Quick Reviews

Homecoming #1

Writer: David Wohl

Emilio Laiso - penciler, inker, cover

Michael Turner - artist, cover

[Michael Turner co-created this series]

Hunter is an average teenager who has just had a close encounter. But instead of an alien, Celeste, a teenage girl lands in his backyard – a girl who had been kidnapped/abducted eight years before – but she’s come back sporting powers. While Hunter is trying to help her fit into high school, aliens come for her and Hunter’s friends end up in the crossfire. Fortunately (or unfortunately…it’s too early to tell), Celeste can help heal them.

This title, co-created by the awesome Michael Turner (who also supplied a cover) is written by David Wohl. The story is a bit silly with a girl who doesn’t seem too phased by a faulty memory, having people in her house, or having powers. The story is all a little unbelievable and we don’t get to really like any of the characters in it. The artwork a little cartoony but it suits the story. Maybe this title has an inherent charm that will be easier to see a few issues down the road but for now I’m not coming back for #2.

Hawkeye #1

by Matt Fraction (writer), David Aja (art)

When he’s not fighting Ultron, Thanos, or (lately) the X-Men, he’s hanging out with his neighbors and standing up for them when his landlord triples the rent on them.

I’m not a Hawkeye fan. When he died I didn’t care and when he came back I didn’t care. I like the character but I’ve never been a fan of his stories. If he wasn’t a New Avenger or an Avenger I don’t think it would change the texture of those titles much.

But after this issue I’m rethinking my position on Clint Barton. After a terrific showing in this summer’s Avengers film, I was definitely interested in a fresh take on the character and Matt Fraction delivers. It’s heartwarming to see him bonding with his neighbors and a dog who saves his life and then is hit by a car. And we get to see that he’s just as dangerous with a playing card or a coin as he is with his bow. The artwork is gritty and makes everything look dirty and dangerous. The story does a little bouncing back and forth between right now and the past so it can be a little jarring at times but it’s so worth it. I might be collecting Hawkeye from now on.

Idolized #0-1

David Schwartz writer

Micah J Gunnell artist

Joule is looking for revenge. But first she’ll have to win Superhero Idol to get a spot on the world’s premiere superhero team: The Powered Protectors. Then she’ll have a clear shot at the villain Stasis who is responsible for her parents’ and sister’s deaths.

Idolized #0 does what any great, cheap primer issue is supposed to do – it introduces the concept and the main character and lays in a little look into the future to get us interested. Then #1 shows Joule’s actual tryout and completely fleshes out her backstory and why she wants revenge on Stasis.

While I found the reality show angle pretty boring it had Victoria Secret Supermodel Rachel Clark on the cover and…I’m only human. The story is actually really well told and the story promises that we’ll get to see Joule’s journey for a while before she’ll have her shot at Stasis. The artwork is a perfect companion whether it’s a conversation or a massive superhero battle. I think I’ll be back for a while.

Scarlet Spider #8

Story by Chris Yost

Art by Khoi Pham, Tom Palmer

When the Rangers respond to an incident at Roxxon Tower, Scarlet Spider finds himself dodging them while trying to prove Roxxon is dirty.

I haven’t seen the Rangers probably since West Coast Avengers #8 or since the “Handbook of the Marvel Universe” days so I was excited to see them on the cover. To be fair, I thought their names were The Texas Twisters but it has been decades since I’ve seen them in anything.

I tried Scarlet Spider #1 back when it was released and was less than impressed. But if this issue is any indication, Chris Yost has built this title into something special. This issue was fun to read and the art was excellent. I might have to get #7 to read the first part of this arc and see this arc through.

Avengers vs X-Men: Versus #5

Writer: Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron

Artist: Leinil Francis Yu

While Matt Fraction delivers on the fantastic Hawkeye #1, this story is confusing and doesn’t end in a clear victor. I’m not even sure of the stakes – is one trying to catch the other? I Hawkeye trying to capture Angel or escape from him? And Betsy’s a ninja – I’m sure she could have caught or dodged Hawkeye’s arrow.

On the other hand, Jason Aaron delivers one of the best stories I’ve read in some time. It’s written from both Storm and Black Panther’s points of view. The fight is fierce and heart wrenching and leaves wounds that look pretty permanent. I can’t wait to see what their relationship is like going forward.

