Avengers #690: This issue is your standard “What are we going to do with [x number of] [Avengers/X-Men]?” stories, but the art team does such a great job it really elevates it above its intellectual predecessors. In fact, the only problem I see here is that the authors have created such compelling stories I’m disappointed with the sparse number of follow-on series. At the very least, we seem ready for a “Rangers” series featuring Lightning and Red Wolf and an “Uncanny Avengers” reboot with Roberto (now Citizen X) and Rogue. I’d also love a Johnny Storm-led team focused on fun, with the Beast, Hawkeye, Hercules, Janet, and Wonder Man. Instead, Marvel chose to throw together the most boring characters possible and spin off a Quicksilver series. (The Hulk really is his own thing.) I'm hopeful we could get an anthology series in the vein of “Marvel Comics Presents” for these teams. Can't we? A guy can dream. At any rate, this event was fun. I applaud Marvel for not making me buy nine million tie-in issues. It might not have been “Kang War,” but it was one of best “Avengers” stories in recent memories, particularly given its inclusion of characters like the Beast, Lightning, and Wonder Man. Hopefully they manage to maintain the momentum in the new series, but, for now, I salute the entire creative team for reminding us what the Avengers can look like.
Darth Vader #15: The most interesting development in this issue is the revelation Jedi Master Barr doesn’t appear to be what we’d typically call a “good guy.” Not surprisingly, Vader survived his plummet into Mon Cala's Great Ungeness Trench and, once the Inquisitors collect him, he orders them to go after the hidden Jedi immediately. After all, he posits Lee-char will likely alert Barr once he can that he gave up Barr's location under torture. (I didn’t realize that happened last issue and, upon re-reading that sequence, Soule made that vague.) Members of the Mon Calamari fleet find Lee-char floating in the ocean and put him in the med-bay while Ackbar and Raddus prepare assaults on the Imperial troops. Despite successfully taking out a skybase, Ackbar is aware the Empire will eventually bring overpowering force to win the engagement. With Lee-char now awake, Ackbar presses him to offer a truce. Lee-Char refuses, saying he needs to save the galaxy, and Ackbar interestingly asks if he — or the Jedi — feels that way. The mention of the Jedi's name makes Lee-char realize he has to warn Barr the Imperials are likely on their way. Meanwhile, Barr himself makes it clear to his students the conflict itself is the goal; he's not really all that concerned about the Mon Calamari's fate. Barr is clearly playing some sort of long game, but I’m not sure what it is at this point. That said, it makes you realize Leia in the main title doesn’t realize who she’s getting with Lee-char, particularly if his bravery in the face of the Empire was only due to Barr’s manipulation. We shall see.
Detective Comics #979: OK, game on. Tim fights off Ulysses’ attempt to get him to accept the Brother Eye programing willingly, so Ulysses takes away Tim's choice: claiming trauma is nothing but specific electrical currents through the brain, Ulysses inflicts the same damage on Tim’s brain as Tim's future self suffered witnessing the Bat-family die around him. Tim becomes one with OMAC, and the Bat-family is now fighting one of its own. Cass leads Bruce to Stephanie, who agrees to help once he personally appeals for it. Kate also shows she’s not the mindless drone Future Tim thought she was, as she overrules her father’s view Tim is a lost cause to work with Bruce. I’m ready to rumble!
Mighty Thor #706: The thing about Jason Aaron is the man can tell a story. It might seem simple to say that, but it isn’t. In an era where every other Marvel comic seems embroiled in a fight over diversity, Aaron set about telling a very specific story with a very specific hero. Jane Foster is no longer Thor because her story as Thor is concluded. In a way, she’s the lucky one. After decades and decades of stories, characters like Peter Parker and Steve Rogers carry a great weight. They hit their wives or they become secret Nazis, and we all have to find a way to look past those moments to see the heroes they were. Instead, Jane got to be the greatest Thor of all the Thors we’ve seen...and then call it a day. She defeated Shi’ar gods and the Mangog. She saved Asgard and kept Malekith from conquering the Realms. Odin’s conversation with her at Valhalla's gates was excellent: he embraces her as a warrior-born and invites her into Valhalla. But, her pause at the threshold of the gates felt honest, and Odin’s commitment to help Odinson use the Mother Storm to revive her heartfelt. Returning to Aaron's story, his genius lies in the fact that Jane's time as Thor isn't merely going to be an asterisk. It's not like how Sam's time as Captain America seems already forgotten. Everything doesn’t return to normal here; Odinson doesn’t simply pick up Mjolnir and become Thor. As Jane says, she showed him what she could do with the hammer, but it’s time Thor shows us what he can do without it. I’m just glad Thori is with him on this journey. I’d honestly like to thank Jason Aaron and Russel Dauterman for some of the best issues I’ve ever read. Jane’s time as Thor has been a story for the ages, and it was really special to be part of it in real time. I’ve never cried reading a letters page (on an airplane, nonetheless), but I did this one. I’m excited to see how the Asgardians rebuild Asgard. I feel like we really all are a bit worse for wear, and maybe the answer is to stop complaining and put our shoulders into it a little more. As corny as it sounds, I feel like Jane reminded me of that...and I’m going to stop now lest I make a scene on the airplane. Thank you, Jason, Russel, Matt, and the team for telling a great story and making us all better for it.
Pathfinder: Spiral of Bones #2: This issue improves over the first one as we learn it’s not simply going to be about Valeros wandering through the afterlife. Somehow, the Powers That Be have confused Valeros with a warlord who later sought repentance. Valeros’ attempt to convince them of their error doesn’t work, in part because Valeros is technically still alive in the Prime Material plane. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the gem he swiped, and Valeros himself acknowledges he’s not the kind of guy likely to figure out that mystery. In other words, he's got a challenge in front of him. We don’t often see these sorts of stories in mainstream fantasy, where a warrior has to think like a wizard or a wizard has to fight like a warrior, so I’m totally game here.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #303: Man, I cried several times in this issue. I cried when the Vedomi scout told JJJ, Jr. and Teresa that the Tinkerer just needed kindness and was his friend. I cried when Peter cried and Aunt May told him they all just needed to go home. I cried when Teresa told him she was really his sister. I cried when Little Peter gave up being Spider-Man. All those tears are a testament of how great Zdarsky is. He also weaves in funny moments, like when Little Peter told the Goblin his costume had no theme (goblins with pumpkins?) or when JJJ, Jr. announced he yet again had to save the day. It all shows how well Zdarsky understands Peter and his supporting cast. I think the best example here is when Peter confesses to Teresa how hard it is to be in his past, when being Spider-Man was fun. He has years of suffering ahead of him, and it's hard to process that all looking at his younger self. (That said, if you’ve read those early “Amazing Spider-Man” issues, you know he’s engaging in some revisionist history here.) With Slott delivering a parallel story as his swan song in “Amazing Spider-Man,” it’s just a great time to be a fan.
Spider-Gwen #31: OMG, awesomesauce. To start at the end, Earth-617’s Gwen is revealed to be the Gwen who appears before the Watchers at the end of last issue. She admits she stole "our" Gwen from Earth-65’s timeline because it was getting too dark. When "our" Gwen decided not to kill Murdoch, Earth-617 Gwen needed to prevent her from changing her mind. (Latour doesn’t say that, but it’s implied in her text and later confirmed in her bio page at the end of the issue. He also implies the anomalous actions of Ben — encouraging "our"Gwen to take out Murdoch — drove Earth 617 Gwen to act, just as it did Earth 8's Watcher, Utaa.) Earth-617 Gwen reveals a Council of Spider-Women made the decision, and Utaa expresses outrage they acted this way. But, Earth-617 Gwen reminds him he also acted when he shouldn’t and stands by their decision that Earth-65’s future was getting too dark. In the present on Earth-617, the Gwens gets help from Tony Stark and Hank Pym, who confirm one of the weak places in the Multiverse’s membrane is at the bottom of the George Washington Bridge. (Of course it is.) "Our" Gwen tries to convince Earth-617’s Gwen not to come to the top of the bridge with her, but Earth-617 Gwen insists. As our Gwen dives off the bridge, Latour essentially resets the narrative of the bridge as a plot device: as "our" Gwen says, so many Gwens have died on that bridge, but no one’s jumped. In Earth-65’s present, Captain America threatens Murdoch by telling him S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance video caught him going all ninja on the roof, and "our" Gwen approaches JJJ, Jr. with her story. Along the way, Latour peppers the issue with truly great moments of characterization, like our Gwen’s exasperation with slimy Stark. It’s just all great. I can’t believe Latour has done such an amazing job of really advancing such an involved narrative issue by issue, but here we are.
Also Read: Daredevil #601; Dungeons & Dragons: Evil at Baldur's Gate #1; Old Man Hawkeye #4; Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #19; X-Men: Gold #26
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Monday, April 30, 2018
Almost-New Comics: The April 18 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Amazing Spider-Man #799: Holy fucking crap, this issue is amazing. In fact, this arc is so good I feel like Slott is redeeming himself for all the terrible storylines over the years. (I’m looking at you, “Superior Spider-Man.”) First, Slott reminds us how strong Peter’s “web” of “amazing friends” is: the Human Torch is watching MJ, Miles is watching Aunt May, and Silk is on the “Bugle” team. Peter asks Anti-Venom to keep an eye on JJJ, Jr., and Flash reports he already has JJJ, Jr. (as we saw last issue). But, JJJ, Jr. bolts from Flash to run to his apartment and FaceTime Peter so he can tell him he slipped and revealed Peter's identity to the Goblin. Peter’s stoney faced look is amazing (and handsome, oy), and JJJ, Jr. is panicked when Peter cuts off the connection. JJJ, Jr. pledges to make it right, and I’m more sure than ever he’s dying next issue. Meanwhile, Peter contacts Clash, letting him know he’s been watching him and approves of his Robin Hood schtick. He then asks him to watch the Osborns like the hero Peter knows he is. With all the players set, the game begins. Harry, Liz, and Mark awaken to discover the boys are missing, but Liz reveals she had Normie chipped. As such, they head to the Port Authority, where they find them with Emma. Emma tells them they're idiots, as she was trying to save the boys before Norman found them. On cue, Norman arrives and reveals “Emma” is Harry’s long-thought dead mother, Emily. Dun-dun-DUN! ("The Clone Conspiracy" maybe?) Clash reports the Goblin's arrival to Peter, and the Torch arrives to work with Clash, hitting the Red Goblin (and, most importantly, the symbiote) with fire and sonics. However, Norman reveals the combination of the Carnage symbiote and Goblin serum gives him all the powers of Carnage and the Green Goblin but none of the weaknesses. He not only makes quick work of this pair, but also dispatches Miles and Silk without breaking a sweat. Flash gives him more of a challenge, as he's surprised by Flash's ability to harm the symbiote. But, he correctly plays to Flash’s sense of heroism, as Flash spreads himself too thin trying to heal the dying heroes surrounding him. Norman overwhelms him, and Peter (with Immonen showing us a lovely shot of his abs) pulls on his costume and leaps into action, busted leg and all. Norman chases after his family, and Peter arrives to marvel in the devastation. Flash uses his last ounce of power to heal Peter’s leg, just as Norman does what I was worried he’d do: he turns Normie into a symbiote. When Harry suggested he take Stanley and Liz take Normie, Normie had once again complained Harry cared more about Stanley than him. Norman clearly plans to use that rage against Harry. It’s...brilliant. Honestly, I don’t know how Peter wins here. Norman is all-powerful, and it’s not in an unbelievable way. Slott has built this story slowly, and the combination of Carnage and the Green Goblin really just feels like Norman may have found the key to winning. You almost believe he really is going to kill everyone next issue. Plus, Slott’s weakness is usually his scripting, but he’s solid here. You can feel JJJ, Jr.’s desperation to make things right with Peter. Moreover, Peter is legitimately scared, not only by what Norman may do to his family and friends, but also for himself. It's legitimately exciting. Throwing in the fact Immonen and the art team are on fire, this title is finally at the top of Marvel’s game where it deserves to be.
Avengers #689: The authors do an OK job wrapping up the story here, though I'll admit I felt something missing. Maybe it was because Lightning's gambit to save the Earth (as well as the Human Torch and Red Wolf) via a game of Texas Hold 'Em with the Grandmaster felt too self-servingly heroic. He wins the game because he's willing to be forgotten. In fact, it's probably more the narration surrounding the game that does it, as Lightning keeps telling us how heroes don't do what they do to be remembered. Making matters worse, the fight with the Challenger was ridiculous at points, from Jan (and not Nadia) creating "nano-acid" arrows for Hawkeye to Sam connecting telepathically with the Challenger because Doreen guessed he evolved from birds or dinosaurs because he was an alien. (No, really.) In fact, the Challenger never really seems like a threat beyond the moment he seemingly obliterates Wonder Man; everyone else -- including Squirrel Girl and the Wasps -- easily lands punches. In the end, Wanda casts a spell that seems to channel the Avengers' hearts and souls into a magic blast that destroys the Challenger, and it's so effective you wonder why she didn't do it earlier than she does here. (I think we're supposed to believe she was inspired when Voyager rallied the Avengers by reminding them what being an Avenger meant to each one of them.) I'm not saying the issue is awful; it's OK, due largely to the art team really conveying a cinematic scope to the fight with the Challenger. But, if they dialed back Lightning's over-the-top narration and showed the characters really struggling with the Challenger, it would've been a lot stronger issue, where we would've been kept guessing from start to finish.
Batman #45: If the goal of this issue was for me to find Booster Gold hi-lar-ious and subscribe to his series, it was a major fail. His schtick was tedious by the third page, and I can’t believe I was subjected to an entire issue of it.
