What You Should Have Read #20

Avengers

I’m a little surprised that Avengers: The Origin hasn’t happened before this. If you’re familiar with the Avengers and how they got together, then this isn’t new for anybody. This just updates the team’s origin and let’s us know it’s updated by throwing in computers and email. Also, and maybe this was already known and maybe not, but apparently Stark Industries developed Shield’s helicarrier. It is a good read, though, and it’s pretty to look at.

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers. I didn’t notice Cap’s shield on the cover, or else WWII as the setting wouldn’t have been such a shock. Well, I guess the title was a bit of a hint, too. So this is the first meeting of Cap and the Black Panther, but I think we can safely assume that this isn’t T’Challa, but most likely his father or grandfather. It’s a good story. I like how Gabe (that’s his name, right?) is getting some panel time, but he’s not being exploited by writer Reginald Hudlin as the only black member of the Howling Commandoes. I like the limited use of color (hmm, that phrase seems to take on a new meaning) by Pete Pantazis. It really makes Denys Cowan’s art pop when we eventually do get a bright splash of color. So yeah, I guess I like this book.

I normally don’t enjoy solo mini-series for characters I enjoy so much on a team. Sometimes a character works better as a member of the X-Men or the Avengers rather than fighting the good fight solo. But I thought I’d check out New Avengers: Luke Cage before dismissing it, and I liked the first issue. It’s Cage dealing with something in his past, which seems to be the default theme of mini-series like this. But it’s brought to the here-and-now by throwing in a couple of Spider-Man baddies and respecting the current continuity. So kudos to writer John Arcudi for that. I don’t recall ever having seen artist Eric Canete’s work before, but so far I’m impressed. He does a good job of not making all of the background/minor characters look the same, and there’s an energy to the work that I like. Hopefully I’ll be just as impressed with the remaining two issues of the mini.

Realm of Kings

Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the crossover. Whereas the other books deal with creatures in or from the Fault, this is only tangentially related. It’s also done nothing to make me like this character any more. It looks like the only thing decent that might come from this series is the “resurrection” of the Micronauts.

Second Coming

Although it’s set during the events of Messiah Complex, I’m putting Cable here since Second Coming is a direct result of MC. I never read the Cable/Deadpool series, but now I’m thinking I need to go back and do just that. This issue was great. The chemistry between these characteristically polar opposites was great. These two characters need to get together again. I’d love to see what happens when Deadpool meets a grown-up Hope. That could be fun.

If this issue of Uncanny X-Men is doing what I think it’s doing, it’s doing a good job of it. Sure, it’s throwing a bunch of stuff at Cable and Hope, but we’re seeing Cyclops functioning as a competent and able leader with talented and ready crew. It’s like we’re being set up for an easy win early in the game, so I’m expecting that, within another issue or two, the shit is going to hit the fan and our mutant heroes will be taken down a few pegs. That’s a good way to handle a story like this, so kudos to writer Matt Fraction. I really like the use of Cypher here. I always thought he was a useless character, but the upgrades he’s been given have made him pretty indispensable to Cyclops.

Spider-Man

Uhhhhh, Spider-Man: Fever was just a bit too trippy for me. I have no idea who Brendan McCarthy is, but his style is pretty reminiscent of an underground comic creator, and his artwork at times reminds me of Peter Bagge. Half the book is a crazy LSD trip, and I’m assuming that all of the next issue will be similar. Good effort, but no thanks.

 

Ultimate

Well, I guess we learned who one of the characters is on one of the variant covers to issue #1 of Ultimate X. I don’t like this look for Jean Grey and hopes she goes back to something a bit more normal. Other than that, though, this was a good issue showing us what Jean has been doing since Scott’s death. Special people just can’t live mundane lives, at least not in comic books. I wonder if this first arc will introduce us to one of those cover characters each issue. I’m okay with that. I guess next issue we’ll learn how Jimmy found Jean and if Kitty is with him.

Wolverine

From one Captain America in last month’s Wolverine: Weapon X to another one in this month’s. As with last month’s bar hopping of Logan and Steve, it wasn’t the action that really brought this book home (although the fight with the Deathloks was good). It was one tiny thing: Bucky having dinner and talking about food in Russia. It’s the little things like that that humanize these characters and make them just a teensy bit more relatable and a lot more likable. I have no speculations on the identity of The General. I don’t often like to do that. It tends to ruin the revelation for me whether I’m right or not. If I’m right, then the surprise is ruined, and if I’m wrong, I’m disappointed because I’m wrong. I’ll just enjoy it for what it is.

