Secret Invasion Part 12A

Secret Invasion: Inhumans (****1/2)

I must say that Pokaski has a very good feel for these characters. Crystal making a gigantic stone Black Bolt golem to fight the Skrulls? Fantastic. All the Inhumans are written well in a believable fashion, and you still get the different sense of how this royal family acts in comparison to a standard superhero team. Loyalty above all else is the name of the game. So it’s not even a question that Gorgon would protect Maximus despite his hatred for the man. I should also mention that the Inhumans’ methods for torturing a captive Skrull in attempts to discern the location of Black Bolt was a perfectly ingenius way to go about their business. We’re continuing to learn of the overall plans of the Skrulls as relates to Mr. Boltagon, and it’s not going to be pretty. This is a great series so far, and Joe Pokaski eally does seem to have a future in print media.

Nova #17 (****1/2)

Nova has returned home. Most of the events of this issue take place at the home base of Project PEGASUS, wherein Richard Rider, his brother Robbie and Darkhawk try to beat back the Skrulls from intercepting some seriously dangerous tech. The three characters engage in quite a lot of wisecracking (including a nice shot at the cliche of heroes attacking each other before realizing they’re on the same side) and we’ve got the return (in a way) of the Xandarian Worldmind. But the best moment of the entire issues comes on the last page, where we have a big (from my perspective) return that makes perfect sense, considering that character originally met his end early on in the Nova book (hint, hint…It’s Quasar!). Great reveal that was truly well executed and logical, and it sets up a lot of interest for the rest of the arc and potentially beyond, provided that he’s going to stick around. I love this book. But you already knew that.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5 (***1/2)

Drax gets his Wolverine in the sewers of the Hellfire Club moment here, as he skulks around eviscerating Luminals for a good portion of the book. This issue has a bit of middle chapter syndrome going on; things happen and the story continues to move, but not a lot of it grabbed me. The Drax stuff was fun, but as I mentioned, we’ve seen it before. A lot. There is a big reveal involving Cosmo that was a nice moment, and I did enjoy the way Adam Warlock discovered the traitorous dog with a nice continuation of the work being done in the Marvel Universe with the Eternals and the Celestials. I am also looking forward to the litany of “I told you sos” and overall smugness of Rocket Raccoon over the next couple issues once he finds out about Cosmo. This was a good issue, but nothing special.

Black Panther #41 (*****)

Well, there was certainly an unholy amount of badass in this three issue run. There are so many great moments in this issue, from the reveal of what was actually going on with Black Panther and Storm to the final fate of the Skrulls. But like the rest of the issues, the real star of the book is Commander K’vv, the man that is running the Wakandan portion of the invasion. There is a running theme in the book of K’vvr struggling to figure out how to write a letter to his wife, and the final portion of the book is set to the narrative of the letter itself (this is, of course, going on after his bloody and violent end at the hands of the protagonists) with these stark pages of dead Skrulls and blood alongside the cheering Wakandans. The way Aaron wrote these issues is very sympathetic to the Skrulls, despite the fact that they are the invading force and should really be the villains of the piece. It’s that little extra oomph that pushes this book over the top. The characterization of K’vvr is excellent, and the final letter is a very sobering series of panels. These are overall probably the best issues to come out of the Secret Invasion event. I probably liked the Hercules issues more, but they were not as accessible as what we have her. I recommend that everyone out there read these books. You will not be disappointed.

Thunderbolts #124 (*****)

I love what Christos Gage is doing with these characters. I should have started reading this book earlier. How long has it been this good? Every single person in this book and on this team is certifiably insane. And all of it is tempered by the strange sense of twisted honor that many of these characters feel. Many of them are legitimately trying to do good works, but have to deal with what simply boils down to mental illness, and at the same time, you’ve got characters like Bullseye and Venom right next to them that only care about killing and survival. The interactions between Norman Osborne and Moonstone are awesome. Songbird, Radioactive Man, the Swordsman duo, Penance, it’s all great. I don’t know if I have more fun reading any Marvel book other than Thunderbolts right now. Awesome stuff.

Desiato’s Rainy Sunday Reviews, Part 2

Angel: After the Fall #12 (****1/2)

Sons of bitches. I just dropped the damned book, and these bastards go and come out with an issue that’s really good. Perhaps I should have seen this coming. I am staring at a Murphy’s Law poster while I write this, after all. For every issue that didn’t capitalize on the potential of the characters or plot, you get something like this where everything clicks and you’re reading an excellent instance of a comic book. Every question brought up in the first eleven issues of this book is answered. It all fits too. The entire series turns a huge corner, and we now have more of a sense of where we’re headed and why. Franted, the art is still not to my liking, and Wesley is very much in the role of Dr. Exposition during much of the issue. There’s a lot of story to cover here. Maybe there might have been better ways to go about disseminating the necessary information, but the device used works, and only the most impatient reader would grow tired of the amount of text. This issue very well might have renewed my faith in IDW’s handing of Angel, and I might have to keep getting it, as much as it bewilders me to say that.

Invincible Iron Man #5 (****)

The ending of this book is right out of the book of comic cliffhanger cliche. It’s one of those little moments that makes you love the medium. The rest of the book is no slouch too. Fraction obviously has a handle on Zeke Stane, considering he created the character, but his use of tony Stark has been excellent as well. This truly is Iron Man the hero, and it’s practically the only place you can really get that right now (though I surmise that things will change post Secret Invasion). Obviously, this book is perfect for those that are coming in to the Iron Man books from the movie; the first storyline is basically the generational sequel to the Iron Monger storyline that was covered in its own way in the film. It’s good stuff. Fraction can definitely navigate his way through the mix of political intrigue and terrorism that is the cornerstone of Zeke Stane’s attacks on Starktech. The art is still a bit of a sore point, as it’s tough to completely suspend disbelief when Stane’s face is modeled after Brian Michael Bendis. But Larocca does draw the armor and the action well, so I can roll with the punches.

