All New X-men #8-9: The X-Men meet some other people!

I picked up a new batch of comics yesterday, and hopefully I'll talk about some of them. Sometimes if I find nothing interesting (extremely good/extremely bad) about an issue, then I'll say nothing about it. For example, I like Original Sin so much (well, most of it) that I'm not even sure how to judge it. I think if I did something like Infinity where I go through the whole event, then maybe I can review it as a whole. This comes from the fact that I picked up issues #3-6 of the series yesterday.

All new X-men #8

The cover shows that the Avengers will come into contact with the “new” X-men. Will it be AvX all over again? Let’s find out. The variant cover actually highlights the classic team as a part of this anniversary cover setup. I’ll admit...I really like the original line-up of x-men, that’s why I read and reviewed some of the old X-men issues (#1-38 for now, I need to get around to #39). However, I’m starting to get a bit annoyed that they keep getting shoved in my face. That aside, I realized another fun fact: The x-men met the avengers before in X-men #9 (1965), but these X-men were taken from X-men #8...so before they met the avengers! It’s still sort of a throwback to that issue though, at least I think.

Anyway, the book opens by continuing the scene with Warren and Angel (The present warren thinks he’s a real angel, so he calls himself that...plus it makes it easier for me to separate them)

Hydra makes an attack on the avengers tower, and both angels swoop in to help.Warren does manage to take some injuries since his wings aren't metal like his current counterpart. Cap and the others arrive to clean up, and he realizes that there are two Angels. He flies to the school to talk to Hank right away. The two of them are in the Illuminati together, so I’m not surprised that he’d suspect Beast here. Young Scott even introduces himself to Cap to try to calm him down.

Meanwhile, Warren freaks out and tries to activate the time machine so that he can leave. He’s always been a bit hysterical. I remember reading the storyline in X-Factor where he lost his wings, I mean he really lost his mind then. Speaking of losing his mind, the guy snaps and then suddenly appears to be perfectly happy. Seems like his present self isn't the only one who has to lose himself in delusions. Turns out Jean walks in, looking very creepy with some dark shading, and implies that she altered his mind. So the twist is that jean is also going off the deep end and using her powers to assume a tight grip on everyone!

This issue was pretty good. The characters are all starting to show different sides to them, going through their own ways of coping with this. It was nice to realize that the Avengers and the X-men still don’t even get along all the time even after the battle. Captain America still holds the school responsible for the terrorist cyclops and wonders why they don’t do anything about it along with messing around in time. I’d give this issue a solid 8.7/10. It’s getting harder and harder to see who is a hero and who is a villain when everyone seems to be doing terrible things. Hank forces people out of their timeline, Jean is starting to control people’s minds, and Warren just wants to get the heck out! I don’t blame him, things are getting out of hand...even Beast admits that. The action scene between the two angels was also cool to imagine and see, both of them flying around dodging gunfire and smashing things. It’s awesome.

Issue 9

This issue has the x-men facing off against Mystique’s Brotherhood of Mutants. According to Wikipedia, this is literally the fourth time someone has officially brought this group together...it’s kinda ridiculous. This time it’s just mystique, Lady Mastermind (who creates illusions like her father), and Sabertooth. If you’re wondering what happened to the Blob (who is one of my favorite x-men characters), he actually lost his powers on M-Day...but apparently he was able to get them back using mutant enhancing drugs that mystique gives him in a few issues from now. So, now he needs drugs to get his powers, great. As for Toad, last I remember he was working as a janitor in the Jean Grey School...and all that changed is that he now does the same job at the Hellfire Club. In essence, most of these guys are washed up, and mystique only has like four guys to back her up.

We open with the original x-men in times square. This reminds me of the same scene from the end of the Captain America movie. Suddenly, the sentinels attack and the group gets scattered and beaten around. Normally, I’d question why, but then I remembered that cyclops is still going around starting a revolution. Then, it is shown that they were in the danger room the whole time. Wow! Now it’s starting to remind me of the opening to X-3 (which is much worse….).

The team gets into the standard post-failed-training funk, but then Jean suddenly read’s Scott’s mind and finds out about Mystique.

Speaking of her, she shapeshifts into Maria Hill and blows Lady Mastermind out of prison. I don’t know why she didn't just release tons of villains instead of just one, but whatever...guess she only wants mutants. Lady Mastermind comments that her name is a bit strange, but it suits her fine. She scares away the guards using an illusion of the MARVEL ZOMBIES! That’s a really neat little cameo.  Beast clarifies to Warren that he took him from his time to try to prevent the human-mutant war that Cyclops seems to be starting. Just then, Cyclops and his ex-men (get it, cause they’re ex x-men? They’re also called the extinction team, but whatever.) teleport to the front door.

Overall, this issue seems like another in-between one. Not very much happens, and even when jean figures out mystique is involved, the team has no time to do anything about it. The art for the series is still some of the best I’ve seen though, with it’s quirks and all. I’m still going to give this a 7.5/10 and see how the x-men will jump into action next issue!

All New X-men #6-7: What's bottled water?

All New X-men #6

First thing I should mention is that the variant cover is an anniversary variant that features one of my favorite x-men teams...Generation X. Extra points for just having that. The original cover shows jean literally living in the professor’s shadow. It must be tough to be with him one minute, then suddenly travel to a future where he is gone.

This book starts out pretty graphic, and that’s slightly off putting. Jean has a vision that Scott is going to come back, and suddenly wolverine jumps through the window and stabs her in the neck at the end of the nightmare. I've actually had dreams like this where I wake up after getting shot at point blank or something...so it’s pretty horrific.

Meanwhile, Cyclops is so shocked by everything that he just takes a motorcycle and leaves the school. I’m pretty sure that’s wolverine’s bike dude, I thought you DIDN'T want him to kill you. He already threatened you before, so you've pretty much sealed your fate now. Regardless, I think that young cyclops must be pretty dumb to just leave like that. The old cyclops probably would have decided to stick with the original team at least. Speaking of, wolverine hears the bike take off (He wouldn’t even need super-hearing for that, I mean...motorcycles are really freaking loud if you've ever been around one) and chases after it in his jeep.