Fantastic Four #610

by Jonathan Hickman & Ryan Stegman

AIM has purchased the island nation of Barbuda with the capacity to launch a nuclear strike on the United States. With so much at stake, the president assigns Reed Richards as America’s ambassador to Barbuda so he and the Fantastic Four travel to the island to…negotiate.

Jonathan Hickman is an outside the box thinker. AIM taking over an island might have been a good idea years ago but in the current Marvel Universe, the president would have sent the Avengers and the FF (who were with the president at the beginning of the issue) to stop AIM and arrest as many of them as possible. We just had World War Hulk, a superhero Civil War, a Secret Invasion, and loads of other stuff. And I know that Spider-Man’s spider-sense probably would have warned him about poison in the food in the commissary but he didn’t sense the FF were about to get ambushed. Or maybe there was a constant low buzz of danger but how did he know that didn’t mean his sandwich was poisoned?

The artwork was really good. It’s the first book I’ve picked up with Human Torch in it since he returned so I especially liked seeing him. I’m glad Spidey is still on the team. But I don’t think I’ll be picking up more issues.

Quick Comic Book Reviews

Wolverine and the X-Men #14 by Jason Aaron, Jorge Molina, Norman Lee

I love Kitty Pryde and when this book was solicited, Colossus was blacked out leading me to believe it could be the Bobby/Kitty date we've been waiting for. I had to buy the issue.

Kitty is dealing with keeping the school running while most of the teachers are embroiled in the Avengers vs X-Men mess but she's managing to coordinate the teachers and the students. She's clearly in her element. Then the Phoenix-powered Colossus shows up to take her on a date. What do you say to an irrational ex-boyfriend with the power of a god - she agrees.

On their date, Kitty tries to gently reason with him, asking if he and the others are going too far with their power. When Colossus snaps, angry that Kitty seems to care more about the school than him, he threatens to destroy it. But after a short fight, he spots the broken statue of Jean Grey and it snaps him out of it long enough for him to feel shame and he leaves.

It's a pretty good issue with fantastic art and good writing. But I would have liked to see Kitty herself get to Colossus and break through in the way the statue did. Kitty and Colossus have been together for a long time and Kitty's very smart. The issue should have ended with Kitty getting through to him and Colossus giving up his power. She could have said something like, "You're not Colossus. The real Colossus always had the power to destroy the school but never  would. You know why? The real Colossus isn't a selfish little kid who throws a tantrum when he doesn't get his way."

Having big events like that happen in the tie-in books isn't unprecedented. During the Mutant Massacre, Angel's wings were damaged beyond repair by Marauders in a tie-in issue of Thor. I think Kitty could have done what Spidey finally did in AvX #9 but it would have been more moving if Kitty did it.

X-Factor #240-241 by Peter David, Art by Neil Edwards, Craig Yeung, & Rick Ketcham

I keep coming back to this title. I think I've read half the issues that have come out this year and I'm still on the fence even though it continues to fascinate me.

I bought #240 because it's a one issue story. "Run Layla, Run" is a fun story that uses "Run Lola, Run" (a terrific film) as a creative template and doesn't shy away from a Lola cameo to make geeks (aka: me) grin. I don't know much about Layla so this is a better introduction to her than I've read before. Marvel writers enjoy playing with the idea of alternate realities and how one choice can lead to many things and it's used very powerfully here.

I bought #241 because I was on a roll and though - why not? With Havok set to star in Uncanny Avengers in October, his time on X-Factor is coming to an end (despite the fact he JUST joined 10 minutes ago). The baddies that pursued Madrox through all those dimensions ended up on Earth and they don't plan on laying low long. They set up a trap for Madrox but he sees right through it and thanks to the sudden arrival of the rest of the team, all doesn't look lost.

Peter David isn't a lazy writer (he's juggling over 10 main characters) and loves to stick in pop culture references when he can. He's at his best when his characters aren't tied up in all of Marvel's crossover junk. The art is okay as always. It's not fantastic but I can understand what's going on. This is a good start to "Breaking Points" but we'll see what happens down the road.

Avengers vs X-Men #9 by Jason Aaron, Adam Kubert, and John Dell

This Spidey-centric chapter of Avengers vs X-Men is fantastic. The issue opens with Spider-Man encouraging Hope to continue her training, insisting that eventually she would have the chance to contribute to their fight. The Avengers, or what’s left of them, then go to Sibera where Magik has brought a little Limbo to the inside of a mountain where the captive Avengers are being fed on by Hell Worms.