World War Hulks

The last time I paid any attention to Rick and Marlo, Marlo had moved on to women and was seeing Moondragon. What happened with that? Eh, I guess it’s moot. Did we really have to see them taking a relationship break? That could have been covered off panel. The Talbot story was a good way of showing what kind of a soldier he is and what we might expect from him. The Cosmic Hulk (blech) story was more of a Betty/Glenn story. I thought the Samson story in a recent issue of Hulk was much more illustrative of Leonard than this small story. The Red She-Hulk story was a good continuation from her Hulk back-ups, but I don’t really like her as a character. The Hulkpool story could have been better. Arguing Hulk monologues would have been a plus. But at least we learned how Red Hulk got Deadpool into a duffel bag. I was really hoping for more from the first issue of World War Hulks, maybe of the actual war rather than some vignettes.

Other Marvel Books

Just when I thought Marvel milked their zombies for all they were worth, Marvel Zombies 5 comes along, and I’m still interested. So far, I like the premise. Machine Man and Howard the Duck are traversing parallel worlds that have been infected by zombie plagues in the hopes of finding the cure for the plague on their world. Wait, is their world the 616 Marvel Universe? Does Deadpool’s decapitated zombie head count as an infestation, or am I forgetting something from the ending of the last zombie mini-series? Either way, I think I’m going to enjoy their trip through the multiverse, hopefully in ways that I didn’t enjoy Deadpool’s recent jaunt in Prelude to Deadpool Corps.

Stephen King’s N. is freaking me the fuck out. And Alex Maleev’s art is doing a great job of giving it that extremely spooky ambiance. It’s weird. I don’t like horror stuff. I’m very easily scared. But I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since I was in middle school, maybe a bit earlier. He hasn’t helped in my trials as a scaredy cat. This book isn’t helping either. Lately king’s work has been less spooky and a bit more suspenseful. This has got classic King. Spooky creature. Ordinary people struggling to keep this creature at bay. Ordinary people failing. I’m loving this and getting freaked out at the same time.

For right now, I’m just assuming that S.H.I.E.L.D. takes place in an alternate reality. That has to be the only reason why we’ve never heard of the Brood attacking ancient Egypt of Galileo taking out Galactus. And Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic’s dads working for “S.H.I.E.L.D.” in a secret city deep under Rome in the ‘50s? Yeah, it’s gotta be an alternate reality. Doesn’t it? And who’s the guy with the Eternity or Captain Universe-like body?

Justice League/Society

Flash Secret Files and Origins is a pretty handy book, and it’s got a good tease for the new Flash series about to be released. The story is pretty forgettable, but it throws in a couple of interesting nuggets. First, apparently all the speedsters connected to the speed force are now drawn to Barry and his emotions. Ooooookay. Second, the Rogues have a contingency plan should Barry ever return…which he has. So let the speculations on what that play is…begin! The rest of the book is filled with dossiers on just about everybody important in the Flash’s world. Regular readers get to bone up, and new readers get a quick introduction to everyone. It’s kind of win-win.

Can somebody clear something up for me? Does JSA All-Stars take place before or after Blackest Night? If it’s before, then this story needs to wrap up quickly so it can get back into continuity. If it’s after, I guess Damage was resurrected along with a bunch of the other heroes via the White Lantern. My biggest problem with this issue was the relative ease with which Anna Fortune captured the King of Tears. He was a pretty big deal for the JSA when the team re-formed and we were first introduced to Johnny Sorrow. He took out the Spectre, right? And this girl shoots him and captures him? I don’t think so. I liked the Stargirl and Atom Smasher scenes, though. I hope those crazy kids can make it.

Last Stand of New Krypton

All this just to have Kandor rebottled in Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton? That seems like a colossal waste of comic book pages. It looks as though Zod has planned for this. Will this actually end up being master tactician Zod against brilliant Coluan and strategist Brainiac-5? Or the two teaming up against Brainiac? Ugh, I still don’t care at all. I just want to see this through.

Superman

As much as I like the writing and art of Superman: Secret Origin, I don’t like the fact that it’s here. I mean, I understand the need to revise a character’s origin every now and then. I just question the need to do that to Superman now. I like Metallo’s previous origin. I don’t like that Perry White is the editor of a tabloid rag and not a respected paper. I don’t like that Johns is shoehorning General Lane into Superman’s origin to better fit his current xenophobia. When John Byrne did this in the mid-‘80s, Crisis had just happened and this was an easy thing to do. Superman was pretty much a new hero. Now he’s just an existing hero who is being changed. But still, great art by Gary Frank.