Green Lantern Corps #28 (****)

I do love these issues so very much. Between the Ringquest arc and the current Eye of the Beholder issues, Pete Tomasi has been doing an excellent job keeping the momentum leading into Blackest Night strong while Johns is wasting his time on Secret Origin. I am a bit surprised that Tomasi wrapped up this story in two issues, and there’s a bit of compression here in order to allow for the book to reach its conclusion. I think we probably could have benefitted from one more issue in order to flesh out the main villain of the piece. He’s introduced and captured all in the span of one issue, which gives the impression that we’re basically dealing with fodder. Sick and sadistic fodder with a pretty big body count, but fodder nonetheless. Still, there are a lot of good quiet moments with the Lanterns, and it’s a good installment of my favorite DC ongoing.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 18 (**)

I’m liking this arc less and less as it goes on. I’m not really enjoying the future Fray universe; it’s quite possible though that this is because I haven’t read the original Fray story. Still, the future moments aren’t sticking. The little dialogue quirks grate on me from time to time, and nothing about the story grabs me in a significant way. It’s a bit scattershot. I’m also not too jazzed about the present day story line with Dawn and Xander. It’s alright, but this issue just felt ephemeral. This isn’t a bad book or anything; it’s just not good.

Eternals #4 (****)

Still digging this book, and that’s predominantly because of the Makkari story line. The backstory of the Eternals, Celestials and Deviants was a highlight of Gaiman’s mini, and while the branched dialogue of the Celestial can be silly/unnecessary (see what I did there?) at times, the story being told is the big show. The other story lines going on are also entertaining, but Makkari’s world building and mythos establishing travels create that sense of wonder that hearkens right back to Kirby. It’s just another testament to the quality of the middle tier Marvel books. You’ve got the flashy Avengers books and Amazing Spider-Man and the X books, but right under the surface are books like this, the cosmic suite, Incredible Hercules, The Twelve and so on. It’s the main reason why I love Marvel as much as I do. And the Eternals are wicked cool characters that are becomiung deeply established in the Marvel U. The Knaufs are doing well and Acuna’s art does the job and brings forth the otherworldly feel that the Eternals should have as citizens of Earth that are wholly separate from humans.

Punisher War Journal #23 (**)

So the Jigsaw arc is finally over. It never really felt right outside of the penultimate issue. I do like the idea of GW Bridge and his merry band of hottie assassins. Plus, the Lady Punisher set up was a nice one. But Punisher and Jigsaw didn’t ever sound right, and when your two main characters are off base, it’s going to be tough to make things work. Let’s hope they get everything sussed out in time for the Secret Invasion tie in. If it’s anywhere as good as the World War Hulk issue, we could be in for a treat.

Desiato’s Rainy Sunday Catch Up Reviews, Part 1

Crappy weather all over the Northeastern seaboard this weekend. It’s time to do some MAJOR catching up.

The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California (*****)

This is the best story to come out of the new Iron Fist mythos. It should be noted that I’m including the main Iron Fist series in that statement, which means that this book actually manages to outshine Fraction and Brubaker’s work on the character and the title. I never thought I’d find myself in a position to make a statement like that. But that’s how good this one shot is. Swierczynski takes the Orson Randall character and puts him exactly where he should be; a hot blooded noir tinged Hollywood at the end of the 1920’s. He proceeds to spin a yarn that effortlessly combines the Eastern sensibilities of the Iron Fist with the American culture of the early twentieth century. It’s a detective story in the good noir tradition, complete with everything kicked off by the voluptuous and mysterious woman coming out of nowhere to present her problems to the protagonist, who in turn can’t keep her our of his mind while he tries to focus on the task at hand. Of course, she’s not who she originally claims to be, and thus the mystery unfolds. Sure, it’s procedure, but things become procedure because they work. Which is not to say Swierczynski simply follows a script here and plays by the rules. Something as simple as naming the female lead Galatea (who is of course the name of the woman statue from the Greek Pygmallion myth) starts to pique the interest of the mind.

The most important part of any noirish book is the narration. It’s the only entrance you have into the story and the main character. The window into his thoughts. Duane is more than capable here, and his narrative captions move the story along swimmingly. The story itself twists and turns upon itself over and over as new details come to light and more characters enter the picture. You’ve also got that inevitable moment where the detective proves he’s a badass, which in this story is represented by Orson having a meeting with a film executive and using some pistachio shells to his advantage. Did we need to know Orson Randall is a badass? Not really; he is an Iron Fist after all, and the work done in the first arc of Immortal Iron Fist as well as the Fraction penned Green Mist of Death one shot certainly established the level of badassery at play when Orson Randall is around. In this case, however, Duane is specifically making sure that this book is perfectly accessible to anyone that might deign to pick it up. Truly, there’s not a whole lot of actual Iron Fist talk until later in the book, and Orson very rarely appears with his cowl early on. This is simply an awesome noir story that anyone can read. I gave it to one of my roommates that is a big noir fan, and while he may not have gotten as much out of it as those of us with a larger information base about the Iron Fist mythology, he still loved it.

The art is also excellent here, and the work of Giuseppe Camuncoli is very different than what we’ve become used to in the various and sundry Iron Fist books since the relaunch. It also follows the standard approach of using different art for different eras. With this being a standalone one shot, things work despite the different art style than what your average Iron Fist fan would be expecting. It more than gets the job done, and there are some beautiful sequences that show a strong grasp of sequential art. It enhances the story without being garish or jarring, and both halves of the book work in a wonderfully symbiotic fashion, which is exactly what you want from a comic.

This is a gorgeous book, and probably the best Marvel one shot I’ve ever read. If not for the mad power of Casanova #14, this book would be a strong candidate for my favorite single issue of the year. It’s super accessible, wonderfully written and wonderfully drawn. It is completely worth the four dollar cover price (which I did pay in full, as I managed to forget to order it from DCBS). EVERYONE should pick this book up, if not only to enjoy the story but to see a taste of what Duane Swierczynski is doing with Iron Fist post Fraction and Brubaker

Fables #76 (***)

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE FABLES SERIES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Still with me? Cool.