The Avengers battle to free the prisoners while trying to survive their battle with the Phoenix-powered duo of Colossus and Magik and Spider-Man decides to cut the rest of the team off from them, allowing them to escape. Spidey takes a severe beating before cleverly convincing the duo to take themselves out while trying to acquire each other’s Phoenix power.

There’s some nice stuff in there with Storm and the Black Panther too but Spider-Man is the star of this issue and provides a great example for Hope. Unless the sudden appearance of a Phoenix-powered Cyclops signals that she’s about to die…

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 by James Robinson, Philip Tan, Ruy José, and LeBeau Underwood

I’d describe myself as a casual fan of the Masters of the Universe franchise. I loved it as a child of the 80s but I haven’t reconnected with it the same way I’ve started collecting GI Joe figures. Still, the book was done by James Robinson and Philip Tan and I thought that was too much firepower to let go without trying it out. And I’m glad I did.

This is either the origin of how Adam becomes He-Man or how Adam regains his memory of being He-Man. Either way, it starts with Adam, a simple woodman, taking care of his sick father. He recognizes Zoar after she visits him a few times and has dreams of being He-Man. He gets someone to watch his father while he goes out into the world. But soon he is confronted by Beastman and has to survive his attack.

This is a pretty straightforward story but it uses the characters in ways I haven’t seen and makes them more solid and grounded than their cartoon counterparts. There’s nothing super special about this story but it’s the fact that I’m already invested in the characters and am looking forward to seeing the rest of the characters introduced. If they were creating a new character I probably wouldn’t be interested but this reinterpretation of existing characters is fantastic. I hope with this title and Smallville Season 11 that DC will do more licensed properties.

Revival #1 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton

There wasn't much promotion to this book when I ordered it except that it was ' rural noir' (whatever that means). I only knew it was some kind of suspense book written by the guy who gave us Hack/Slash (or co-gave it to us). It's about a small town, Rothschild, Wisconsin, where the dead come back to life - but not as zombies - as normal people. The town is sealed off by the government and the CDC is testing human and 'reviver' alike for an answer. The government suspects that some of the townspeople are carrying something in them that will let them come back to life. That sounds good on paper but their fear is that people won't die and that will lead to overcrowding and sparse resources.

The story features Officer Cypress who is assigned by her father, the sheriff, to dealing with reviver cases. On her first case, she encounters a reviver exhibiting extreme aggression and enhanced strength. I won't ruin the end for you or tell you more than that but it was an amazing first issue. It does everything a good #1 does - introduce the main character, introduce the conflict, and make me care about it. Tim Seeley and Mike Norton are a great team and I predict 'Walking Dead'-type success for this book. If anything else, the TPB will end up on the shelf next to all my Hack/Slash volumes.

Avenging Spider-Man #9 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson

According to wikipedia this is the first appearance of Robyn Hood (for all you first appearance collectors). The thing I like about Avenging Spider-Man is that it’s the new Marvel Team-Up with one to two issue stories. And no crossing over with Marvel’s 800 other events.

Peter Parker hitches a ride with Carol Danvers to Boston to visit his Aunt May. There’s some nice banter between the two of them before they’re interrupted by a young girl with a jetpack being pursued by people in robot armor. As Spidey tries to keep the girl safe, he and Captain Marvel discovers that it’s the girl who may be the real threat.

The writing is as good here as in DeConnick’s other title, Captain Marvel. With all of the interactions the Spidey and Carol have had, I wish they’d start dating – that would be a very interesting dynamic. Of course the Dodsons are always great at everything they draw so that’s a plus to this book.

Captain Marvel #1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Dexter Soy

Ms. Marvel wasn’t a great title. I tried it out a few times but I didn’t like it. Although I hate the hair, I do like the revamped costume and I like how Captain America encourages her to take the mantle. The issue opens with the two Caps fighting Absorbing Man. There’s some fun banter when Absorbing Man chides Cap about taking orders from Captain Marvel and he tells him that, technically, she outranks him. There’s also some nice stuff in there with Spider-Man and some great back story put in there as well.