Infinity Countdown #2: Holy crap, Robbie is Talonar! No way! This issue is insane, and I mean that in the best possible way. Something about the Guardians lends itself to a certain amount of believable ridiculousness. Duggan plays that card expertly here, from Rocket appearing on Xitaung in a Galactus suit to Groot wanting to murder everyone. That said, it's still hard to tell where Duggan is going. Last issue, he used the fight on Telferina as a stalling tactic, and, in this issue, the Guardians are still fighting to protect the Power Stone. You have to wonder when something will...happen. But, it's fun, so I'm game.
Ms. Marvel #29: This issue is really, really lovely, and I’m just happy it’s out there in the world. Bruno’s honesty with Kamala is bracing, and Kamala has to find a way to match it if they’re going to coexist (if not become friends) again. Her initial response to his overture feels immature, as she blames Bruno for hiding Mike from her. Bruno makes it worse for her by continuing to show how much he’s matured: he reminds her that he found her kissing the Red Dagger on the Circle Q rooftop and confesses that he always thought he’d be her first kiss. Her subsequent conversation with Sheikh Abdullah is an amazing testament to Wilson’s skills as a writer, as it perfectly encapsulates the divide between children and parents when it comes to love. Amidst it all, Wilson also imbues the issue with humor, from Bruno’s roommate hilariously asking Bruno to be his cultural interpreter in a developing country like America to Zoe falling for the new meaner girl version of herself. It's hard to imagine a better comic-book series than this one.
Nightwing #43: Moreci does a solid job getting down everyone’s voices here, with Dick feeling overly responsible for this ad hoc team, Roy just happy to be throwing some punches with his bro, and Damian being...Damian. It’s not necessarily the strongest issue in terms of plotting. After all, Roy magically understands the complicated science behind the League of Assassins' plan to use a device to suck the oxygen from Gotham but doesn’t know what “subterfuge” means. But, it’s still fun, and I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing more of characters like Arsenal and Damian in this series. Higgins did a solid job building out a supporting cast for Dick with the Run-Offs, but something about having Dick’s old-school allies and friends appearing in an issue really kicks it up a notch.
Tales of Suspense #104: As Rosenberg says in his letter at the end of this issue, Bucky, Clint, and Nat are three of my favorite characters, and it was a real joy seeing them together. I loved that Bucky and Clint don’t develop a deep sense of respect for each other at the end of this issue; Clint thinks Bucky’s a homicidal maniac, and Bucky thinks Clint is an incompetent buffoon. That feels right to me. I also loved that Natasha is in charge from start to finish. She has a mission, and she intends to complete it. Rosenberg made it clear Natasha had to eliminate any possibility of her returning in another cloned body, because she couldn’t find herself under the Red Room’s control once again. (My only real question is that I honestly didn’t understand the role Anya and Yelena played. I thought all the clones Natasha used on her various missions were her own clones, and not Anya and/or Yelena's. It’s probably the only instance of Rosenberg writing for the trade here, as I’m sure their roles would be clearer if you read all five issues together.) I also totally bought that Natasha had to let go of Clint. His vision of her as a better person might have worked before she died, but it doesn’t work any longer, after what she has to do here. But, I also love that it pushes her to chose Bucky, at least as a partner. (Rosenberg made it clear she doesn't actually need either of them.) In other words, Rosenberg returns Natasha to the land of the living in a way that stays consistent with her character but doesn’t come without consequences. I couldn't ask for more.
X-Men: Blue #26: Now, this issue feels like an old-school “X-Men” story. The entire creative team in on fire here. Alex and his cronies unleash Mothervine, and the new X-Men scramble to help the emerging mutants handle their powers. They encounter Unuscione as she tries to fend off two Sentinels arriving to "help" her and two emerging mutants. However, her secondary mutation proves to be unstable; Xorn and Daken try to calm her to prevent her from randomly blowing up everyone and everything around her while Lorna and the rest of the team battle the Sentinels. (See? Old school.) The Sentinels claim they’re there to help, but no one believes them. They shouldn’t, either: it turns out Alex and his cronies can control everyone Mothervine affected. Emma is appalled, but Alex assures her they’ll have taken out Miss Sinister before she can use that army against them. (I’m...doubtful, as Emma is.) Meanwhile, they send the Marauders after both the new X-Men and Magneto, while using their control of the emerging mutants to bolster the Marauders' numbers. It’s a tough time to be an X-Men. Bunn’s plotting isn’t just excellent; his scripting is great. Lorna gets in a solid one-liner as she encourages anyone other than Bloodstorm or Daken to comfort the victims, and Jimmy is demonstrably upset over the idea his DNA (and the DNA of other mutants from his world) was somehow used to create Mothervine. The art team is also great, delivering a kinetic battle with Sentinels and using unique perspectives — like showing Magneto and Ferris through the gauze of a hospital curtain — to keep you engaged. This continues to be the main X-Men title for me, and I'm actually loathe for the kids to return.
Also Read: Quantum & Woody #5
Avengers #689: The authors do an OK job wrapping up the story here, though I'll admit I felt something missing. Maybe it was because Lightning's gambit to save the Earth (as well as the Human Torch and Red Wolf) via a game of Texas Hold 'Em with the Grandmaster felt too self-servingly heroic. He wins the game because he's willing to be forgotten. In fact, it's probably more the narration surrounding the game that does it, as Lightning keeps telling us how heroes don't do what they do to be remembered. Making matters worse, the fight with the Challenger was ridiculous at points, from Jan (and not Nadia) creating "nano-acid" arrows for Hawkeye to Sam connecting telepathically with the Challenger because Doreen guessed he evolved from birds or dinosaurs because he was an alien. (No, really.) In fact, the Challenger never really seems like a threat beyond the moment he seemingly obliterates Wonder Man; everyone else -- including Squirrel Girl and the Wasps -- easily lands punches. In the end, Wanda casts a spell that seems to channel the Avengers' hearts and souls into a magic blast that destroys the Challenger, and it's so effective you wonder why she didn't do it earlier than she does here. (I think we're supposed to believe she was inspired when Voyager rallied the Avengers by reminding them what being an Avenger meant to each one of them.) I'm not saying the issue is awful; it's OK, due largely to the art team really conveying a cinematic scope to the fight with the Challenger. But, if they dialed back Lightning's over-the-top narration and showed the characters really struggling with the Challenger, it would've been a lot stronger issue, where we would've been kept guessing from start to finish.
Batman #45: If the goal of this issue was for me to find Booster Gold hi-lar-ious and subscribe to his series, it was a major fail. His schtick was tedious by the third page, and I can’t believe I was subjected to an entire issue of it.
Infinity Countdown #2: Holy crap, Robbie is Talonar! No way! This issue is insane, and I mean that in the best possible way. Something about the Guardians lends itself to a certain amount of believable ridiculousness. Duggan plays that card expertly here, from Rocket appearing on Xitaung in a Galactus suit to Groot wanting to murder everyone. That said, it's still hard to tell where Duggan is going. Last issue, he used the fight on Telferina as a stalling tactic, and, in this issue, the Guardians are still fighting to protect the Power Stone. You have to wonder when something will...happen. But, it's fun, so I'm game.
Ms. Marvel #29: This issue is really, really lovely, and I’m just happy it’s out there in the world. Bruno’s honesty with Kamala is bracing, and Kamala has to find a way to match it if they’re going to coexist (if not become friends) again. Her initial response to his overture feels immature, as she blames Bruno for hiding Mike from her. Bruno makes it worse for her by continuing to show how much he’s matured: he reminds her that he found her kissing the Red Dagger on the Circle Q rooftop and confesses that he always thought he’d be her first kiss. Her subsequent conversation with Sheikh Abdullah is an amazing testament to Wilson’s skills as a writer, as it perfectly encapsulates the divide between children and parents when it comes to love. Amidst it all, Wilson also imbues the issue with humor, from Bruno’s roommate hilariously asking Bruno to be his cultural interpreter in a developing country like America to Zoe falling for the new meaner girl version of herself. It's hard to imagine a better comic-book series than this one.
Nightwing #43: Moreci does a solid job getting down everyone’s voices here, with Dick feeling overly responsible for this ad hoc team, Roy just happy to be throwing some punches with his bro, and Damian being...Damian. It’s not necessarily the strongest issue in terms of plotting. After all, Roy magically understands the complicated science behind the League of Assassins' plan to use a device to suck the oxygen from Gotham but doesn’t know what “subterfuge” means. But, it’s still fun, and I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing more of characters like Arsenal and Damian in this series. Higgins did a solid job building out a supporting cast for Dick with the Run-Offs, but something about having Dick’s old-school allies and friends appearing in an issue really kicks it up a notch.
Tales of Suspense #104: As Rosenberg says in his letter at the end of this issue, Bucky, Clint, and Nat are three of my favorite characters, and it was a real joy seeing them together. I loved that Bucky and Clint don’t develop a deep sense of respect for each other at the end of this issue; Clint thinks Bucky’s a homicidal maniac, and Bucky thinks Clint is an incompetent buffoon. That feels right to me. I also loved that Natasha is in charge from start to finish. She has a mission, and she intends to complete it. Rosenberg made it clear Natasha had to eliminate any possibility of her returning in another cloned body, because she couldn’t find herself under the Red Room’s control once again. (My only real question is that I honestly didn’t understand the role Anya and Yelena played. I thought all the clones Natasha used on her various missions were her own clones, and not Anya and/or Yelena's. It’s probably the only instance of Rosenberg writing for the trade here, as I’m sure their roles would be clearer if you read all five issues together.) I also totally bought that Natasha had to let go of Clint. His vision of her as a better person might have worked before she died, but it doesn’t work any longer, after what she has to do here. But, I also love that it pushes her to chose Bucky, at least as a partner. (Rosenberg made it clear she doesn't actually need either of them.) In other words, Rosenberg returns Natasha to the land of the living in a way that stays consistent with her character but doesn’t come without consequences. I couldn't ask for more.
X-Men: Blue #26: Now, this issue feels like an old-school “X-Men” story. The entire creative team in on fire here. Alex and his cronies unleash Mothervine, and the new X-Men scramble to help the emerging mutants handle their powers. They encounter Unuscione as she tries to fend off two Sentinels arriving to "help" her and two emerging mutants. However, her secondary mutation proves to be unstable; Xorn and Daken try to calm her to prevent her from randomly blowing up everyone and everything around her while Lorna and the rest of the team battle the Sentinels. (See? Old school.) The Sentinels claim they’re there to help, but no one believes them. They shouldn’t, either: it turns out Alex and his cronies can control everyone Mothervine affected. Emma is appalled, but Alex assures her they’ll have taken out Miss Sinister before she can use that army against them. (I’m...doubtful, as Emma is.) Meanwhile, they send the Marauders after both the new X-Men and Magneto, while using their control of the emerging mutants to bolster the Marauders' numbers. It’s a tough time to be an X-Men. Bunn’s plotting isn’t just excellent; his scripting is great. Lorna gets in a solid one-liner as she encourages anyone other than Bloodstorm or Daken to comfort the victims, and Jimmy is demonstrably upset over the idea his DNA (and the DNA of other mutants from his world) was somehow used to create Mothervine. The art team is also great, delivering a kinetic battle with Sentinels and using unique perspectives — like showing Magneto and Ferris through the gauze of a hospital curtain — to keep you engaged. This continues to be the main X-Men title for me, and I'm actually loathe for the kids to return.
Also Read: Quantum & Woody #5
Monday, April 23, 2018
Marvel Graphic Novel #4: "The New Mutants: Renewal"
I'm going to warn you upfront the summary is l-o-n-g. I tried to stick to the basics, but Claremont crams a lot in here, giving us the origin stories of Dani, Rahne, Roberto, Sam, and Xi'an. (In Xi'an's case, it's a re-telling of her origin, as she had already débuted in "Marvel Team-Up" #100. Professor X informs us that Reed Richards referred her to him after the events of that issue.) With the benefit of hindsight, I tried to focus on revelations that have faded from focus over time, such as Dani's ability to communicate telepathically with animals or the limitations on several team members' powers. At the end of the day, it's a 47-page graphic novel, so grab a cup of coffee, find a comfy chair, and get ready for some recapping! Otherwise, skip right to the review!
Summary
Summary
Part One: Introductions
Moira MacTaggart is surprised when a wolf leaps over her, since wolves don't exist in this part of Scotland. She's amazed as she watches it turn into a girl and shocked when she realizes it's Rahne Sinclair, who she delivered years ago. Rahne lapses into unconsciousness as a result of the fall, and Moira discovers she's been shot. (It's just a flesh wound!) Moira recalls tagging an "anomalous DNA matrix" in Rahne's blood when she was born, but hadn't followed up further. Revered Craig arrives with a group of gun-tottin' and torch-bearin' villagers in pursuit of the "witch." "Lady" Moira tells Craig he's trespassing on Kinross land, and Craig says he's there to "save" Rahne's soul from the devil who possesses her. Moira wryly notes a bullet doesn't seem the best course of action to do that. She puts Rahne under her protection and tells Craig and his followers to leave. Moira realizes she needs to get Rahne to Professor Xavier.
In Rio de Janeiro, Roberto da Costa scores a goal in the championship soccer match against his high school's arch-rivals. His adoring father and girlfriend celebrate in the stands. Roberto is on his way to the goal again when two white players trip him; one of them, Keller, calls him "halfbreed." The referees don't realize it's an intentional trip, so hot-headed Roberto tackles Keller, who exults at having successfully baited Roberto. He begins to whale on Roberto, saying "your father's wealth can't change the color of your skin," followed by, "you're still black -- an animal masquerading as a human being." (Jesus, 1983.) Keller and everyone else are shocked when Roberto's powers suddenly manifest themselves, with Roberto throwing Keller across the pitch. Everyone -- including two of Roberto's friends -- flee in a panic. Roberto is confused why he feels so hot and screams for his father and Juliana to help him. Roberto's father -- so proud of him moments earlier -- stares at him in disbelief. The fleeing crowd allegedly carries his father with it, whereas Juliana fights her way to Roberto. (Obviously we're Team Juliana, though that doesn't do her much good later.) As he depowers, Roberto tells Juliana not to approach him lest he hurt her, but she ignores his warning, telling him she'll stay with him whatever comes. He slumps into her arms, and she screams for a doctor when she realizes he's cold as ice. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure with a familiar ruffled cuff watches on a monitor, declaring more mutants are appearing every day and he'll be there to destroy them all!