Other Books

I don’t know which issue of The Boys it’ll happen in, but Hughie’s going to get an ass whooping from Butcher, and he’s not even going to know why. Y’know, lately I’ve been so tired of Garth Ennis, from his war stuff to his Avatar-published books, but I’m still enjoying The Boys. There’s still a lot of shock value in the book, but there’s a point to it. There’s still a good story behind it, and it’s not the sole purpose for the book.

I don’t know if I should be, but I’m confused as hell after reading this month’s issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8. I understand that explanations about this entire “season” were attempted, but they just didn’t click with me. I still don’t understand what Twilight is or really what the connection is between Angel and Buffy. I don’t like to admit when comic book concepts are over my head, so I’d rather just blame it on poor or vague writing. I’m going to hope that it all comes together for me in the end.

I’d like to do all I can to forget the G.I. Joe movie. But it seems IDW has gone and given Ripcord a bit of the movie treatment when focusing on him in G.I. Joe: Origins. Surprisingly, I’m okay with this. These past two issues did a great job of showing why Weems was chosen to be a Joe and how resourceful he is. It was a great story, regardless of the movie influence.

This Week's Prospects

Action Comics #888
Adventure Comics #10
Brightest Day #0
Daredevil #506
Ender's Game: The League War
Fables #94
Flash #1
Irredeemable Special #1
Siege: Captain America #1
Siege: Loki #1
Siege: Young Avengers #1
Spider-Man: Origin of Hunter #1
Ultimate Enemy #3
World War Hulks: Hulked-Out Heroes #1

What You Should Have Read #19

Before I get to the reviews and thoughts on last week’s comics, I’d like to take a moment to mention my excitement about something. Here is an excerpt taken from an article on Comic Book Resources regarding James Robinson’s current plans:

“James said he has no intention of ever bringing his fan favorite character, Jack Knight, back, but that if he did, it would have to be a big event and not something like the extra/final issue of “Starman” that was recently released.”

While I’m disappointed to hear that there aren’t any plans for Jack Knight, I’m pleased to know that Robinson would want it to be something big and not gimmicky.

“The upcoming "Shade" series will be 12 issues, but more will come if the need is there. The series will be broken down into three-issue arcs, with every fourth issue a "Times Past." Robinson wants to make sure the first 12 issues are perfect before he tries to continue on with the character in an ongoing. While he couldn’t reveal much, he did mention that the artist for the first arc is both highly regarded and an interesting choice that fans might not expect, but he can’t say who she is.”

This is the news that got me excited. I’ve always thought that a Shade series written by Robinson would be a no-brainer. The possibilities are endless, what with his age and the mystery surrounding him. He’s a virtual blank slate, even with all the attention Robinson paid to him in his Starman series. The only thing that would have made me more excited about the news would be hearing that Tony Harris would be providing cover art.

Okay, on to reviews.

Necrosha-X

So, that’s the finale in X-Force. Not bad, but the usual complaint still applies, and I assume that it will until a new artist is found. Not that I’m calling for one. I like Crain’s work when I can make out what it is, and the darkness really does fit the title. My main problem with this story is something I’m going to tackle more in Blackest Night #8 because it upset me more there than it did here, but that’s the mass resurrection of dead characters. I’m assuming though, as opposed to what happened in Blackest Night, the ones who escaped Selene’s destruction are still technically dead. I guess there are a bunch of mutant zombies running around now. But how will the demise of Selene affect their “programming”? Will the resurrected good guys go back to being good? Hmm, something to ponder.

Realm of Kings

Well, Medusa’s a bitch, isn’t she? If it hadn’t been for the fact that she beat the crap out of Gorgon, I’d think that Maximus is playing her. I like the take over in Imperial Guard at how Gladiator is handling being thrust into the political spotlight, rather than how Medusa has been handling it in Realm of Kings: Inhumans. I imagine that all of this will come back and bite her in the ass when Black Bolt returns, because you know he will. If Necrosha-X and Blackest Night has taught us anything (and really, comics during the last 30 years) is that nobody stays dead, not even Bucky.

Second Coming

I probably should have read all the X-Men books from the end of House of M until X-Men: Second Coming. I know the general details of what has happened, but I know nothing of specifics, and I think those would help a bit. Is it too much to ask that, for a few months at least, we lay of the events? Necrosha-X ends this week, and the Nation X banner just came off the books. We’ve still got Siege going on and Fall of the Hulks. Is there no time to just take a step back and relax? Eh, I guess that’s what the Kitty Pride story in Uncanny was for. Anyways, this issue does a good job to show us the villains and let us know the main thrust of the story: Hope and Cable are back and the bad guys want to kill Hope in order to destroy mutants for ever (wow, subtle much?). It’d be a lot easier to root for hope if we knew HOW she was going to save mutant-kind; fictional faith can only keep me interested in a story for so long.