Jean gets another psychic attack and among other things we get a few more plot points through her reading minds. There’s a bubble in the middle that I think is cyclops, who mentions wanting to see himself from the present. Hey, even if you wanted to do that...you should also realize that he is working with MAGNETO now! Why would you want to go see him when he might just try to blast your head off again. It’s not like he knows magneto has changed over the years, he only knew the 60’s super villain! Another hint is dropped about angel, a few of the students mention he went missing. Bendis is planting all these hints that angel is going to go against the team (at least, I think he will), it’s sort of interesting. I heard he also turned against the uncanny x-force and had to get his memory wiped. Warren seems like a pretty untrustworthy guy in general now.

Even I’m getting a headache trying to read all these thought bubbles! Some of them are just nonsense, but a lot of them seem important. The problem is that we don’t see who is thinking what so it becomes even more confusing. Kitty helps her focus her powers a bit more, or at least learn to calm them down.

Then we cut to cyclops from the 1960’s driving into a modern town. He is instantly confused by the idea of a smartphone and all that. He’s even confused by the fact that there is bottled water because (according to my googling abilities) that wasn't even mainstream until the 70’s (my mom was even able to confirm this)

“Five dollars?! For a magazine?!”- Cyclops, and everyone who used to buy comics for 12 cents back in the day. Scenes like this where the time-displaced person is confused by stuff is so cliche, but when it’s written well it always make me laugh...like right now.

Wolverine comes back and tries to drag “Slim” back to the school. Cyclops learns about Wolvie’s adamantium bones, and then decides to blast him backward (knowing that it won’t hurt) and drives off. We find out that the thought bubble about seeing himself was actually what Angel is thinking (which doesn't seem as dumb since like angel said, he never saw himself. What if he died or something? Would he still want to see that? This is just coming from me though...I study time travel and not only know it’s a bad idea to see your future, but I also don’t want to see it.) who is following cyke from the air. Just then, Archangel (as I should call him) shows up and starts to figure everything out. The issue ends with mystique seeing a video of the younger cyclops and becoming suspicious. This issue is still very good, and I’d be happy giving it somewhere around a 8.5/10. This series never disappoints and next issue features the first actual villain to take on the “all new x-men”.

Issue 7

The regular cover shows Mystique with her hands all over cyclops and it’s a seriously creepy one, but the variant is actually focused on one of my other favorites: Wolverine and the X-men.

It seems kinda strange to celebrate an anniversary with a newer series, but it still looks awesome!

That aside, I really don’t like this cover compared to the other ones. Anyway, cyclops goes to a bank and steals money from his future self’s account. Since he is a wanted terrorist though, the guards decide to call the police. Wolverine comes to bail Slim out, but then it turns out that it was mystique in disguise. She tells him that he’s probably the only one who can stop himself. Even Scott points out how weird it is to be talking about himself like this. She tells him to question Wolverine’s school as well as himself, clearly setting him up to just wreak everything for her.

When the real wolverine shows up, he explains that Charles probably wouldn't want him to kill the young or old cyclops, even if that would be for the better. He believes that Charles would've tried to save the older Scott, and not just kill him and be done with it.

Then we see kitty and iceman arguing about training. I love how much of a stupid goofball iceman used to be compared to now. He used to throw snowballs at magneto like it was serious business. The issue ends with Young Scott showing Teen Jean his old wedding invitation and walking away. I could only imagine what it’s like to see your future wife like this, it must be super awkward for him knowing that he’s going to marry her when in the comics they just recently met like a week or so ago.

This issue wasn't as strong as the other ones, but it does an alright job of setting things up for the coming story. The best stuff is yet to come, but for right now this issue is a 7.5.

All New X-men #5

I'm still trying to catch up with Bendis's great All New X-men. This issue is a real turning point for the series as we see the teams start to form and big choices being made. I should have pointed this out before, but each cover/variant highlighted a different team member, and for this issue it was Jean. The cover is a slight expansion on the flashback that we will see inside the book, and it seriously feels awesome.

The issue opens showing the Teen Jean (as I've seen her called on the internet now) wearing her classic (2nd) Marvel Girl costume. I honestly think it looks pretty good in the modern art style, or at least much better than it looked back then if not a bit simple. She also points out that she is telepathic to beast and he realizes that she didn't gain that ability for a year in the original timeline (according to Wikipedia, the specific issue was Uncanny X-men #43, 1968).

How is she talking to beast? Well she’s using telepathy to talk to him inside his mind while he is in treatment. That probably explains the costume, since beast mentioned it was his favorite.

At this time the human-looking younger beast enters and argues with himself before we cut back out to the hospital room. They pull a Reed Richards (collaborating with alternate versions of yourself, like the council of reeds) comparing mental notes and telling everyone to leave.

Meanwhile, we rejoin Ben (he found out he was a mutant at the mutant rally that present Scott went to) leaving his school and meeting cyclops outside. I think this is the third new-mutant (at least for this series) or something like that. However, Ben wants nothing to do with cyke and ignores him. So for reference we have Chris (with the healing power), Eva (with the time power), and now Ben (who has a few powers, which don’t seem that useful. Apparently he can steal someone’s appearance or mimic someone’s appearance, fusing it with his. That just seems like a worse version of shape-shifting. Plus later he also gets pheromone boosting powers...which must be some “secondary mutation”. For example, he mimics Scott’s eyeglasses by turning his eyes red.) Scott points out that he isn't fully shape-shifting, but he can mimic parts of people (and apparently voices too, and it’s pretty much confirmed that he can’t mimic powers like Morph).

Anyway, point is that his power is pretty much minor-shape shifting, and it sucks. However, cyclops says that his power might be similar to Darwin’s in that he can shape-shift into things in his environment...which might be cool! Scott takes him to the New Xavier School, which magneto is building inside of the old facility. This opened the door for Uncanny x-men #1 (vol.3)

We return to beast, who re-explains his reason for bringing them back...since jean keeps saying he shouldn't have. I really like how the original x-men get to meet the newer x-men like Kitty and ect. that weren't in the original line-up.

Jean :”How did I die?”     Beast: “Which time?”

Beast then does a sort of “mind meld” to show the new jean her old past (or is it the old jean’s new past...whatever...it’s confusing). I really like these full page flashback panels are awesome. For reference, there were also flashbacks like this for Hulk and Peter Quill (in guardians) as far as I know. This freaks jean out and she starts blowing up the lab.

She goes outside for some air and we join the old x-men outside the school.

