isle. He's the one that got Ticonderoga's guns to Boston. Instead of getting a bird's-eye view of the war from an infantryman, we're getting something close to an alternate history.
Now, it's not to say that regular soldiers don't affect the outcome of a war. After all, Knox didn't carry the guns over the mountains by himself. But, my point is that it's questionable if Seth can be considered a "regular soldier" at this point. After all, he's the one that sneaks into the enemy camp to steal their plans and then destroys the barge that scuttles these plans (to build a new fort at Button Mould Bay). He's pretty much the Batman of 1775.
Complicating matters, it's also not clear what his motivations are. He's married to Mercy by the end of the first issue, but then immediately abandons her for grand adventure. Is it really just about the adventure? He twice declines to spend time with her, immediately traveling with Allen after the events at Grand Isle at the end of issue #3 and declining to visit her when the going gets slow over the mountains in issue #5. Again, it's hard to believe that he's just doing it for the adventure? Seth seems excited throughout the series so far about the prospect of the Colonies seceding from Great Britain, but the downside of his well established laconicism is that we don't really know that for sure. He seems willing to sacrifice a lot, but Wood hasn't really told us why.
Something complicated my ability to get to know Seth is that I often feel like I'm missing clues that Wood is hiding in his script. For example, in issue #1, Seth gets back the grant papers that Mercy's father had signed over to the sheriff from Albany, but Wood never makes it clear how he accomplished that. After all, Seth merely convinces the locals that have taken over a courthouse to abandon it after the British soldiers killed a few of them trying to reclaim it. We learn that the sheriff was later arrested on murder charges, but Wood never actually makes it clear whether he (the sheriff) was actually on the scene (as far as I can tell). In other words, we never see a conversation that would result in Seth saying to the sheriff, "Hey, since I managed to help you, could you hand over a grant that someone signed over to you?" Even if we had seen that conversation, I still don't see why the sheriff would've done so. Similarly, in issue #5, we learn that George Washington had secretly put Seth in charge of the expedition to bring Ticonderoga's guns to Boston, despite the fact that he had specifically banned Ethan Allen from sending him on the mission in issue #4. Are we supposed to believe that Washington knew that Allen would defy him? If so, why go with the ruse in the first place? I don't know if Wood is being too subtle in conveying the hints that he wants me to understand or if I'm just too literal, but, either way, I've wound up scratching my head a few times.
In other words, so far, "Rebels" is a mixed bag. I'm seriously enjoying the tour through history that Wood is providing and, other than drawing Seth as a 34-year-old, Mutti does an amazing job of conveying the beauty of the Green Mountains, almost like they're a character in and of themselves. But, we've still got some kinks in the story-telling technique that made it difficult for me to engage as fully as I want to engage. I'm hoping that Wood can iron out those problems in upcoming issue, because I really want this series to work.
*** (three of five stars)
In terms of the story itself, It's important to establish from the outset that Seth is an odd character. My main problem with him is that both Wood and Mutti conspire to make him appear twice his age. Wood establishes in the first issue that he's a 17-year-old (I believe that he turns 18 years old in issue #2), despite the fact that Mutti frequently draws him as a full grown man, full beard and all.
However, it's not just an art problem; the fact that Seth is a teenager makes it difficult to believe at times that he can do what he does over the course of these five issues. I think Wood means to use Seth's remarkable capabilities as a way of showing how mature and tough backwoods boys are compared to their weaker city equivalents. (Henry Knox is portrayed as a fey and nervous Boston twit in issue #5.) But, as a backwood boy myself, I'd say that Wood is probably overselling that. In fact, he's falling into a trap that I was hoping that he'd avoid, where Seth has essentially become the Revolutionary War's equivalent of Forrest Gump: he's secretly determining the direction of the war with his actions. He's the one that clears the way for Allen and Arnold to take Fort Ticonderoga with his bravery at Grand Isle. He's the one that got Ticonderoga's guns to Boston. Instead of getting a bird's-eye view of the war from an infantryman, we're getting something close to an alternate history.
Now, it's not to say that regular soldiers don't affect the outcome of a war. After all, Knox didn't carry the guns over the mountains by himself. But, my point is that it's questionable if Seth can be considered a "regular soldier" at this point. After all, he's the one that sneaks into the enemy camp to steal their plans and then destroys the barge that scuttles these plans (to build a new fort at Button Mould Bay). He's pretty much the Batman of 1775.
Complicating matters, it's also not clear what his motivations are. He's married to Mercy by the end of the first issue, but then immediately abandons her for grand adventure. Is it really just about the adventure? He twice declines to spend time with her, immediately traveling with Allen after the events at Grand Isle at the end of issue #3 and declining to visit her when the going gets slow over the mountains in issue #5. Again, it's hard to believe that he's just doing it for the adventure? Seth seems excited throughout the series so far about the prospect of the Colonies seceding from Great Britain, but the downside of his well established laconicism is that we don't really know that for sure. He seems willing to sacrifice a lot, but Wood hasn't really told us why.