This kind of issue was probably necessary after the conclusion of War & Pieces. You had to have the moments that deal with Gepetto and his attempts to reacclimate himself with polite society after signing the Fabletown charter at the end of issue 75. And considering the art demands that faced Mark Buckingham during War & Pieces, it was as good of a time as any to spell him with pinch hitter Mike Allred. It’s also always been the case that the non-Buckingham issues have never been heavy on story progression. So we have a breath catching interlude to take care of things. This issue does not answer the question of “where is this series headed?” after the huge shake up of the Adversary being captured and brought into Fabletown, but that’s not something that had to be answered immediately. You have what is pretty much expected. Pinocchio and Beast take Gepetto out for a tour of the town, and the inhabitants of Fabletown aren’t exactly pleased with their newest resident. He is spit on, denied food, and generally reviled. No shock there. The only problem with this is the fact that it’s basically an auto pilot issue. Willingham doesn’t do anyhting big or spectacular, nor does he do a lot of character building that we haven’t seen before. The art is capable enough; this isn’t Mike Allred’s first go around in the Fables universe. It’s certainly a different style from Buckingham, and the only part of it that’s really jarring is Allred’s rendition of Pinocchio, which is completely different from Buckingham, even down to hair color. Even still, that’s not the kind of thing that’s going to ruin a book. All told, it’s an adequate installment of Fables. It’s not reaching for the stars and it’s not slumming. It’s just there.

Secret Invasion Part 11

Deadpool #1 (****)

It’s a good start. Basically continues the standard approach for Deadpool with the added wrinkle that he’s not got a second set of narrative captions that is arguing with the first. There’s obviously not a lot to the character. He’s not an essential piece of the Marvel Universe. He serves a purpose, which is basically to act as a humorous foil to what is going on in the books that may need a bit of levity. He’s very similar to Ambush Bug in that respect, both from the perspective of constantly breaking the fourth wall and lampooning the goings on of major continuity events. Here we have the Deadpool look at Secret Invasion. Basically, the Skrulls are forced to deal with another hero on Earth they didn’t count on. And someone as unpredictable and dangerous as Deadpool could easily unravel their plans simply by being himself. So the Skrulls throw everything at him and can’t take him down. But of course, this is Deadpool, so things aren’t going to play out the way you think, and you have a nice little crazy cliffhanger that is perfectly within Deadpool’s character. The humor is there, the art is good, Deadpool reads true and things are starting well.

Secret Invasion: X-Men #2 (***1/2)

This is the best X-Men storyline going on right now, and it’s mostly because of the side story involving Nightcrawler. He’s always been among my favorites of the Claremont Byrne X-Men, and I do enjoy the way Mike Carey uses Nightcrawler as a way to link the X-Men and the Skrulls as agents of change. Between the main book and the tie-ins, these may be the most well developed villains we’ve seen in comics in a long time. They combine excellent tactical skill with religious zealotry, which is certainly an odd and dangerous mix for an invading force. So even though the Skrulls were immediately caught by surprise without the knowledge that the X-Men had relocated to San Francisco, they still managed to gain the upper hand. It’s really only the appearance of X-Force that turns the tides. You’ve also got some nice moments with Emma and the Stepford Cuckoos. This isn’t high art, but it’s a good book with nice characterization.

Secret Invasion: Front Line #3 (****)

It’s a bit disappointing that this book has not yet touched on the Embrace Change movement, but the story being told is compelling in its own right, so it’s no bad thing. Front Line is such a good concept that everyone seems to bad mouth due to the last few issues of the Civil War installment. It’s good that Brian Reed is really focusing on the core of the book and looking at just how the average Joe would actually deal with the Skrulls’ largest invasion force dropping right over his head. This book continues the thread of multiple story lines, but these all comes together in the locked down Stark Tower that has the claustrophobic fear of a classic horror movie, where the aggressor stalks the populous in an enclosed area. This book just reads differently than the other SI books, and it’s always a refreshing cleanse of the pallet.

Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways #3 (****1/2)

As someone who has read little to no Young Avengers or Runaways books in the past, the biggest thing about this three issue series for me was learning about how charming these characters are. But that doesn’t mean that these issues were a simple flight of fancy. The story of Xavin and Hulkling continues and the tension within Xavin between loyalty to the true heir of the Skrulls and their current religious holy war outlook. I also quite enjoyed the continuation of Xavin’s back story in relation to the Skrull that taught him how to fight in the army, who of course shows up during the invasion for a confrontation. This isn’t the kind of book that is going to be necessary for the main story (unless they decide to make Hulkling a bigger part of the ending), but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a three issue series of really good writing and art. It was more than worth the money, and both the wrapped SI minis thus far have been very enjoyable.

Ms. Marvel #30 (***)

We see what the hell happened in the Raft at the end of the issue, and it’s not exactly what I expected. It’s fascinating that the best and most powerful Super Skrull was actually created by HYDRA, and of course he’s completely and totally unstable to the point that his bloodlust is undeniable and unquenchable. The book ends up devolving into a long fight, which is a shame considering the potential here. Brian Reed probably should have done more with the concept here. Seems like he’s throwing more of his time into Front Line (just because it’s better), but that could be completely off base.

Secret Invasion #6

Yes, I’m alive, and yes, I’m for the most part settled in my new apartment. So I have a TON of catching up to do, and I’m going to try to do a lot of it today before Rock Band 2 comes out tomorrow and my free time no longer exists. I’ve also decided to for the most part stay away from plot points and look at this issue as a puzzle piece and how it fits into and affects the entire event.