Wolverine says he should kill the past cyclops right now so that he doesn't kill Charles now. Wolverine, the master of bad time travel, says this. Nice job in Age of Ultron dude. The reason this won’t work is because THIS Scott is taken from another universe/timeline.

Cyclops: “I can’t believe you are an x-man.”

Cyclops is kinda right, all Wolverine wants to do is kill people most of the time.

Beast arrives to break things up, and shows off his new blue gorilla form. So he went from Cat in new x-men to Ape in all new x-men :).

Jean tells the x-men that they are going to stay in the past, and Warren (angel) continues to cause friction within the team. He made some subtle comments before, but now he directly voted to leave. Also, Jean remembers how close she was to wolverine and now decided she wants to avoid both versions of cyclops. Kitty also takes command over the new group, promising she will keep them safe.

I think this issue had a lot of moments that really shocked me, the series is doing a great job of loading on twists and interesting plots for the most part. So for me, this issue is pretty much a 9.5/10. The art is still very solid and tons of things are packed into this issue. It’s good since now current Scott has his room to grow in his own book while shifting more focus to the original x-men. The original team still doesn't fit in very well, but are proving themselves useful. I’m starting to like this series more and more, so I’m hoping it doesn't get any worse.

Classic Review: Amazing Spiderman #30 (1965)

6/13/12 [ASM #30]

A boring Wednesday night, and I’m starting off my notes with spider man. I've wanted to make notes on comics for a long time. I'm starting with number #30, and not sure if I'll go back.

Anyway, unto the issue at hand [literally, well it's not in my hand...but whatever].

Cover/Page 1:

The cover is really nice here, a really awesome wide shot and tons of cool details.

Title: Claws of the Cat [no, this isn't black cat's premiere, just a cat burglar...really?]. Page 1 is actually a pretty decent example of an inner cover. The space is wasted a bit, but it's the 60's so it's cool for the time.

Page 2:

We see that Ned (Betty Brant’s BF) carried the startled woman home.

-Reads wiki- Turns out Ned is later brainwashed into becoming a hobgoblin decoy and dies later in the aftermath...good for him...

Aunt May is still feeling sick, but she continues to hide this from Peter. According to the wiki, aunt may has been sick since issue #10 when she got a blood transfusion from peter.

Since it hasn’t been mentioned here, the next panel shows that May is still hanging out with Ms. Watson, who mentions her daughter Mary Jane.

Spider Man goes on patrol, swinging right past our villain...the “cat burglar.” Why is he called that? Did he get scratched by a radioactive cat? Is he seriously just a normal guy? He has a utility belt, so I guess he's kinda like Batman...according to the wiki, he later donned an actual costume [see The Prowler], and is currently in jail after Civil War. The Cat Burglar [Also called simply The Cat] even points out that Spider-man would never pay attention to a burglar like him.

Page 3:

In a interesting twist, it turns out the villain actually robbed Jonah [who is my favorite character by the way]. He calls the police and offers a $1000 reward for the Cat's capture. Fun fact, one thousand dollars then would be valued about seven or eight times more today.

Meanwhile, the Cat's gang...wait! He has a GANG of people with him now? In purple outfits? Ok...

Anyway, this gang robs a truck full of uranium that is coming from Stark Industries.

Page 4-5:

Spider-man Swings unto the scene [literally]. The gang members stick to the truck using “magnetic shoes”...where can I get some of those?! -spends five minutes looking for magnetic shoes-

Spider-man proves he doesn't need magnetic shoes, since he has his wall stick power thing.

Spidy visits Jonah to tell him that he's going to capture the Cat for the reward, Jonah just yells at him. As spidy leaves, JJJ has a strange imagination sequence where he realizes that he'll have to be the one to pay spider man and basically prove that all the editorials about him are false. Strangely, the check is made out to “Spiderman”...can he even cash that?

Page 6-10:

Jonah calls Foswell [the former crime boss turned reporter] and tells him to catch the Cat before spiderman can. Foswell pulls out his Patch disguise [from #27]. The next day, Peter leaves for work at the Bugle and bumps into Liz Allen [on and off girlfriend of Flash Thompson]. Speaking of Flash, it seems that the big bully is stalking Liz, and she asked peter for help. Pete sees a criminal on a nearby roof and knocks flash out quickly. He then jumps unto the roof, looking a bit like a Dragon Ball-Z reject. After he jumps unto the room he quickly changes to spiderman [off panel], beats up an armed guy, then jumps back down as peter parker. Is he turning into the Flash? Speaking of Flash again, he manages to send the lughead on a wild goose chase for liz. Afterward, peter calls Betty and they have a little chat. Just for reference, Betty fainted after the scorpion attacked jonah's office in ASM #29.

Another twist, Ned has proposed to Betty and peter isn't sure what to do [since he likes her too]. Betty talks about how she hates spider man [who couldn't save her brother from doc-ock] and how she would never want to be with him, peter is super shocked.

Page 11-17:

Peter storms out in anger and emotions pour out, it's a pretty shocking scene. 0-0. Peter gives up on his relationship with Betty. To cool off some steam, peter busts some more armed robbers. A member of the Cat gang drives by and says that they hired that gang to rob a bank. Hold on! So...the Cat started as ONE GUY WITH A BELT AND SOME ROPE....then he's in control of a gang of about

4 -5 guys with purple suits and magnetic shoes...and then that gang hires another gang to rob a bank? Talk about organized crime! On page 14. we see the cat burglar out of costume and he actually looks pretty cool, minus the cigarette. The cat then moves out to steal something else and try to take out spider-man. My only question is...what the hell did he do with the uranium?! Anyway, the Cat is noticed by someone in an apartment and the police, media, and spider-man arrive on the scene.

The Cat attacks with such frightening weapons as a “blinding” flashlight and a grappling hook. This is coming from the same superhero who gets bombs and guns lobbed at him on a daily basis.

Page 18-21:

oh...well it seems the Cat does actually carry some explosives and a gun, go figure! Luckily, sticking to walls makes it easy to dodge explosives. Peter's spider reflexes also help him glide away from bullets.

The police arrive for backup, but a smoke bomb helps the Cat to hide. However, since it's kinda hard to hide from a whole police squad, the cops manage to capture the cat! Peter takes some pictures of the action to sell later. Apparently, JJ doesn't need to pay the reward to the police and Foswell was completely useless. Peter turns in his pictures to the Bugle and keeps his distance from Betty.