Something complicated my ability to get to know Seth is that I often feel like I'm missing clues that Wood is hiding in his script. For example, in issue #1, Seth gets back the grant papers that Mercy's father had signed over to the sheriff from Albany, but Wood never makes it clear how he accomplished that. After all, Seth merely convinces the locals that have taken over a courthouse to abandon it after the British soldiers killed a few of them trying to reclaim it. We learn that the sheriff was later arrested on murder charges, but Wood never actually makes it clear whether he (the sheriff) was actually on the scene (as far as I can tell). In other words, we never see a conversation that would result in Seth saying to the sheriff, "Hey, since I managed to help you, could you hand over a grant that someone signed over to you?" Even if we had seen that conversation, I still don't see why the sheriff would've done so. Similarly, in issue #5, we learn that George Washington had secretly put Seth in charge of the expedition to bring Ticonderoga's guns to Boston, despite the fact that he had specifically banned Ethan Allen from sending him on the mission in issue #4. Are we supposed to believe that Washington knew that Allen would defy him? If so, why go with the ruse in the first place? I don't know if Wood is being too subtle in conveying the hints that he wants me to understand or if I'm just too literal, but, either way, I've wound up scratching my head a few times.
In other words, so far, "Rebels" is a mixed bag. I'm seriously enjoying the tour through history that Wood is providing and, other than drawing Seth as a 34-year-old, Mutti does an amazing job of conveying the beauty of the Green Mountains, almost like they're a character in and of themselves. But, we've still got some kinks in the story-telling technique that made it difficult for me to engage as fully as I want to engage. I'm hoping that Wood can iron out those problems in upcoming issue, because I really want this series to work.
*** (three of five stars)
Earth 2: Society #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
I am quite honestly totally lost here.
It seems pretty clear that I need to forget the preview of this series entirely: Huntress and Red Arrow (at least for now) are firmly on the side of the heroes trying to prevent Terry Sloan from terraforming New Earth 2 in this issue. But, I'll admit that I keep defaulting to that storyline in my head, forcing me to take a moment each issue to remember that it's not (at this point) the story that Wilson is actually telling.
However, putting aside the preview, I'm still confused. We still haven't been given any reason why Sloan wants to terraform New Earth 2. To the extent that he addresses it, Wilson seems to imply that Sloan is doing it in anger over the people of New Earth 2 not appreciating the fact that he's the one that saved them. However, we're not given any reason for why he just now decided to get all "vengeful god" over that transgression. It's like he's a kid that woke up one day and decided to disassemble his Lego fortresses.
Moreover, Wilson continues jumping from the past and the present, and it's getting hard to keep them straight. We're supposed to juggle the revelation that Power Girl now hates Val-Zod in the present with Lois's story of discovering her humanity in the past. The problem is that the Lois story is a moving one: after a group of scared refugees reject her, she later uses her network systems to connect people to relatives from whom they were separated during Planetfall. Given that Alan is now a lobotomized avatar of the Green, Lois is the closest this series has to an emotional core. But, we're distracted from her story by the chaos surrounding it.
I have to say that I just can't believe that we're here. I loved this series when it started, but, just as we got to know the characters, we got caught in the Michael Bay movie that the Darkseid war was. Now, a lot of those characters are lost to us; beyond just Alan, Kendra is reduced to exploring the world on her own and Jay is building houses in "Midwest City." Honestly, I think we need an issue or two where we just stay firmly in the present and focused on one character so that we can have something approaching a connection with a central character. Wilson starts to get there with Lois in this issue, but I'm doubtful that the focus will remain on her. I guess we'll see, but I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to give Wilson to show me.
** (two of five stars)
It seems pretty clear that I need to forget the preview of this series entirely: Huntress and Red Arrow (at least for now) are firmly on the side of the heroes trying to prevent Terry Sloan from terraforming New Earth 2 in this issue. But, I'll admit that I keep defaulting to that storyline in my head, forcing me to take a moment each issue to remember that it's not (at this point) the story that Wilson is actually telling.
However, putting aside the preview, I'm still confused. We still haven't been given any reason why Sloan wants to terraform New Earth 2. To the extent that he addresses it, Wilson seems to imply that Sloan is doing it in anger over the people of New Earth 2 not appreciating the fact that he's the one that saved them. However, we're not given any reason for why he just now decided to get all "vengeful god" over that transgression. It's like he's a kid that woke up one day and decided to disassemble his Lego fortresses.
Moreover, Wilson continues jumping from the past and the present, and it's getting hard to keep them straight. We're supposed to juggle the revelation that Power Girl now hates Val-Zod in the present with Lois's story of discovering her humanity in the past. The problem is that the Lois story is a moving one: after a group of scared refugees reject her, she later uses her network systems to connect people to relatives from whom they were separated during Planetfall. Given that Alan is now a lobotomized avatar of the Green, Lois is the closest this series has to an emotional core. But, we're distracted from her story by the chaos surrounding it.