Siege

Yet another issue of Dark Wolverine that didn’t actually happen. I feel so cheated when books do that. And how strong are his claws? I wasn’t under the impression that they were laced with adamantium like his daddy’s are. Aren’t they just bone? Is that enough to gut an Asgardian? So have we actually learned anything about Daken? I’m not so sure we have.

New Mutants was an odd little book. It carried the Siege banner, but didn’t actually impact the storyline. Remember when Osborn had the Avengers attack the X-Men and Moonstar went to Hela to ask for assistance? Well, Hela is calling due the marker now that a bunch of Asgardians are dying. This is actually a story that can be passed up by both New Mutant readers and readers of Siege…unless you’re a big fan of Thor and his mythos, then I guess you’d want to check this out. Casual readers, though, can bypass this.

 

Spider-Man

Raise your hands if you think that that is Professor X in the Captain Universe garb at the end of Amazing Spider-Man? Yeah, me too. This is yet another solid issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and the stories have really been harkening back to when I first got into comics, and Spidey specifically. There’s no mystical Spider-totem mumbo jumbo, no clones, and no organic web-shooters. This is a down-on-his-luck hero who fights the good fight. While there was no actual fighting to speak of in this issue, we got Spidey being all altruistic with trying to help the Juggernaut (of all people) out. I also like that the editorial boxes have been reinstated over the past few years. I never understood why they were removed.

 

X-Men

Is it too much to hope that Deadpool Corps is better than Prelude to Deadpool Corps? This mini was pretty bad. And we still don’t know what enemy the group is facing. At least we know that it’s of cosmic importance and who was responsible for tasking Deadpool with recruiting his corps.

I’m not quite sure what the point of the latest issue of Wolverine: Origins was. I assume Mariko or her death will play some part in this new storyline, otherwise we just got a recap of things we should have already known. I felt really cheated by the issue. And I miss Doug Braithwaite’s art. Scot Eaton wasn’t bad, just not what I wanted. And Daken shows up to help him out with whatever is coming next. Really? Does something happen during the end of Siege to where they can stand each other? THAT needs an explanation.

Other Marvel

I’ve never been much of a Cloak and Dagger fan, but this one-shot had a really solid story with some nice art. It wasn’t ground-breaking and a must-read, but it wasn’t a pile of crap, either. Lately, it seems like everything I’ve read has been at one end of the spectrum with no room for the middle. Sometimes, and nice middle-of-the-road story is all you need. We were quickly reintroduced to Cloak and Dagger, found out that they are not in fact mutants, and probably set them up for a new mini. Kudos to Stuart Moore and Mark Brooks for such a solid one-shot.

Was the irony intended in Fantastic Four when Medusa said, “Black Bolt has a saying.” No. No he doesn’t. And when a rocket is launched to the moon from the heart of New York City, where does the first stage fall to? When launched from Florida, the boosters or whatnot falls into the ocean, right? When Reed announces first stage separation, where does that first stage fall to? As for the story itself, it doesn’t suffer quite as much as the previous two issues of having too grand a scope in too little of a package. But where is this city traveling from that it hasn’t heard about the death of Black Bolt? Or are they viewing him as some sort of messiah figure? I think I’m going to need a massive, dumbed-down recap before Hickman gets to his big storyline that he HAS to be working on. This all has to be leading up to something great.

Blackest Night

This final issue of Blackest Night was a steaming pile of crap. Y’know, I should expect stuff like this from massive crossovers by now, but I still have hope. They almost always sound awesome and promising up front, then fall flat. Also, whenever there’s a main mini with other books that tie into it, I hate how the main book is usually filled with gaps that you HAVE to pick up the other books for. I’ve noticed that being more of a problem with DC than Marvel, as far back as Crisis on Infinite Earths, but especially horrible with events like Millennium, War of the Gods and Invasion. And real quick, let me say that Ivan Reis did a great job of providing definition and clarity to the amount of characters Geoff Johns made him vomit onto the page. There were just way too many characters in this, but Reis did an admirable job with it. No, I blame Johns for dropping the ball on this crapfest. Johns did a relatively good job at explaining why the formerly-deceased heroes became Black Lanterns, and then they just happened to become White Lanterns when Hal merged with the Entity? Why not when Sinestro did it? And now, thanks to the white rings, all the Black Lanterns are now alive? That’s ridiculous. Did that need to happen? EVERYBODY’S alive again? It’s stupid. It’s just stupid. There, I said it. And the line Hal said at the end, “I think dead is dead from here on out.” Sure, like we haven’t heard that before. That used to be the mandate over at Marvel, too, and that didn’t last. Sigh, at least it’s over…until Brightest Day starts, I guess.