We’ve entered Act 3. This event is not what most of us expected. Huge and sprawling, but not in the way we assumed would happen. The action is in the tie ins. But Secret Invasion’s main mini is not without its purpose. It’s obviously written from the perspective of Bendis’ own characters. Avengers and their outlying character bases. It’s pretty much his only option. He knows these characters. We know he knows these characters. It’s the best case scenario to write to your strengths. This way there is less of a chance that he’s going to step on the feet of other Marvel writers. Sure, the characters overlap, but that’s not something you can get around when you’re doing an event like this. There really aren’t a lot of characters here that Bendis hasn’t written before. You’ve got the Young Avengers and Runaways, the new Secret Warriors (which is a Bendis creation, so it’s not like he’s stepping outside his bounds here), and a couple people here and there that he hasn’t really touched upon. Two of those characters are the James Barnes version of Captain America and the post reboot Thor. So we get their confrontation, which was a heck of a lot of fun. It was also a beautifully rendered panel that showed the difference in stature between these two mighty heroes that are really new kids on the block that have been around in their current incarnations for ten issues or less (and I am SUPER IMPRESSED that this book hasn’t had lateness issues. Look at those last two spreads! Damn!). But Bendis doesn’t do a lot with them. We’re not looking at any kind of character development beats here. This is a huge fucking event where the entire Earth is at stake, and you’d damn well better believe that Cap and Thor are going to show up and do something about it, even if it boils down to throwing some shields and hammers, being a heroic presence and not doing much else. So they’re not the focus. Nick Fury is the focus. Jessica Drew Spider-Woman is the focus. And that feels genuine to me. It’s the new look of Marvel comics that Bendis has helped create.

Heroes versus Skrulls is arguably just as simple as an event like Civil War. But Civil War was for the most part a straightforward event from a character perspective. Cap versus Iron Man. Shiny heroes versus street level thugs. There was a unified voice on each end. That wasn’t the case for a good portion of the early part of Secret Invasion. The Skrulls certainly had a unified voice, and that voice was established as Queen Veranke/Spider-Woman and her religious holy war. The heroes did not have this unified voice. But now with issue six, we’ve finally got that unification. It took Nick Fury, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor to do it, but the folks of Earth are finally coming together. New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Thunderbolts, Young Avengers and Secret Warriors all banding together to fight back the alien invasion force. And this is how the book has turned. But the beautiful thing about it is the fact that considering the little things we’ve heard from Bendis and Marvel via previews and Word Balloon interviews and Retailer Summits and so on, it sure doesn’t seem likely that the heroes are going to come out of this one on top. We can postulate that the seventh issue battle could easily end on the side of the Skrulls, whether that is due to sheer overwhelming force or the possible wrinkle in the plan that is whatever is going on with Janet Van Dyne. But either way, I think change will be embraced, forcefully or willingly. And it’s a concept that can allow for a lot of growth, and has a ton of room for new stories and characters.

I wrote notes for this review last night after getting home at about 1 AM from the Allston bar Big City. So this review was a little scatterbrained and also somewhat influenced by alcohol. I wouldn’t call it my best effort, but things should hopefully get better the more settled in my new environment I am. New books will be arriving on Monday, so I’ll have reviews of that and some of the small press books I got at the Super Show in the coming hours/days/weeks.

CGS Super Show Thoughts

Yesterday I got back from a nice weekend in Reading, PA hanging out with geeks aplenty, spending money I shouldn’t have and generally enjoying the hell out of myself. Here’s some highlights.

I picked up a bunch of sketches, but decided that the ones I preordered simply weren’t enough. I added two Galactus sketches to my haul, one by Dave Wachter (www.davedrawscomics.com) and one by the artist behind the Mumblepuss webcomic (www.mumblepuss.com). I also got Ken and Buz from The Living Corpse (www.corpsecomic.com). Pictures of some of the sketches (because my scanner has kicked the bucket) will be at the bottom of this article, as well as on my own blog, Musings from The Alpha Primitive.

I bought stuff. I decided to get the Tori Amos Comic Book Tattoo anthology from Image, which is a whale of a book that could easily be described as a tome. The thing is nearly a foot wide and tall, and close to two inches thick. I’ve read parts of it, and it’s gorgeous. I also picked up a signed copy of the first Mousegard hardcover with a little sketch from David Peterson in it. Haven’t cracked that one open yet; I’ll probably wait until after the move.

Wild Pig Comics was also there with 48 feet of table space full of long boxes. I grabbed issues 2-5 of Trinity, some early issues of a few Marvel Classic Illustrated stuff to try them out (Iliad and Picture of Dorian Gray), as well as some other random stuff to fill in some recent holes. And all of it was fifty cents apiece. I would honestly say that one of the only things I’m going to miss after I move is the fact that I can’t easily make it to the twice annual Wild Pig sales in northern New Jersey.

I also sat in on my first podcast, as myself and my roommate were invited to join Ian Levenstein’s Super Show episode of Comic Timing. We talked about the show for about two hours, and there was a lot of guests and madness and drinking and laughing our heads off at one in the morning in a Days Inn hotel room in Wyomissing, PA. I also threw in a little plug for read/RANT at the end there. It’ll go up as episode 72, and knowing Ian’s posting habits, it might be up by October of 2012.

Charlito (co-host of Indie Spinner Rack) performed a fifteen minute musical about Peter and Bryan of CGS. I can’t really explain it, and I don’t know if I’m ever going to be the same again.

Many other things happened, but I’m not going to write about those things. It was a great time, and a hell of a lot more fun than Wizard World Philly, so by default it was the best con of the year for me, and I can’t wait for next year.

Now, on to the sketches!

Dave Wachter’s Galactus:

The Mumblepuss Galactus:

Ken and Buz’s Mar-Vell

Reviews: Secret Invasion Part 10B: The Avengers

As of tomorrow I’m off to the Comic Geek Speak Super Show (woop woop!) for the rest of the weekend. I’ll write up a report of what I saw and got there, and I’m very much looking forward to bumming around with about 300-400 crazy comic geeks and 50+ artists and picking up the sketches I preordered of random Marvel Cosmic characters (Thanos, Lockjaw, Karnak, Ronan the Accuser, and AIR-WALKER!). Hopefully I’ll have time to put up the final SI tie in part Sunday night or Monday, but things are going to get super crazy and busy next week with the move, so I might not be heard from in a while.