In Cumberland County, Kentucky, Sam Guthrie, "age 16," heads into the mines. Mr. Lewis, one of his fellow miners, expresses sympathy after hearing Sam's father died of the black lung. Lewis asks about Sam's family, and Sam says he's started working the mines because inflation is eating into his father's pension (oh, 1983) and his mother is too proud to go on welfare. Lewis recalls Sam's father saying he was so proud about Sam going to college on a scholarship, but Sam says he couldn't leave for school knowing his family didn't have food to eat. Sam comments that he's the man of the house now and swears to make sure his father's dream comes true for one of his siblings. Resenting his father for "offering a dream of something better, only to snatch it from Sam's hand as it was about to come true," Sam gets to work. However, a cave-in pins Lewis, and Sam struggles to get to Lewis against the other miners as they flees. Lewis tells Sam he's definitely his father's son -- "more guts than brains" -- and, as the roof collapses on them, Sam's powers manifest themselves, sending him and Lewis to safety. The ruffled-cuff figure observes the scene, saying he planned on using Sam for his own purposes and then killing him with da Costa.
Outside Sundance, Colorado, Moonstar communes with nature, using her ability to communicate telepathically with animals to greet Ridge-Runner, a mountain-lion friend. The mountain lion bolts when Black Eagle, Moonstar's grandfather, approaches. He tells Moonstar it's time for her to leave the mountain and attend Xavier's school so she can learn how to control the powers of the mind that the Great Spirit gave her. She's furious at him both for sending her from the mountains and for sending her to an "anglo." (Seriously, 1983, racism much?) Her rage apparently weakens his "natural psychic defenses," and she projects one of her "dream shapes," of two armored men beating Black Eagle to death. She exposits she fled town because she can't control these images, and Black Eagle tells her it's why she has to go to Xavier's. However, she declares all white men are enemies, but Black Eagle informs her Xavier was her father's best friend and blood brother. (If that's true, you have to wonder why she didn't even know who Xavier was. Good job keeping tabs on her, Charles.) Moonstar still resists, but relents to go when Black Eagle commands her to do so. Dismissing them as "noble savages," the ruffled-cuff figure is finally revealed to be Donald Pierce, who plans on ambushing Xavier (without his X-Men) when he travels to the Rockies to fetch Moonstar. We learn Pierce is holding Tessa hostage and plans on destroying the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club -- dismissing it as a "mutie clique" -- in order to take command of it. Later, Moonstar awakens suddenly at the sound of Black Eagle's "psychic deathscream" and rides her pony to his body. She realizes he had foreseen his own death and she had pulled this image from his mind earlier in the day. (The narration to this scene is: "To the sheriff, Black Eagle will be just another drunken old Indian who wandered out onto the highway and got himself splattered." 1983 racism rears its ugly head again!) Moonstar swears revenge.
In Westchester, Xavier is still reeling from the alleged death of the X-Men. (It's set during the era when the Brood has kidnapped them.) Moira and Rahne arrived a week earlier, and Moira is helping the Professor examine Xi'an Coy Manh, codenamed Karma, while Rahne observes. Charles says Xi'an's powers to possess people rival his own, but Xi'an expresses disdain for them, saying if she must have them she has to learn to control them. Moira volunteers as a guinea pig, but Rahne loses her shit when she hears Xi'an's voice coming from Moira's mouth. She immediately switches into wolf mode and threatens Moira/Xi'an. Xavier stops Rahne from attacking Moira, and Xi'an releases her hold on Moira. We learn Xi'an can act somewhat independently when she possesses someone, but her actions are limited. Conversely, she has absolute control over the "victim," who doesn't even remember the possession. The foursome retire for lunch, and, under prompting from Xavier, Xi'an recounts her history for us. She and her family were "boat people" fleeing Vietnam; her father was a colonel in the South Vietnamese Army. Thai pirates killed her parents during their escape, and she fled to America to care for her younger brother and sister. She shamefully admits she used her powers to secure work, noting her twin brother, Tran, had the same powers as she did but didn't share her reluctance to use them. She also has an uncle, Nguyen Ngoc Coy, living outside Vietnam, but she and her father didn't trust him. Xavier notes she isn't totally forthcoming about her history, and Claremont makes that clear when she hesitates in describing her brother as having "died." That said, Xavier is impressed she managed to use her powers so well without training, and Rahne asks why he's happy they've mastered "these gifts from Satan." (Oh, Rahne, never change.) Xi'an expands on the subject of her brother, saying he saw people as mere puppets, and she wants Xavier to help her reject that temptation. Xavier hesitates in accepting this charge, telepathically telling Moira he has enough blood on his hands. Moira reminds him the dream wasn't forming the X-Men; the dream was helping mutants to learn to live with their powers and society to learn to accept them. The X-Men are "far less important than the dream which brought them together." After Xavier agrees, Xi'an expresses concern about her little brother and sister, saying she won't have enough time to take care of them, go to school, and have a job. Xavier hires her to run the School with him, and she accepts. Charles then receives a letter from Black Eagle informing him Moonstar is a mutant, and Charles notes the coincidence as he heads out West.
Part Two: Getting the Band Together
In Colorado, Charles, Xi'an, and Rahne are before Black Eagle's funeral bier, and Xi'an wonders how they're going to find Moonstar. (We're left to our own devices to figure out how the three of them came to find themselves alone at the bier.) On cue, the three of them are suddenly thrown into the Vietnam War, clearly a sign of Moonstar's dream shapes pulling out Xi'an's (and possibly Xavier's, frankly) worst memories. Before Xavier can react and block the intrusion, a real explosion throws the three of them to the ground. Moonstar crashes past them, fleeing an armored men on a skybike. Ridge-Runner attacks the man to protect Moonstar, and he throws her to her death. Moonstar is distraught, allowing the man to capture her, but Karma uses her powers to possess him, turning him against his two colleagues. Karma has the man remove his helmet so Xavier can interrogate him (because apparently she could get through the helmet's psychic-resistant properties, but Xavier couldn't), and Moonstar realizes the helmet was the only thing preventing her from attacking him. She attempts to drive him insane with her "spiritforms" (formerly "dream shapes"), but Xavier stops her, calling her "Danielle" much to her shock. Apparently only she and Black Eagle knew that name, but Xavier says he was there the day her parents gave it to her. (Jesus, Charles, you really are terrible at mentoring young people, aren't you?) He tells her he's there to train her as he promised Black Eagle he would do, and Dani retorts that his help didn't save Black Eagle. (Oh, teen angst. It's particularly biting when it leads them to speaking the truth.) She demands he leave her on the mountain, and he asks her if she really wants to live alone in terror of powers she doesn't understand. She seems amenable to the training he offers, but she then stumbles from the pain of her dislocated shoulder. Xi'an uses the first-aid skills she learned during the war to set it, though Dani is appalled, as a proud Cheyenne, that she screamed. (She also refuses to be called "Dani" or "Danielle.") Xavier explains his telepathic probe of the man reveals he and his fellow goons are linked to Donald Pierce, who plans on killing Roberto and Sam. Xavier suggests splitting up the team to save them. Learning Xavier has no need for the man anymore, Dani takes out her knife and plans on killing him. Xavier stops her, saying the "scales of justice" will be partly balanced when her testimony helps convict the man. Dani argues with that, saying justice would only be served if her grandfather was resurrected. She pledges to take out her vengeance on Pierce instead.
(OMG, it just doesn't end. We're only half way through here, but it's thankfully less narrative driven so we should wrap it up soon.)
In possibly the most bizarre scene I've ever read in a comic, police bust into the room Moira, Xi'an, and Dani have taken in Rio de Janeiro, declaring they're under arrest. Moira asks why, and the cop smacks her upside the head. (Really.) He says her call to Emmanual da Costa regarding Roberto has made them suspicious, because Roberto and Juliana were the victims of an attempted kidnapping the previous day. Xi'an possesses the cop who smacked Moira so he doesn't lock the handcuffs he puts on them and realizes Moira is signaling to her to wait for a better moment to escape. Once the cops lead them outside, she has the cop punch his partner so she and Dani can make a break for it. Moira says she'll stay with the cops to try to convince them of the truth and orders them to find Roberto. The girls do so via a Cerebro wristwatch, but they watch as he escapes his family's townhouse and heads to an abandoned warehouse where Pierce's goons have Juliana. He tells them to let her go now that he's met their demands, but one of the goons smacks him, saying they'll do what they want with him and his "cutie." Roberto asks what ransom they want, but the guards tell him they want his blood. Roberto uses his powers to attack them, but the goons reveal they became cyborgs after Wolverine cut them to ribbons, which is why they're fast and hate "muties." Roberto's powers fade and he begs the goons to let Juliana go. One of the goons menacingly says he can't grant him this last wish, but Xi'an then possesses the goon and has him open fire on the other goons. However, she's unused to handling a cyborg's rapid reactions, so Dani uses her powers to scare the goons when Xi'an fails to hit them. Dani then inadvertently chooses to punch the goon Xi'an is possessing, severing the connection. Xi'an approaches Juliana and Roberto while possessing a second goon, telling Juliana they're friends and asks for her help with Roberto. However, Roberto somehow suddenly loses his capacity to speak English, firing up his powers once again and attacking Xi'an, thinking she's the enemy. It breaks her concentration from the second goon she's possessed, and he opens fire on the kids. As Roberto's powers fade (again), leaving him disoriented, Juliana leaps into the line of fire to save Roberto as Dani uses another image of Wolverine to scare the goon. However, she's so upset she winds up scaring him to the point where he loses his sanity. She's rattled by the hate she saw during their connection, while a distraught Roberto holds Juliana's dead body. He blames himself for her murder, as he hoped in his arrogance he would save her and people would see him as a hero and not a monster. Xi'an tries to comfort him, but he refuses her words, saying he's a freak. She tells him they're also freaks, but Professor Xavier is trying to help them learn how to use their powers. Roberto wants none of it, saying he now lives solely for revenge, and Dani is on board with that, saying they want the same thing.
Part Three: Team Revenge
In Kentucky, Xavier and Rahne are driving in a jeep when Cannonball -- outfitted like Pierce's goons -- rams into them. (Xavier had been thinking about a call he just had with Moira, lamenting Juliana's death and reminding himself he's dealing with children and not X-Men. Good time to remember that, Charles, after an innocent girl has died. Also, why are Xavier and Rahne just now getting to Kentucky if Moira and her team have already found Roberto in Brazil. Did they stop at Dollyworld?) Rahne turns into her wolf form and jumps free while Sam drags Xavier from the jeep. (Not to get into too much analysis here, but Sam is particularly rube-y here: he tells Professor X not to worry because he'll have him free from the jeep "in a jiffy." Um, he's unconscious in a burning jeep because of you, dude.) Some of Pierce's goons appear on the scene, and Sam tells one of the goons he swore he saw a girl in the jeep. The goon tells him they're the only humans on the scanner. Sam asks what Pierce wants with Xavier, and the goon tells him to take his "heckuva salary" and be quiet. They depart in a helicopter, and Rahne picks up the scent when she lifts her head to howl in sorrow. She follows the trail to Pierce's compound and uses her half-human/half-wolf "transitional" form to leap over the fences, as it gives her "lupine strength" and "human dexterity." She gets onto the roof, despairing of her lack of humanity in transitional form. But, she also realizes it helped her get to Xavier, and she watches through a skylight as Pierce tells the professor he's put a "mindtrap" on him. The device will prevent him from using his telepathic powers and absorb the data stored in his brain. (Convenient!) Moreover, the more Xavier resists the device, the more brain damage he'll suffer. Rahne frets, as she knows she can't take on Pierce and his goons on her own. But, just then, Dani contacts her telepathically, as Moira successfully guessed her ability to communicate with animals would work with Rahne (though it's difficult for her to do).
At this point, Cannonball sees Rahne and attacks, though he's startled when he comes upon her in her transitional form. Rahne leaps to safety, and Dani uses her powers on Sam before he can recover, making him believe he's in the collapsing mine again. He flees in a panic, but takes off part of the roof with him, attracting the other goons' attention. Rahne bites ones on the shoulder, while Sunspot pounds a hole in the wall, causing an explosion that takes out several goons. Dani exults in their injuries, prompting Xi'an to remark that they're not killers; Dani tells her to speak for herself. (I've got to say, it's pretty ballsy of a girl raised in the Colorado mountains to suggest to a woman raised in a war zone that she's too soft on killing.) Dani agrees to stay non-lethal only until they get to Pierce. Cannonball has recovered and attacks since he overhears them talking about taking on Pierce, with Roberto barely dodging him. Meanwhile, Xi'an correctly finds herself wondering why Pierce hired a mutant if he hates them so much. (It's an early example of pet peeve #3, where an author uses a character to point out a plot flaw.) Xi'an tries to stop Sam, but she finds she's too excited and scared to use her powers. Instead, she picks up a machine gun and opens fire, hoping people will scatter (and thanking her father for teaching her how to use a gun). At Xi'an's instruction, Roberto breaks into the building and starts tearing through machines. In his own moment of reflection, Roberto thinks about how he always wanted this sort of power when kids made fun of him because he was so small but also how it's not going to bring back Juliana.