I have to say that I just can't believe that we're here. I loved this series when it started, but, just as we got to know the characters, we got caught in the Michael Bay movie that the Darkseid war was. Now, a lot of those characters are lost to us; beyond just Alan, Kendra is reduced to exploring the world on her own and Jay is building houses in "Midwest City." Honestly, I think we need an issue or two where we just stay firmly in the present and focused on one character so that we can have something approaching a connection with a central character. Wilson starts to get there with Lois in this issue, but I'm doubtful that the focus will remain on her. I guess we'll see, but I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to give Wilson to show me.
** (two of five stars)
Batman #43 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Since this issue establishes how Bruce got to where we saw him last issue, it's really make-or-break for the story that Snyder is telling. Like Marley's death, you're not going to believe anything that comes after it if you don't accept this premise. I'm glad to say that I feel like Snyder really sold it here.
First, Bruce's resurrection is believable, at least as comic-book resurrections go. In the wake of Bruce's confrontation with the Joker, the dionesium seeped into his broken skull and healed the damage to his brain. However, in doing so, it created entirely different and new pathways, leaving Bruce with no memory of his previous life. (Snyder doesn't specify why the dionesium would create these different and new pathways in healing him, but I'm willing to just go with it at this point.) Alfred is forced to walk Bruce through his life, starting with the death of his parents and leading to the revelation that he was Batman. However, Bruce stops him before he gets to Batman. He tells him that he feels no emotional connection to his parents (or their death) so he doesn't feel the need to live the life that he previously lived. He tells Alfred that he wants to help Gotham in the hands-on way that his mother did, and Alfred puts him in touch with Julie Madison. The rest is history (if recent history).
In other words, Snyder is telling one of the classic Batman stories: who would Bruce have been if his parents hadn't been murdered? Snyder makes it clear that the tension of this arc will come from the fact that Batman's allies don't really want an answer to that question.
The readers gets all this information about Bruce's status quo from Alfred's conversation with Superman, come to Gotham to check on the situation. Clark is adamant that Bruce find a way to become Batman again, but Alfred is even more adamant that he be allowed to rest in peace (so to speak). He stresses to Clark that the intuition and training that made Bruce into Batman is gone. In perhaps the best moment of the issue, he threatens Clark by producing a ring made of kryptonite, showing him that Bruce is as helpless as Clark is in the presence of the ring. In doing so, Snyder makes it clear that Alfred intends to preserve Bruce's happy ending, encouraging Clark to "let him live." Moreover, Alfred makes it clear that they don't really have a choice. Clark expresses disbelief that Bruce hadn't planned for this eventuality, and Alfred reveals that he did: he uncovers the machine that Bruce would use to create the future versions of himself that we saw in "Detective Comics" #27. But, Bruce never had time to finish it, presumably never finding a way to transfer his brain patterns onto the clone. As such, he is really and truly gone.
But, it's not just Clark that's going to be the problem. Commissioner Gordon visits Bruce to ask for help with Mr. Bloom. Gordon tells Bruce that he needs him to tweak his suit so that he can investigate Mr. Bloom on his own, since the Powers That Be don't want him involved. (Snyder stokes the suspicion that said order raised in Gordon with the revelation that Bloom's men may have been able to get into Gordon's network systems.) Unfortunately for Gordon, Bruce doesn't remember his connection to Batman, even if it's just as the engineer of his tech (a pretense that Gordon maintains in their conversation). Gordon leaves the seed for Bruce (implying, to me, that he knows exactly what connection Bruce really had to Batman), but it's Duke Thomas that retrieves it to study.
In other words, despite the revelations of this issue, Snyder is still playing his cards close to his chest. We've got the obligatory explanation of why Bruce is amnesiac, but Snyder is also implying that he's going to stay that way for a while. Moreover, Snyder actually makes you want Bruce not to return. We're not dealing with Doc Ock taking over Peter's body. If anything, the revelation that Bruce was so obsessed with his role as Batman that he was willing to condemn himself to it forever shows why he needs a break. I find myself agreeing with Alfred: Gotham, a city that never gives, has given Bruce a new life. I doubt that he'll get to keep it, but I find myself hoping that he does.
**** (four of five stars)
First, Bruce's resurrection is believable, at least as comic-book resurrections go. In the wake of Bruce's confrontation with the Joker, the dionesium seeped into his broken skull and healed the damage to his brain. However, in doing so, it created entirely different and new pathways, leaving Bruce with no memory of his previous life. (Snyder doesn't specify why the dionesium would create these different and new pathways in healing him, but I'm willing to just go with it at this point.) Alfred is forced to walk Bruce through his life, starting with the death of his parents and leading to the revelation that he was Batman. However, Bruce stops him before he gets to Batman. He tells him that he feels no emotional connection to his parents (or their death) so he doesn't feel the need to live the life that he previously lived. He tells Alfred that he wants to help Gotham in the hands-on way that his mother did, and Alfred puts him in touch with Julie Madison. The rest is history (if recent history).
In other words, Snyder is telling one of the classic Batman stories: who would Bruce have been if his parents hadn't been murdered? Snyder makes it clear that the tension of this arc will come from the fact that Batman's allies don't really want an answer to that question.