New Avengers #44 (****1/2)

This is definitely a novel way to deal with the problem of how the Skrulls learned to become undetectable. We’ve known the mechanics of what is done for some time (well, those of us that are reading New and Mighty Avengers do at least), but it was never adequately explained how the Skrulls came up with the idea in the first place. Turns out that they didn’t. This is the furthest back in time we’ve gone since New Avengers: Illuminati #1. In fact, this seems to take place hours/days/weeks after the events of that book, where we find out that one of the things the Skrulls did to the Illuminati while they were captured was to perfect a way to create flawless clones of the six Illuminati members. Why would they do such a thing? It’s simple: they can interrogate Reed Richards without actually interrogating Reed Richards. The entire Illuminati makes their appearances here (well, technically none of them do, but you know what I mean), but Reed is at the center of things here, as the Skrulls attempt to attack his mind from various avenues and perspectives. Of course, they eventually crack him, and Reed rationally surmises how the Skrulls could potentially elude detection, which leads to the eventual invasion however many years down the line.

So this is really the first time in the history of Marvel comics that the Skrulls come off as actually smart. It’s important to keep that thread alive considering their less than stellar track record, because this is easily a situation that could fall into the realm of an unimpressive threat. A book like this is what is needed to reinforce the ideals at the core of Secret Invasion that these aren’t the kind of Skrulls that are going to be hypnotized into thinking they’re cows. This book also puts Reed Richards at the absolute center of the entire event, because he’s the cause of it all. His getting captured along with the rest of the Illuminati gave the Skrulls the ammunition they needed to get the ball rolling. But at the same time, it’s not perfect. The Skrulls were successful in completing their objective, but it sure took a couple tries to get it done, which further explicates the cracks in the armor that Bendis and the other Marvel writers have been seeding into this event from month four on. The plan may have been perfectly realized, but the execution hasn’t. Looking at what happened between the panels in Secret Invasion 5, it’s quite apparent that Reed not only knows the “how” that led to their improved cloaking abilities, but he also knows what they did to him to get there. Reed’s not going to be happy. These books are so layered and satisfying that I just can’t get enough.

Mighty Avengers #17 (***1/2)

It seems Hank Pym is Bendis’ anti-Hawkeye, as he’s been doing a lot of work in Mighty Avengers to attempt to redeem the poor bastard, and that continues here. There are two kinds of Skrull agents on Earth during this event. The first kind is completely stripped of any memories, emotions or feelings that tie them to being a Skrull to the point that they’re completely convinced that they are who they look like. This would be the model used for the folks that crashed in the Savage Land, and is mostly designed for diversionary purposes. The second variety it designed for the higher ups of the infiltration force, and they still retain their own thoughts and feelings through the transformation process, which allows them to carry out specific objectives that would be impossible had they gone completely undercover. Look at Queen Veranke/Spider Woman and Jarvis as examples of this kind of Skrull. Hank Pym is the latter version. But these agents still go through the process of having their DNA melded with that of their “host” (as it were), and in so doing, it’s impossible not to pick up on some of the physical and mental traits that come with the territory. And in this case, Hank Pym is just too smart for his own good.

It’s a good concept, but the book is a bit choppier than usual. I think the fight in the middle is a bit overlong, but the conversations that pepper the beginning and the end, and the slowly building mix of paranoia, fear and dementia that grips the Pym Skrull before he goes off the deep end are something special. So you’ve got the dual purpose of the Skrulls knowing that the replacement of Hank Pym undeniably necessary for the success of their plans combined with the various Pym Skrulls always figuring out that the plan isn’t going to work, and you’re left with chaos. I would have liked it more if it were structured differently, but it was still a solid story.

Avengers: The Initiative #16 (***)

I like 3-D Man. Not too fond of the Skrull Kill Krew at this point. We’ve only seen one issue, and they do go into the back story of the SKK (which is a bit of a problem in itself, as the events that led to the Skrull Kill Krew being formed didn’t exactly jive with the events of the Kree Skrull War so many years before it, but there might have been some kind of explanation at some other point), and I certainly understand why they’ve been pulled into the universe, but Slott and Gage don’t really give us a reason to care about them. I still like the writing, and Caselli’s art is more than adequate, but there was definitely a disconnect here that took me out of the story.

Reviews: Secret Invasion Part 10A: The Secondary Characters

WAY too many books to review from this last shipment, so I’m going to split this up into three installments. After this one will come the Avengers books, followed by whatever’s left over.

Incredible Hercules #120 (*****)

I love the way that everything going on with the Eternals matters. The Dreaming Celestial is standing in the outskirts of San Francisco, and every book I’ve read that has involved San Francisco in some way have either explicitly mentioned his presence or at least shown him in the background of a panel (we’ve seen this in both Uncanny X-Men and this very book). Hell, the Eternals are all up in Hercules’ bidness, and I’m not just talking about Ajak being a member of the God Squad. Let’s put it this way: HE is not the Beyonder. HE is not anyone we’ve ever seen before. But the concept behind HE and who HE is caught me completely by surprise, but makes a whole lot of sense in a super awesome way. It’s not hard to make the claim that the Eternals are the true movers and shakers of the Marvel Universe right now. Not the Illuminati. Not Tony Stark. Not SHIELD or the Red Skull or any of these people. It’s groovy. And as a whole five issue arc that starts with the Eternals thinking Hercules is Gilgamesh and ends the way it does, this will stand as masterful comic work regardless of its affiliation with a major event going on at the same time.

This is a book that shows the true potential of a shared universe, because it brings in ideas completely alien to its original concept borrowed from other books that allow new avenues of storytelling to unite and divide. Stories like this are why we NEED these big earth shattering crossover events, whether we like them or not. Because it’s all about potential. And I’m not the type of person that’s just going to assume that it’s going to fail or not sync up because there’s no specific reason for it to do that. I don’t need these books to be validated by having their story threads show up in the main Secret Invasion title. Because I know there’s no room for it, and I’d rather Bendis focus on the story he wants to tell and pace it the way he wants to without having to worry about the added pressure of filling in the gaps or making sure everything gets mentioned. After reading this issue, I’m going to know exactly whom the Skrulls are referring to when they say “He loves you.” Do I care whether it’s mentioned there or not? Hell no! Because I have the information. I’ve been saying this from the beginning, but Secret Invasion as an event is too big not to have this many crossovers. Does it suck for those who don’t have the time or resources to read it all? Maybe. But I’ve read 67 Secret Invasion books (counting the Infiltration prologues), and all of them but one have been solid to great reads (sorry, X-Factor #33. Even though the rest of the arc was good, you still sucked). So what’s to complain about? Not a thing.

