Category Archives: reviews

June 26, 2009 · 12:42 am

MASSIVE COMIC REVIEW CATCH-UP!!!!!!!!

Here we go, quite a bit to catch up on so I’m getting right down to it. Also, different style of reviews this week, I will only be spending as much time on them as I was interested in them. Some will be short. Very short.

New Avengers: The Reunion #4: $16 down the tube. Four issues to tell a 3 panel story. Hawkeye and Mockingbird get back together. Sorry, spoiler. I hate that I bought this.


The Mighty Avengers #25 & #26: Two issue arc. Mighty Avengers fight Fantastic Four for a spacial thingamajig. Two issues to tell a one issue story. Story telling and art were no different for me this issue than the last, I’m totally losing interest in this title the more Iron Man isn’t in it. Maybe one more issue.


War Machine #6 & #7: I’m not a huge fan of the cartoonish art that is happening now from Allan Jefferson & Mahmud Asrar. Rhodes versus the US government. More back story. The armor is back, so the cliff hanger at the end with him armorless in #5 came to nothing and somewhere along the line they picked up another War Machine armor for one of Rhody’s associates. Also issue #7 shows how Rhodes got bionic. Oh and Ultimo is back and in a weird continuity twist Tony Stark shows up at the end(?!?!?!?!?!) That managed to keep me around for another issue.

Avengers the Initiative #24: Christos Gage writing, Humberto Ramos on art. This story actually keeps the entertainment coming in spite of cliche. The Initiative is getting shut down, the Shadow Initiative is stuck in Madripoor and Hardball is a traitor?!?!!?!? Of course he isn’t, but neither is Lady Hydra. Besides that little bit of cliche it is nice to see all of these story elements finally sewing themselves up and FINALLY getting this book caught up with current continuity. I really liked seeing Roughhouse and Bloodscream again. I always liked these villains since they first appeared in the Wolverine solo series way back in the early 90’s. I still don’t know what kind of vampire Bloodscream is, and I’m sure he’s been “killed” a few times, but here we see how undead he really is. And I remember John Byrne turning Roughhouse into a gentle giant about a decade ago, but I guess he’s back to being bad. Good fight scenes kept the pages turning. Ant-Man commits a great kill and the Shadow Initiative becomes the Dark Initiative. I’m excited about the new status quo.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #2 of 5: Cornell. Brooks. Morales. Great! Great! Great! This creative team is awesome! This book is a LOT of fun! Twists, turns, and action galore! Just read it and get as much Paul Cornell as you can since Captain Britain & MI13 is canceled.

Dark Avengers #5: Now we’re getting to the good stuff. Brian Michael Bendis continues his exploration into the mind of Norman Osborn as he continues his Reign over the Marvel Universe. After their first big fight to help Doom they come home to find that things are not well at home. The Sentry floats above Avengers Tower seemingly brought back to life, Clint Barton (Hawkeye/Ronin/Goliath) has called out Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin and half of his team is ready to kill each other. This issue spends most of it’s time with Osborn going on television to answer the Barton accusations (with hints that he might be cracking under the pressure) with surprisingly good points – scary – and seeing the team “debrief” after returning from Latveria. Highlights include Ares addressing all of the Avengers and telling them it is their duty to be heroes, Moonstone and Noh-Var getting close and Bullseye adding people to his hit list. Also, who is leading all of those sea creatures in an attack on the city??!?!

The New Avengers #53: Another Bendis bit and we finally see who the new Sorcerer Supreme is – but not before there’s a huge fight in New Orleans!! Hasn’t that city suffered enough? Madame Masque shows how lethal she can be and fights hand to hand with Spider Woman – under the veil of smoke grenades – and the Hood fights the Son of Satan. I miss the Son of Satan. I always thought he was a cool character that never really got a fair shake and Bendis does him very well. BMB writes him as a flippant, cavalier almost Doctor Who-like in his casualness to extreme situations. When Dormamuu actually makes his appearance SoS attacks him as if he were a common street thug, it’s funny and clever and I love characters like that. I hope we get to see more of him. Maybe he can replace Ms. Marvel – SINCE SHE’S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! But apparently she isn’t – or this book just needs to catch -up? Who can tell anymore, especially when a book like The Initiative is almost a year behind, any of these books could be anytime in between. I think Spider-Man may be leaving this team soon, he’s having lots of moral/ethical dilemmas that seem to be very hard for him to live with (stealing the quinjet, Bucky Cap shooting Madame Masque even though she doesn’t die) but I like seeing him struggle. And it’s totally worth the reveal of the new Sorcerer Supreme at the end! Also, I really like Billy Tan art.


Agents of Atlas #5 & #6: If you do nothing else you need to pick up these books just to read the re-cap page at the front. Each issue is clever and does a great job of getting you caught up on story. Issue #5 written by Jeff Parker and penciled by Carlo Pagulayan shows the confrontation between Atlas and The New Avengers. It’s nice to have this this kind of cross-over because sometimes when I read this book it feels like it’s happening in a different universe than the main Marvel one. There was a nice twist on what could have been just a simple, boring “we don’t know you, let’s fight!” situation when Spider-Man steps in a points out that maybe the Agents of Atlas aren’t bad guys at all. Would have made for a very awkward confession – which Jimmy Woo was starting – until M-11 recognized Logan’s voice from an old operation and blasted Wolverine’s arm off! Then there’s a fight that makes sense! Two-page spread! M-11 vs Cage! Namora vs Ms. Marvel (still should be dead)! Gorilla Man vs Spider-Man! And Wolverine missing an arm! And the BEST part is that Venus finishes the fight by using her powers to over stimulate everybody! Hysterical and awesome all at the same time! Issue #6, also by Parker but this time with art by Gabriel Hardman, is not as action packed instead, using info gained from Osborn’s mind, the Agents go to visit with Namor to see if he will get them access into Osborn’s inner circle, or at least behind the scenes of H.A.M.M.E.R.’s operations. We are welcomed into the new utopia city that Namor is building for the Atlantians and learn that Namor and Namora are more than just cousins. I’ll let you learn the extent of that on your own. It ends on a cliffhanger: will Namora stay with Namor and the Atlantians? Are they going to turn on the surface world completely? I guess we’ll see in issue #7.


Captain Britain and MI13 Annual & #14: It’s so sad to see a good book fall. When this is collected into a massive trade paperback I hope you all buy a dozen copies and maybe, just maybe, they’ll let Paul Cornell come back and tell the rest of his story. As it is these two book are tied in together. The Annual shows us how Meggan gets back (thanks Doctor Doom) and issue #14 gets us set-up for next issue – the last issue – #15. I actually don’t want to give any of this book away. Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk do such a GREAT job on this title that you should go out and buy every issue that you can! Safe to say that Pete Wisdom and MI13 have the situation well in hand, even after last month’s cliffhanger, and the final issue looks like it’s going to be a doozy!