Justice League/Society

James Robinson did an AMAZING job in Justice League this month of making sure all the characters are where they need to be for other books. It ended up whittling down a daunting line-up into just a team of four. I’m okay with that. It was too crowded and too Titans-centric to begin with. I hope that when all is said and done, Robinson picks a concrete line-up and sticks with it. There seems to have been a lot of turn-around lately. I don’t know what I think of the Multiverse angle yet. We’ll see.

Wait, did I miss something? When was the last time the Justice Society fought the Fourth Reich? Lighting seemed to know them, so it had to have been relatively recently, but I don’t recall them EVER fighting them, at least not since Geoff Johns brought the team back to popularity years and years ago. As for the current battle, well, I’m kind of tired of Mr. Terrific flaunting his terrificness around. What I enjoyed was the last few pages, the planning stages of a breakout that’s going to happen where the heroes, I’m assuming, will attempt to go back and alter the past. I liked the interactions and attention to detail (Michael’s beatings, using and disposing of toilet paper, etc.). After a ho-hum start, this could turn into a pretty decent story.

 

Last Stand of New Krypton

To rank the three stories in this issue of Adventure Comics, I’d have to put the Car-Vex story on top, with the Legion story following and the Superboy/girl story a distant third. That was just a bit too sappy and sugary for my tastes, what with bringing all the Kryptonians (sort of) together to fight the common enemy. It had to happen, but I don’t have to like it. I liked the Brainiac story for what it was, a comparison of Brainiacs throughout history. As much as I like Superman, though, I don’t like that he’s so important to all of time. His death by Brainiac destroys the universe? Whatever. But the Car-Vex story, a story about treachery and sacrifice, was definitely the high point of the issue. In such a small amount of pages we see Officer Romundi forced to betray one of her own and we’re shown why it hurts so much. Good job.

 

Red Circle

As with the Shield a week or so ago, I find that I’m liking The Web, rather enjoying it, but I can’t find any one reason. The art is good…not great, but good. Same with the writing, the characters and the plot. I’m a little disappointed, though, that the bit I enjoyed most was actually the inclusion of Oracle and Kitcat. I don’t mind that these books and characters have now been folded into the DCU, but you’d think they’d be good enough to stand on their own.

Other Stuff

This issue of G.I. Joe: Cobra II has thoroughly confounded me. I thought Chameleon and Le Tene were the same person. I Chameleon was masquerading as Le Tene to find Chuckles. I guess I don’t remember the first mini all that well, or came to an incorrect conclusion at the end of it. I should probably reread it. I thought Chuckles speech to Chameleon in his camp was very generic. “I’m a rebel. I’ve seen it all and my way is the only way.” It could have been from any buddy cop movie with a tough-as-nails system bucker and wide-eyed rookie. I am loving, though, seeing the more clandestine side of Cobra. I like this part of the reboot the most. All the cloak and dagger and mystery. The Joes are giving just about everything up to the reader, while Cobra is cloaked in this air of secrecy. That’s what is keeping me coming back for more.

Okay, I think I’m getting it. Irredeemable is heroes against THE hero, and Incorruptible is THE villain versus other villains. As an idea, I like it. As it is, though, it’s just falling flat. Both series are. If dude wants to be a hero, go after the Plutonian. Fighting your old buddies won’t do crap if the Plutonian is still going to kill everybody else.

Looking Forward To

• Boys #41
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #34
• Deadpool and Cable #25
• S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
• Stephen King’s N #2
• Superman: Secret Origins #5
• Wolverine: Weapon X #12
• World War Hulks #1

What You Should Have Read #18

It’s time for the fun cooker!!!

Amazing Spider-Man #625

Dark Avengers #15

Doomwar #2

Fables #93

Green Lantern Corps #46

Guardians of the Galaxy #24

Hulk #21

Incredible Hulk #608

Siege #3

Not a whole lot to look forward to today, but what there is promises to be pretty damn amazing. Buncha books from some big events.

Avengers

Two stories in Avengers vs. Atlas, and both of them seemed to be fillers. Both teams pooled forces to take down the Hulk, and all it took was a song by Venus. Other than that, the only point was to try and understand the time fluctuations, which really didn’t happen. The back-up was amusing, but just pointless. It seemed like it would be more at home in an annual or an anthology book.

Although Spider-Woman was probably one of my least favorite Brian Michael Bendis books, it was still a book that I thought could have ended up being pretty darn good. I liked the idea of Jessica hopping around the globe looking for Skrulls and other rogue aliens on Earth. But Maleev stretched himself too thin with this book and the corresponding motion comic, so we get this lackluster mini, instead. I hope we’ll see Jessica as an agent of S.W.O.R.D. revisited at some point in the future.