A pretty good Issue overall, but there are tons of plot holes. I'd rate this issue a 7.5/10. High marks for the good drama and pretty cool action scenes. However, the villain and his gang really drags it down for me. Oh and also...where was this gang when the Cat was being broadcast on the news and tracked by the police!

All New X-men #3-4

I'm really liking what Bendis is doing, so I'm reviewing both his series today! Trying to catch up with Guardians and X-men without reading trades is hard...

Guardians of the Galaxy #10

I didn’t have much to say about the last issues anyway, but the book had Franco Francavillia as a guest artist, it was great, and that’s pretty much the only cool thing. So now instead of steve mcniven we have a great collection of guest artists.

This issue focuses on Gamora and Angela, so that’s pretty interesting considering they don’t like each other much. This is a pretty good one-off issue, almost like a team-up book. A good action issue to be sure, but without much else. The cliffhanger ends with peter saying that they can’t find thanos, and there’s no way he’s on earth (where he was frozen in infinity) because they’d know.

Next, bendis pulls off a crossover between his two books (All New X-men and GotG) with the trial of Jean grey. For now this issue is a 7.5 since it has a bunch of cool action scenes, but does almost nothing to advance the story besides giving angela more dialogue. I almost felt like she talked too much.

Guess it’s time for me to catch up on all-new x-men. Last time I checked I was on issue #3…

All New X-men #3-21

-Probably not going to give scores for these, but I’d go with a baseline 8 or 8.5 for most of these, cause the series is great-

Issue 3

We start by following Scott’s team (from uncanny x-men) as they start to realize that the phoenix

force incident has disrupted their powers. For example, scott loses control of his blasts and destroys a car, and emma can’t even use telepathy anymore!

It’s really torture for Scott since he remembers not being able to control his powers as a child just like now. I mean, his only option would be to blind himself and that’s pretty harsh.

Magneto questions him, saying that he knows what it is like to do horrible things. He thinks that Scott’s will is what was influencing the phoenix, and that he lashed out in anger and killed Xavier.

It really is interesting that Scott is struggling to continue to be a hero and that his values are being twisted.

Magick arrives and informs cyclops that her powers were actually enhanced by the AvX event, so good for her. However, her brother (colossus) is still missing.  When Cyclops arrives at a mutant rally to recruit for his rebel team, he finds the original x-men (from the past) for the first time!

Issue 4

Have you wanted to see the x-men fight the x-men? Well now’s your chance! Cyclops vs cyclops is an interesting fight since at this point scott lost control of his power, and younger scott has much less combat experience. Plus Scott’s got magneto as backup so I think Older Cyclops can win even if he can’t make precise shots.

At first Scott just thinks the original x-men are some kind of psychic attack or even that Xavier is somehow showing him this. Old-School jean actually hears cyclops’s monologue, but she’s not used to it since from what I remember she originally only had telekinesis and got telepathy later. (according to the wiki she got telepathy as part of syncing into the 616 universe and apparently she has stronger base [non-phoenix] powers than the original marvel girl]

Marvel Girl blasts cyclops to the ground after realizing that he killed the professor and that he loves him. Scott blows his older self away and  teleports out with magneto again.

“Cyclops is a [censored] and magneto is a coward? This is our future?” - Classic Iceman

Two new mutants are in the weapon x facility (where cyclop’s team is hiding out) one controls time and the other can heal people, interestingly.

Meanwhile, the 60’s x-men regroup and jean grey still is overwhelmed by the thoughts of those around her because they can’t be shut off. I really like this panel, it’s just shoved full of repetitive annoying word balloons...it’d be terrible to listen to stuff like this all day.

“Evil Cyclops” as the older x-men call him, is pretty mad since he already figured out what is going on..and he’s not sure what to do about it. I love how a lot of emotion is actually carried through the character’s expressions on their face...it’s a great facet of the art. Anyway, the old x-men return to the jean grey school just in time to find out that beast’s mutation is getting out of control and he’s starting to die. The whole reason he sent the x-men back to begin with was because he knew he didn’t have much time left. This issue is a little bit cooler than the others, so it’s a 8.8/10.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol.3) #7

I’m going to continue catching up with Guardians, and hopefully see it next weekend. Before that I wanted to add that there were a few books that I added to my list that weren’t reviewed.

So the series I added recently were:

Legendary Star Lord, Deadpool Gauntlet miniseries, Avengers World (on the fence), Iron Fist, All New Invaders, All New Ghost Rider, Nightcrawler, Moon Knight, and Original Sin. Overall, finding only two questionable titles in this many (Avengers World and She Hulk) makes me really happy.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol.3) #7

I like the group shot on the cover, but at the same time it also seems a bit too similar. Props for including Peter’s classic-ish costume though. However, more recently he’s being portrayed with the movie outfit...though that’s not really a complaint since that costume is good too.

Anyway, this is the first issue where the team actually interacts with Angela besides fighting her last issue. I personally don’t like the idea of Angela in the marvel universe, because to me she seems artificial or forced in. Now all these retcons are being made in Thor so that she can be explained in. I find it really annoying, and I honestly don’t think I’ll ever like her character. I just wanted to get that out there.

I really like how Angela asks them such simple questions that they can’t even answer. Like, they have no reason to hold her and don’t really work for anybody. Again, I really don’t think she’s a character worth introducing since it forces there to be all these retcons and weird explanations that won’t even be explained until 9 months after she is introduced (in Original Sin. The Thor comics just explained her history around a few weeks ago from when I’m writing this!). It doesn't feel like a mystery, I just think it feels like awkward writing. Then again there are devils in marvel, why not angels right?

Though they do add that she is from heaven, but again, they don’t exactly clarify that heaven is the tenth realm until later on.

I also hate that angela has those blank eyes. I really hate characters like that, she seriously reminds me of Broly or something...it creeps me out. The montage of her hunting is pretty interesting to watch though. Quill decides to let her go, since he saw the Age of Ultron time collapse thing too (ugh, what a stupid event), but Gamora is still unsure of her.

The end of the issue shows the fleet headed to earth from infinity, leading to the tie-in issues.