BUY THIS BOOK!

Invincible Iron Man #14: Classic armor! Classic Crimson Dynamo! Rockets! Missiles! Pepper Potts going underground! Maria Hill on the run looking for Captain America! Armor swaps! The Black Widow! Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca are telling great Iron Man stories just like they were told in the 70’s & 80’s when ol’ Shellhead’s book was in it’s prime. International intrigue, foreign locals, and a strong resurgence of old Russian allies/enemies. Fraction is doing a great thing where he is not only deconstructing the Tony Stark character, but also revisiting the character’s past in a really contemporary way, reminding us of how many characters have actualy crossed Stark’s past. I knew that this story was going in the right direction issues ago, but there was a moment in this issue, when the Russians turn down Norman Osborn, that make you feel like the stakes are both high and realistic. Maria Hill seems a bit broken and when she tracks down the Black Widow you aren’t sure if she’s there to talk or there to kill and the Pepper Potts story just keeps being interesting as she does her best to find Tony so she can help him. Madame Masque makes an appearance here too – and the cliffhanger makes me want issue #15 so bad!

That’s the massive catch-up! See you tomorrow!

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Filed under avengers, comic books, iron man, mi13, reviews, war machine, young avengers

May 20, 2009 · 5:30 pm

Secret Warriors #4, Dark Reign: Young Avengers 1 of 5 & Captain Britain and MI13 #13

Three books this review, with some bummer news about the canceling of a good book and my dropping another.

I’m going to start by droppin’ bombs. Secret Warriors #4 is the last issue that I will buy. I like the idea behind this book, and Jonathan Hickman is the perfect writer for it, but it’s really slow and I’ve lost any momentum that I had for this book. Fury catches up with Dum Dum Dugan, Jasper Sitwell, and Gabe Jones – all loyal SHIELD guys who are now the operators of Howling Commandos Private Military Contractors. They share war stories and Gabe makes a frowny face the whole time. Guess what happens? Fury and the Howling Commandos are back together – it’s like Ross and Rachel – you always knew it would happen it was just a matter of how.

Other highlights:

– New team member recruited in Australia.
– Yo-Yo isn’t dead, but she’s still missing her arms.
– Hydra votes to go on the offensive.
– Fury convinces the Howling Commandos to attack a HAMMER base staffed with ex-SHIELD guys.

Here’s a thing about that last bullet point, Fury is straight up blood thirsty. When asked what he’ll feel when he has to shoot men that he used to command, men that he trained and lead into battle before he went underground, his reply is…

***SPOILER***

“Recoil.”

The other interesting thing that we discovered this issue, the one thing that I’d like to see the answer to, was Fury’s room of LMD’s (Life Model Decoys – Stark invented robots that simulate a person when assassination is expected). Phobos and Hellfire (I’m pretty sure it’s Hellfire at least) are rummaging through Fury’s office and find the LMD’s. One of them was opened up and inside the chest was a little seat and monitor screens. This is really odd since LMD’s are supposed to be robots and not a vehicle. The ramifications of whether or not the Fury walking around is actually Fury or if he’s suddenly been shrunk down very small size and runs around in normal Fury sized robots could be staggering or this could have just been a red herring by artist Stefano Caselli. I guess we’ll see – I’ll I’ll just have to check it out in the store.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers 1 of 5

Here’s a fun book from Paul Cornell and artist Mark Brooks. The cover hits you right away with six totally new characters you’ve never seen before and a cover blast that says, “They’re EXACTLY What You Think!” Then the recap page is presented as a blog talking about the Young Avengers (the ones we recognize) and their relationships and ends wondering where they have gone since the battle against the Skrulls in Central Park.

Paul Cornell does a great job of dropping you right in the middle of the action and giving you a flavor for what you are going to get from a team without giving up all of their secrets. We get a great splash page of this new team, their names aren’t put on display so you have to pay attention to the dialogue and we hear some familiar names. There’s a girl who grows to giant size called Big Zero. She’s also a racist. There’s a teenage girl calling herself Enchatress complete with Asgardian garb and speech, although she has a bit of a lisp. Their leader is named Melter and he can make things melt. Executioner is like the Punisher but wears a skull-like mask. Coat of Arms has six arms and seems an awful lot like Spiral – down to video taping their exploits as if they will be broadcast. And then there’s a robot called Egghead who looks really familiar, although I can’t place where I might have seen him before, and damaged.

Immediately, the first time we see them, the robbers they are trying to stop get killed. It’s a great opening act. We see that these kids are not well balanced and are the poster children for why Tony was right about super-hero registration. The relationships are well defined and you feel like you get a LOT for your dollar. I was really impressed with this book and can’t wait to see how well this struggle goes as Melter tries to make his team heroes or if they are just going to be another team of misguided youths.

Oh, and the real Young Avengers so up at the end. It’s was a fantastic first issue making me excited about the next one!

Captain Britain and MI13 #13

Paul Cornell again with Leonard Kirk on art duties picks up right where we left off last issue, right in the thick of a full scale vampire invasion of England! It is just as bad a thing as it sounds. The threat of Dracula continues to be impressive. There is a conceit among comics that you make the situation as bad as possible before you have the heroes come back from behind and win the day. That is all well and good but for the MI13 team things are looking really dire with very little chance of reprieve.

England has been magically sealed off from the rest of the world keeping the rest of the Marvel heroes from coming to the rescue, Norman Osborn calls Wisdom personally to tell him that he can’t help due to agreements that are in place (remember Doctor Doom from way back at the start of this arc?), and Dracula pushes his full mental influence on Spitfire making her a full on baddie now too!

Spitfire calls the team out to a field where, expecting a trap, the team heads to. Captain Britain fears that Dracula knows too much about how Merlin created him and, since Cap’s powers are now dependent on how confident he is, this makes for some trouble. It is, in fact, a trap and a lot of things happen at once:

– Cap Britain discovers that he can leave the magic shell, but then can’t get back in if he does.
– Thousands of vampires appear to fight.
– The vampire assault is using magic and technology to cover all bases.

The MI13 team attacks, but not as a unit which leads to deaths, lots of deaths, unexpected deaths. Paul Cornell has said over and again that not everyone will survive this invasion so you really are left hanging as to who’s left. I really don’t want to spoil anything else, but I can say that Dracula wins.

Seriously.

I can’t wait for next issue!!!!!