The battle with Absorbing Man is obviously so DeConnick can establish the interpersonal dynamics between Cap and Captain Marvel since they don’t get to banter much with everything going on in the Avengers titles. It also serves to introduce their conversation about the Captain Marvel mantle. Of course if Absorbing Man really wanted to touch a moon rock, he could have bought a ticket to the museum, walked right in, then touched it instead of getting his butt kicked raising hell outside the museum. I’m thinking Absorbing Man never graduated high school.

Danger Girl / GI Joe #1 by Andy Hartnell, John Royle, Phillip Moy

Danger Girl is one of those hit and miss titles for me (mostly miss) but I still love the idea of it so I keep trying it. GI Joe is also hit a miss for me (mostly miss) but I love the characters (and the action figures). I’m a sucker for crossovers though so I had to pick up the first issue and I’m glad I did.

The issue starts with Scarlett and Flint being shot down and Hawk being ordered not to send anyone to find them. Fortunately Cover Girl has the card of one Johnny Barracuda, International Badass. Meanwhile, Scarlett and Flint are captured by Abbey Chase, Agent of Cobra! The writing is fun and John Royle’s art is so close to J. Scott Campbell’s that I had to make sure it wasn’t him doing the art. I can’t wait to get this whole min series in trade paperback.

Quick Reviews - Danger Club, AVX: VS, Trio, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual

Danger Club #1-3 by Landry Q. Walker, Eric Jones, and Michael “Rusty” Drake

The story picks up a few months after all of the adult heroes have gone to fight evil and haven’t returned. Assumed dead, Apollo, the most powerful sidekick, has started recruiting people for a team he’s leading and he’s killing people in his way. At least he was until the non-powered, Kid Vigilante stops him permanently.

The title’s first three issues are interesting and the art is fantastic. While the introductions to the characters themselves are sparse and you only get a little taste of people’s histories with one another, the story takes you through things like Kid Vigilante pulling the plug on his brother’s life support. Unfortunately, without a context, the story is a little hollow and leaves you no one to really root for or anything to care about. It seems like ‘Lord of the Flies’ but with superhero sidekicks.

Since it turns out the president of the United States, himself a retired super-hero is really behind the reason the heroes are missing, it might be worth sticking with to get to know the characters better and see if there’s anything more to this story than just the action…but we’ll see.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #39 by Brian Reed, Lee Garbett, and John Lucas

When a Horizon Labs experiment takes Peter out of the time stream, he gets a peek at what life without him would have been like. As he jumps to different places in his history Quantum Leap-style, he is forced to relive.

This story is sort of a jumbled-up, uninteresting time-travel story. The story of life without Peter Parker should be told but I would have preferred to see a life where Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacey were alive and happy but Norman Osborn controlled most of New York (like Lex does in Metropolis). I’d love to see a Peter Parker that no one knows or remembers trying to be a normal human being in that time-period before Dr. Strange and a team of Avengers came to rescue him from the time-stream. I’d love to see a Peter trying to decide whether or not the world was better off without him. That seems like a better conflict and would have more emotional resonance.

Instead we get a choppy story that ends with Uncle Ben telling him he’s proud of him (how many times have we seen that?) and breaks no new ground.

X-Men #29 by Victor Gischler & Will Conrad

Pixie and Spider-Man along with a group of Skrulls take on another Skrull who has taken a young boy hostage and is trying to escape into space.

What can I tell you – there were a ton of heroes on the cover of this book and very few were actually inside. So I judged the book by its cover. Not a great story (granted I didn’t read the previous part of the story) and I’m again reminded why I stay away from this title. For all the times that a character like Pixie looks up to Spider-Man and gets to meet him, half the time I’m disappointed that Spidey couldn’t inspire them more.

Trio #1 by John Byrne

Rock, Paper, Scissors. That’s who the Trio are. Ignore the similarities to the Fantastic Four because every comic book company or creator comes up with heroes that at least bear a passing resemblance to an existing superhero in either power, origin, costume, or attitude. I usually get the first three issues of something before I read them so I can give the title a fair shake but this is John Byrne so I dove right in and found the water gone and replaced with air. So as I lay at the bottom of this pool, broken and bloody, I curse John Byrne for tricking me into reading this mess.

Avengers Vs X-Men: Versus #3 by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, Christopher Yost, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson

I know – I reviewed the first issues and I was less than flattering about one of the fights (Thing vs Namor). But I saw one of my favorite characters, Magik, up against one of my favorite Avengers characters, Black Widow and had to make the purchase.