The readers gets all this information about Bruce's status quo from Alfred's conversation with Superman, come to Gotham to check on the situation. Clark is adamant that Bruce find a way to become Batman again, but Alfred is even more adamant that he be allowed to rest in peace (so to speak). He stresses to Clark that the intuition and training that made Bruce into Batman is gone. In perhaps the best moment of the issue, he threatens Clark by producing a ring made of kryptonite, showing him that Bruce is as helpless as Clark is in the presence of the ring. In doing so, Snyder makes it clear that Alfred intends to preserve Bruce's happy ending, encouraging Clark to "let him live." Moreover, Alfred makes it clear that they don't really have a choice. Clark expresses disbelief that Bruce hadn't planned for this eventuality, and Alfred reveals that he did: he uncovers the machine that Bruce would use to create the future versions of himself that we saw in "Detective Comics" #27. But, Bruce never had time to finish it, presumably never finding a way to transfer his brain patterns onto the clone. As such, he is really and truly gone.
But, it's not just Clark that's going to be the problem. Commissioner Gordon visits Bruce to ask for help with Mr. Bloom. Gordon tells Bruce that he needs him to tweak his suit so that he can investigate Mr. Bloom on his own, since the Powers That Be don't want him involved. (Snyder stokes the suspicion that said order raised in Gordon with the revelation that Bloom's men may have been able to get into Gordon's network systems.) Unfortunately for Gordon, Bruce doesn't remember his connection to Batman, even if it's just as the engineer of his tech (a pretense that Gordon maintains in their conversation). Gordon leaves the seed for Bruce (implying, to me, that he knows exactly what connection Bruce really had to Batman), but it's Duke Thomas that retrieves it to study.
In other words, despite the revelations of this issue, Snyder is still playing his cards close to his chest. We've got the obligatory explanation of why Bruce is amnesiac, but Snyder is also implying that he's going to stay that way for a while. Moreover, Snyder actually makes you want Bruce not to return. We're not dealing with Doc Ock taking over Peter's body. If anything, the revelation that Bruce was so obsessed with his role as Batman that he was willing to condemn himself to it forever shows why he needs a break. I find myself agreeing with Alfred: Gotham, a city that never gives, has given Bruce a new life. I doubt that he'll get to keep it, but I find myself hoping that he does.
**** (four of five stars)
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Darth Vader #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
I decided the other day that I was enjoying "Star Wars" so much that I should really also be reading "Darth Vader." So, I bought all the back issues on Comixology, and I had a great time making my way through them this weekend. Gillen is as amazing here as he was on "Young Avengers." It's a real treat.
Somehow, this issue is even better than the previous ones. We see Aphra on her own here, organizing a group of bounty hunters to steal "kerzillions" of credits from a vault on an imperial Star Cruiser. It's always fun to read an issue dedicated to a great caper, and Gillen and Larroca do a solid job of taking us through it step-by-step. Throughout the theft, I was wondering how Aphra was going to hide it from Vader, fearing for her that he would find out somehow. This concern made it all the better when it was revealed that she was doing it for Vader. Now, he not only has his own army, but his own treasury. Clever.
One of the best parts of the issue is that the bad guys are actually competent. Aphra pulls off two schemes virtually flawlessly: invading the ship in the first place and then double-crossing her bounty-hunter partners to make sure that the lion's share of the score is saved for Vader. (Sure, Tagge discovered the theft, but we don't know how yet. Given the overwhelming force that she was facing, I'm still giving Aphra credit for almost pulling off the job without the Empire noticing.) Moreover, Vader's new minder, Thanoth, proves himself "observant," and you've got to be damn good to make Vader pay you that sort of compliment. Sure, it probably means that he'll wind up dead. But, in the meantime, it's great to see Aphra and Thanoth portrayed as skilled at their professions and not the usual bumbling idiots that we usually see villains be in comic books (even the well written ones).
*** (three of five stars)
Somehow, this issue is even better than the previous ones. We see Aphra on her own here, organizing a group of bounty hunters to steal "kerzillions" of credits from a vault on an imperial Star Cruiser. It's always fun to read an issue dedicated to a great caper, and Gillen and Larroca do a solid job of taking us through it step-by-step. Throughout the theft, I was wondering how Aphra was going to hide it from Vader, fearing for her that he would find out somehow. This concern made it all the better when it was revealed that she was doing it for Vader. Now, he not only has his own army, but his own treasury. Clever.
One of the best parts of the issue is that the bad guys are actually competent. Aphra pulls off two schemes virtually flawlessly: invading the ship in the first place and then double-crossing her bounty-hunter partners to make sure that the lion's share of the score is saved for Vader. (Sure, Tagge discovered the theft, but we don't know how yet. Given the overwhelming force that she was facing, I'm still giving Aphra credit for almost pulling off the job without the Empire noticing.) Moreover, Vader's new minder, Thanoth, proves himself "observant," and you've got to be damn good to make Vader pay you that sort of compliment. Sure, it probably means that he'll wind up dead. But, in the meantime, it's great to see Aphra and Thanoth portrayed as skilled at their professions and not the usual bumbling idiots that we usually see villains be in comic books (even the well written ones).