X-Factor #34 (***)

Does the art still suck? Pretty much. I know some people enjoy this Larry Stroman art because he’s basically the diametric opposite of the Greg Lands and Salvador Laroccas of the world, but I think there’s a breaking point when you can’t actually recognize characters easily. And when it gets in the way of actually being able to easily follow and enjoy the story, you’ve got a problem. But as for the book itself, we have the continuation of the X-Factor/She-Hulk/Secret Invasion Detroit series (which Nova actually gets sucked into a bit, but more on that later) with Jazinda and Nogor’s dealings with Darwin (the Talisman of the Skrull gods introduced in She-Hulk 31) at its center. We also get a little more of the new “Embrace Change” aspect of the series, as Nogor is convinced that Darwin is the evolutionary missing link between humans and Skrulls (the idea being that Darwin’s ability to adapt to any situation on the fly is not far removed from the Skrulls’ ability to shape shift to fit any situation), and he could be the one to unite them all. Of course, it doesn’t take, and Nogor is tied up and taken away (where is he taken? Why, She-Hulk #32, of course). I think Nogor is a wonderful premise and a fantastic character, and for that reason and that reason alone, I think these issues are well worth reading (though you can probably just skip X-Factor 33. You might be a little lost, but that issue is pretty painful).

Nova #16 (****)

Not as good as our Galactus storyline, but that’s a pretty high water mark to deal with, and a bit of a recession should be expected. Kl’rt enters the Secret Invasion scene here (took him long enough, eh?) and the results are not exactly what Nova would expect. There are some great moments afoot, however. I particularly enjoyed a little interaction where Nova is shocked and dismayed that the Skrulls disguise themselves as children in order to set a trap, and Kl’rt points out that when you’re a shapeshifter, subterfuge is really your only option. We also deal with the continuation of Nova coping without the Worldmind and how difficult it has become for him to do even the most mundane things due to his internal suit mechanics being the equivalent of a prerecorded customer service phone chain. There’s a lot of good here, and most of it comes from Kl’rt’s characterization as the grizzled veteran that’s been forgotten by the Skrull invasion forces, partly because he’s been busy with all these Annihilations that keep popping up and partly because he can’t win a fight to save his life. He’s the outmoded old tech that sits in a corner and rots. He’s the old Pentium 1 PC that’s been in your garage for fifteen years. But he still wants to be part of the action, and he needs to find his daughter. And that leads us to…

She-Hulk #32 (****)

Woo! Shared universes! Kl’rt shows up fresh from Nova to confront Jazinda in this issue, as we have more interactions with Nogor the Talisman, who is still written very well by Peter David. I just really like this character and the tension between his fate and the fate of the Skrull invaders. You threaten him and the Skrulls just might relent, thinking their plans are not ordained by the gods, but if you kill him, they’ll launch into such a religious fervor that they’d probably completely exterminate the human race. So She Hulk and Jazinda are stuck with this guy, and they can’t trust Tony Stark enough to let him deal with the problem. Kl’rt’s arrival really mucks up the works as well. These She Hulk issues have really shown the strength of a lot of these crossovers, in that we’re getting all kinds of ancillary benefits that there would never be room for in the main mini.

Desiato Brings the DC Love

Green Lantern Corps #27 (****)

I continue to love this book, and I continue to love how absolutely sick and twisted the Sinestro Corps are in their torturing of the Green Lanterns. The raining eyeballs scene was just chilling and creepy and disgusting and vile and evil in the “we’re going to get you by going through your family” approach from Evil Bastards 101. But I really like the little character moments and asides, which in this issue takes the form of Guy and Kyle opening up an American style restaurant on Oa. And an issue like this really nails down why I prefer GLC to the solo book. The Corps is so much more than Hal Jordan. And I know he’s not the only character in the book, but he gets 99.9% of the face time. I like the rest of the Corps just as much as Hal, and I’m glad I have my team book to rely on.

Ambush Bug: Year None #2 (***1/2)

This book is basically a run of complete non sequitur that may or may not kinda sorta have a plot maybe. Giffen is not holding anything back in the plotting, as the book just skips from scene to scene without the need of internal continuity or transitions (there’s a pretty long manga style interlude in the middle of the book that is completely unexplained) in order to set up the situations the Bug is going to lampoon. And then the metrosexual Galactus shows up (”I’ve brought SWAAAATCHEEEEEEZZZZ!”) and I think my brain kinda…broke. But not in a bad way. I really wonder exactly how and where these ideas came from and what it took for Giffen to rip these ideas out of the ether and put them into the plot. This book is SO strange and SO bizarre and random and all over the place that it just sorts of bulldozes you with the weirdness to the point that you just let it take you in and go with the flow. It’s worth a read just to experience it, but I know this’ll turn people off.

DC Universe: Last Will and Testament (*****)

I’m such a sucker for Brad Meltzer. And I don’t even give a damn about Geo Force. I kinda knew who he was from the perspective of his being a member of the Outsiders, and I think I knew he had some connection to Markovia. But one book made me care. And made me understand just who this guy was, what his motivations were and where he was coming from. It’s the exact same thing I dug about Identity Crisis. And we’ve got the same narrative style running through the book that makes everything breathe and move in a fluid fashion. And yeah, Meltzer’s got a thing for Deathstroke, but he writes him well. And that goes a long way to make me accept it. I love the narrative, I love the dialogue, I love that combined sense of danger and inevitable dread that frames the Geo Force story. It’s out there on its own little island with the sole purpose of telling a good story in 48 pages and getting the hell out of Dodge. And I think it succeeds marvelously at that goal. I’m also going to state for the record that I don’t care that it doesn’t sync up with Final Crisis continuity for one simple reason: IT’S NOT A FINAL CRISIS TIE IN BOOK. It’s not the Final Crisis cover style. It doesn’t mention Final Crisis anywhere. It wasn’t solicited as a Final Crisis book. All we get is some vague references to a grand battle that everyone assumes is from Final Crisis, but it’s never stated that way. There’s no mention of New Gods or Anti Life or any of that stuff. It’s a separate book from Final Crisis and should be treated as such. And it’s another winner. I really need to finish getting his JLA issues so I can sit down and read them.