Inside, Pierce tells Xavier he's going to snap his neck, but Rahne breaks through the skylight and grabs his arm. However, she stunned to find it's circuitry, and Pierce kicks her, breaking her ribs. Dani then leaps through the broken skylight, but Pierce shakes off her powers thanks to his cybernetic shields. Rahne can barely breath, and Xavier guesses she has a punctured lung. But, he knows she's their best chance at survival, so he directs her to a control panel as Roberto (inadvertently) distracts Pierce in his rage at coming face-to-face with Juliana's killer. However, Sam attacks him from behind, throwing him into the wall. Sam still can't stop at will, though, so he also crashes into the bank of machines. Rahne reaches for a switch as Xavier frets he's killing her, and Xi'an appears on the scene, expositing she no longer has ammunition. She tries to possess Pierce, but she too runs into his cybernetic shields, so he stuns her. He tells Sam to get rid of them, and Sam, holding Roberto, asks if he wants to throw them off the property or turned into the sheriff. (Yes, Sam, that seems like options Pierce will suggest to you.) Of course, Pierce tells Sam he wants them dead, and Sam refuses. Pierce turns the gun on him, and Sam tries to summon his powers to shield himself, but they're spent. Pierce goes to open fire, but Xavier stops him, as Rahne has successfully turned off the "mindtrap." Xavier eventually overpowers and takes control of Pierce, something he claims is distasteful and difficult for him to do. (Nice try, Charles.) He has Pierce free Tessa while Dani expresses concern about Rahne as her pulse is weak. Xi'an takes over possessing Pierce, and Xavier summons Moira with the "hovercar." Xavier says they should be able to get Rahne to medical personnel in time as he's "psionically monitoring her injuries," and Tessa pledges to take care of Pierce. Tessa tells him it's the last they've heard of Pierce (ha!), and Xavier is torn: he doesn't want Tessa to kill Pierce, but he also doesn't have time to delay getting Rahne to a doctor. He allows Tessa to depart with Pierce, and Sam glumly asks what happens to him. Roberto tells him to follow Pierce as Xavier and company crowd into an elevator. (Jesus, Xavier is ice cold.)
Epilogue
In the mansion two weeks later, Xavier calls the class together for the first time. As they change into their costumes, they reflect on the last few days. Xi'an expresses disbelief everything could work out so well, and Roberto commits to non-lethal force so he'll never become like Pierce. Dani tells her grandfather she chose life (saving Rahne) over death (killing Pierce) and commits to trying to be happy away from Colorado and him, and Rahne marvels that her uniform can change with her. Xavier exposits that Rahne's shape-changing abilities include recuperative abilities, so she healed quickly. When everyone arrives for class, Xavier chastises Dani for wearing a Cheyenne belt and not the one the rest of the team wears. She says she's an individual who won't do anything to abandon or forget her heritage. Xavier reflects on how he once would've forced her to conform, but now realizes they're individuals whose spirits need to be shaped not broken. (Um, yeah, Charlie. Good epiphany.) The doorbell rings, and Rahne is shocked to find a suit-clad Sam. Xavier informs them anyone can make a mistake; Pierce duped him, and Xavier invited him to the school. Roberto dismisses Sam as lacking honor for attacking him from behind, but Sam says he's willing to learn what honor means. Rahne tells Roberto he has to forgive Sam if she does since she almost died, and Roberto charmingly says he can't refuse a beautiful girl. The team laughs, and Xavier allows himself a smile.
Moira MacTaggart is surprised when a wolf leaps over her, since wolves don't exist in this part of Scotland. She's amazed as she watches it turn into a girl and shocked when she realizes it's Rahne Sinclair, who she delivered years ago. Rahne lapses into unconsciousness as a result of the fall, and Moira discovers she's been shot. (It's just a flesh wound!) Moira recalls tagging an "anomalous DNA matrix" in Rahne's blood when she was born, but hadn't followed up further. Revered Craig arrives with a group of gun-tottin' and torch-bearin' villagers in pursuit of the "witch." "Lady" Moira tells Craig he's trespassing on Kinross land, and Craig says he's there to "save" Rahne's soul from the devil who possesses her. Moira wryly notes a bullet doesn't seem the best course of action to do that. She puts Rahne under her protection and tells Craig and his followers to leave. Moira realizes she needs to get Rahne to Professor Xavier.
In Rio de Janeiro, Roberto da Costa scores a goal in the championship soccer match against his high school's arch-rivals. His adoring father and girlfriend celebrate in the stands. Roberto is on his way to the goal again when two white players trip him; one of them, Keller, calls him "halfbreed." The referees don't realize it's an intentional trip, so hot-headed Roberto tackles Keller, who exults at having successfully baited Roberto. He begins to whale on Roberto, saying "your father's wealth can't change the color of your skin," followed by, "you're still black -- an animal masquerading as a human being." (Jesus, 1983.) Keller and everyone else are shocked when Roberto's powers suddenly manifest themselves, with Roberto throwing Keller across the pitch. Everyone -- including two of Roberto's friends -- flee in a panic. Roberto is confused why he feels so hot and screams for his father and Juliana to help him. Roberto's father -- so proud of him moments earlier -- stares at him in disbelief. The fleeing crowd allegedly carries his father with it, whereas Juliana fights her way to Roberto. (Obviously we're Team Juliana, though that doesn't do her much good later.) As he depowers, Roberto tells Juliana not to approach him lest he hurt her, but she ignores his warning, telling him she'll stay with him whatever comes. He slumps into her arms, and she screams for a doctor when she realizes he's cold as ice. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure with a familiar ruffled cuff watches on a monitor, declaring more mutants are appearing every day and he'll be there to destroy them all!
In Cumberland County, Kentucky, Sam Guthrie, "age 16," heads into the mines. Mr. Lewis, one of his fellow miners, expresses sympathy after hearing Sam's father died of the black lung. Lewis asks about Sam's family, and Sam says he's started working the mines because inflation is eating into his father's pension (oh, 1983) and his mother is too proud to go on welfare. Lewis recalls Sam's father saying he was so proud about Sam going to college on a scholarship, but Sam says he couldn't leave for school knowing his family didn't have food to eat. Sam comments that he's the man of the house now and swears to make sure his father's dream comes true for one of his siblings. Resenting his father for "offering a dream of something better, only to snatch it from Sam's hand as it was about to come true," Sam gets to work. However, a cave-in pins Lewis, and Sam struggles to get to Lewis against the other miners as they flees. Lewis tells Sam he's definitely his father's son -- "more guts than brains" -- and, as the roof collapses on them, Sam's powers manifest themselves, sending him and Lewis to safety. The ruffled-cuff figure observes the scene, saying he planned on using Sam for his own purposes and then killing him with da Costa.
Outside Sundance, Colorado, Moonstar communes with nature, using her ability to communicate telepathically with animals to greet Ridge-Runner, a mountain-lion friend. The mountain lion bolts when Black Eagle, Moonstar's grandfather, approaches. He tells Moonstar it's time for her to leave the mountain and attend Xavier's school so she can learn how to control the powers of the mind that the Great Spirit gave her. She's furious at him both for sending her from the mountains and for sending her to an "anglo." (Seriously, 1983, racism much?) Her rage apparently weakens his "natural psychic defenses," and she projects one of her "dream shapes," of two armored men beating Black Eagle to death. She exposits she fled town because she can't control these images, and Black Eagle tells her it's why she has to go to Xavier's. However, she declares all white men are enemies, but Black Eagle informs her Xavier was her father's best friend and blood brother. (If that's true, you have to wonder why she didn't even know who Xavier was. Good job keeping tabs on her, Charles.) Moonstar still resists, but relents to go when Black Eagle commands her to do so. Dismissing them as "noble savages," the ruffled-cuff figure is finally revealed to be Donald Pierce, who plans on ambushing Xavier (without his X-Men) when he travels to the Rockies to fetch Moonstar. We learn Pierce is holding Tessa hostage and plans on destroying the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club -- dismissing it as a "mutie clique" -- in order to take command of it. Later, Moonstar awakens suddenly at the sound of Black Eagle's "psychic deathscream" and rides her pony to his body. She realizes he had foreseen his own death and she had pulled this image from his mind earlier in the day. (The narration to this scene is: "To the sheriff, Black Eagle will be just another drunken old Indian who wandered out onto the highway and got himself splattered." 1983 racism rears its ugly head again!) Moonstar swears revenge.
In Westchester, Xavier is still reeling from the alleged death of the X-Men. (It's set during the era when the Brood has kidnapped them.) Moira and Rahne arrived a week earlier, and Moira is helping the Professor examine Xi'an Coy Manh, codenamed Karma, while Rahne observes. Charles says Xi'an's powers to possess people rival his own, but Xi'an expresses disdain for them, saying if she must have them she has to learn to control them. Moira volunteers as a guinea pig, but Rahne loses her shit when she hears Xi'an's voice coming from Moira's mouth. She immediately switches into wolf mode and threatens Moira/Xi'an. Xavier stops Rahne from attacking Moira, and Xi'an releases her hold on Moira. We learn Xi'an can act somewhat independently when she possesses someone, but her actions are limited. Conversely, she has absolute control over the "victim," who doesn't even remember the possession. The foursome retire for lunch, and, under prompting from Xavier, Xi'an recounts her history for us. She and her family were "boat people" fleeing Vietnam; her father was a colonel in the South Vietnamese Army. Thai pirates killed her parents during their escape, and she fled to America to care for her younger brother and sister. She shamefully admits she used her powers to secure work, noting her twin brother, Tran, had the same powers as she did but didn't share her reluctance to use them. She also has an uncle, Nguyen Ngoc Coy, living outside Vietnam, but she and her father didn't trust him. Xavier notes she isn't totally forthcoming about her history, and Claremont makes that clear when she hesitates in describing her brother as having "died." That said, Xavier is impressed she managed to use her powers so well without training, and Rahne asks why he's happy they've mastered "these gifts from Satan." (Oh, Rahne, never change.) Xi'an expands on the subject of her brother, saying he saw people as mere puppets, and she wants Xavier to help her reject that temptation. Xavier hesitates in accepting this charge, telepathically telling Moira he has enough blood on his hands. Moira reminds him the dream wasn't forming the X-Men; the dream was helping mutants to learn to live with their powers and society to learn to accept them. The X-Men are "far less important than the dream which brought them together." After Xavier agrees, Xi'an expresses concern about her little brother and sister, saying she won't have enough time to take care of them, go to school, and have a job. Xavier hires her to run the School with him, and she accepts. Charles then receives a letter from Black Eagle informing him Moonstar is a mutant, and Charles notes the coincidence as he heads out West.
Part Two: Getting the Band Together
In Colorado, Charles, Xi'an, and Rahne are before Black Eagle's funeral bier, and Xi'an wonders how they're going to find Moonstar. (We're left to our own devices to figure out how the three of them came to find themselves alone at the bier.) On cue, the three of them are suddenly thrown into the Vietnam War, clearly a sign of Moonstar's dream shapes pulling out Xi'an's (and possibly Xavier's, frankly) worst memories. Before Xavier can react and block the intrusion, a real explosion throws the three of them to the ground. Moonstar crashes past them, fleeing an armored men on a skybike. Ridge-Runner attacks the man to protect Moonstar, and he throws her to her death. Moonstar is distraught, allowing the man to capture her, but Karma uses her powers to possess him, turning him against his two colleagues. Karma has the man remove his helmet so Xavier can interrogate him (because apparently she could get through the helmet's psychic-resistant properties, but Xavier couldn't), and Moonstar realizes the helmet was the only thing preventing her from attacking him. She attempts to drive him insane with her "spiritforms" (formerly "dream shapes"), but Xavier stops her, calling her "Danielle" much to her shock. Apparently only she and Black Eagle knew that name, but Xavier says he was there the day her parents gave it to her. (Jesus, Charles, you really are terrible at mentoring young people, aren't you?) He tells her he's there to train her as he promised Black Eagle he would do, and Dani retorts that his help didn't save Black Eagle. (Oh, teen angst. It's particularly biting when it leads them to speaking the truth.) She demands he leave her on the mountain, and he asks her if she really wants to live alone in terror of powers she doesn't understand. She seems amenable to the training he offers, but she then stumbles from the pain of her dislocated shoulder. Xi'an uses the first-aid skills she learned during the war to set it, though Dani is appalled, as a proud Cheyenne, that she screamed. (She also refuses to be called "Dani" or "Danielle.") Xavier explains his telepathic probe of the man reveals he and his fellow goons are linked to Donald Pierce, who plans on killing Roberto and Sam. Xavier suggests splitting up the team to save them. Learning Xavier has no need for the man anymore, Dani takes out her knife and plans on killing him. Xavier stops her, saying the "scales of justice" will be partly balanced when her testimony helps convict the man. Dani argues with that, saying justice would only be served if her grandfather was resurrected. She pledges to take out her vengeance on Pierce instead.
(OMG, it just doesn't end. We're only half way through here, but it's thankfully less narrative driven so we should wrap it up soon.)