Now here’s the bad news, this series ends at issue 15. TWO MORE ISSUES!!!!! Sales have not been good, which really sucks because this has been one of the best books of the year. I can only hope that fan outcry will mean at least a few one-shots or specials after it’s over. It’s a shame to see something this good have to end.

That’s all for today. See you tomorrow!

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Filed under avengers, comic books, mi13, reviews, young avengers

May 16, 2009 · 6:00 pm

Iron Man 13, Agents of Atlas 4, New Avengers: The Reunion 3 of 4, BONUS! The Avengers Free Comic Book Day Issue

I’m catching up on a LOT of issues so some of these will be short – the Iron Man one is longer.

Iron Man #13

I love Iron Man! I don’t think this is any secret to those of you who know me. Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca have been leading us on a fantastic ride through the worst year of Tony Stark’s life. Tony continues to be on the run from, well, the whole world. Even as we see his intellect degenerate, it is becoming clear that Tony planned for any contingency. It’s also pretty clear that even a “stupid” Tony Stark is still smarter than the average bear. He is making the armor simpler to use which is leading to next month’s return of THE CLASSIC ARMOR!!!!!!!! I don’t care who you are, if you like Iron Man then you like this armor and it is always cool to see it return!

Maria Hill managed to escape the hold of the Controller and that escape gave us some nice insights into her background. Up until this issue she was just a S.H.I.E.L.D. hard-ass trying to make it in a post-Fury world. In a page worth of panels we got to see what made her work so hard and, in turn, so tough. She manages to complete her mission to retrieve the mysterious “X” drive, but the fight with the Controller left her bleeding pretty bad so it remains to be seen if she’ll actually live through this.

Pepper Potts gets caught in a little hot water when she’s interrogated by Norman Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R. Fortunately Tony’s planning strikes again and, although Norman can’t do anything to her legally, we do discover that: Yes, Norman has a bunch of Iron Man armors in Avenger’s Tower. No they are not usable due to some key missing components. Yes, Norman’s scientists are trying to find a way to make them work. No, those scientists are not as smart as Stark.

This story is really gearing up and the last page with Tony is a hell of a cliffhanger – he’s not lookin’ too good, but hopefully Pep is coming to the rescue. I literally cannot wait for issue #14. I’m going to hitchhike to the Marvel offices in NYC to see the next issue as soon as possible.

Or maybe just wait.

Also there’s an armored Super-Villain in here called Shockwave. He is WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY old school – like from “Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu” old school. I really like his redesign. Oh, and the whole Madame Masque story looks like it will launch next month! Just like the old days. I’m really looking forward to this!

Agents of Atlas #4

We are getting some of the untold back story in this issue covering their being drummed out of the FBI and a weird connection to the Captain America of the 50’s – possibly – or the real Cap, hard to say just yet. Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman are doing a great job of bringing these forgotten heroes into the present day. This issue is getting the team ready for a conflict with the New Avengers – apparently early than anticipated. I forget that The Agents are disguised as criminal masterminds. And now that they have forged a deal with Norman Osborn all the real heroes are ready to strike and kill.

Again we see different art styles for the different eras which is really nice for the story telling and no one does their recap pages better. Even if you just check out that first page in the shop you’ll get a kick and a feel for how good this book is. Smart, fun and worth a read if you have an extra 3 bucks.

New Avengers: The Reunion 3 of 4

Not going to spend a lot of time on this.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird are adventuring together, relationship on the rocks, they are hunting A.I.M. This issue shows a little bit more of what Mockingbird went through on the Skrull planet…

I’ll confess I’m bored with this story. I think they could have covered what they needed to in 2 or 3 issues. There’s a big explosion at the end, it looks like these two are getting back together. I’m bummed that I’m still going to spend 4 bucks more because there is one more issue – but I can’t help myself. I came this far I’m going to the end.

The Avengers: Free Comic book Day Issue

Normally Free Comic Book day issues are kinda’ lame – at least that’s been my experience. They rarely have anything to do with what’s going on in real continuity, they are watered down and, while designed to bring new people to comics, are rarely a good example of what modern comic books are like. This issue did not suffer from that problem!

Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung bring the people a story that, while technically not part of what’s going on in the bigger universe, is still very relevant. Basic premise is that the frost giant Ymir has started to convert Earth into his own kingdom. That may sound like a spoiler, and it kinda’ is, but not really. It’s all a very clever ploy to bring the New Avengers (Captain America, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Spider-Woman, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Ronin, Mockingbird and Iron Fist) and the Dark Avengers (Iron Patriot, Venom, Bullseye, Moonstone, Dokken, Ares, Captain Marvel and The Sentry). We’ve been promised this meeting for a while but, while it starts out like they are going to fight, the bigger problem of Ymir keeps every one civil.

Thor has already gotten pasted by the elemental giant and it’s up to the two teams to try and take him down before the whole of Earth is destroyed – You knwo, typical super-heroes saving the world plot. Turns out the Twilight Sword is on Earth. That’s a bad thing.

Seeing the two teams come together is exciting and tense. The end leaves a big opening for the next conflict and, if you can still find a copy, I recommend picking one up. Thank’s to Enrique for picking this up for me!

See you tomorrow!

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Filed under comic books, iron man, reviews

May 10, 2009 · 5:00 pm

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

I will begin with WOW!