The issue is pretty good, despite being focused on a character I don’t like. Bendis as usual is best when writing dialogue and it really shows. I would give this issue a solid 6.5/10. Nothing amazing, but alright.  

I’m not sure if I’m going to be reading the tie-in issues, but I’ll most likely skim them without reviews. Until then. I’ll have to find a time to go to the comic shops soon.

June-July 2014 Comic Reviews

[New Avengers #1-9, Avengers #19, Nova #1-9, Infinity, Avengers Arena #1, Avengers World, She Hulk, Iron Fist]

6/7/14

-New Avengers Vol.3 #1-3

A few updates to my notes section first. I recently unified all my notes into one google doc, and now it gives me the opportunity to create unified notes on every comic I read regardless of series. I have a nagging feeling that some of the notes I wrote are lost, but I think it’d be better to just move on. I’m starting here with Matt Fraction’s run on New Avengers. The reason being that the Infinity Event was the first time I read NA (as I will call it) and never read the previous volumes. My goal is to read these issues along with the event and see if I should continue or drop the series for the future. In another note, I’m also planning on picking up Mighty Avengers regardless just to see how that goes as well. I have already read Fraction’s lead-up to Infinity in Avengers (vol.5) #17 while infinity was going on and then picked up #18 afterwards. I might (not likely) also go back to read #1-16 of that series, but NA was shorter so I decided to start there. For the record, I’m currently also trying to catch up on Young Avengers and considering reading Avengers Arena + Uncanny Avengers. I've also never read Secret Avengers, but I don’t think I’ll start now.

-The issue begins with a recap of the founding of the illuminati originally depicted in New Avengers (vol.1) #7. The actions of the illuminati were also covered in one-shots and a mini series as the buildup to Civil War.

-Black Panther meets with a group of chosen warriors in Wakanda and learns of a star map as well as a sort of micro-wormhole leading to somewhere else. Here we first meet the villainess named Black Swan, who is very mysterious and beautiful. Now that’s my type of girl :). She also has black speech bubbles, very cool.

-She speaks of destroying worlds and quickly shoots at black panther with her strike force, vaporizing the warriors with him. T’chala is able to block the lasers using some kind of hardened-light shield (thank you google for telling me all of his gadgets). I’m starting to become a fan of this guy. In the animated series (EMH) and here he has a great mix of athletics and advanced tech.

-Panther tries to escape, but Swan’s Strike Force hunts him down. He can’t teleport away due to being trapped in a space-rift. Why does the cosmic lady have a military strike team with plasma guns and laser swords again? I hope that gets explained.

-As panther hunts down the men, Swan kills Manifold (or some kind of alternate version of him since this one is white rather than black). Panther then punches Swan (oh, I just noticed she’s black swan and he’s black panther...is there a black spider around here too?) before she can activate White!Manifold’s device.

-The alternate world falls apart and the illuminati begin to arrive in Wakanda. Black Panther still feels that they do not represent the best of intentions as he broke away from them to begin with.

I give this issue a solid 8/10. The art is very good and gives a fitting tribal feel to the whole comic. Fraction’s writing, for those unaware, is fairly complex but he likes to explains things in the long run. I’m going to continue reading just to see how this Illuminati interacts with each other. Considering that I’m a fan of Namor and Panther, it should be a treat.

Picking up with issue two

-Swan, continuing to babble in her fake language, was captured by the Illuminati and she warns Reed Richards of what is coming.

-Meanwhile, in Panther-Land, the wakandans are pretty uneasy about letting namor into the city due to the recent wars with Atlantis (during avengers vs x-men when namor was possessed by phoenix). T’chala finds Namor and warns him not to act out, which is probably a challenge for such an arrogant character. Panther even threatens him violently, but I doubt he even COULD kill namor at all!

-The Illuminati gather to discuss the possible end of everything. They each confirm their identities (because in a world of shapeshifters, magic, and reality warping you can’t be too sure) and remind the reader that they possess the infinity gems (basically allowing them to control reality).

-The simplified version is that the multiverse was set off by a chain reaction caused by an unnatural event that is now causing realities to literally crash into and destroy each other. I’m not sure if the unnatural event they reference was Age of Ultron, but that would make sense (unless it is infact something else). I’m so happy there are all these diagrams presented or I might just go insane.

-Since professor X was killed in avengers vs x-men (for good, like permanently...at least for now) they have to get the Mind Gem back and re-make the infinity gauntlet (although I know the gems get destroyed, it still seems kinda strange that they needed all six to begin with...I’m still happy they got destroyed though.)

This continues to be very solid (8/10 for me). The complex techno-babble could have been a lot worse, and somehow it was actually very simple to understand. I really like the interaction between Panther and the others, since he’s not afraid to question their judgement. Also spoilers, beast joins the illuminati (thank you internet) :P.

Issue #3

-These recaps are starting to remind me of a TV show -sighs as I imagine it cut together with music-

-Beast joins the Illuminati, and he’s a great replacement for the Professor for sure.

I really like Black Swan as a character/her dialogue (at least when she speaks english), and I hope she doesn't end up just going away. She’s really sleek and black and white. It’s very cool to see a new character as well.

The gems break (no more instant fixes, at least) besides the time gem (cause marvel loves screwing with time too much to let that go). I think the worst shock of all is that they erase Cap’s memory. Overall this issue was more a 7/10 for me just cause it really seems sort of lacking in terms of art (it all seems very stock-like) and I had multiple glitches while reading it. I also really didn’t like the cover, and the variant was even worse. It looked pretty cheap.

When I’m feeling better I’ll probably cover issues #4-9 and so far they are all very decent. Probably not something I’d normally read (very serious tone), but it’s good to see some stuff I missed in the event.

7/8/14

New Avengers Vol.3 #4

Whenever you see galactus on the cover, you know something serious is going down!

I also really love the Black Swan Variant for this issue, with the whole crushed logo.

More confusing technology is our greeting to this comic, but at least I could google what a Dyson Sphere is (a machine that can be placed around the sun to capture energy). Is iron man going to build a death star? Pretty much, yeah.

Doctor Strange starts to research black magic as a solution, and the time gem is found phasing in and out of his hand. The Illuminati tried to figure out how to deal with this since the gems didn't work. They have less than 6 hours to save their universe, and then galactus shows up in the alternate universe. Reed says that the place has only a few minutes left, but since they were going to destroy this earth anyway...the Illuminati doesn't really mind.