*** (three of five stars)
Spider-Island #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Cap-Wolf. The Iron Goblin. Lizard Hulk. Carol-acula. It should be cheesy as hell, but somehow Gage really makes it work.
I think the reason is that he takes the time to build the story and sell it. Flash has to expose the spiderized heroes to a variety of metamorphic agents -- Morbius' blood serum, Curt Connor's reptilian serum, Osborn's Goblin Formula, etc. -- because they're the only way to break the heroes' connection to the Queen. (Gage established in the first issue that a cure is considered impossible.) It definitely falls into the category of "a plan so crazy that it might just work." Once he's got his crew of mutant Avengers, Flash can then lead an assault on the Queen's base to get Stegron. Even Vision questions why Venom is focused on Stegron. But, again, Gage has an answer, and Flash delivers it in a way that doesn't feel excessively expository. The Queen used Stegron's genetic expertise to replace the Jackal, so Flash figures that he's the last hope at finding a way to sever the Queen's hold on the population.
Flash is even rewarded with some unexpected good news: the Queen has been keeping Spider-Man alive but unconscious. I loved Flash not knowing what surprised him more: that Spider-Man was still alive or that he's really Peter Parker. I mentioned last issue that even the best-case scenario in this story was a grim one: without a cure, Flash's best hope was just returning free will to a population of spiderized humans. But, we established last issue that Gage is really telling a story about how heroes like Spider-Man can pull off the impossible. With him in the game again, could the Queen be totally defeated and a cure found? Given how "Secret Wars" is going, it's probably unlikely and Gage is just raising Flash's hopes to make it all the more tragic when they're dashed. But, we'll see.
*** (three of five stars)
I think the reason is that he takes the time to build the story and sell it. Flash has to expose the spiderized heroes to a variety of metamorphic agents -- Morbius' blood serum, Curt Connor's reptilian serum, Osborn's Goblin Formula, etc. -- because they're the only way to break the heroes' connection to the Queen. (Gage established in the first issue that a cure is considered impossible.) It definitely falls into the category of "a plan so crazy that it might just work." Once he's got his crew of mutant Avengers, Flash can then lead an assault on the Queen's base to get Stegron. Even Vision questions why Venom is focused on Stegron. But, again, Gage has an answer, and Flash delivers it in a way that doesn't feel excessively expository. The Queen used Stegron's genetic expertise to replace the Jackal, so Flash figures that he's the last hope at finding a way to sever the Queen's hold on the population.
Flash is even rewarded with some unexpected good news: the Queen has been keeping Spider-Man alive but unconscious. I loved Flash not knowing what surprised him more: that Spider-Man was still alive or that he's really Peter Parker. I mentioned last issue that even the best-case scenario in this story was a grim one: without a cure, Flash's best hope was just returning free will to a population of spiderized humans. But, we established last issue that Gage is really telling a story about how heroes like Spider-Man can pull off the impossible. With him in the game again, could the Queen be totally defeated and a cure found? Given how "Secret Wars" is going, it's probably unlikely and Gage is just raising Flash's hopes to make it all the more tragic when they're dashed. But, we'll see.
*** (three of five stars)
Infinity Gauntlet #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Man, this series just keeps getting creepier and creepier.
First, it still feels like "The Road." In this issue, Gamora and Peter throw in their lot with the Nova family simply because they essentially have nothing else left to do. The world is so desolate that it doesn't even have enough to steal.
But, we're also at a point where reality itself doesn't have much meaning. The plot of this issue revolves around the fact that Thanos is using the Time Gem to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet, traveling into the past every time his latest scheme fails. Said failure appears more often than not to involve the Nova family, so Thanos returns this time to co-opt, rather than combat, them. He convinces the mother to take him with them as she assembles the gems, as much as it pains him to be kind to small children. Moreover, Anwen seems to have the same thought as I did about her mother's coincidentally appearing just as she found the Mind Gem. (Anwen's mother thinks that she's asking if she could resurrect her grandfather with it, but it's pretty clear to the reader what she actually meant.) As Anwen's mom continues to gather gems, you have to wonder if reality is going to have any meaning as she becomes more and more able to control it.
Finally, we also have the arrival on the scene of Drax. He's as determined as ever to kill Thanos, and it seems pretty clear that his discovery of the group is going to be the spark that starts the fire that consumes everyone. (Oddly, Gamora doesn't recognize Thanos, though she does have a bad feeling about it. Go with your gut on this one, Gamora.)
In other words, yeah, it's pretty grim.
*** (three of five stars)
First, it still feels like "The Road." In this issue, Gamora and Peter throw in their lot with the Nova family simply because they essentially have nothing else left to do. The world is so desolate that it doesn't even have enough to steal.