I’m going to start with the Thing vs. Colossus fight. You so rarely get to see Colossus fight anyone of his power level and I don’t think Thing has fought him since his power has been augmented. But in an all-out fight with the Juggernaut, Thing loses and should lose.

Now, the Black Widow vs. Magik fight was AWESOME. Black Widow is an expert fighter, spy, and marksman but Magik is a spellcaster with access to a host of abilities and practically grew up under the tutelage of The Danger Room and the many battle-hardened X-Men who trained with her. And you get to see Magik use all of her abilities – this is Magik at her best.

Quick Reviews: Avengers vs X-Men

New Avengers #25 by Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Deodato

Hundreds of years ago, The Master Yu Ti foresaw a redheaded girl who would wield the power of the Phoenix. He locates the redhead from his dreams and decides that she will be K’un Lun’s next Iron Fist.

GOOD: K’un Lun isn’t a corner of the Marvel Universe I get to visit much.

BAD: It’s part of an attempt to tie the Iron Fist to the Phoenix force. I have two problems: 1) if Danny was connected, where was he the last 20 times the Phoenix force wreaked havoc on the Earth and 2) if you repeatedly fight an omnipotent cosmic being that rarely kills anyone, how serious am I supposed to take the threat? Phoenix only seems to decimate inhabited worlds we’ve never heard of.

VERDICT: Another useless tweak to continuity that only muddles the mythology.

Avengers vs X-Men #1-3 by Ed Brubaker & John Romita Jr.

The Phoenix force is coming and the Avengers and the X-Men agree that it’s coming for Hope. But they disagree on each other’s course of action. Cyclops wants to see what happens while the Avengers want to keep the Phoenix away from Hope. So of course they’re going to throw down to see who gets their way.

GOOD: Nice to see dissenting opinions on each team and conversations like Iron Man asking Cap if taking down the X-Men is the right move.

BAD: It’s tough to buy the premise since the Phoenix force isn’t new to the Marvel Universe. If this was the first time it had been to Earth, I would agree with both teams and understand why they’re overreacting. Instead of the Avengers forming a plan, they should have gone to offer support to the X-Men. Even if they win and get Hope, they’re exhausting themselves and their resources (especially if one of them gets injured) and they’ll need all the help they can get if the Phoenix force tries to destroy the world. Also, I don’t like the drama with Wolverine and Cap kicking him off a Quinjet. It doesn’t make sense that, with the resident experts on the Phoenix force in the wind, you would willingly lose one of the last experts you had access to (he still has Beast).

VERDICT: It’s a crossover for no other reason than to have one. It doesn’t add to the mythology and pours another layer of crazy to the relationships of these characters that will be glossed over when a writer wants Iron Man to team up with the X-Men or the X-Men to appear in Captain America. I don’t know how it will end but here’s an early prediction – the Phoenix force will come, it will inhabit Hope, the Earth will be safe, and the Avengers and X-Men will shake hands and go their separate ways. Not interested. The first three were enough for me. I didn’t read Schism and I’m not reading this either. I’m still into Ultimate X-Men and Astonishing X-Men though.

VS: The Avengers vs The X-Men #1 by Kathryn & Stuart Immonen, Jason Aaron & Adam Kubert

This limited series goes deeper into the fights you don’t get to see in the main Avengers vs X-Men issues. In this issue, Iron Man battles Magneto and Thing goes toe-to-fin with Namor.

GOOD: Iron Man vs Magneto was a really interesting read. Even though Tony came prepared to handle Magneto, Magneto still has a lot of surprises up his sleeve. It was a good fight and, considering Tony came prepared, it ended how it should have.

BAD: Thing vs Namor? Seriously? We needed a deeper view into a battle that has been fought over and over again over the last 50 years? I can’t think of two older enemies or a more uninteresting fight. It would have been awesome to see Magik take Strange out on her turf but we got Thing vs Namor instead. Oh, and some of the “AvX Fun Facts” were informative but the ones meant to be funny undercut how grave the battles were supposed to be in light of what was at stake.

VERDICT: It’s an okay attempt at a tie-in mini that’s not another boring ‘Frontline’ mini. Some of the fights could be really fun but considering this issue, I would expect a 50/50 chance of enjoying one of the stories in each issue.