Galactus’s newest herald (another alternate universe character) shows up to tell the illuminati that they are basically just ants in this massive universal game. The issues ends with the herald being attacked in response.

A 6.5/10 issue for me. It really is confusing, and it’s a bit of a lame set-up issue in my opinion. I really didn’t enjoy it much. Previewing that the next issue is about Black Swan, I should enjoy it more.

Issue #5

Another very cool cover here showing all the ripples of the avengers along with the lady holding the scales.

Black Swan is finally let out of her cage, proving to the group that she is much stronger than they believed.

Back in the past, Black Bolt takes out Terrax with his scream (while the others were just beat around). I feel like this whole event was made just to show how bad-ass black bolt is, and it works :D. Galactus destroys the alt-earth and the Illuminati flee.

They realize they need Swan’s help after two incursions have already taken place. We learn about how Swan grew up, and how complex her real name is. She tells the Illuminati that she knows how to avoid the deaths of these universes, as it seems to be her specialty since she can see them with her own eyes. God,she’s starting to remind me of Misa now.

Anyway, the third event is going down in doctor doom’s backyard, so we’ll see how it goes down next issue. I didn't like this issue much either, so another pretty good 7/10. The plot is still advancing, but hickman’s style of a slow build is starting to bother me. I guess I just have to get used to it.

Issue #6 (trying to make these shorter :) )

Black Swan’s anti-matter bomb is remade while another countdown starts. They find doom chilling in his castle and I seriously wish they made these AR’s public. I didn't even know Doctor Doom had a son. Wow!

A blue incursion happens and these alien mapmaker robots invade, but doom holds them back. The mapmakers are a race of universe hopping planet harvesters, great…

Doom finds a fragment of the blue earth (that the mapmakers use as marking points). I really like the sense of dread building here. The avengers are destroying planets, and they wish they had another choice.

I thought this issue was more into the 8.5/10 category, mostly due to the great atmosphere and dialogue. Seeing Doom get his hands on some inter-dimensional rock really makes me wanna keep reading. I’ll be back tomorrow with the wrap up for this little marathon reading.

7/9/14

Issue 7

I really like both covers of this issue, and the wolverine variant in particular is very colorful. Based on the cover, it seems like this will continue the violent dynamic between Panther and Namor, something I liked before.

We find out that there have been almost no incursions (after the last four) for a whole month.

It is also mentioned that beast developed a new mutation that is slowly hurting him, as mentioned in New X-men (which was running by this point).

Meanwhile, war continues to escalate between Wakanda and Atlantis, and honestly I don’t even see why panther should even be allowed around Namor since he threatened to kill him (and still continues to) in issue 2. Namor even offers to stop the war since he has a clear advantage, but T’chala knows that his queen will refuse to show him mercy.

After doing some research, it turns out the Kristoff is Doom’s adopted son and heir. That makes a bit more sense, and he seems to be much more agreeable and willing to ally with the FF than his father.  I also love that Hickman is still writing Reed and Doom after wrapping up his well-known fantastic four run, and he does it brilliantly.

Panther asks Reed for advice on the war, and mr. fantastic himself is not a fan of any violence. Meanwhile, Reed is making an entire series of antimatter bombs (is that safe?) to combat future incursions. But of course, the war council in Wakanda denies the peace, and so the real war begins.

For me this is serious a 9/10 issue and probably my favorite so far. Even with the incursions curbed, a war begins. The dialogue is top-notch and really shows that Hickman knows what he’s doing. I also like the exterior to interior panel layouts, and the cover is just icing on the cake.

Issue #8

I remember seeing this cover before, but it’s not in my collection so at least I have a chance to read it now. This cover is also denoted as a Prelude to Infinity.  

The main point of this issue is that Maximus builds a portal to a dimension where black bolt can speak safely. Medusa arrives to engage Black Bolt into some confusing, trippy, mental conversation before black bolt breaks away from the trance. Black Bolt is keeping secrets to himself.

Meanwhile the attack on Atlantis begins, but Panther is kind enough to spare him for the moment, allowing him to leave.The issue ends with Thanos’s generals landing on earth to begin their attack.

This was more of a mediocre issue for me, the art is still great, but the moments are all still very much just build-up for the event. I’ll settle for a 6/10 on this one, and I swear that I read it before...It must be lost in my stacks somewhere.

Issue #9

Thanos plans for his generals to invade earth and find the time gem, and iron man starts firing anti-air cannons at the approaching ships. Black Panther confronts Black Dwarf (wow, this is starting to get way less subtle, can Panther only fight other Black people?) who reminds me of Dodoria from DBZ. Ya know, this is pretty much like Thanos’s Ginyu Force...like the exact same thing. The “Cull Obsidian/Black Order” sounds stupid anyway. Proxima Midnight (seriously...she sounds like a rejected goth queen), Sees that Namor is weakened from the war and mocks him.

Meanwhile the strange mind-rapist tries to attack doctor strange in a mental battle, and also two of the other invaders attack wolverine’s turf. One uses a giant spear (that he uses to take out wolverine) and the other is a blue dude who can control minds. I feel like all these new characters have cool designs, but they are still annoying to keep track of since they are basically just a random alien mish-mash.

While Wolverine falls, it seems that Black Dwarf retreats from his beat-down. Namor has surrendered to the alien who should have gotten a better name. However, he tells the general that the time gem is in Wakanda so that she will attack Panther. He is still thinking of war in a time like this? On the bright side, Hickman includes a breakdown of the members of this order just to clear things up.

Overall, it’s not as interesting as the other issues mostly due to all the new characters. I’ll still give it an 8/10 overall, since the series is still very sharp and readable. Some of the panels seem to be designed for digital reading, like the x-men battle scene is all over the place on the page.

Next up I’ll be reading the next step in the event, Avengers #19

This was where I stopped reading the event before, and most of the time I don’t remember why I stop reading...Point is that I’m going back through it.

7/10/14

Avengers #19

The avengers are being held captive on the builder’s ship. They are examined by robots who identify the two mutants, hawkeye, and Carol Danvers. In a flashback we see that Carol’s ship crashed from last issue and she fought the builder robots in space. The aliens drag her away.