I’ll admit I was doing my best to keep my expectations low, but even if my expectations were high I think I would have been very, very satisfied.
By the time you read this I am going to hope you have seen the movie and so there will be minor SPOILERS, but because I enjoyed this movie so much and hope that this review will inspire those who have not yet seen it to go out and see it I will keep the major spoilers to a minimum – or at least separate them from the main part of this review.
The poster promise that “This Isn’t Your Father’s Star Trek” is no joke, but the nice thing is, while this is definitely not your father’s Trek, it is has the correct amount of reverence for your father’s Trek.
It is the story of Spock and Kirk and their developing friendship. The tie to the old show(s) is there, but through the logical use of a well used conceit (see time travel) we get the satisfaction that all of the years of Trek history that fans have loved is still intact while still leaving plenty of room for a new series to grow – with all of the characters that Trekkies have been writing slash fiction about for decades. J.J. Abrams really managed to get the best of both worlds.
The similarities are there, including all the important continuity. Captain Pike is helming the new Enterprise. Sulu is a fencer, Uhura is a comm officer, etc. The ship looks the same in all the important ways, and is even a bit of a hybrid between the TV show ship and the original movie ship, and the creative team also managed to infuse a bit of the Star Wars “used universe” concept – especially in the first starship we see, the doomed USS Kelvin. What this new movie manages to accomplish and provide that the original series dropped the ball a bit on is giving a back story to all of the main characters.
Before the only characters that had much, if any, back story were Kirk, Spock and McCoy. This film expands on those, and also adds these same levels of background to all of the loyal bridge crew. Majel Barret-Roddenberry is still the voice of the computer, but there is a much more “hands-on” feel to all of the ship work.
In fact the ships in general all feel much more ship-like. The design is actually pretty brilliant. Everyone and their mother has talked about the bridge design. Yes, the glass and white plastic looks great, but the rest of the sets deserve some love too! The engine room is amazingly detailed and looks like that of a battleship or submarine. The quarters are cramped and when you see the bridge, transporter room, and the shuttle bay they all feel very real and small and appropriate on a battleship or explorer ship. The Romulan ship was equally good with a very alien appearance and features that seemed strange to have on a ship at all, but seemed to make sense in their alienness.
The effects were spectacular. I really liked the new phasers, space-drill, space-free fall and the subtle work that was done, especially with the alien faces and designs. The aliens were still remarkably human-with-funny-noses but there were also variations on the theme and some nicely alien-aliens as well.
You may notice there is no mention of any particular performance in this review and that is because everyone – all of the actors in this film – so beautifully filled their rolls that I didn’t feel like I was watching actors, I felt like I was being granted the ability to view living people traveling through space. They were all very good.
This was a very satisfying reboot. The geeky stuff was there for the fans and, as I witnessed by watching Rene, there was plenty for new viewers to keep them interested. Go see this movie. It’s a fun way to start your summer.
That concludes the non-SPOILER -section of this review. If you read past this point it’s on you.
Now I realize that time travel, especially in Trek movies/TV shows is way used – over used even – but I think it’s worth putting aside the stereotype for the sake of this movie. It really resolves all of the continuity issues. Because of this time distortion everything that happens in this new franchise of movies happens in an alternate time-line so it won’t be stuck trying to match old continuity. It also means that there can still be new material made for the old series/time-line. Of course Spock is now stuck in the alternate time-line, but I think that’s a small price to pay.
The opening of the movie is really emotionally charged. The death of Kirk’s father as he is being born made me choke up (and I don’t choke up for anything) and got Rene to cry. Abrams really knows how to mine the sentimentality of a scene and he digs in deeps and leaves a mark with that opening. By the time the title treatment runs you are totally on board, or at least I was.
The destruction of Vulcan was handled pretty well. The use of “red matter” was totally new to me. I’ve never heard of “red matter” and I don’t know if it’s based on actual scientific principle or if it was just a plot device.
I really liked the Kobyoshi Maru sequence. Seeing the old Klingon battle cruisers was great! I would like to have seen more of them. Maybe in the sequel? Please?!!?!?

Complaints:
I would like to know why the destruction of a sun created a time hole and why the black hole that was formed to destroy the ship at the end was just a regular black hole.

I’m also not a huge fan of the “Scotty beamed into the water thing and then pumped through the pipe” bit. It was funny, but I didn’t feel it was super neccessary and he was also under water a long time without dying and the whole hatch opening and only about 20 gallons of water coming out of a man-sized pipe with pressureizes water pumping behind him. I did think it was fun and made sense in old school world of Trek. It’s a very minor gripe.
And…
Actually that’s all I’ve got. I might think of something else later, but today – in the after glow of seeing the movie – I’m very happy.

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Filed under movies, reviews, star trek

May 8, 2009 · 9:09 pm

War Machine #5, Dark Avengers #4 & Dark Reign: The Cabal One-Shot

Finally catching up on the comic reviews! This week I’ll be looking at War Machine #5, which wraps up the opening arc for this new series, Dark Avengers #4 which is also an arc wrap-up and Dark Reign: The Cabal one-shot.


War Machine#5

We were left on a cliff hanger last issue with an Ultimo-virus infected Ares leading an army of Ultimo-virus infested people on a market in a middle-eastern city that is reminiscent of the current U.S. actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. This was the end of the opening arc for this title and actually utilized a deus ex machina ending which is surprisingly appropriate seeing as how our hero is, in fact, a machine. Although I normally have no problem talking about spoilers in these reviews I feel like that would REALLY take away from this book. I’m not sure if Greg Pak has found his stride in the writing yet. It feels like he’s still looking for his direction. Art from Leonardo Manco and Jay David Ramos is good, although there is a battle scene that gets a bit confusing.

I have to confess that I felt like this ending was rushed. Lots of explosions, lots of talking – like Chris Claremont amounts of talking, and, to my dismay, a complete rejection of all the fun toys that the series started with and I thought that we’d get to see more of as the series progressed. There was an especially surprising loss that I did not see coming. It remains to be seen if this missing bit of hardware remains gone in the coming issues. Come next month I’ll dish about all the details, after you’ve had a chance to look at it, but when push comes to shove this whole arc was just a way to introduce us to the War Machine main cast. They have a great tableau on the last page. We’ll see what issue six brings.

Dark Avengers #4

OK, total SPOILERS here.

Doctor Doom and the Dark Avengers vs. Morgana LeFey! After last months cliffhanger it was pretty clear to see how this was going to go. Doom and LeFey go at it. Doom wins. This has been a crazy “woman scorned” story. Sure when most girls feel used and unappreciated they get upset, but very few send demons and magic to destroy the object of their anger.

Doom does not kill LeFey, but does trap her in the past where if she dies it won’t effect the future time-line. There’s an interesting bit here in the art where a bunch of cavemen are being chased by a dinosaur in 1 million B.C. The science guy in me wants to say, “Dinosaurs in 1 millions B.C.?!!?!?!!? WTF?!?!!?!?” But with all comic books you have to throw that out and I’m happy to do it, I just wanted to bitch about it a bit first. Cuz I’m an ass.

We also get some good character stuff in this issue, although that’s to be expected from a Brian Michael Bendis book. The fledgling relationship between Moonstone and Noh Var blooming and the palpable hatred between Mac Gargan’s Venom and Bullseye… Actually I feel that this deserves some discussion. So Venom gets controlled by LeFey and bites Bullseye. Bullseye tells him, in the heat of the moment, that he is going to kill Venom. After the fight is over Venom apologizes noting, again, that LeFey was controlling him. Bullseye replies, “Gargan, hey, don’t worry about it. You know and I know I’m going to kill you. One day you’ll be dead and you won’t even know how.” That’s some cold shit. Also, it looks like The Sentry is dead – until the very end when he comes back in a burst of light prompting all who see it to wonder if The Sentry is even killable and what they would do if he ever went completely crazy. It’s a good question. At least Tony Stark had a solution.