In possibly the most bizarre scene I've ever read in a comic, police bust into the room Moira, Xi'an, and Dani have taken in Rio de Janeiro, declaring they're under arrest. Moira asks why, and the cop smacks her upside the head. (Really.) He says her call to Emmanual da Costa regarding Roberto has made them suspicious, because Roberto and Juliana were the victims of an attempted kidnapping the previous day. Xi'an possesses the cop who smacked Moira so he doesn't lock the handcuffs he puts on them and realizes Moira is signaling to her to wait for a better moment to escape. Once the cops lead them outside, she has the cop punch his partner so she and Dani can make a break for it. Moira says she'll stay with the cops to try to convince them of the truth and orders them to find Roberto. The girls do so via a Cerebro wristwatch, but they watch as he escapes his family's townhouse and heads to an abandoned warehouse where Pierce's goons have Juliana. He tells them to let her go now that he's met their demands, but one of the goons smacks him, saying they'll do what they want with him and his "cutie." Roberto asks what ransom they want, but the guards tell him they want his blood. Roberto uses his powers to attack them, but the goons reveal they became cyborgs after Wolverine cut them to ribbons, which is why they're fast and hate "muties." Roberto's powers fade and he begs the goons to let Juliana go. One of the goons menacingly says he can't grant him this last wish, but Xi'an then possesses the goon and has him open fire on the other goons. However, she's unused to handling a cyborg's rapid reactions, so Dani uses her powers to scare the goons when Xi'an fails to hit them. Dani then inadvertently chooses to punch the goon Xi'an is possessing, severing the connection. Xi'an approaches Juliana and Roberto while possessing a second goon, telling Juliana they're friends and asks for her help with Roberto. However, Roberto somehow suddenly loses his capacity to speak English, firing up his powers once again and attacking Xi'an, thinking she's the enemy. It breaks her concentration from the second goon she's possessed, and he opens fire on the kids. As Roberto's powers fade (again), leaving him disoriented, Juliana leaps into the line of fire to save Roberto as Dani uses another image of Wolverine to scare the goon. However, she's so upset she winds up scaring him to the point where he loses his sanity. She's rattled by the hate she saw during their connection, while a distraught Roberto holds Juliana's dead body. He blames himself for her murder, as he hoped in his arrogance he would save her and people would see him as a hero and not a monster. Xi'an tries to comfort him, but he refuses her words, saying he's a freak. She tells him they're also freaks, but Professor Xavier is trying to help them learn how to use their powers. Roberto wants none of it, saying he now lives solely for revenge, and Dani is on board with that, saying they want the same thing.
Part Three: Team Revenge
In Kentucky, Xavier and Rahne are driving in a jeep when Cannonball -- outfitted like Pierce's goons -- rams into them. (Xavier had been thinking about a call he just had with Moira, lamenting Juliana's death and reminding himself he's dealing with children and not X-Men. Good time to remember that, Charles, after an innocent girl has died. Also, why are Xavier and Rahne just now getting to Kentucky if Moira and her team have already found Roberto in Brazil. Did they stop at Dollyworld?) Rahne turns into her wolf form and jumps free while Sam drags Xavier from the jeep. (Not to get into too much analysis here, but Sam is particularly rube-y here: he tells Professor X not to worry because he'll have him free from the jeep "in a jiffy." Um, he's unconscious in a burning jeep because of you, dude.) Some of Pierce's goons appear on the scene, and Sam tells one of the goons he swore he saw a girl in the jeep. The goon tells him they're the only humans on the scanner. Sam asks what Pierce wants with Xavier, and the goon tells him to take his "heckuva salary" and be quiet. They depart in a helicopter, and Rahne picks up the scent when she lifts her head to howl in sorrow. She follows the trail to Pierce's compound and uses her half-human/half-wolf "transitional" form to leap over the fences, as it gives her "lupine strength" and "human dexterity." She gets onto the roof, despairing of her lack of humanity in transitional form. But, she also realizes it helped her get to Xavier, and she watches through a skylight as Pierce tells the professor he's put a "mindtrap" on him. The device will prevent him from using his telepathic powers and absorb the data stored in his brain. (Convenient!) Moreover, the more Xavier resists the device, the more brain damage he'll suffer. Rahne frets, as she knows she can't take on Pierce and his goons on her own. But, just then, Dani contacts her telepathically, as Moira successfully guessed her ability to communicate with animals would work with Rahne (though it's difficult for her to do).
At this point, Cannonball sees Rahne and attacks, though he's startled when he comes upon her in her transitional form. Rahne leaps to safety, and Dani uses her powers on Sam before he can recover, making him believe he's in the collapsing mine again. He flees in a panic, but takes off part of the roof with him, attracting the other goons' attention. Rahne bites ones on the shoulder, while Sunspot pounds a hole in the wall, causing an explosion that takes out several goons. Dani exults in their injuries, prompting Xi'an to remark that they're not killers; Dani tells her to speak for herself. (I've got to say, it's pretty ballsy of a girl raised in the Colorado mountains to suggest to a woman raised in a war zone that she's too soft on killing.) Dani agrees to stay non-lethal only until they get to Pierce. Cannonball has recovered and attacks since he overhears them talking about taking on Pierce, with Roberto barely dodging him. Meanwhile, Xi'an correctly finds herself wondering why Pierce hired a mutant if he hates them so much. (It's an early example of pet peeve #3, where an author uses a character to point out a plot flaw.) Xi'an tries to stop Sam, but she finds she's too excited and scared to use her powers. Instead, she picks up a machine gun and opens fire, hoping people will scatter (and thanking her father for teaching her how to use a gun). At Xi'an's instruction, Roberto breaks into the building and starts tearing through machines. In his own moment of reflection, Roberto thinks about how he always wanted this sort of power when kids made fun of him because he was so small but also how it's not going to bring back Juliana.
Inside, Pierce tells Xavier he's going to snap his neck, but Rahne breaks through the skylight and grabs his arm. However, she stunned to find it's circuitry, and Pierce kicks her, breaking her ribs. Dani then leaps through the broken skylight, but Pierce shakes off her powers thanks to his cybernetic shields. Rahne can barely breath, and Xavier guesses she has a punctured lung. But, he knows she's their best chance at survival, so he directs her to a control panel as Roberto (inadvertently) distracts Pierce in his rage at coming face-to-face with Juliana's killer. However, Sam attacks him from behind, throwing him into the wall. Sam still can't stop at will, though, so he also crashes into the bank of machines. Rahne reaches for a switch as Xavier frets he's killing her, and Xi'an appears on the scene, expositing she no longer has ammunition. She tries to possess Pierce, but she too runs into his cybernetic shields, so he stuns her. He tells Sam to get rid of them, and Sam, holding Roberto, asks if he wants to throw them off the property or turned into the sheriff. (Yes, Sam, that seems like options Pierce will suggest to you.) Of course, Pierce tells Sam he wants them dead, and Sam refuses. Pierce turns the gun on him, and Sam tries to summon his powers to shield himself, but they're spent. Pierce goes to open fire, but Xavier stops him, as Rahne has successfully turned off the "mindtrap." Xavier eventually overpowers and takes control of Pierce, something he claims is distasteful and difficult for him to do. (Nice try, Charles.) He has Pierce free Tessa while Dani expresses concern about Rahne as her pulse is weak. Xi'an takes over possessing Pierce, and Xavier summons Moira with the "hovercar." Xavier says they should be able to get Rahne to medical personnel in time as he's "psionically monitoring her injuries," and Tessa pledges to take care of Pierce. Tessa tells him it's the last they've heard of Pierce (ha!), and Xavier is torn: he doesn't want Tessa to kill Pierce, but he also doesn't have time to delay getting Rahne to a doctor. He allows Tessa to depart with Pierce, and Sam glumly asks what happens to him. Roberto tells him to follow Pierce as Xavier and company crowd into an elevator. (Jesus, Xavier is ice cold.)
Epilogue
In the mansion two weeks later, Xavier calls the class together for the first time. As they change into their costumes, they reflect on the last few days. Xi'an expresses disbelief everything could work out so well, and Roberto commits to non-lethal force so he'll never become like Pierce. Dani tells her grandfather she chose life (saving Rahne) over death (killing Pierce) and commits to trying to be happy away from Colorado and him, and Rahne marvels that her uniform can change with her. Xavier exposits that Rahne's shape-changing abilities include recuperative abilities, so she healed quickly. When everyone arrives for class, Xavier chastises Dani for wearing a Cheyenne belt and not the one the rest of the team wears. She says she's an individual who won't do anything to abandon or forget her heritage. Xavier reflects on how he once would've forced her to conform, but now realizes they're individuals whose spirits need to be shaped not broken. (Um, yeah, Charlie. Good epiphany.) The doorbell rings, and Rahne is shocked to find a suit-clad Sam. Xavier informs them anyone can make a mistake; Pierce duped him, and Xavier invited him to the school. Roberto dismisses Sam as lacking honor for attacking him from behind, but Sam says he's willing to learn what honor means. Rahne tells Roberto he has to forgive Sam if she does since she almost died, and Roberto charmingly says he can't refuse a beautiful girl. The team laughs, and Xavier allows himself a smile.
The Review
OMG, that summary almost killed me. I promise I'll keep it shorter in the future, but I felt like it was important to establish the original set of circumstances under which the team came together.
I'll turn to the characters in a minute, but I want to talk first about the prevalent racism we find throughout the story. Since the end of the Obama administration, we've seen fewer people claiming we exist in some sort of post-racial, post-sexist, post-homophobic Utopia. It's become all too clear that was never the case, and a lot of the controversy over Marvel's effort to publish a more diverse lineup stem from that erroneous assumption. First, I'm going to ignore the straight white guys who just want to read about straight white guys. I just can't with them. But, for everyone else, I'll admit I've been surprised by the extent to which Marvel has kept its characters in that post-racial, post-sexist, post-homophobic Utopia. The only bias anyone in the Marvel Universe seems to have is anti-mutant. To be fair, some authors made an effort to address the actual reality. In "Captain America: Sam Wilson," we could all read between the lines when Nick Spencer literally had a cabal of old white guys work against Sam Wilson because he simply wasn't "Captain America material." (John Walker is basically the only superhero currently depicted as racist.) in "Ms. Marvel," Willow Wilson showed Basic Becky and Josh trying to impose a certain vision for Jersey City that made sure everyone not like them stayed in their place. But, for the most part, every character -- hero and villain -- is shown as totally on board with the "liberal agenda," to borrow from Fox News. It reminds me of the issue of "Avengers: The Children's Crusade" where Billy is shocked to learn Captain America had no problem with him being gay. Maybe he should've been? Maybe it would've been better to show Captain America slowly coming to accept gay people, because it would also show how acceptance can be a long journey and doesn't need to be a preexisting condition. After all, Bobby's parents are the only people in "Iceman" to be shown as upset he's gay, but they're dismissed as relics, as if only the Greatest Generation is homophobic. The only other person even remotely upset is Kitty, Bobby's ex-girlfriend. The same was true of Rahne learning Rictor was bisexual in "X-Factor."
I'll turn to the characters in a minute, but I want to talk first about the prevalent racism we find throughout the story. Since the end of the Obama administration, we've seen fewer people claiming we exist in some sort of post-racial, post-sexist, post-homophobic Utopia. It's become all too clear that was never the case, and a lot of the controversy over Marvel's effort to publish a more diverse lineup stem from that erroneous assumption. First, I'm going to ignore the straight white guys who just want to read about straight white guys. I just can't with them. But, for everyone else, I'll admit I've been surprised by the extent to which Marvel has kept its characters in that post-racial, post-sexist, post-homophobic Utopia. The only bias anyone in the Marvel Universe seems to have is anti-mutant. To be fair, some authors made an effort to address the actual reality. In "Captain America: Sam Wilson," we could all read between the lines when Nick Spencer literally had a cabal of old white guys work against Sam Wilson because he simply wasn't "Captain America material." (John Walker is basically the only superhero currently depicted as racist.) in "Ms. Marvel," Willow Wilson showed Basic Becky and Josh trying to impose a certain vision for Jersey City that made sure everyone not like them stayed in their place. But, for the most part, every character -- hero and villain -- is shown as totally on board with the "liberal agenda," to borrow from Fox News. It reminds me of the issue of "Avengers: The Children's Crusade" where Billy is shocked to learn Captain America had no problem with him being gay. Maybe he should've been? Maybe it would've been better to show Captain America slowly coming to accept gay people, because it would also show how acceptance can be a long journey and doesn't need to be a preexisting condition. After all, Bobby's parents are the only people in "Iceman" to be shown as upset he's gay, but they're dismissed as relics, as if only the Greatest Generation is homophobic. The only other person even remotely upset is Kitty, Bobby's ex-girlfriend. The same was true of Rahne learning Rictor was bisexual in "X-Factor."
I'm not saying I want people to be racist. But, people are racist, and pretending they're not doesn't do us any good either. I mention it because even Spencer and Wilson didn't put bigotry on quite the same display as we see here. We start the issue in Scotland with Moira MacTaggart fending off a preacher and his torch-bearing parishioners after they've shot Rahne and want to finish the job. In Brazil, Roberto's white opponents beat on him specifically because he's black, calling him an animal and a half-breed. (They don't even know he's a mutant at this point.) In Colorado, Dani expresses outrage her grandfather is sending her off the mountain to be taught by "an anglo" and "a white," and Donald Pierce (not all that surprisingly, frankly) dismisses Dani and her grandfather as "noble savages." In other words, Claremont portrays a world where everyone -- even people who share a similar trait that targets them for discrimination -- doesn't get along. Dani is the rare example of hero who possesses some sort of bias, and Roberto literally flirts with sexism here. Claremont makes it clear the New Mutants are on a journey to accept themselves and each other, and I found it refreshing they didn't start there. As sad as it is, the world Claremont portrays here feels more like 2018 than other comics I'm reading now, and I look forward to watching the characters struggle with hatred that publishers currently don't seem to believe exists anymore.
That said, it's not all grim here. After all, Moira fends off the anti-mutant preacher, and Juliana fights against the fleeing crowd to get to Roberto after his powers manifest, something his wealthy father fails to do. In all honestly, Juliana is the real hero of this book, the only person other than Moira and Xavier who accepts Bobby for who he is as a black man and a mutant. Her commitment to him is notable exactly because she's the only one so committed to him; if everyone accepted him, it would undermine the courage she exhibits here, and not only because she leaps into the gunfire to save him.