The council pretty much realizes that they are outnumbered and that they’re nothing they can do besides surrender, though many of the members argue that they go out fighting anyway. This event is really starting to get to me cause of all these races and complex space politics.

The builders, meanwhile, contemplate how exactly they will deal with the fleet when capt. marvel arrives on the bridge. The builders ask her where they got ms.universe from, since they created her to begin with. Ex-Nilho (his name is one of the only new ones I like) mentions he doesn't know much about the builders, and capt. america realizes that they are going to need a plan to even begin to escape this disaster. J’Son of Spartax decides to leave the meeting and talks to the builders himself. J’son doesn't give a crap about earth, so he tries to make an agreement to save his own empire from the cleansing. They double cross him and use the communication to find the Council’s base.

This issue is a 6.5/10 for me, I really get bored by these sorts of issues where people sit around and plan for a plan, but at least the plot is going somewhere, so it’s not that bad.

And then in new avengers #11 we find out that Thanos is on earth looking to kill his bastard son that he birthed with one of the scattered inhuman tribes. Thanos meanwhile prepares to board Attilian and is updated on what the order has been doing since last issue. Thanos kills Black Dwarf for running away from Panther, but he wasn't very interesting anyway.

Doctor Strange uses his magic to find Thanos’s son, but, as it has been hinted he is still under the control of the Ebony Maw. I’m surprised he just let the strongest wizard in the universe go after that, but whatever.

This is closer to a 7/10 for me and I’m starting to like New Avengers much more. Next up is Nova #8 and then Infinity #3.

7/13/14

Nova (2013) #1-9

I skipped out on a few issues of Nova, so I’m going to read the four issues that I missed and generally try to fill the gaps in the run. I only actually owned Issue #4, and I remember reading issues #1-2. Instead of giving these a grade, I’ll just say that I really like the whole series, and would give each a 8.5 easily.

In issue 3, Sam meets the Watcher for the first time on the moon...a relationship that will become important later. Though for some reason the Watcher is silent (I’m not sure if that’s normal, since I’m used to seeing him talking and narrating events). Gamora and Rocket try to mentor him since they worked with his mysterious father as well as currently dead former Nova (Richard Rider). The Watcher warned Nova of a Chitari (warlike race) attack on earth, and Rocket/Gamora train him to fight against the armada. I really like how powerful Nova is, even as a kid he can fire massive energy blasts/manipulate energy plus fly/breathe in space at every high or even warp speed. In issue 5, the battle between Sam and the turncoat Nova named titus continues on earth. Nova blasts back to the fleet and uses the ultimate nullifier he stole to create a black hole type thing that destroys titus and the whole fleet.

Issue #6 takes place after AvX, and Sam decides to join the avengers at Thor’s recommendation, but his mom isn't OK with the idea...but still trusts him to act as a hero.

In #8, the infinity crossover, thanos sends his generals after Sam since the Novas before (Richard Rider) have sealed him away/defeated him. Speedball, another young hero, finds Sam and tries to explain who he is...but Sam doesn't care very much...until Speedball mentions he worked with Nova before. Checking the wiki, I realized that Robbie and Vance are part of the new warriors.

In issue 9, Sam goes back to his house with Justice and Speedball, finding that thanos’s agent has taken his family. One thing that starts to bother me at this point was that Gamora never bothered to train Sam in any sort of hand to hand combat. He got into a fight with a bully before and got beat. Now this alien challenges him to a one-on-one fistfight and he clearly is screwed. I mean, he’s young and he’s no peter parker, but I think it would help him to defend himself if he loses his helmet, which he has before. Again, he gets himself horribly beaten here...it’s kinda harsh to watch a kid get knocked around like this. I mean he’s only 14! So Nova just puts the helmet on once he realizes the fight is unfair. He beats her back and returns to find that his new friends want to form a team.

7/14/14

Infinity #3

A note on tie-ins first. I tried reading Infinity: The heist, and I really couldn't get into it, a real struggle to read. I’m going to try reading The Hunt, but I make no promises.

The issue opens by recapping the Builders sudden attack on the Avengers hideaway. They are really getting beaten around by these aliens. Seriously. After forty million refugees die in the explosion, the remaining members struggle to realize that they cannot hide themselves from the enemy. Parts of the galactic council start to consider surrender to the builders, while the Kree surrender completely.

Meanwhile, the builders detect a small swarm of ships that Thor says is simply bait for a trap. Manifold teleports unto one of the builder’s ships and uses it to fire upon the other builder ships, turning the tide for cap. The captured avengers (hawkeye and crew) are also liberated. Starbrand goes supernova and wipes out the fleet while also not harming the other avengers.

Meanwhile, the heroes on earth (including the Thunderbolts, Mighty Avengers, and Illuminati) fight back Thanos.  Also, the illuminati still must deal with these universe incursions.

Thanos marches into Black Bolt’s throne room with only the king himself sitting there, and thanos laughs this off as a game. Maximus evacuates the other inhumans using a portal (that apparently all takes them to separate places.) and arms one of his dangerous devices.

Thanos asks for his son, and in response, Black Bolt screams NO! creating enough energy to obliterate the entire inhuman city and ending the issue.

This was definitely my favorite issue of the main series so far and is easily a 8/10. I love the last panel with black bolt’s scream.

Next up in the reading order is Avengers #20! I’m not planning to read the Avengers Assemble tie ins, since I don’t really know what to think about that series in general.

7/17/14

After I read summaries of Infinity online, I realized I could skip the event due to the fact that I know what happens. So effectively, I’m mostly stopping the event halfway. This means I’m skipping avengers vol.5 #20-23 in terms of reviews. The next things I want to review are New Avengers (vol.3) # 10-12 [wrap up of the tie-in stuff] and Infinity: the hunt (which I might skip). I also might read Avengers Arena #1 (from my week-old stack of print comics that I need to dig into).

Small review of AA #1:

I think the art was great for this issue, and the writing/setup was of course very interesting. The idea is that there are 14 (down from 16) young heroes from the runaways, avengers academy, ect. as basically a play on a hunger games where they are put against each other. While the setup for the series is interesting, it comes down to a 7.8/10 for me since there was no clear breakdown of the cast, but everything else was very solid. Hazmat and Mettle, who were shown to be together before they died. Hazmat dies in a cold open, and Mettle dies at the end of the issue. I really like the idea of characters getting killed left and right when it is done well, and in this case it doesn't feel as cheap as something like Ultimatum. Overall, I’m interested in the series and really hoping to get more information in issue #2. Something I didn’t realize before reading the wiki is that some of the teens are actually new characters, who are also mixed with Avengers Academy and Runaways characters...rather than them all being established like I thought.