And we see the seeds of the Dark Avengers’ reaction to Clint Barton calling out Norman Osborn on national TV. I’m guessing that will be a big part of next issue.

One last thing, I’m not a fan of the art on this book. Mike Deodato is clearly talented but the sketchy rough style just isn’t my cup of tea. Totally a personal thing, but it also means I don’t have much to comment on it.

Dark Reign: The Cabal one-shot

I’ll keep this short because It doesn’t need much comment. These are stories that are supposed to show the motivations, or small manipulations, that Emma Frost, Namor, The Hood, Loki and Doctor Doom have for joining/using The Cabal. The stand-out story is the Doctor Doom story by Jonathan Hickman and Adi Granov.

I have always been a big fan of Adi Granov’s art! Ever since I saw his work on Iron Man. It all feels very real to me and I like that. Mr. Hickman’s story is a great glimpse inside the mind of Doom. We see him imagine how he is going to turn on the other members of The Cabal and take over – with no small amount of help from the cosmic cube. If you are a Doom fan at all you’ll get a real kick out of how this all goes down. Unfortunately it really set up my expectations for the rest of the issue and it fell really short for me.

The Emma Frost story shows how much of a survivor Emma is and helps bring new readers up to date with who she is exactly and her super-villain roots. Normally I REALLY like Matt Fraction, but I felt like this story was phoned in. Art by Daniel Acuna is moody and detailed, but since the story follows her roots and not a real narrative it’s just snapshots of her past.

The Hood story actually shows his human side pretty well, but feels so much like an after thought, and while I feel like the end reveal is designed to show us how ruthless he can be, I ended up walking away with the idea that he’s just a big hypocrite who is bound to turn on his followers sooner rather than later. Rick Remender tells a perfectly functional story and Max Fiumara does a good job bringing us into The Hood’s world, but it was so moody that I didn’t feel any difference between his home life and his “work” life. Maybe that was the point, but I wanted to see a difference.

The Namor story is like the classic King Solomon tale from the bible: he is judge over a custody battle between a warrior father and peaceful mother. when it all gets broken down it turns out the child in question is a powerful mutant. So Namor takes him in as his ward. It felt like a whole lot of set-up for a new character that will follow Namor around. It remains to be seen if we ever see this character again. If we don’t then I’m bummed I spent the time reading it. Kieron Gillen wrote this one and Carmine Di Giandomenico did the art. I really liked the art, it felt very Aeon Flux to me and I like that look.

The Loki story, by Peter Milligan and art by Tonci Zonjic, was really more of an explanation of how Asgard got permission to move to Latveria. It was an eight page reveal about moving to Latveria. That pretty much covers it. Art was very “silver age” in my opinion. I felt like I was reading an older book. I liked that, but really would have preferred to have learned more about what Loki wants out of this group or something.

Eh, if you pick it up I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, especially if you like doctor Doom, but if you miss it don’t beat yourself up.

I am going to go pick up this week’s books this weekend. Probably have the new review up Wednesday or Thursday.

See you tomorrow!

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May 1, 2009 · 11:28 pm

Avengers: New, Mighty, and The Initiative

All avengers books today! The Dark Reign continues and the bad guys keep winning… kinda’.

Let’s start with New Avengers 52

Last issue we saw that Dr. Strange is trying to find out who the new Sorcerer Supreme is and ended up being attacked by The Hood. Our story picks up there. There are half a dozen artists on this book: Billy Tan, Matt Banning and Justin Ponsor & Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend and Antonio Fabela. That is how they are listed in the credits. Not sure how the separations are intended, although I think it’s pencils/inks/colors/pencils/inks/colors. The different artists are used for different parts of the story, and that’s a good way to use them, but I actually found myself a little distracted near the middle as the battle between Strange, Wiccan and The Hood was recounted. I didn’t find it confusing, just a bit distracting.

Brian Michael Bendis continues to have the team sit around a table talking to each other. He is very good at this, but we’re on issue three of talking heads and I’m really looking forward to seeing some action. The sections involving The Hood were a nice way to break up all the talking. There was one little thing that I felt was a little out of place, there is a point where Spider-Man gets upset about flying in a stolen Quinjet as the Avengers go to find The Hood. He keeps griping about it too. I understand that his new status quo requires him to be more innocent, but, really? Gonna’ be upset that Ms. Marvel took a Quinjet? After the first mention of it I felt it was a bit much.
Also, it is nice to see Madame Masque back in the criminal forefront. Back in the day, she was one of my favorite Iron Man villains – up until the late 80’s when there seemed to be no editor to make sure that the story lines got wrapped up and there were, like, 20 of her running around. Now her involvement with The Hood puts her back up there with the other crime bosses where she belongs. Here’s hoping there’s a really big fight next issue. I’d also like to know who the new Sorcerer Supreme is!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, The Son of Satan is in this issue too! He and The Hood are gonna’ fight. Good stuff.

The Mighty Avengers 24
Or as I like to call it Pym’s Marry Band of B-Level All-Stars. Dan Slott continues to build an Avenger team in the mighty Marvel manner, but I feel like this book is occurring just a few degrees off of normal continuity. While New Avengers and Dark Avengers directly relate to one another and reference each other freely, this book makes some references but doesn’t seem to affect or be affected by the continuity of the other two books. I know that there are folks out that would argue that continuity is unnecessary, but I think that the fact that there is a Dark Reign banner at the top of this title, and that fact that this is an Avengers book, I really do expect there to be more impact both ways.
All things being equal I do like this new team. I like the fact that they were brought together by Loki, just like the original team. I like that Jarvis is with them. I am a little concerned that Pym has a bit of “utility belt” syndrome. He seems to have all the gadgets he could ever need at his beck and call. It makes you wonder why he didn’t just save everyone on the Skrull planet and get them all home on his own. I know that Dan Slott is trying to re-characterize the oft maligned Dr. Pym, but I don’t know if I’m a fan of how this is going. I feel like I’m not being clear, but I’m still really on the fence about this book. Originally I wasn’t even going to pick it up – but it looked like Iron Man was going to be a regular cast member. That certainly didn’t happen, but they did get my attention enough for me to at least see the next arc through.
Art by Rafa Sandoval is great. I loved the opening with the Cabal all meeting in the mental plane. I think my favorite parts of this book are Loki and the Cabal appearances, which makes me wish that it had more impact on the other books. I also like the fact that they are handling problems all over the world and not really concerning themselves with the drama of Norman Osborn. I’m sticking around to see where it goes.
Avengers: The Initiative 23
I feel like I missed an issue, but I know I didn’t. This was a messy issue designed to close all the remaining Dan Slott plot lines, which were really good, so that the new direction and status quo could be established. Camp Hammond is destroyed, public outcry is high, and we’re six months past the end of Secret Invasion and this book is JUST NOW getting to Norman Osborn being in charge! I’m not even sure if this book can get back into continuity.
The story lines are a mess. Here are the points I remember:
– MVP clone saga is revealed.
– All but one of the clones is dead.
– Baron Von Blitzschlag cries.
– Camp Hammond shuts down.
– Gauntlet leads the remaining recruits to clean up the mess.
My favorite part of this is the Shadow Initiative storyline. They were hunting the rogue Hardball. Here’s the thing that gets me, Hardball is suddenly a bad guy. Like straight up evil bad guy. Back when he was introduced he was working with Hydra, but was really conflicted about it. Then, as his relationship with Komoto developed, he started to really get his act together. Somewhere his story took a dramatic left and I don’t even know when it happened, but now he’s a full-on Hydra agent and even uses a SPIN (Super Power Inhibiting Nanobots) dart to take away her powers. Gripe for this little detail: Tony Stark, one of the biggest brains in the Marvel Universe, created this technology with Reed Richards, the LARGEST brain in the Marvel Universe. These guys needed DNA from the intended target for this tech to work. Suddenly Hydra has darts that work on anyone – no matter what. The explanation: a two line statement, “But here at Hydra, we don’t just make weapons. We make them better.” That doesn’t make sense to me. Hydra has never been that good. And this sudden change in characterization for Hardball seems too fast.
I was disappointed in most of this book. I could read a whole book about the Shadow Initiative, and now that they are stuck in Madripoor I hope there are a lot of those stories, but I’m really only giving this one more issue to pick up before I drop it.
I know it sounds like a harsh week this week, but times are tough and if I’m gonna’ spend my money on it I want it to be worth it.
See you tomorrow!