Deadpool

 

I’m happy I stuck with Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth. While not the laugh-a-minute book that the main DP book is, it’s still gotten very entertaining. I think I like him fawning over Dr. Betty and Professor Veronica (yeah, I get it…but Peter David did it better in Incredible Hulk). Now, are we supposed to assume that the gang brought Headpool back to the wrong zombie infested dimension, since a whole and “healthy” zombie Deadpool showed up? That’s what I’m going with. And who’s the guy with the sword?

Prelude to Deadpool Corps is just…no. No no no. I get Lady Deadpool. I was somewhat amused by Kid Deadpool. Dogpool though? No. No no no.

Doomwar

It’s definitely war (DOOMwar) in Wakanda as the Dora Milaje make the Spartans look like a Boy Scout troop and Shuri and T’Challa carve their way through any Desturi they find in the palace. Doom has apparently killed all who were with Ororo except for T’Challa’s mother, but by the time T’Challa reaches Doom, she’s nowhere to be found…and neither is the vibranium. Ooh, that’s gotta hurt. I hope we get to find out how Doom got past that final lock. It was supposed to be the trickiest.

Fall of the Hulks

I like how Hulk parallels Incredible Hulk each month. And having them come out the same week works well for that, too. Hulk follows Red Hulk and Incredible Hulk follows banner, and they pretty much end the same. Rulk teases us about his identity this issue (I still think it’s Talbot), letting us know that Banner knows who he is, and then he infiltrates the Intelligencia’s helicarrier (which I thought was gold). A bunch of heroes also show up, as well as Deadpool, and by the end of the issue they’re all Hulked out. So Fall of the Hulks is now over, and World War Hulks starts next month. I’m still entertained, so I’ll still be looking forward to it.

Incredible Hulk was pretty confusing. I get the end, it’s just everything that led up to it. The problem with comics that contain a lot of explosions is that’s it’s difficult for the artist to make everything else around those explosions clear. How much of this story actually happened in Banner’s head, and when was he captured by the Intelligencia? Was it at the point where everybody got turned into Hulks, or is that part of his dream? And assuming that the Hulkification of the soldiers actually happened, how did that come about? Is the Intelligencia actually working for the military, or is this some rogue agenda by Talbot and Ross (is he still dead?)? The answers to these questions better make sense, or I’m going to feel extremely cheated.

Realm of Kings

The thing I liked least about this storyline was the name: Realm of Kings? I guess I just don’t get it. Is that what the invading force is from? Eh. Realm of Kings: Inhumans was a good story, mainly about a reluctant leader and his former comrades. This issue brought it all together and really made the impending invasion seem like a threat. It looks as though Thanos is going to be the next big bad before the invasion begins. He’s been a good foe in the past (assuming that he’s going back to his evil roots), so this could be a good little intermission.

Good stuff happening in Guardians of the Galaxy. Well, good stuff for the reader, not so much the Guardians, or at least half of them. Phylla keeps getting pulled in all sorts of directions and ends up releasing the inhabitant of a familiar cocoon. Familiar if you know anything about Warlock. Of course, there’s a bit of a twist. A nice one, too. Also, Peter proves again why he’s the leader of the motley group as he secures a seat on the Galactic Council for the Guardians. This has been, by far, the best book during this whole Realm of Kings storyline.

I don’t like it when characters come back from the dead as a past version of themselves, so I don’t think I’m going to like Namorita’s return in Nova. I already don’t like that Tony Stark’s rebooted brain is from before the Civil War (second time he was replaced by a younger version of himself), and now we’ve got a pre-Stamford ‘Nita back in the Marvel Universe. And really, was that the whole point of this Sphinx story? To bring her back? Her? I get bringing Steve Rogers back, and Thor, and Superman and Batman and all the important people, but her? And next month has to do with Thanos, who had a pretty good death during Annihilation, so sure, let’s just bring all the dead people back, even the crappy ones.

Siege

Well, the revelation in Dark Avengers that it was the Sentry/Void that took out Doom in the Siege: Cabal one-shot was kind of anti-climactic. I was hoping for someone more surprising, more off the wall. Sure, it makes sense, but, I don’t know, I was expecting more of a jaw-dropping reveal. Anyways, you would assume that THAT would be the big thing in this issue, but nope. That’s not even secondary, it’s an afterthought. No, Bullseye completes the assignment that Osborn gave him last issue, and, wow, the Sentry/Void is incredibly stupid if he’s going to take Osborn’s word that Bullseye had nothing to do with Lindy’s death. Surely nobody on the rest of the team buys it. And is it just me, or does the Void’s outline and mouth look a bit like Onslaught? I’ve read the Sentry’s Wikipedia entry, and I think I’m more confused about the character than I was before. Could the Sentry actually be Onslaught? That would be a twist.