But, we're also at a point where reality itself doesn't have much meaning. The plot of this issue revolves around the fact that Thanos is using the Time Gem to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet, traveling into the past every time his latest scheme fails. Said failure appears more often than not to involve the Nova family, so Thanos returns this time to co-opt, rather than combat, them. He convinces the mother to take him with them as she assembles the gems, as much as it pains him to be kind to small children. Moreover, Anwen seems to have the same thought as I did about her mother's coincidentally appearing just as she found the Mind Gem. (Anwen's mother thinks that she's asking if she could resurrect her grandfather with it, but it's pretty clear to the reader what she actually meant.) As Anwen's mom continues to gather gems, you have to wonder if reality is going to have any meaning as she becomes more and more able to control it.
Finally, we also have the arrival on the scene of Drax. He's as determined as ever to kill Thanos, and it seems pretty clear that his discovery of the group is going to be the spark that starts the fire that consumes everyone. (Oddly, Gamora doesn't recognize Thanos, though she does have a bad feeling about it. Go with your gut on this one, Gamora.)
In other words, yeah, it's pretty grim.
*** (three of five stars)
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Guardians of Knowhere #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Honestly, I don't have much to say about this issue, because Bendis tells a pretty straight-forward story here. Yotat is a former small-time hood that got transformed into the hulking giant that we see here through an accident. Said accident involved a bomb that looks a lot like the thermal-nuclear detonator from "Return of the Jedi." (Bendis doesn't really go into details about how the transformation happened, but I'm just going to go with it, since stranger things have literally happened in the Marvel Universe.) Said bomb was detonated on top of him by the big-time hood whose organization Yotat was trying to join. Said hood didn't like that Yotat was trying to leave his current employer; he values loyalty, apparently. Yotat sought out the guy later for revenge, but he came across Rocket and Drax in the process. Rocket tries to stop Yotat, Drax arrives in the nick of time to save Rocket's tail, the Nova Corps appear on the scene, they take Yotat into custody, and Rocket and Drax abscond. In the present, Yotat returns for revenge against Drax and, well, he pretty much gets it: in the last scene, everyone other than Rocket appears dead. Needless to say, I'm intrigued by how Bendis is going to start the next issue.
*** (three of five stars)
*** (three of five stars)
Civil War #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Soule makes it clear here that the actors in this drama have reached a point of no return. After years of stalemate, they're striking at each other more directly than they previously have.
On the Blue side, Peter convinces Steve that the assassination attempt on him is the proof that they need that Stark has no intention of negotiating. Steve (more or less) agrees and greenlights Project Bellcurve, a procedure that the Beast developed to strip metahumans of their powers. The plan appears to be to use this procedure on all the metahumans of the Iron. However, Peter has to lead a mission into the Iron to get the resources needed to use it on that grand of a scale. Meanwhile, Tony has come to realize that someone is manipulating events behind the scenes and sends Jennifer into the Blue to track down the assassin to see if s/he is connected to this manipulation.
As with other "Secret Wars" tie-in series, this series is fascinating because we really see familiar characters taken to (and perhaps beyond) their limit. Peter is spoiling for a fight, rattled by Stark bringing Mary Jane and his daughter to see him at the Divide. Steve has fetishized freedom, making sure that Sandman (the test subject for Bellcurve) is fully cognizant of his decision to lose his powers. However, it's unclear how he reconciles this view with the possibility of involuntarily stripping thousands of metahumans in the Iron of their powers. Does he really believe that he has no other choice? Although he acquiesces to Peter here, he doesn't seem all that convinced. Finally, She-Hulk is portrayed as particularly world-weary, almost too exhausted to seek justice for her friend, Miriam Sharpe. It's a grim place.
Like "Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows," I feel like we're not heading for a happy ending here, and I'm anxious to see how it all unfolds. Before I go, I also need to mention the art. Yu is really on fire here: his designs for the cities -- particularly Liberation, the capital of the Blue -- are stunning. It makes me long for the day when he takes of "Amazing Spider-Man." One day, maybe!
**** (four of five stars)
On the Blue side, Peter convinces Steve that the assassination attempt on him is the proof that they need that Stark has no intention of negotiating. Steve (more or less) agrees and greenlights Project Bellcurve, a procedure that the Beast developed to strip metahumans of their powers. The plan appears to be to use this procedure on all the metahumans of the Iron. However, Peter has to lead a mission into the Iron to get the resources needed to use it on that grand of a scale. Meanwhile, Tony has come to realize that someone is manipulating events behind the scenes and sends Jennifer into the Blue to track down the assassin to see if s/he is connected to this manipulation.
As with other "Secret Wars" tie-in series, this series is fascinating because we really see familiar characters taken to (and perhaps beyond) their limit. Peter is spoiling for a fight, rattled by Stark bringing Mary Jane and his daughter to see him at the Divide. Steve has fetishized freedom, making sure that Sandman (the test subject for Bellcurve) is fully cognizant of his decision to lose his powers. However, it's unclear how he reconciles this view with the possibility of involuntarily stripping thousands of metahumans in the Iron of their powers. Does he really believe that he has no other choice? Although he acquiesces to Peter here, he doesn't seem all that convinced. Finally, She-Hulk is portrayed as particularly world-weary, almost too exhausted to seek justice for her friend, Miriam Sharpe. It's a grim place.