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April 14, 2009 · 11:52 pm

Breaking the Ice Comic Review


I’m not above pimping my friends or my friend’s products, especially when they are good! Today I’ll be pimping John Keating’s Breaking the Ice, a fun indie on-line comic. Maybe it’s because I’ve actually lived some of the things in his comic, but I find that I can really relate to it. Things as mundane as minimum wage jobs and as complex as new relationships are handled with characters that are easy to get to know and endear themselves to the inner Irish-Italian Catholic in us all. Give it a look! The strip has only been up for a little over two years and it comes out weekly so it’s very easy to start from the beginning and catch up. Also, you can add it to your RSS feed and find it delivered directly to your reader!

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April 9, 2009 · 7:44 pm

New Avengers: The Reunion #2 and Captain Britain & MI13 Reviews

Hey folks! It was a really light week, in fact if it weren’t for the fact that my copy of The Reunion came in there’d only be Captain Britain to talk about – although it was a really good issue as you’ll see! So I’ll get right into it. Before we begin I just want to remind you…

!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

I’m going to talk about what’s involved in the stories so if you haven’t read these books, and you don’t want them spoiled, then you should stop reading now!

I’ll start with New Avengers: The Reunion #2 since it really should have been featured in last week’s stack. This story continues the first adventure of Ronin (Clint Barton) and Mockingbird since Mockingbird has returned from the Skrull planet in Secret Invasion. Jim McCann is on writing duties with David Lopez and Alvaro Lopez doing pencils and inks respectively. I’m going to start with the art. It’ is very dynamic, very smooth, and very anime. It’s not my favorite art style, but there is no way that I can call it “bad.” I thought that it was especially good in the opening fight between Mockingbird and Ronin (it is so strange to call Hawkeye Ronin. Can’t he just be Hawkeye again please?). It played like straight up anime with the speed lines and crazy jumps and it actually looked like the figures were moving! Very impressive!

In this issue we get to explore why Mockingbird has been so distant with Clint and when she was taken by the Skrulls. There was another neat art thing done for the flash back sequences where it looks almost like they just transposed panels from old issues of West Cost Avengers and laid them on these pages. The difference in art styles is just noticeable enough and made my inner fan boy happy with how much attention they paid to the grit? Bubbles? You know, what do you call it when they used colored dots to make the shades in old comics? Whatever you call that is what they did and it was neat! So, as I think we all kind of guessed, Mockingbird was replaced right before the big fight where she died – or really the Skrull died. Although, and I had to look this up, Mockingbird died defending Hawkeye from Mephisto, but in this story they were apparently fighting Ultron? Or maybe those were two different fights? That’s still a little confusing for me and it there are any Mockingbird fan boys out there that can help a brutha’ out with continuity that’d be great.

Since Mockingbird’s return she has set-up a new counter-terrorist group with the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were also taken by the Skrulls. They are on the heels of A.I.M., who are going to kill a bunch of diplomats. Really, the whole bomb storyline feels kind of lackluster in the midst of the drama between these two characters. Especially when they start to discuss the current state of their relationship and that…

SERIOUS SPOILER HERE


…Mockingbird wanted a divorce and still does. She was done and isn’t looking to get back into a relationship with Clint at all! CRAZY!!!! The issue ends on that cliffhanger. We’ll see what happens next issue.

Captain Britain and MI13: MAN THIS IS A GOOD BOOK! I have to admit, I was not crazy about the art when this book first started. I’ve always preferred more photo realistic art. It’s a personal preference, I don’t know enough about art to defend why, all I can say is I don’t know art, but I know what I like. Now I know I like this. There is a cartoon sensibility to Leonard Kirk’s work. It looks like a comic book and it took twelve issues for me to “get it.” I’m about to parrot all the things I’ve heard from other reviewers but, for whatever reason, I feel this issue excelled at. The acting on these characters is GREAT! The subtleties on the faces are so good that it really is easy to miss even though you can’t miss it. You feel the pain of Spitfire as she is forced to vampiricaly feed on a peasant. No words are needed, just the strain on her face. The details of all of the back grounds and characters… Even though it isn’t photo realism, these characters all feel very real because Kirk pays attention. I had to go back and look at the other issues and all I can say is wow! He really has been doing this since issue one and I think it was just a case of him doing such a good job I took it for granted. He made it look too easy.

Story wise, Paul Cornell has made Dracula a real villain again and he is dangerous! His invasion begins this issue and Mr. Cornell does a great job of showing us how Dracula is a great tactician. The team is cleaning house at MI13 to get all the vampire spies out of the building and they need to find an artifact that can keep all vampires out of the UK, unless they are invited in. I really feel funny talking about this too much because it was such a fun ride that I REALLY think you need to go out and pick it up. Vampires using magic, philosophical discussions about what it means to be a vampire, a giant battle ship crewed by vampire soldiers and somebody’s dad is being turned!!!!!!! The MI13 team is full of powerful individuals, but the vampires are equally powerful – and a whole lot more cut throat! I can’t wait to see what happens next month!