I expected a little more from the latest issue of Siege. I expected more of an outrage at what Sentry did to Ares. I expected a more inspiring splash page of Cap’s shield smashing into Osborn. Those complaints aside, it was still a good issue, and it managed to surprise me. Seeing Iron Man back was great. The enormity of the Sentry’s power is what surprised me, and having him be the actual “big bad” of the story was a nice twist. Osborn’s green-painted face was nice, and I would have felt cheated if Spidey wouldn’t have gotten his punch in. It’s all over next month, so I’m expecting a HUGE battle, somewhat larger in scope than the Asgardian battle we were shown.

This issue of Siege: Embedded pretty much dealt with Ben Urich and his photo-journalist friend running away from H.A.M.M.E.R. goons. No Asgardians, least of all Volstagg, appear in this issue, so the fun of last issue is gone. I was surprised with how quickly the ending came up and thought, “This is it?” I hope the last issue is a little more satisfying.

Spider-Man

Amazing Spider-Man was truly amazing this week, amazing and heart-wrenching and powerful. I’m glad we’re getting “stuck” with the original Rhino, but I feel incredibly bad for the guy. I know he blames Spidey for Oksana’s death, but I also wonder if he’ll go after the Kravinoffs since they put Aleksi in the new Rhino’s sights. This and the other Rhino story have probably been my favorites out of the Gauntlet. I hope he has a large role in what’s to come.

X

I think I’ll give X-Factor Forever a chance since it’s only a limited series, but my X-Factor will always be the government-sanctioned reboot team written by Peter David. That’s the era that I got into the X-books, and although I’ve caught up with just about all the previous issues, Guido and Jamie and Pietro and Rahne and Lorna and Alex will always have a place in my heart. But this mini looks promising. Apocalypse seems to be the main villain, and he’s recovered Hodge from the Genosha wreckage to apparently meld him with Master Mold. I think I can dig on that, ‘cause that’s what’ll keep me coming back. As for X-Factor, well, I like the characters as they are now. Seeing them like this, especially a younger Iceman, is just kind of weird. But we’ll see how it goes.

It seems like, in every book lately where somebody has a plan, that plan is actually to tell his enemy the plan because it’s not actually the plan, while keeping everyone (including the reader) in the dark. So how far back in Wolverine: Origins did Wolvie go to Deadpool and The Answer for this brilliant plan of his? I’m getting to hate this little device. But maybe this means we’ll get a nice Wolverine/Deadpool team-up next issue. That could be fun.

X-Men: Legacy focuses on Rogue and her duties on Utopia as a counselor and mentor. She ends up siphoning off a bit of the Cuckoos’ telepathy and wanders the island. There’s a run-in with Gambit and Magneto, all the while focusing on trying to help Indra deal with how his powers impact his faith. It was a really well-written issue. There’s a bit of humor while Rogue tries to feel her way around the Cuckoos’ telepathy, but it’s also somewhat of a touching issue. You feel that Rogue really belongs on the island as a mentor to all of these young kids.

Other Marvel Books

Lots of reminiscing to be done in Hercules: Fall of an Avenger. And since the reminiscing is about Hercules, it’s humorous with a heartfelt quality. Thor tells a tale about drinking, Namor about fighting, and Alflyse about, well, the Elven Tickler. The Agents of Atlas back-up deals with Venus and Namora traveling the globe and putting Herc’s mortal assets to rest. It’s a right and proper tribute to the Prince of Power with a bit of a twist regarding Amadeus Cho’s next step in life.

Wait, has the Golden Age Vision shown up before this? Until he mentioned the Thinker, I just assumed we were seeing a conversation between he and the Torch in the past. The art in this book is ugly, and the Mad Thinker looked like a doughy tub of lard. As for the story itself, I guess this has all got to do with Nazis. These are Golden Age heroes, after all. I wish that the art was a bit better, because bad art makes it hard to enjoy a story sometimes.

Blackest Night

As with books with lots of explosions, books with lots of characters can also become quite confusing. Green Lantern Corps has corps members from all across the ring spectrum teaming up to take out Black Lanterns in Earth orbit and the black power battery in Coast City, so there’s no shortage of soldiers in this book. I sometimes forget that Ice was dead for a while, so it came as a bit of a surprise when her black-ringed self tussled with Guy for a bit. And after shaking off his own black ring possession, Kyle had to relive his first failure as a Green Lantern, the death of his then-girlfriend Alex. We then get to see where the Anti-Monitor has been during this whole shebang, and Guy comes up with a pretty clever solution to the problem surrounding the Anti-Monitor. Too bad it doesn’t go quite according to plan. While I’ve been enjoying Blackest Night, I’m ready for this book to be scaled down a bit. There are just too many characters running across the pages and it can be a bit difficult to keep up at times.