Like "Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows," I feel like we're not heading for a happy ending here, and I'm anxious to see how it all unfolds. Before I go, I also need to mention the art. Yu is really on fire here: his designs for the cities -- particularly Liberation, the capital of the Blue -- are stunning. It makes me long for the day when he takes of "Amazing Spider-Man." One day, maybe!
**** (four of five stars)
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
If the last two issues weren't sufficiently tense for you, this one should satisfy your needs. i just really didn't know where we were going here, because Slott made it clear that the old rules no longer apply.
The issue begins with Peter trying to get some inhibitor chips from the Tinkerer, but the Tinkerer instead alerts the Sinister Six that Spidey is there. Doc Ock is the first on the scene, and Slott makes it clear that Peter's no longer playing games when he mutilates Ock. (Ock himself is unprepared for this development, taunting Peter over the fact that the worst that he expects him to do is wrap him in some webbing.) For a minute, I actually thought that Peter killed Ock, and, from the rest of the Six's commentary, it seems possible that Ock isn't long for this world. Although Peter manages to swipe the chips before the rest of the Six appear on the scene, Kraven, recognizing his desperation, puts two and two together and realizes that Peter has a child that attends the school where the Power kids appeared. Regent has all the kids and parents in the school go through scanners to try to ID Spider-Man, but Peter's revamped inhibitor bracelets work like a charm. However, when one of Annie's classmates trips the scanner, Peter is forced into action, revealing not only himself but also, inadvertently, MJ and Annie in the process.
Seriously, I didn't think that Slott was capable of this sort of dark story. First, it becomes clear in this issue (and the cover of next issue) that Annie is going to be forced into using her powers, as horrifying as it is for MJ to see her eight-year-old go into battle. Second, we learn that Regent views Peter's powers as necessary to complete some sort of "Great Task," meaning that he's unlikely to dismiss Peter as a nuisance. In other words, we seem to be on a collision course to a really bad ending for everyone involved. As I've said about other authors of the "Secret Wars" tie-in series, Slott is really using this opportunity to tell a different type of Spider-Man story, and it continues to be a gripping read. I honestly have no idea where it's going to end.
**** (four of five stars)
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Age of Apocalypse #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
I really liked the first issue of this series, but, man, the quality dropped off quickly here.
Nicieza sets the two sides -- Cyclops' Elite Mutant Front (EMF) and Magneto's X-Men -- against each other in this issue. However, we don't really know enough about the characters and their allegiances to follow the battle. Is Wolverine on Cyclops' side? Is Burner maybe Sunspot? Why do Cannonball and Rogue hate each other? It's pretty much mutants randomly attacking other mutants, because we're not given any clear way to distinguish them. Plus, Nicieza doesn't do a great job of laying out their motives. It wasn't until the end of the issue that I realized that the X-Men were trying to get their hands on Doug, meaning that I spent the majority of the issue thoroughly confused. We also still don't know what their individual motives are. Is Wolverine with Magneto just because he hates Cyclops? Unclear.
Separately, I found it hard not to roll my eyes at Apocalypse being all evil here. He's essentially reduced to a Bond villain in his brief appearance at the end of this issue, where he's ranting like a deranged frat-boy in daring the X-Men to bring it. I feel like the problem with this approach -- one that pretty much everyone takes with Apocalypse -- is that it essentially dismisses him as a crazed lunatic. The reason why "Age of Apocalypse" was so chilling in the day was because it showed the damage that a meticulously applied policy of genetic supremacy could cause. It was bringing Apocalypse's world view to its inevitable conclusion, and it was horrifying. Here, he's somehow just a generic tyrant.
Finally, we get some hints in the scenes with Sabretooth that something else is going on here with the humans, but I'm not clever enough to follow the crumbs that Nicieza leaves us to get to the path's conclusion.
Hopefully this issue was a necessary bumpy patch as Nicieza tries to quickly get us to the interesting part. Fingers crossed.
** (two of five stars)
Nicieza sets the two sides -- Cyclops' Elite Mutant Front (EMF) and Magneto's X-Men -- against each other in this issue. However, we don't really know enough about the characters and their allegiances to follow the battle. Is Wolverine on Cyclops' side? Is Burner maybe Sunspot? Why do Cannonball and Rogue hate each other? It's pretty much mutants randomly attacking other mutants, because we're not given any clear way to distinguish them. Plus, Nicieza doesn't do a great job of laying out their motives. It wasn't until the end of the issue that I realized that the X-Men were trying to get their hands on Doug, meaning that I spent the majority of the issue thoroughly confused. We also still don't know what their individual motives are. Is Wolverine with Magneto just because he hates Cyclops? Unclear.
Separately, I found it hard not to roll my eyes at Apocalypse being all evil here. He's essentially reduced to a Bond villain in his brief appearance at the end of this issue, where he's ranting like a deranged frat-boy in daring the X-Men to bring it. I feel like the problem with this approach -- one that pretty much everyone takes with Apocalypse -- is that it essentially dismisses him as a crazed lunatic. The reason why "Age of Apocalypse" was so chilling in the day was because it showed the damage that a meticulously applied policy of genetic supremacy could cause. It was bringing Apocalypse's world view to its inevitable conclusion, and it was horrifying. Here, he's somehow just a generic tyrant.