That said, it's not all grim here. After all, Moira fends off the anti-mutant preacher, and Juliana fights against the fleeing crowd to get to Roberto after his powers manifest, something his wealthy father fails to do. In all honestly, Juliana is the real hero of this book, the only person other than Moira and Xavier who accepts Bobby for who he is as a black man and a mutant. Her commitment to him is notable exactly because she's the only one so committed to him; if everyone accepted him, it would undermine the courage she exhibits here, and not only because she leaps into the gunfire to save him.
Turning to the characters more directly, it was obviously interesting to see how they started. Even the mention of white people enrages Dani, but the fact she thought only she and her grandfather knew her (not Cheyenne-sounding) name was Danielle implies something else is afoot there. Moreover, Xavier is suspicious Xi'an isn't telling him everything about her past, though she's upfront about her twin brother's more brutal use of their shared powers. Sam is portrayed as furious with his father for leaving him to work the mines, his dream of a college scholarship now destroyed. I can't remember ever hearing him talk about his father this way, and Claremont is also clear in his disdain for Sam's mother being too proud to go on welfare and thus sending her 16-year-old son into the mines. (As far as I can tell, we never learn how Sam's mother is going to replace his income now that he's at school.) In other words, Claremont reminds us throughout this story we're dealing with children forced into adult situations. He leaves a lot on the table and makes you want to keep on reading.
Also, it's interesting to see how limited the characters' powers are. Dani overwhelms one of Pierce's goons with her spiritforms to such an extent she drives him insane. Juliana dies in part because Roberto's powers fail him almost immediately. Sam notably can't change directions or stop easily, and both he and Xi'an are unable to summon their powers in the excitement and fear of battle. They have a long way to go to get to the characters we know today.
My only real complain about this issue is Claremont not only makes Pierce too much into mustache-twirling villain here, but he also leaves his motives -- beyond "DEATH TO ALL MUTANTS!" -- unclear. For example, he never shows us why Pierce hired Cannonball -- a mutant -- in the first place. It almost seems like he did so just because he was local. I also don't totally get why Tessa is here? I mean, I get narratively why she was here: Claremont needed someone to handle Pierce at the end to get him off-stage. But, Claremont doesn't explain what Pierce's actual motivations were in kidnapping Tessa. Was it for her knowledge of the Inner Circle? Doesn't he already have that? In fact, I don't really get why Donald Pierce wanted to take over the Hellfire Club in the first place. Like, was it really that powerful? Did he not realize the Inner Circle of the Club was filled with mutants until it was too late?
Overall, I have to say, this story really reminded me why Claremont is remembered so fondly. Other than a few small bobbles, he tells an engaging, emotionally driven story that gives us a great sense of the characters and the challenges they face going forward. I'm legitimately excited to see where we go from here.
My only real complain about this issue is Claremont not only makes Pierce too much into mustache-twirling villain here, but he also leaves his motives -- beyond "DEATH TO ALL MUTANTS!" -- unclear. For example, he never shows us why Pierce hired Cannonball -- a mutant -- in the first place. It almost seems like he did so just because he was local. I also don't totally get why Tessa is here? I mean, I get narratively why she was here: Claremont needed someone to handle Pierce at the end to get him off-stage. But, Claremont doesn't explain what Pierce's actual motivations were in kidnapping Tessa. Was it for her knowledge of the Inner Circle? Doesn't he already have that? In fact, I don't really get why Donald Pierce wanted to take over the Hellfire Club in the first place. Like, was it really that powerful? Did he not realize the Inner Circle of the Club was filled with mutants until it was too late?
Overall, I have to say, this story really reminded me why Claremont is remembered so fondly. Other than a few small bobbles, he tells an engaging, emotionally driven story that gives us a great sense of the characters and the challenges they face going forward. I'm legitimately excited to see where we go from here.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
New Comics!: The April 11 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #17: This issue is an uncharacteristic miss for David. Ben prattles on all issue about his soul and his deal with Mephisto, and at some point I realized I just didn't care. I'm OK with the existing supernatural component of this series -- Ben's need to repair his soul after his brush with Death. But, the deal with Mephisto just feels like overkill at this point, as if Batman suddenly spent all his time hunting vampires. Even David winking at us -- with Ben berating himself for thinking he's the only person dumb enough to make a deal with Mephisto -- made me roll my eyes. David is usually great at playing the long game, but even the premise of Ben having to save Abigail is starting to feel old. I feel like we could use a refresh here.
Captain America #700: I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure Waid is the best writer for “Captain America.” He leans into Cap's corniness in a way that makes him even more unbelievable than he normally is. Cap stories are usually their best when he's forced to question his ideals, but for most this arc Cap spouted nothing but inspiration-poster bromides. When he finally faces a seemingly unwinable challenge, he caves completely. It's not my Captain America, to be honest.
We start several weeks after Steve and his allies defeated Babbington. Liang and Banner want to send Steve to the present, so he can stop Rampart before it launches the missile and prevent the future from happening. Steve refuses, saying he can't just abandon the future for Banner's "Hail Mary" pass. However, this commitment to the future felt dishonest. Waid never really explored the psychological repercussions of Cap finding himself displaced in time yet again. In fact, Cap seems not even to remotely care he's never going to see Sharon or his friends again. He's just a stalwart of dependability and determination and we leave it at that. In so doing, Waid winds up undermining Cap's bravery in committing to this era, because he makes it seem like he doesn't care.
We watch as Cap and his supporters spend a year trying to expel the foreign invaders who have taken over large swaths of America while also rebuilding the agriculture and infrastructure of areas they control. But, when someone nukes New York just as Cap and his troops liberate Philadelphia, Cap just surrenders. He faces the reality he entered this conflict too late, and he accepts the only possible option is Banner sending him to the present. It's jarring, to say the least, for him to go so dark so quickly. (Even Banner is surprised by Cap claiming hope isn't a strategy, but, per pet peeve #3, I'm not going to give Waid credit for having a character point out the logical failings of the plot.)
Safely in the present, future Cap sacrifices himself to stop the rocket, and the ensuing explosion frees present Cap from the ice almost immediately after he was frozen. It means present Cap doesn't take with him the lessons future Cap learned, and I'm not sure where we go from here. Waid seems to be returning to Cap traveling America, but I don't really get why we detoured from that story for this one in the first place. I think my main problem is I'm intrigued by this arc's premise, where Cap can't save the day. That would've been a story worth telling. We could've seen a story like Remender's "Dimension Z," where we watch Cap lose more and more ground and see how he handles that. Instead, Waid essentially jumps to the end, and it cheapens Cap exactly at a time we're supposed to be celebrating him.
Detective Comics #978: Whoa. One of the advantages of Tynion -- beyond being a great writer with a clear sense of the characters he's portraying -- is that he's been working on Batman-related titles for years now. He's been dropping hints for months about Tim's delicate mental state, given his alleged death, subsequent imprisonment, and Future Tim's subsequent arrival. However, Tynion makes it clear we shouldn't have been worried, because Tim is still Tim. Even in his weakened state, he rejects Ulysses' attempt to co-opt him, recognizing Ulysses is crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. In fact, Tynion takes a different perspective on recent developments than we've seen. Previously, Tynion has mostly left the reader supporting Kate's position about some lines needing to be crossed to save lives. However, Tim's resoluteness here reminds us how dangerous it is when someone like Ulysses -- and, by extension, Kate -- takes matters into his own hands. Tim quickly realizes Ulysses is controlling the Colony soldiers while Bruce is at "stately Kane Manor" hearing from Kate and Jake that they didn't order the soldiers to open fire. Watching the drama from afar, Ulysses wryly notes the Joker and the like have always had it all wrong: the best way to take down Batman is to leave breadcrumbs to a mystery he feels a compulsion to solve. Ulysses kicks up the crazy a notch here as he shaves his head and starts calling himself the General, using the Colony's integrated network to unleash the OMAC virus on its soldiers as well as Tim. At this stage, the tension driving this story isn't just related to the (legitimately scary) rise of Ulysses and Brother Eye. It also has to do with the sense Tim is quickly facing the moment where he will past the point of no return when it comes preventing his dark future. We saw Future Tim was born when he kills Batwoman for killing Bruce for activating Brother Eye. But, given the events of this issue, it's hard to see how that sequence of events would happen, particularly since Ulysses has already activated Brother Eye. Does Kate take out Bruce because he activates it again at a later date? Or, has Ulysses already changed the future (through his knowledge of it) by preemptively activating Brother Eye? I guess we'll see.
Oblivion Song #1-#2: In his letter in issue #1, Kirkland tells us he'll be telling a very different story at issue #30 than the one he's telling here, and it's easy to believe him when he says it's going to be a fast-paced story. As you read issue #1, you're pretty sure it's going to be a story about a man trying to find redemption by finding his brother. Like Dr. Richard Kimble catching the One-Armed Man in the series finale of "The Fugitive," I expected Cole was finally going to find his brother Edward in the last issue and embrace him, a man at peace. The only problem with that scenario is we've already met Edward, on the last page of issue #1. It's a sign Kirkland means what he says; he's not going to dragging out stories too long.
The first two issues pretty convincingly lay out the basic framework of the story. Somehow, Philadelphia and land from another dimension changed places. Cole -- our main character -- was able to find the right frequency to access Philadelphia in this new dimension. He and his team were able to save many people stuck on the other side. However, at some point, Cole and his team stopped finding new people, and the government cut his funding. We start the series with Cole in Oblivion (i.e., the transferred part of Philadelphia) finding and rescuing a married couple. The couple reveals they were part of a group of 100 or so people living on the outskirts of the city; they only came into the city on supply runs, hence why Cole hadn't found anyone for a while. Making matters worse for Cole, the couple have revealed their leader is named Edward, fueling Cole's anxiety over the possibility of finally finding him. However, this group doesn't seem to want to be found, and we end the first issue with Edward observing Cole (not realizing who he is) and telling his followers to set a trap for him.
At this stage, I still don't think we know how people escaped Philadelphia after it was transferred to another dimension. When Cole walks the couple through the museum dedicated to the "Transference," he explicitly mentions all sorts of people who escaped and survived in the first few days. Did it take a while before the transfer was complete? Cole shows the couple he rescued the barren area where Philadelphia used to be located, implying Philadelphia is (at least now) completely in the other dimension. Moreover, we obviously don't know why the Transference happened, though it seems likely the government played some sort of role given their reluctance to keep funding Cole's excursions. After all, why else would the government not want him locating people? Cole is running everything using his own resources, so it's not like it would cost the government that much to give him a workable team.
Kirkland also doesn't sleep on the interpersonal drama. Cole is supported by a married couple, Duncan and Bridget, though Bridget is carrying on an affair with the man she was dating before Cole saved Duncan from Oblivion. Also, Cole asks Marco, one of his former team members, for help, but Marco refuses, commenting he has kids -- and sleep -- now. It's an immediate refusal: he doesn't even let Cole finish his beer before he walks into the house. Cole himself is portrayed as a man possessed. Although he's in a relationship with a woman who works for the government agency he wants to provide him funding, Marco's comments on how Cole just appeared after a year of no contact imply he exists solely for the mission.
All in all, it's a strong début. I wouldn't say I had the same visceral response to it as I did the first issues of "The Realm" or "The Wild Storm," but I'm definitely intrigued.
Rogue and Gambit #4: Gambit and Rogue learn Lavish's powers here: each time she drains someone of his power (which she then stores in a cloned body), she also steals his memories. It's why ParaÃso has so many mindless zombies wandering around the health unit. Rogue realizes she and Remy have been getting along so well because, at this point in their stay, they've been stripped of almost all their baggage. Disturbingly, Lavish can only access the power when she destroys one of the bodies (as she does here after Gambit injures her and she destroys a body with healing powers). Rogue and Gambit make this discovery as they both take out one of the other's doppelgängers, resulting in them absorbing not only the other one's powers but also a specific memory. (For Gambit, it's the love Rogue felt as he put the garter on her at Scott and Jean's wedding. For Rogue, it's the hurt Gambit felt when Rogue didn't trust him enough to join the Avengers.) They realize they need to take out only their own clones to limit their exposure to the other's innermost feelings and gain back their specific powers. Rogue considers just standing pat, allowing them to leave behind their baggage by never reclaiming their memories. But, Remy tells her essentially to have faith in them and their ability to find each other again. Man, Thompson better keep them together this time. I have a lot invested in this story.
X-Men: Red #3: I was sort of skeptical where Taylor was going with this series, but I have to admit he got me with this issue. Trinary reveals she believes humanity is being programmed to hate mutants; someone (Cassandra Nova?) is using algorithms that push decontextualized stories and lies to people with known biases and concerns. In other words, someone has essentially weaponized social media. (Sound familiar?) Gambit sees that first hand, as he tries to save a young woman who dared to defy an anti-mutant mob. However, he fails to stop a gun-totting protester (similar to the ones we saw in India who Jean couldn't control) from opening fire. In India, we learned the trio was able to resist Jean's power due to the presence of nano-Sentinels in their bloodstreams. Taylor is taking a page from Spencer's playback in being obvious in his disdain for the far right; it doesn't take a journalism student to recognize the allusion to Charlottesville when Gambit makes fun of the protesters for using tiki torches in their march. As folks in the letters page said, this series feels like it matches our time perfectly. It's not trying to capture an old feeling (like Guggenheim on "X-Men Gold"), but instead tells an updated story about the persecution mutants face in the present. It would be wrong just to repeat "Fall of the Mutants." Taylor is telling a new story even if the theme is familiar. The letters page also focuses on the fact Jean is finally standing on her own two feet; she's no longer defined by Cyclops or Wolverine. Cyclops repeatedly got to spread his wings without Jean; it's time for her to do the same. Finally, I totally agree with Tom from Columbus, who says Jean not knowing what to do but wanting to do something is all of us right now.