Infinity: The hunt ironically also spotlights the teenage hero academies (like avengers academy and the jean grey school). These two series make me really want to look into the avengers academy. It wasn't even on my list before now! The series also includes the FF (future foundation, not fantastic four) which I know nothing about besides the fact that it includes the FF children, other aliens, as well as she hulk and Scott Lang. Never a huge FF fan, so I never followed it. Other international schools from asia, wakanda, and latveria are also included...that’s a bit strange. This event takes place AFTER avengers arena, so there aren't as many students, interesting to note. The art is also fairly simplistic, but it works since it reminds me of Allred’s FF series, and it gets the job done without being bad. In fact, Avengers Academy (ongoing) ended in 2012, while AA and this were both published in 2013.

Each of the new heroes in this series are actually very interesting though it seems like there are just tons of new teen heroes coming from everywhere, maybe there are too many. Either way, I would complain more if I disliked any of these side-characters. Each character also has an annoying habit of an inner monologue after being introduced, but it’s not bad enough to ruin the story...it’s just an awkward way to add to it. Another interesting fact is that Bentley-23 from FF was mentioned in Superior Carnage (since the wizard is there, and Bentley is his cloned son) and I had no idea where he was until now, neat! Anyway, Hank picks up a signal from Atlantis (since it was being destroyed during infinity) and the students move out to help.

Overall, a good setup issue, but I don’t understand the point of all these side characters. The book could have easily been just the academy and jean grey school. However, we also already saw the jean grey school get attacked in Infinity...so it really doesn't fit with the continuity. That bumps it down to a 6.5 for me, but I’ll keep reading to see where the miniseries goes.

After I wrap up the next few comics, the general idea is to read inhumanity and then continue into the All New Marvel Now.

7/18/14

Avengers World #1:

The first thing I thought when I opened this book is “Why do we need six avengers ongoing series? It always confuses me.when there are so many series!” To be fair, I thought there were seven series before I figured out that Avengers Assemble (which I wasn't reading) ended.

Again, Hickman is writing this series, but the Nick Spencer art is really great! I might just read this series for the art alone! The few avengers I didn't know very much were Smasher and Nightmask (who were introduced in Hickman's other series that I haven’t finished, which is still running by the way.)

I really hate how Hickman sets up three separate plots in different places with three separate teams, it’s really annoying not to focus on one thing. The idea of the book is to show avengers operating all over the world, and I think that is sort of interesting. I don’t think the book is bad, and the huge locations are very interesting but they all seem to appear very quickly. The book needs more time to grow, like all of Hickman’s books. But for now it’s still a decent 6.5/10. It seems like issue 2 will focus in on one team, and maybe those issues will be stronger.

Note: The same kind of multi-team problem happens with original sin #1, but the art is very evocative, and the teams that are chosen are actually interesting and all pointed toward the same goal so they aren’t as divided, that one is closer to a 8.5/10 for me.

7/19/14

She Hulk (Vol.3, #1)

I seriously regret picking up this issue. I am a big fan of she-hulk, but honestly this series is starting with a terrible whimper instead of a bang. The art is terrible in my opinion, it looks like a cheap static cartoon and the way the character’s faces are drawn is downright awkward. The cover art actually isn’t bad, though. The comic tries to be a comedy, but it ends up being mostly long winded and unfunny. In some panels or certain shots the art actually looks serviceable, but every time I see the artist draw a face I just wanted to look away. This is a 4/10 for me, definitely a bad read, and I doubt I’ll pick up any more issues unless the series turns around.

Moon Knight #1 is a perfect first issue. The art is absolutely amazing by this new breakout artist named Declan Shalvey, it looks great with smooth stand-out colors. Warren Ellis does a great job introducing the character. Moon Knight is awesome because he has the technology and smarts of Batman, but he is also an insane killer himself. He’s an unstable vigilante who is known to be very dangerous, but gets the job done. The first issue has him track down a killer, and most of these issues are stand-alone, but they are amazing to read. I’ve been wanting to read Moon Knight for a long time, and while I didn’t want to jump into his old comics...this is an amazing jumping on point. 10/10. Even though Moon Knight lost his super-powers, he is still a compelling character with tons of issues to deal with both within and around him.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #1

Like Moon Knight, I’ve wanted to get into this character for a while. Since marvel NOW gave me a jumping on point, I decided to try it out. The panel backgrounds (gutters) are actually beige, so that’s interesting. The series starts with a flashback, so that’s good for a starting point. Danny’s dad makes his ten year old son hike an icy mountain! What the hell! I really need to read his original issues at some point.The art and panel design is more creative and interesting to read. More than the norm, I should clarify...it’s one of those that goes out of its way to have non-normal panels. This is one of the only books I read that was like this. I find it interesting that this is all about Danny basically being stoic and monologuing. Going from the more relaxed Danny from other things (like the ultimate spiderman animated version, even when it’s a kid show, that I like) to this HARD BOILED Danny is sort of intriguing.    

Ya know what I just realized, this series is very similar to hawkeye or at in that same format. I wouldn’t feel guilty in saying that it’s almost a copy, except that it features a different character and is more serious. It basically is Danny reflecting on his life. The art isn't bad, it’s just very hard edged, and it fits the feeling of the series. I love how he even has a trollface in the middle of the book. It looks cool, like something out of metal gear. Iron fist runs across a building and explodes a helicopter with his ki-fist.  So basically hard boiled awesomeness. The story starts to come together by the end, and it’s pretty interesting to see both techno-zombie-ninjas and danny running out of ki power, but gets it back pretty quickly. Turns out the ninjas were trying to capture a girl with Iron Fist, and the survivors tell him to return to where he trained.

This is a really hard issue to grade, I think the best grade to give it is a 8/10 since It’s good but also a bit extreme. I mean to say that it’s a very dark serious with huge splashes of colors and explosions. While that’s good and all, it’s going to need to grow on me. I’m planning on continuing the series to see where it goes.