Desiato Reviews Badass Secondary Marvel Titles

The Twelve #7 (****1/2)

So this is the pitch of the series in a nutshell for those of you sad, silly, misguided fools that aren’t reading this book: “Hey Golden Age folks! You guys were heroes 60 years ago (though ‘heroes’ is probably a stretch), so we feel obligated to treat you as such now even though most of you are pretty lame! Oh, and the world has gone to complete shit and you’re going to live long lives of misery, depression and anguish because most of you are barely 30! And all of your families are dead! Aren’t you so glad we found you?” Even taking into account the ending of the issue (Chris Weston remains a master of facial expressions), this one wasn’t quite as emotionally devastating as the kick in the balls that was issue six. JMS still likes torturing his own characters, because we’re now seven issues in and NOTHING good has happened to any of them since their return to the living world. I think I’m getting the idea why many folks consider his Fantastic Four and Spider-Man runs (One More Day notwithstanding) subpar. It seems like big action stories aren’t exactly JMS’s strength. I’ve never gotten the chance to watch Babylon Five, but I’m pretty sure remembering that the show wasn’t designed to be a big action sci fi epic. And you look and what he’s doing here and on Thor; these aren’t action books. But they’re FANTASTIC and practically flawless examples of character work. You get on a big property like FF or Spidey, and you can’t necessarily get away with making it the type of book that JMS seems to excel at. But a book about forgotten Timely characters or a Thor relaunch, both of which are playing out like slow burning Greek tragedy? They’re great (makes you wonder what’s going to happen with Brave and the Bold). There isn’t even a question that this is the best mini series that will be put out this year. It blows Secret Invasion and Final Crisis out of the water. There is no more satisfying read on Earth right now than this book.

Invincible Iron Man #4 (***1/2)

You know, this book would probably be close to perfect if Larocca were a bit tighter with the art.  I’m not going to breach the subject of the pros and cons of aggressive photo referencing, but an inescapable problem does arise when Tony and Reed aren’t consistent from panel to panel and page to page. It futzes up the internal continuity of the book and sequential nature of the comics. It’s certainly not as bad as some of the other photo referencing that you’ll see, but it does have a tendency to bleed things together. And there’s always that sort of pseudo blurry Photoshoppy feel to it. Which is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the issue. I did. But I think the art foibles were more noticeable here than in previous issues. It’s a good thing that Fraction is generally writing the holy hell out of this book, because this could have been a turning point issue that could have tanked the series for me. Though I must say that the chess scene is a bit played out in the grand tradition of “two incredibly smart individuals play multiple games of chess at the same time while talking about everything but chess. Aren’t they smart?” scenes that I’ve seen in various movies/books/media. The punch line of the scene was cute, but it didn’t completely save the scene from slipping into cliché. I do think the book is still searching for a bit of an identity between the super heroey stuff and and the “Tony Stark is just this guy, you know?” moments, but we’ve only seen four issues so far, and I’m willing to give a book (especially one that’s got such a compelling foil like Zeke Stane) the time to find its legs.

Punisher War Journal #22 (****1/2)

Holy shit! It got good! Out of nowhere! Are we seeing the case that Remender and Fraction are finally starting to click? This book was so muddy for the first three issues, and once things started to sharpen from a plot perspective last issue, I started to see some signs of life. And this issue really got things going in a clear and concise way that is finally compelling and interesting and not at all clunky or awkward. Praise be to Fraction and Remender! Chaykin’s art isn’t exactly something I would go out of my way to search out, but I don’t actively hate it, and it has a hand in setting the mood of the story as a whole. I do quite enjoy GW Bridge and his band of merry female assassins, and the one Jigsaw appearance was pretty darned fun. It felt like a book with a focused purpose. This book has been given meaning again. They just might save this arc yet. We’ll have to see how this thing ends.

Secret Invasion Part 9

Captain Britain should be coming in my shipment tomorrow, so that’ll have to be in my next set of reviews (I’m getting ELEVEN Secret Invasion books in my box tomorrow).

Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #2 (***1/2)

It’s the little things in life you treasure, and that’s a lot of what I enjoy about the Secret Invasion books. No stone is left unturned. This book continues the thread of Hulkling and Xavin’s attempts to reconcile themselves with the invading Super Skrull forces in New York City. We don’t see a whole lot of new, so this book is mostly focused on character development with that bit of flavor tying into one of the main themes of the tension between the Skrull monarchy and the religious sect that is leading the invasion. It’s standard fare, but it’s still good.

Secret Invasion: Front Line #2 (****)

Front Line is such a fun idea. It’s almost a microcosm of what worked with Marvels. The Marvel Universe has always been a street level universe, so why wouldn’t they make a book like this for every event? It makes perfect sense. And considering the change in direction toward “Embrace Change” and the ads we’ve been seeing post issue five of SI, I can see this book becoming VERY important for the rest of the run. Brian Reed is writing it more than competently, and this feels like an essential component of the story to show us all sides of what’s going on here.

Secret Invasion: Thor #1 (***)

It was okay. But I do agree with Billy that this doesn’t jive enough with the JMS stuff. I’m glad they’re putting it here in a separate mini instead of crowbarring it into the actual Thor ongoing. So we’ve got a Thor series that’s about Beta Ray Bill with Donald Blake sans hammer helping out the people of the local town. There’s some nice narrative work, but it doesn’t have the same pop to it that Fraction’s one shots have had. There’s potential there, especially with the Stormbreaker wrinkle, and I hope it picks up a bit.