Also Read: Avengers #688; Bloodshot Salvation #8; Darth Vader #14; Falcon #7; X-Men: Blue #25
Captain America #700: I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure Waid is the best writer for “Captain America.” He leans into Cap's corniness in a way that makes him even more unbelievable than he normally is. Cap stories are usually their best when he's forced to question his ideals, but for most this arc Cap spouted nothing but inspiration-poster bromides. When he finally faces a seemingly unwinable challenge, he caves completely. It's not my Captain America, to be honest.
We start several weeks after Steve and his allies defeated Babbington. Liang and Banner want to send Steve to the present, so he can stop Rampart before it launches the missile and prevent the future from happening. Steve refuses, saying he can't just abandon the future for Banner's "Hail Mary" pass. However, this commitment to the future felt dishonest. Waid never really explored the psychological repercussions of Cap finding himself displaced in time yet again. In fact, Cap seems not even to remotely care he's never going to see Sharon or his friends again. He's just a stalwart of dependability and determination and we leave it at that. In so doing, Waid winds up undermining Cap's bravery in committing to this era, because he makes it seem like he doesn't care.
We watch as Cap and his supporters spend a year trying to expel the foreign invaders who have taken over large swaths of America while also rebuilding the agriculture and infrastructure of areas they control. But, when someone nukes New York just as Cap and his troops liberate Philadelphia, Cap just surrenders. He faces the reality he entered this conflict too late, and he accepts the only possible option is Banner sending him to the present. It's jarring, to say the least, for him to go so dark so quickly. (Even Banner is surprised by Cap claiming hope isn't a strategy, but, per pet peeve #3, I'm not going to give Waid credit for having a character point out the logical failings of the plot.)
Safely in the present, future Cap sacrifices himself to stop the rocket, and the ensuing explosion frees present Cap from the ice almost immediately after he was frozen. It means present Cap doesn't take with him the lessons future Cap learned, and I'm not sure where we go from here. Waid seems to be returning to Cap traveling America, but I don't really get why we detoured from that story for this one in the first place. I think my main problem is I'm intrigued by this arc's premise, where Cap can't save the day. That would've been a story worth telling. We could've seen a story like Remender's "Dimension Z," where we watch Cap lose more and more ground and see how he handles that. Instead, Waid essentially jumps to the end, and it cheapens Cap exactly at a time we're supposed to be celebrating him.
Detective Comics #978: Whoa. One of the advantages of Tynion -- beyond being a great writer with a clear sense of the characters he's portraying -- is that he's been working on Batman-related titles for years now. He's been dropping hints for months about Tim's delicate mental state, given his alleged death, subsequent imprisonment, and Future Tim's subsequent arrival. However, Tynion makes it clear we shouldn't have been worried, because Tim is still Tim. Even in his weakened state, he rejects Ulysses' attempt to co-opt him, recognizing Ulysses is crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. In fact, Tynion takes a different perspective on recent developments than we've seen. Previously, Tynion has mostly left the reader supporting Kate's position about some lines needing to be crossed to save lives. However, Tim's resoluteness here reminds us how dangerous it is when someone like Ulysses -- and, by extension, Kate -- takes matters into his own hands. Tim quickly realizes Ulysses is controlling the Colony soldiers while Bruce is at "stately Kane Manor" hearing from Kate and Jake that they didn't order the soldiers to open fire. Watching the drama from afar, Ulysses wryly notes the Joker and the like have always had it all wrong: the best way to take down Batman is to leave breadcrumbs to a mystery he feels a compulsion to solve. Ulysses kicks up the crazy a notch here as he shaves his head and starts calling himself the General, using the Colony's integrated network to unleash the OMAC virus on its soldiers as well as Tim. At this stage, the tension driving this story isn't just related to the (legitimately scary) rise of Ulysses and Brother Eye. It also has to do with the sense Tim is quickly facing the moment where he will past the point of no return when it comes preventing his dark future. We saw Future Tim was born when he kills Batwoman for killing Bruce for activating Brother Eye. But, given the events of this issue, it's hard to see how that sequence of events would happen, particularly since Ulysses has already activated Brother Eye. Does Kate take out Bruce because he activates it again at a later date? Or, has Ulysses already changed the future (through his knowledge of it) by preemptively activating Brother Eye? I guess we'll see.
Oblivion Song #1-#2: In his letter in issue #1, Kirkland tells us he'll be telling a very different story at issue #30 than the one he's telling here, and it's easy to believe him when he says it's going to be a fast-paced story. As you read issue #1, you're pretty sure it's going to be a story about a man trying to find redemption by finding his brother. Like Dr. Richard Kimble catching the One-Armed Man in the series finale of "The Fugitive," I expected Cole was finally going to find his brother Edward in the last issue and embrace him, a man at peace. The only problem with that scenario is we've already met Edward, on the last page of issue #1. It's a sign Kirkland means what he says; he's not going to dragging out stories too long.
The first two issues pretty convincingly lay out the basic framework of the story. Somehow, Philadelphia and land from another dimension changed places. Cole -- our main character -- was able to find the right frequency to access Philadelphia in this new dimension. He and his team were able to save many people stuck on the other side. However, at some point, Cole and his team stopped finding new people, and the government cut his funding. We start the series with Cole in Oblivion (i.e., the transferred part of Philadelphia) finding and rescuing a married couple. The couple reveals they were part of a group of 100 or so people living on the outskirts of the city; they only came into the city on supply runs, hence why Cole hadn't found anyone for a while. Making matters worse for Cole, the couple have revealed their leader is named Edward, fueling Cole's anxiety over the possibility of finally finding him. However, this group doesn't seem to want to be found, and we end the first issue with Edward observing Cole (not realizing who he is) and telling his followers to set a trap for him.
At this stage, I still don't think we know how people escaped Philadelphia after it was transferred to another dimension. When Cole walks the couple through the museum dedicated to the "Transference," he explicitly mentions all sorts of people who escaped and survived in the first few days. Did it take a while before the transfer was complete? Cole shows the couple he rescued the barren area where Philadelphia used to be located, implying Philadelphia is (at least now) completely in the other dimension. Moreover, we obviously don't know why the Transference happened, though it seems likely the government played some sort of role given their reluctance to keep funding Cole's excursions. After all, why else would the government not want him locating people? Cole is running everything using his own resources, so it's not like it would cost the government that much to give him a workable team.
Kirkland also doesn't sleep on the interpersonal drama. Cole is supported by a married couple, Duncan and Bridget, though Bridget is carrying on an affair with the man she was dating before Cole saved Duncan from Oblivion. Also, Cole asks Marco, one of his former team members, for help, but Marco refuses, commenting he has kids -- and sleep -- now. It's an immediate refusal: he doesn't even let Cole finish his beer before he walks into the house. Cole himself is portrayed as a man possessed. Although he's in a relationship with a woman who works for the government agency he wants to provide him funding, Marco's comments on how Cole just appeared after a year of no contact imply he exists solely for the mission.
All in all, it's a strong début. I wouldn't say I had the same visceral response to it as I did the first issues of "The Realm" or "The Wild Storm," but I'm definitely intrigued.
Rogue and Gambit #4: Gambit and Rogue learn Lavish's powers here: each time she drains someone of his power (which she then stores in a cloned body), she also steals his memories. It's why ParaÃso has so many mindless zombies wandering around the health unit. Rogue realizes she and Remy have been getting along so well because, at this point in their stay, they've been stripped of almost all their baggage. Disturbingly, Lavish can only access the power when she destroys one of the bodies (as she does here after Gambit injures her and she destroys a body with healing powers). Rogue and Gambit make this discovery as they both take out one of the other's doppelgängers, resulting in them absorbing not only the other one's powers but also a specific memory. (For Gambit, it's the love Rogue felt as he put the garter on her at Scott and Jean's wedding. For Rogue, it's the hurt Gambit felt when Rogue didn't trust him enough to join the Avengers.) They realize they need to take out only their own clones to limit their exposure to the other's innermost feelings and gain back their specific powers. Rogue considers just standing pat, allowing them to leave behind their baggage by never reclaiming their memories. But, Remy tells her essentially to have faith in them and their ability to find each other again. Man, Thompson better keep them together this time. I have a lot invested in this story.
X-Men: Red #3: I was sort of skeptical where Taylor was going with this series, but I have to admit he got me with this issue. Trinary reveals she believes humanity is being programmed to hate mutants; someone (Cassandra Nova?) is using algorithms that push decontextualized stories and lies to people with known biases and concerns. In other words, someone has essentially weaponized social media. (Sound familiar?) Gambit sees that first hand, as he tries to save a young woman who dared to defy an anti-mutant mob. However, he fails to stop a gun-totting protester (similar to the ones we saw in India who Jean couldn't control) from opening fire. In India, we learned the trio was able to resist Jean's power due to the presence of nano-Sentinels in their bloodstreams. Taylor is taking a page from Spencer's playback in being obvious in his disdain for the far right; it doesn't take a journalism student to recognize the allusion to Charlottesville when Gambit makes fun of the protesters for using tiki torches in their march. As folks in the letters page said, this series feels like it matches our time perfectly. It's not trying to capture an old feeling (like Guggenheim on "X-Men Gold"), but instead tells an updated story about the persecution mutants face in the present. It would be wrong just to repeat "Fall of the Mutants." Taylor is telling a new story even if the theme is familiar. The letters page also focuses on the fact Jean is finally standing on her own two feet; she's no longer defined by Cyclops or Wolverine. Cyclops repeatedly got to spread his wings without Jean; it's time for her to do the same. Finally, I totally agree with Tom from Columbus, who says Jean not knowing what to do but wanting to do something is all of us right now.
Also Read: Avengers #688; Bloodshot Salvation #8; Darth Vader #14; Falcon #7; X-Men: Blue #25
Friday, April 13, 2018
Almost-New Comics: The April 4 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Amazing Spider-Man #798: OMG, this issue is soooo effing good. Honestly, I’ve been disappointed with Dan Slott for a long time, but I love that he’s going out this way. Seriously, I can’t imagine a better issue.
Norman is a completely over-the-top threat here -- as he should be -- and Slott hits the right notes at every point to make sure we understand that. When he threatens the lives of the "Daily Bugle" staff, it’s not an idle threat, as he actually has a bomb connected to the tritium. (Of course he does.) When the "Daily Bugle" veterans — Joe, Betty, and Ben — play a game of verbal hot potato to keep him distracted, he sees right through it. (He seems almost offended.) But, it’s when he pretends to be impaled (once again) to lull Peter into a false sense of security that Slott and the art team really hit the gas. Norman Osborn has been with us for 53.75 years (according to Wikipedia), but he enters a whole new phase the minute he laughs that red laugh. Red Goblin is terrifying in his first interaction with Spider-Man, and you can feel Peter’s blind panic, as he himself calls it, as he struggles to clear his mind and think of a way just to land a punch, let alone defeat him. (Peter’s initial response to Norman becoming Red Goblin -- a censored “Fuck me” -- felt totally organic. I felt the same way, Pete.)
Of course, it's all made worse by the fact Norman now knows Peter’s identity. Slott doesn't sleep on this part, as he shows JJJ, Jr. desperate to free himself from his bonds to save Peter. In fact, JJJ, Jr. is so desperate I wonder if he isn’t long for this world. Through JJJ, Jr.'s desperation, Slott shows how deeply JJJ, Jr. cares about Peter and how much he wants to prevent him from suffering the losses he himself has suffered. But, it's so convincing I'm now worried, and I hope they don’t kill off JJJ, Jr. just as we see him in this new light.
That said, Slott is so convincing you actually sort of wonder whether Peter is going to survive. In possibly the greatest development of the year, Norman unveils Carnage bombs, extensions of the symbiote that verbally harangue Peter as they fly at him. One grabs Peter’s leg and explodes, and I wondered if Slott wasn’t going to have Peter lose said leg. Instead, Slott does one better. Norman demands Peter stop being Spider-Man or he’ll kill everyone he loves. Peter agrees, attaching his jersey to a flag pole, and Norman laughs in triumph. But, Peter vows to take out Norman as Peter Parker. Slott seems to be building to a moment where Peter redeems himself, at least in his own eyes, as Peter and I can’t think of a better way for Slott to end his run.
But, Slott also has other irons in the fire, as “Emma” incapacitates Harry, Liz, and Mark with tranquilizer darts and grabs the children. It's still not entirely clear who her employer is, though we're led to believe it's Norman. Moreover, Slott has shown Normie as extremely jealous of Stanley, and I have to wonder if he'll bond with Stanley through the kidnapping or if Normie will ally himself with “Pop-pop” to disastrous results. Man, it’s a good time to be alive.
Norman is a completely over-the-top threat here -- as he should be -- and Slott hits the right notes at every point to make sure we understand that. When he threatens the lives of the "Daily Bugle" staff, it’s not an idle threat, as he actually has a bomb connected to the tritium. (Of course he does.) When the "Daily Bugle" veterans — Joe, Betty, and Ben — play a game of verbal hot potato to keep him distracted, he sees right through it. (He seems almost offended.) But, it’s when he pretends to be impaled (once again) to lull Peter into a false sense of security that Slott and the art team really hit the gas. Norman Osborn has been with us for 53.75 years (according to Wikipedia), but he enters a whole new phase the minute he laughs that red laugh. Red Goblin is terrifying in his first interaction with Spider-Man, and you can feel Peter’s blind panic, as he himself calls it, as he struggles to clear his mind and think of a way just to land a punch, let alone defeat him. (Peter’s initial response to Norman becoming Red Goblin -- a censored “Fuck me” -- felt totally organic. I felt the same way, Pete.)
Of course, it's all made worse by the fact Norman now knows Peter’s identity. Slott doesn't sleep on this part, as he shows JJJ, Jr. desperate to free himself from his bonds to save Peter. In fact, JJJ, Jr. is so desperate I wonder if he isn’t long for this world. Through JJJ, Jr.'s desperation, Slott shows how deeply JJJ, Jr. cares about Peter and how much he wants to prevent him from suffering the losses he himself has suffered. But, it's so convincing I'm now worried, and I hope they don’t kill off JJJ, Jr. just as we see him in this new light.