Fall of Green Arrow

The only time I read Green Arrow regularly was when Kevin Smith brought him back. And just that first storyline. I never much cared for him. Or for Hawkeye, for that matter. Not much into bow and arrows (although Ollie is the closest thing to a good character on Smallville). But since I stuck through Cry for Justice, I thought I’d check out the ramifications in Fall of Green Arrow. The Rise and Fall one-shot was pretty bad, but this issue was pretty good. I have no doubt that Ollie will be redeemed and all his sins forgiven, but I’m liking his fall so far.

Last Stand of New Krypton

Supergirl picked up right where Last Stand of New Krypton left off, with Brainiac attacking and the Legion arrested. There’s lots of punching in this book, and Supergirl and Mon-El share a surprising kiss. Kara also gets her mom to pardon the Legion, allowing them and her to head to Brainiac’s ship to free the rest of the cities that have been bottled. I guess it was a good story; I just don’t care any more. DC has run this story into the ground, and now that it’s about over, I just don’t care.

Red Circle

Not a lot to say about the Shield. It’s a very solid book, but not all that remarkable. I like how the hero is just a soldier who follows orders and chain-of-command while not trying to overshadow the non-enhanced soldiers. I also like the flashbacks to when Higgens just got the suit and was actually doing normal training rather than just letting the suit do all the work. As for the backup, I don’t recall the Fox from the Impact books…although I didn’t last more than a handful of issue past the beginning of the run. I’m not a fan of Michael Oeming, though, and his artwork really takes me out of the story.

Vertigo

I got American Vampire for the Stephen King story, and it was mediocre at best. I didn’t even bother with the main story (or is this an anthology?). I’m slightly burned out on vampires, or at least entertainment that’s focused on them. I’ve watched all seven seasons of Buffy about three times, same for Angel. I just finished the second season of True Blood and I’ve got the books, but I haven’t read them yet. I tried to read Twilight, but it was a horribly written book and I couldn’t get through a quarter of it. I think I only lasted about 10 minutes into the movie. So, yeah, I think I’m going to take a rest on vampires until this summer when True Blood returns.

Other DC Books

Okay, if anyone is going to revisit the destruction of Coast City, Dan Jurgens is the man to do it. He was the one that destroyed it and brought Superman back, right? I still don’t like all this time-travel stuff because, as I’ve said before, it’s just impotent posturing. But Michelle is now back, and we get to see a grown-up Booster Gold. The scene with him and Rip was nice.

I know a lot of times the Demon’s rhyming is thrown out the window by writers who, I guess, just aren’t creative enough. JMS does a great job in Brave and the Bold of keeping the rhyming in while not making it sound hokey or ridiculous. I like that this was a bit of an unknown chapter in the lives of Aquaman and Etrigan, two different characters who apparently come together once a year to save the world for no accolades or recognition of any kind. Artist Jesus Saiz did a great job of conveying the scope of the impending tragedy as well as the power of Aquaman and Etrigan. Another great done-in-one issue. You don’t see a lot of those anymore.

Other Books

I LOVED the ending to Locke and Key: Crown of Shadows. Joe Hill has been crazy creative with coming up with different types of keys and the different things they did. And now the giant key? Just awesome. And Gabriel Rodriguez’s art is tight and clear, and he makes the shadows really come alive. It’s spooky. Also, Hill has really done a great job of making the three kids into strong, likeable characters. Like all good characters, though, they’re still a bit flawed and real…well, except for Bode, maybe. That’s a neat kid.

Okay, I buy the fact that initially Bette hid her affair from the group. I get it. She was ashamed, and she didn’t realize what Tony would end up doing. But once he started really going bat-shit crazy and murdering people in the thousands (millions?), I find it a bit difficult to believe that she wouldn’t have stepped up and said, “Here. Here’s how we stop him. Let’s just do it, I’ll tell you how this came to be after we’re done.” So Plutonian is just a kid throwing a tantrum, Samsara is actually possessed by the world’s most diabolical villains, Charybdis is now a power-hungry egomaniac, and Bette Noir is a bit of a slut. Is this book going to show how ALL heroes are really irredeemable? ‘Cause that would kind of suck. Sure, I like my heroes to be human, but I still like them to be heroes.