That’s it for comics this week! See you tomorrow!


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April 2, 2009 · 6:21 pm

Iron Man #12, War Machine #4, New Avengers #51, Mighty Avengers #23, Secret Warriors #3, & Agents of Atlas #3

It’s time to look at the last two weeks of books that I read! This week is one book shy as my store sold out of New Avengers: The Reunion #2. I don’t have it on my pull list so I’m a bit out of luck until I find it at another store. In the mean time it isn’t like there aren’t enough books to review, so let’s get right to it!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried to be good about not spoiling the books last time, but I didn’t feel like I got into the stories as much as I wanted to so I’m taking a page from the iFanboy podcast and letting you know now I’m talking about the stories and everything inside! If you haven’t read these and don’t want them spoiled – DO NOT READ FURTHER!

Iron Man #12

The first year of the re-re-launch of Iron Man has come to an end with ol’ Shell-Head getting beat on hard by Sub-Mariner. This issue is so clearly a “middle-of-story-arc” issue that when the trade comes out I doubt that they will even need to show the cover between issues, even though the cover featuring Iron Man and Sub-Mariner fighting underwater is a very striking image and would look very nice as a finely framed poster on your wall. Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca keep the hits coming as Tony Stark continues to lobotomize himself to eliminate any vestiges of the “secret identity” list that is still stuck in his brain. This little story element is one that has me a tad concerned. Since Secret Invasion we have seen Tony go from ultimate power, with his Extremis abilities and authority over The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., to almost zero power, with Extremis stripped from his body along with the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., and now the metaphor is being taken to the extreme with Tony losing his company and, his most important asset, his mind. My concern rises because I remember the days when Tony died every few years. He’d get build up to a point where writers wouldn’t know what to do with him and so he’d be “killed” or have to elaborately fake his death. With this run being so young I’m really hoping that this trend isn’t starting all over again, and if it must does it have to be so soon. Really these are just the expressed fears of a long time reader, and I do have faith that the pay off for this arc will be worth it. I got faith in you Mr. Fraction!

Other fun things in this issue: Pepper testing out the abilities of her new armor, at least until she is arrested by H.A.M.M.E.R. Turns out her suit has no offensive weapons, just defensive and recovery stuff. Osborne even shoots down a commercial 747 just to see if she could catch it. She did. It’s a neat scene. Osborne is a prick.

In Texas, Maria Hill stumbled on the Controller at the Futurepharm. This story is still playing out but I really like where they are taking The Controller. The Controller is an OLD school IM villain. He goes back to Iron Man volume 1 #12 in the 60’s he’s so old! His thing is that he was an angry scientist who’s body got blown up so he build an exo-skeleton to get around. Thing is this exo-skeleton is powered by the energy from PEOPLE’S BRAINS!!!!!!!! Fraction is building him up like the mind-slaves are zombies! It’s actually a pretty tense scene. So Maria is now a slave of The Controller. More next issue.

And, fun armor sighting, the Hydro-Armor is back! As Tony lobotomizes himself his armor choices are regressing too. I’m curious to see where this ends up. I also want to see a Larroca version of the classic armor!

War Machine #4

Speaking of old school Iron Man villains, we got another heavy hitter straight out of Tales of Suspense #76: ULTIMO! More specifically the Ultimo virus, which is contagious. Continuing the story that Greg Pak and Leonardo Manco began in issue #1 Ares and War Machine are facing Ultimo powered prisoners. This whole issue is really just a straight up continuation from the last issue. Through the whole run thus far (I know, all three issues) we have been shown flashbacks to Jim Rhodes in his younger days. This time we saw him as a kid about 7 years old and naturally he knew Glenda Sandoval, the woman he is trying to rescue, when they were kids. Jim’s grandma called her trouble. Turns out she was right. I don’t really know what to say about this issue. It’s a good book, but I feel like this whole arc is really just set-up for the rest of the series. It is nice to see Bethany Cabe back in an Iron Family book. I’m eager to see her really get her place back in the Marvel Universe and maybe even back in the main IM title!!! There’s a new character, ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jake Oh. So far he hasn’t been too integral to what’s going on, but I imagine that he is going to be a permanent part of the WM team. I find myself waiting to see where this book is going to go – but the end scene where the Ultimo infected group burst into an out door market led by Ares, who is also now infected, was a really nice way to get me excited about the next issue.


The New Avengers #51

Bendis and a whole mess of artists come together on this to write a story that is like a really good episode of a TV show. Hard to tell what the A plot and the B plot are because I felt like they were both really strong. We have Doctor Strange looking for the new Sorcerer Supreme and the rest of the team dealing with the fall out from Clint Barton going on national television and calling out Norman Osborn as an asshole. It is nice to see the Young Avengers getting so much cred with the main Avengers titles (I’ll also mention this when I talk about Mighty Avengers). Billy, Wiccan, gets approached by Dr. Strange as a possible new SS. The discussion about why there needs to be a different one and whom it might be, and how much reverence Billy shows Strange, reminds you why Doctor Strange is such a great character. Of course the dreaded Dormmamu, who is the power behind The Hood, wants the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme for himself. I’m excited to see how the character of The Hood continues to grow. I really like how he’s a street level guy who managed to do what no other villain has been able to, unite the Marvel super-villains under his command. His control of the super-villain’s of the Marvel U. has been surprisingly believable and I love the way he gets all demon faced when he attacks Doctor Strange!

The rest of the issue was the New Avengers team doing bureaucratic team stuff, but that is some of what Brian Michael Bendis does best! Seeing the team sitting around a round table – it’s just like the old days but without a big “A” on it – really made it feel like an “Avengers” book. Spider-Man had to reveal his ID to the team or leave. I really thought he was going to leave, but turn the page and, POW!, there’s Peter Parker! That would have been enough but then BMB drops the bomb that Jessica Jones went to high school with Peter and had a huge crush on him! This all leads to some awkwardness only to have it all interrupted by a very injured Doctor Strange falling through the door. Bendis continues to write one hell of a team book and reminding us why he’s been a top writer for as long as he has been.