Finally, we get some hints in the scenes with Sabretooth that something else is going on here with the humans, but I'm not clever enough to follow the crumbs that Nicieza leaves us to get to the path's conclusion.
Hopefully this issue was a necessary bumpy patch as Nicieza tries to quickly get us to the interesting part. Fingers crossed.
** (two of five stars)
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Midnighter #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Although this issue has the requisite fight-of-the-week, it's really about Midnighter's personal life, and I couldn't be happier about that.
The fight part of the story involves Midnighter retrieving a girl that some bad guys plugged into a machine stolen from the God Garden. Said machine drains the life force of kids and transfers it to adults. It's a regular Fountain of Youth. Seeing kids manipulated like he was as a child doesn't sit well with Midnighter, so he frees the kid and gets the name of the guy that sold said bad guys the machine in the first place. The issue ends with Midnighter kidnapping Grayson to help him track down the guy in Moscow (or, as he calls it, "date night").
Although that part is totally solid as stories go, the "life" part is much more interesting. Midnighter is casually dating the banker, Matt. Jason, the guy from the first issue, is comfortably moving into the friend zone. We learn that this situation is pretty much exactly why he ended his relationship with Apollo: he had never been with another guy before Apollo, and he felt the need to live his life outside the confines of their relationship. In other words, he wanted to be out and about, something that I'd wager most gays felt at some point in their lives. It's also a sentiment that fits with the possibility of him discovering his past if he ever tracks down the file stolen from the God Garden: he's in the process of becoming a real person, no longer defined by other people.
My only problem (and it's small) with the series at this point is that I still have trouble buying the ease with which the men in Midnighter's life embrace the violence inherent to it. Orlando actually addresses that here, with Matt letting Midnighter know that his mother was a doctor, so he's comfortable with the sight of blood. (Orlando even goes a step further, with Matt hilariously telling Midnighter that he's also comfortable hearing about the underside of society because he's a banker.) But, at the end of the day, Midnighter isn't Spider-Man. He enjoys the violence, as ACO brilliantly shows in this issue with a splash page of him smiling gleefully as he beats up some clones. It's this part that seems to me would be difficult for a normal guy to accept. I mean, wouldn't you worry that you're dating a sociopath? But, Orlando makes it clear that they know that walking in the door, so I probably need to get over it.
Speaking of ACO, his return is a welcome relief. I found Morgan's scratchy lines to be overly distracting last issue. ACO's pencils in the first issue weren't all that well defined, but he's much more traditional here, and it works better. One of my worries after Morgan is that this series isn't going to get the artist that it deserves, something that can spell trouble for any series. Fingers crossed that we settle down a bit in the art department, because I'm becoming really invested in this series.
*** (three of five stars)
The fight part of the story involves Midnighter retrieving a girl that some bad guys plugged into a machine stolen from the God Garden. Said machine drains the life force of kids and transfers it to adults. It's a regular Fountain of Youth. Seeing kids manipulated like he was as a child doesn't sit well with Midnighter, so he frees the kid and gets the name of the guy that sold said bad guys the machine in the first place. The issue ends with Midnighter kidnapping Grayson to help him track down the guy in Moscow (or, as he calls it, "date night").
Although that part is totally solid as stories go, the "life" part is much more interesting. Midnighter is casually dating the banker, Matt. Jason, the guy from the first issue, is comfortably moving into the friend zone. We learn that this situation is pretty much exactly why he ended his relationship with Apollo: he had never been with another guy before Apollo, and he felt the need to live his life outside the confines of their relationship. In other words, he wanted to be out and about, something that I'd wager most gays felt at some point in their lives. It's also a sentiment that fits with the possibility of him discovering his past if he ever tracks down the file stolen from the God Garden: he's in the process of becoming a real person, no longer defined by other people.
My only problem (and it's small) with the series at this point is that I still have trouble buying the ease with which the men in Midnighter's life embrace the violence inherent to it. Orlando actually addresses that here, with Matt letting Midnighter know that his mother was a doctor, so he's comfortable with the sight of blood. (Orlando even goes a step further, with Matt hilariously telling Midnighter that he's also comfortable hearing about the underside of society because he's a banker.) But, at the end of the day, Midnighter isn't Spider-Man. He enjoys the violence, as ACO brilliantly shows in this issue with a splash page of him smiling gleefully as he beats up some clones. It's this part that seems to me would be difficult for a normal guy to accept. I mean, wouldn't you worry that you're dating a sociopath? But, Orlando makes it clear that they know that walking in the door, so I probably need to get over it.
Speaking of ACO, his return is a welcome relief. I found Morgan's scratchy lines to be overly distracting last issue. ACO's pencils in the first issue weren't all that well defined, but he's much more traditional here, and it works better. One of my worries after Morgan is that this series isn't going to get the artist that it deserves, something that can spell trouble for any series. Fingers crossed that we settle down a bit in the art department, because I'm becoming really invested in this series.
*** (three of five stars)
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