That said, Slott is so convincing you actually sort of wonder whether Peter is going to survive. In possibly the greatest development of the year, Norman unveils Carnage bombs, extensions of the symbiote that verbally harangue Peter as they fly at him. One grabs Peter’s leg and explodes, and I wondered if Slott wasn’t going to have Peter lose said leg. Instead, Slott does one better. Norman demands Peter stop being Spider-Man or he’ll kill everyone he loves. Peter agrees, attaching his jersey to a flag pole, and Norman laughs in triumph. But, Peter vows to take out Norman as Peter Parker. Slott seems to be building to a moment where Peter redeems himself, at least in his own eyes, as Peter and I can’t think of a better way for Slott to end his run.
But, Slott also has other irons in the fire, as “Emma” incapacitates Harry, Liz, and Mark with tranquilizer darts and grabs the children. It's still not entirely clear who her employer is, though we're led to believe it's Norman. Moreover, Slott has shown Normie as extremely jealous of Stanley, and I have to wonder if he'll bond with Stanley through the kidnapping or if Normie will ally himself with “Pop-pop” to disastrous results. Man, it’s a good time to be alive.
Avengers #687: “We are all exiles from the divine.” Jarvis, everybody. Can the guy give a rallying speech or what? I totally cried, along with Bruce Banner. As the rest of the Avengers scramble to try to save Vision and figure out a way to handle Voyager, Jarvis finds a despondent Bruce Banner sitting by himself in a ruined courtyard. We learn Nadia brought Jarvis to the Mansion because she thought it would help his recuperation, and Jarvis remarks -- mostly to himself -- that she apparently thought they would serve him. He's clearly not having it (evidenced by his tuxedo and forehead bandage), and his response to a broken Bruce Banner is to serve him tea. Bruce tells Jarvis he can't face the Avengers, particularly Hawkeye, after what he's done to them, and Jarvis quotes “Paradise Lost,” reminding him the mind can turn heaven into hell and vice versa. He then succinctly boils down the essence of Avenging in a way no one has: they are avenging their own crimes and faults. They all know they aren’t heroes, but they try to be. Jarvis encourages Bruce to keep trying to be, because it’s the only thing that matters; it’s not the evil he’s capable of doing -- the only thing he sees -- but the good he does (and most importantly, to Jarvis' mind, wants to do). Man, Jarvis, I really needed to hear that right now.
It’s not just Bruce who gets a pep talk, though. Lightning is despondent he couldn’t stop the Hulk and save Vision, and Simon’s pacifism here works well. Lightning is particularly disappointed he wasn’t powerful enough to fight off the Hulk, and Wonder Man reminds him they would’ve kicked out Hawkeye on the first day if it was all about power. The best part, though, is Simon is poised to dive into the inspirational part of his speech when Quicksilver tells him to be quiet so he can focus. It’s the perfect snarky Quicksilver moment; in the 70s, he would've made some sort of arch remark about Simon's inane prattling. But, it's all the better because he’s not wrong: he’s trying to find something whizzing around them. (It turns out being the “mite” that’s keeping everyone in stasis.) Emily enters the room at the fuss, and Pietro can’t face her. But, she tells him he did what he thought was best and she got hurt; it’s the price of heroing. (I hope at some point we get a deeper dive into Synapse, because she really deserves it.) At any rate, it's a good thing the Avengers had a minute to regroup, because the Challenger has decided to take out his fury over the Gamemaster's cheating (and likely disappearance, not death) by destroying the board, i.e. Earth!
It’s not just Bruce who gets a pep talk, though. Lightning is despondent he couldn’t stop the Hulk and save Vision, and Simon’s pacifism here works well. Lightning is particularly disappointed he wasn’t powerful enough to fight off the Hulk, and Wonder Man reminds him they would’ve kicked out Hawkeye on the first day if it was all about power. The best part, though, is Simon is poised to dive into the inspirational part of his speech when Quicksilver tells him to be quiet so he can focus. It’s the perfect snarky Quicksilver moment; in the 70s, he would've made some sort of arch remark about Simon's inane prattling. But, it's all the better because he’s not wrong: he’s trying to find something whizzing around them. (It turns out being the “mite” that’s keeping everyone in stasis.) Emily enters the room at the fuss, and Pietro can’t face her. But, she tells him he did what he thought was best and she got hurt; it’s the price of heroing. (I hope at some point we get a deeper dive into Synapse, because she really deserves it.) At any rate, it's a good thing the Avengers had a minute to regroup, because the Challenger has decided to take out his fury over the Gamemaster's cheating (and likely disappearance, not death) by destroying the board, i.e. Earth!
Batman #44: I'm not sure how he did it, but King somehow makes Catwoman looking for a wedding dress -- by breaking into a bridal boutique at 3:00 am -- into a perfect character study.
Batman: White Night #7: This issue is remarkably solid, as everyone is called on their bullshit in some way. Jack is forced to admit the drugs are starting to lose their effect, making his confrontation with Neo-Joker all the more precarious as it's unclear if she'll face Jack or the Joker. Jack holds it together through the confrontation (barely), but she demands he bring back the Joker, dismissing Jack as the "sane man" she was always worried would take the Joker from her. Jack laments to Harley that he played by the rules to try to prove Gotham didn't need law-breaking vigilantes to save it, but he's still faced with a law-breaking criminal holding it hostage. Harley brilliantly calls bullshit, reminding him he didn't play by the rules at all: he used the Mad Hatter's technology to hijack criminals' minds to scare the city into giving him power. Harley then does what Bruce knew she would do all along: she sends Jack to Batman. Bruce agrees to work with him only if he provides a full confession: he attacked the financial district, destroyed his own library, and created the Neo-Joker (if inadvertently, in the latter case). Jack agrees, but only if Harley goes free.
Jumping into the Batmobile, Bruce ups the ante: he asks for the Joker's confession about Robin, but Jack admits he's been fighting the Joker to get that information. Under pressure from Bruce, he concentrates harder. (Honestly, this part was the only flaw in the issue. Jack claims he's been trying to figure out Jason's fate, but he literally just scrunches up his eyes harder here to get it. It's a minor complaint, but I mention it because Murphy had other options here, like Jack simply confessing. I'm not sure why he went this way.) He eventually breaks through the Joker's walls and reveals the Joker tortured Jason to get Bruce's identity, something Jason surrenders at the final moment, saying he wish he'd never heard the name Bruce Wayne. But, we also learn the Joker let Jason go free, because it was much more damaging to know Bruce would mourn his loss and then eventually learn Jason hated Bruce so much he'd let him think he was dead. (Jack also tells Bruce he knew he was Batman after discovering Wayne Enterprises funded the Batman Devastation Fund, not taxpayers.)
The pair finally arrive at their destination: Mr. Freeze reveals the existence of Thomas Wayne's tunnels under Gotham, which the Army used to help Baron von Fries build the weapon. They return to GCPD, where Bruce provides the GTO with Batmobiles. Jack struggles to control the Joker as Bruce shows Barbara and Dick a note Alfred wrote for him when he had Freeze save Bruce instead of him. He tells them he can't read Alfred's last words to him yet, and he confesses the note he'd write the kids would tell them how he was no longer motivated by avenging his parents' deaths, but making Gotham a safer place so they could take off their masks. They hug him, and, honestly, it's the moment for me. It's one of the few explanations of his motivations at this point in his career that have ever made sense to me. I hope someone adopts it into mainstream comics. As everyone heads to war, Gordon tries to apologize to Bruce for arresting him, but Bruce won't have it: he not only tells him he was right to do so -- that it all had gone too far -- but that he planned on revealing his identity once the caper is done. (I assume that means he's going to die before that happens.) He and Jack then head into the tunnels to find Harley as Jack, riding with Bruce, loses control for the final time.
Marvel 2-in-One #5: Making it clear this title is leading to a reboot of the "Fantastic Four," Zdarsky does a great job using the alternate versions of them to make us hungry for the real thing. Ben and Johnny learn Doom saving Earth as Galactus so broke this Universe's Reed Richards that he's done nothing to find a way to stop him, focusing instead of improving people's lives during the time they have left. However, he comes to his senses when Ben and Johnny join this Earth's heroes in fighting Doom's legion of Doombot heralds. The return of at least half of the Fantastic Four rallies the heroes, and Johnny saves Reed from one of the heralds. However, Johnny's power misfires right then, and Reed saves him as he plummets to Earth. Reed now realizes he has to do something. Surprising no one, Doom from our Universe appears, having hitchhiked with Ben, Johnny, and Rachna. Reed is momentarily distracted when learning of Ben and Johnny's plight, discussing his theory all metahuman powers come from a universal power source but admitting he never thought about an interpersonal one. He starts to offer to help, but our Doom, offering his assistance, wisely keeps him focused on the task. Ben and Johnny are sent to a farm where the Silver Surfer -- now human -- lives with Emma Frost. We've heard a number of whispers about the terrible fate of this Universe's Johnny Storm, and Emma and Norrin's shocked reaction at seeing him shows how terrible it must have been. At this stage, all we know come from Emma, who comments on how much Johnny and Norrin suffered. That doesn't sound good.
The New Mutants: Dead Souls #2: Rosenberg does a solid job teasing out the team dynamics here, as Julio takes Boomer and Tabitha to brunch (with Shatterstar!) to ask them if they trust Magik. Of course, she appears with Strong Guy right behind him as he admits he doesn't trust her and whisks them all (minus Shatterstar) to October Revolution Island off the coast of Russia. They quickly find themselves in battle with a frost giant, and Julio takes charge in getting the team to flee to safety after Magik refuses to acknowledge they're overpowered. They make their way into tunnels beneath the surface and discover researchers were digging for an old Norse battle whose participants were frozen in time. The team finds one of the researchers alive, and we learn someone named Tran was interested in his research on the battle. Dun-dun-DUN! After that, he remembers nothing else, including the fact his excavation released the aforementioned frost giant. Magik teleports Boomer into the giant's belly to destroy him, but it doesn't really resolve the situation. Rahne tries to talk some sense into her about her erratic leadership, but it goes to a point Rictor previously made at brunch, when he wondered aloud why Magik (and not Dani) is running the team and why Shan hired them in the first place. (In fact, other than the obvious Tran connection, I'm not sure what the ruse was to get the team to come to October Revolution Island in the first place. Did Shan pretend her company owned something here? I'm not sure if Rosenberg ever established that.) The issue ends continuing the B story from last issue, with some kids in Connecticut daring an alleged mutant their age to prove he's not a mutant by approaching the Alone Man's house. It turns out the Alone Man is...Warlock!
Spider-Man #239: It's hard to believe we're where Bendis wants us to be for his finale on this title, but it is what it is. If you put aside the pressure of next issue, it's actually pretty solid. Aaron comes very close to successfully delivering the helicarrier to Lucia van Bardas, but he underestimates Miles. Bendis shows us Miles learning about a safe Aaron kept in his closet a decade ago, and he breaks into said safe in the present, looking for clues. He finds Aaron's burner phone and, searching through its history, finds out where he's going. Miles arrives with the Champions, and a pretty great battle ensues. However, von Bardas acts like an actual villain, ordering her men to open fire on Aaron and Miles as they fight. Miles told his uncle he was trying to save him, because he believes he's better than a thief. The front cover of this issue implies next issue Aaron will die, but I'm not so sure. Also, Ganke's girlfriend gives him some sort of note, but we don't know what it says. I have no idea how Bendis is going to wrap up all these threads, but we'll see. (All that said, Miles comparing himself to Batman was great.)
Star Wars #46: Man, this issue is awesome. The plot is tight, as the team successfully executes its plan to swipe the Moff and use his bio-signature, with the codes Trios stole for them, to enter the prison where they're keeping Lee-Char. But, it's all the little moments of characterization that make it a thrilling issue, from Han not passing up a chance to profit (even when posing as a bathroom attendant) to Threepio's anxiety (and titillation) when Leia leaves him in charge of making sure the shape-shifter stays in character as the Moff. The Moff's shock the Rebels were able to get their hands on such sensitive codes furthers the sense the Empire is going to quickly realize Trios is the weak link. Dissecting it further would be a disservice, so I really just recommend giving it a read.
X-Men: Gold #25: Guggenheim's storytelling can feel random at times, and this issue is a great example of that problem. "Iceman" #11 promised Bobby a shot at leading a team of X-Men, and this arc was supposed to fulfill that promise, as Kitty and her team were trapped in prison. But, it doesn't happen that way. As Scythian attacks Paris, Bobby and his team head over there, while Kitty's team laments their imprisonment. That part makes sense. But, then, Storm breaks from her confinement, because apparently the mutant-canceling technology isn't all that good if you're really, really mad. She threatens the warden into releasing them, as if the warden actually had the power to decide that. They arrive in Paris thanks to Magik, and Kitty just simply takes over giving orders; we don't even see Bobby for several panels, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't get in a word edgewise after Kitty's arrival. Also, Storm's distress in imprisonment summons Stormcaster, an Asgardian weapon I vaguely remember her using in the day. However, everyone stresses how even an amped-up Storm can't put a dent in Scythian, so the plan is merely to distract him until Magik can send him to Limbo. But, then Kitty slams the Blackbird into him and that apparently does the trick? Yeah, I don't know. It's Guggenheim, so what can you do? Also, the X-Men's actions in Paris not only mean that the NYPD apparently just forgives them for assaulting its cops but the Senate majority leaders says the deportation act is stalled. Hurrah! Cigars for everyone! Honestly, I could've dealt with a little less Stormcaster, a little more sense here.
Also Read: Astonishing X-Men #10; Nightwing #42
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