The Mighty Avengers #23
What a funny little book this is. Dan Slott writes and Koi Pham draws the second part of the introduction of the new Hank Pym led team.
…
I don’t like it when writers use Iron Man as an asshole just because they need an asshole in their story. Shellhead is an asshole in this story. Pym says at the end of the story that “…the Tony Stark I knew was better than this. Something’s up with him. He seemed… off his game.” That completely and perfectly describes how Iron Man was written in this story. I’m not even sure why he was brought into this story. Based on what’s going on in his own book and since he doesn’t even stay with the team there didn’t seem to be much of a reason to have him here, other than to take the piss out of Pym for a few pages and then almost blow things up before he leaves.
So there’s this chaos god who shows up and possesses blah blah blah. Let’s get down to brass tacks:
-New Mighty Avengers roster.
-Hank Pym, now calling himself The Wasp, is the leader and making a play to fix the years of history.
– The team is Pym, Vision, Stature, USAgent, Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Jocasta & Jarvis.
– Hulk was there, but left.
– Iron Man was there, as I mentioned, but left.
– Quicksilver was there, kind of, seeing as how his body was possessed by Chthon God of Chaos.
The neat thing about this story, and the only reason that I ended up liking it, was that The Scarlet Witch supposedly put this team together, when, in fact, it was assembled by none other than LOKI IN DISGUISE!!!!!!! Oddly enough Loki was responsible for the formation of the original team so it’s neat to see it all come full circle. Of course Loki also says that she wants to keep control of this team and will probably return in the disguise of Scarlet Witch as the series continues. If it weren’t for this little story bit I would have probably dropped the book.
Oh, as I mentioned in the New Avengers review it’s nice to see the Young Avengers get as much respect as they are right now. Knowing that Vision and Stature are going to be on this new team is pretty cool, although I’m pretty sure that means that there will not be another Young Avengers series any time soon.

Secret Warriors #3
This is a neat little spy story. It’s a very dense book where Hydra is starting to take back it’s power base. Even though there is a LOT of information it really doesn’t feel like there’s a lot going on. There is a big fight scene between the team, which I had to look up here at Wikipedia because I couldn’t remember who they were, and The Gorgon. The Gorgon kicks their ass and Yo-yo loses an arm. The best part was Phobos trying to use his fear ability on The Gorgon only to have The Gorgon not only not cower in fear, but then say he would kill Phobos.
I’m ready to see where this goes, especially since Fury called in Dum Dum Dugan at the end.

Agents of Atlas #3
I like this book. The continuity is a bit much for me to keep up with, but I have a feeling that the flashback stories that we’re seeing played out against the backdrop of the modern day stories are retconning the history a bit to get things in a good spot. In this issue the team continues to play villain as they do their best to get in good enough with Osborn to take him down. Another Iron Man bad guy, Temugin, son of the Mandarin, is a regular player now. Stick with me and I’ll try to explain:
The Atlas Foundation is an evil underground crime syndicate run by an ancient dragon. The Yellow Claw used to run this group. FBI agent Jimmy Woo used to hunt the Yellow Claw back in the 50’s. Now that the Claw is dead, Jimmy and the team have taken over the operation, disguised as bad guys, to use the power of the syndicate to make the world a better place. If you followed the link I left last time, which I’ve also left here again, you might have an idea of how much history, alternate history, and retconning has occurred around these characters. It’s hard to keep up but it makes the reading that much more fun. Also the catch-up page in the front is really good and have been all three issues. This issue concerns Namora and adds to the confusion about when she actually joined the team. I have to do more research. Oh and Captain America shows up at the end, too! Next issue looks good!
Well this one has taken too long to write so I’m going to end this blog by simply saying, “See you tomorrow!”

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March 20, 2009 · 12:39 am

Dark Avengers #3

This week I only had one book on my pull list, and that book was Dark Avengers number three.

Newbie Report: For those of you who are not keeping up with current Marvel continuity here’s what’s up. Shape shifting aliens invaded Earth and replaced major players with evil duplicates. These duplicates sowed mistrust throughout the Marvel Universe and then there was war! At the end of the war Earth won, Tony Stark (Iron Man) was blamed for the invasion, and Norman Osborne (the super-villain Green Goblin) killed the alien queen and was credited as the savior of the planet. Now Osborne has a whole military group at his disposal as well as the Avengers – which is now made up of super-villains disguised as heroes. These are the Dark Avengers.

The first two issues showed us that Osborne, who stole a suit of Iron Man armor and now calls himself Iron Patriot, is still definitely a bad guy and he is working in secret with a whole bunch of really bad guys – including Doctor Doom! Osborne and Doom struck a deal that released Doom from prison and returned him to his kingdom of Latveria. When Doom arrived home he was attacked by his ex-lover, the sorceress Morgan LeFey, who attacked him magically and, much to the surprise of me and many other readers, kicked doctor Doom’s ASS!

Because of the deal Osborne and Doom made, the Dark Avengers needed to go save him. The Dark Avengers, including Venom disguised as Spider-Man, Bullseye disguised as Hawkeye, Moonstone disguised as Ms. Marvel, Wolverine’s son Daken as Wolverine, Noh-Varr the new Captain Marvel, The Sentry and Ares God of War, got in a quin-jet and rushed to Doom’s aid.

Issue two ended with The Sentry tearing off Morgana’s head before Morgana returned, removed The Sentry from the timeline, made Venom
go nuts and eat Ares and then launch magic lightning at anything else that was standing.

Issue three was written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mike Dedato and Rain Beredo.

BMB has done a really good job building the characters and making you care about a group of villains. It is reminiscent of what I’ve been told The Thunderbolts were like in the early days. You feel for the characters and root for them even though they really are some of the meanest bastards to ever grace a comic page. This issue really focuses on the villains being heroes, and they do a good job at it – especially since being a good hero in this case means killing lots of things! There’s an overall sense of distrust between them all, to the point that they refuse to back each other up and insult each other. The “team” is really held together by Osborne, who’s a wack job, Ares, also a wack job but at least he’s a god so it makes sense, and Captain Marvel, who is surprisingly quiet in this issue. I’m going to try to avoid spoilers in this review, but I think it’s worth mentioning that The Sentry is less of a pussy – at least after we get past page nine… and then he ceases to be a pussy – BECAUSE HE’S NOT IN THE BOOK AFTER THAT! Why does Bendis write him as a big ol’ wuss? Also, did I miss the part of Secret Invasion where he became The Void and then somehow stopped being The Void? No idea where that happened.

Anyway, this being the third part of what I’m pretty sure is going to be a six part story arc, it ends on a bit of cliffhanger, but the villain on villain action is fun to watch! The art is great at conveying the action and emotion, but I’m not a hugh fan of the style. That’s totally a personal bias. The sketchy lines and hard borders just aren’t my cup of tea, but, as I mentioned before, it does a great job of telling the story. I’m looking forward to seeing how this arc ends and to see if Ares, The Sentry and Nor-Varr stay in this bed of vipers, or if the villains start to kill each other. I’m voting for “kill each other.”

See you tomorrow!

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