Secret Invasion: X-Men #1 (****1/2)

Now this was surprising to me. Very similar to Black Panther from the perspective that we’re jumping back and forth between the Skrull invasion forces and the X-Men. It furthers what I like about these books, giving the Skrulls more depth than simply being a faceless marauding force. It’s the difference between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Battlestar Galactica. We need those three dimension villains to allow us to latch onto something and not blindly root for the good guys. We’ve seen this here. We’ve seen it in Black Panther. We saw it in Secret Invasion 4. And it’s what makes the entire story compelling, just like with Front Line. I do like the way the X-Men caught the Skrulls by surprise due to some older intel and got the quick upper hand. But that’s not the end of the story. This book is much more about the Skrull invaders than the X-Men so far, which seems to be a smart move considering how muddy the X Continuity is right now. Solid read with some different art that catches the eye.

Desiato Reviews Some Indies

Antoine Sharpe: The Atheist #1 [Desperado] (****)

There are a couple reasons why I picked this book up. I keep hearing about this Phil Hester guy and how he’s awesome and everybody loves him, and I required empirical evidence. The book was also featured as a Indie Challenge on Comic Geek Speak (less than two weeks to the Super Show!). This, however, did not stop me from completely forgetting to buy via DCBS, so I made sure to pick it up at the store when I went to get Secret Invasion. Good book. It’s not the first book to feature the character (there was a four issue mini preceding it simply called “The Atheist,” but they ended up changing the name due to the general fervor and malcontent surrounding a word like “atheist”), but I didn’t feel lost at all in discovering who this titular character is. There’s a pretty simple and effective premise as work here. Antoine Sharpe is basically a skeptical detective that is called upon to investigate paranormal cases outside of the realm of standard private investigation work. He’s brought in to cut through the mumbo jumbo and see what’s actually going on here. This story begins with Mr. Sharpe being sent to a mountain town where wives have a tendency to disappear. We don’t get much of the mystery here yet as things are still being set up, but it’s a pure concept and has been executed well so far.

Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #1 [Red 5] (****)

Atomic Robo is a wisecracking robot that was built by Nikola Tesla. He was the star of an awesome five issue miniseries that I read earlier this year that was tons of fun and a sort of light, cheery throwback to the atomic age. I’ve been a fan of the sort of 1950’s retro cold war chic since I played Fallout oh so many years ago, and that first mini had a very similar feel. This one is set in World War Two, so it has a decidedly different aesthetic to it (which is not a bad thing, despite my preference toward the 50’s), but that doesn’t change the series overall to the point of making it read any differently. This issue reads fast, as Robo is parachuting in behind enemy lines to take out some German “laufpanzers” (walking tanks. Five years of German pays off!) that were made partially off the specs that created Robo himself. There are a lot of sparse and wordless panels, and the issue is mostly action, which is why I didn’t like it as much as some of the issues from the first mini, but there’s also an amusing little four page backup that retains that silly vibe. It’s a very good book and I would recommend picking it up, but I would definitely start with the first mini, which’ll be out in trade soon if it’s not on the shelves already.

Angel: After the Fall #11 [IDW] (*1/2)

Comic fans are often referred to as masochistic. We buy books we hate because we have a love for the characters or don’t want to interrupt the run (collector’s mentality). I’m in the camp of the former when it comes to Angel After the Fall. I love the characters, and I’m legitimately intrigued by the overall storyline and where the story is headed, but the writing is SO BAD and the art is SO BAD that the book is just painful to read. The art is completely inconsistent and rushed, and there are a couple instances of Lynch trying to crowbar in some pop culture referency Whedonisms that ring completely false. But the saddest thing about all of this is the fact that I’m probably going to keep buying the thing. And that really is masochism in action. Because they’re doing some cool things in the overall scheme. But that doesn’t stop the individual pieces of the story from being just awful and sad.

Spike: After the Fall #2 [IDW] (***)

Well this one actually got better. Who knew? It’s still not great, but it’s a lot better than its bigger brother right now. We continue to follow Spike as he moves toward the status quo that was set up early in Angel: After the Fall, and this issue specifically deals with Spike and Illyria coming face to face with the Lord of Beverly Hills, who’s not a nice customer. The art is still muddled, but the writing is a lot more bearable than what Lynch is doing on Angel. This book is showing signs of life, and it’s enough for me to buy into the next two issues.

A Bit of Shameless Self Promotion

I’ve started my own separate WordPress blog designed to be an outlet for any and all things not comic related. Anyone that likes the way I write (especially those folks who may not agree with my opinions about the comics world) is more than welcome to check it out. My first post is about the strong ties music has to memory. It’s just a taste of what I hope to accomplish (and not abandon) in this other venture parallel to read/RANT.

I think my writing on this blog was starting to suffer. A lot of that might have to do with the stresses of an impending move (which are about to be lessened extraordinarily, as Friday is my last day at work). But I also think that I was feeling a bit unfulfilled creatively. This should help that, and hopefully my writing on all fronts will improve.

So check it out if you like. You can find it here.

We now return to your regularly scheduled comic ranty goodness.

Final Crisis #3

I have identified the problem I have that goes to the very core of Final Crisis. This is a book that cuts itself off at the knees. For the past two issues, it has had a wildly inconsistent tone. Whenever I read something interesting in the book,  it is invariably followed by a moment that is either blatantly self serving (Frankenstein cameo), juvenile to the point of being silly (Source Wall as a mouse cursor, Anti Life spreading via email), or needlessly esoteric as a masquerade for depth (time traveling “God bullet”). And every time something like that comes along, it immediately rips me out of the book. It’s undercutting itself. I have trouble focusing on the story and suspending disbelief when half of these ideas come off as childish fan fiction. No matter what sense of dread can be instilled by Morrison and Jones, I can’t keep that going in my head when Oracle and Mr. Terrific are trying to basically turn off the internet. It’s ludicrous. The rest of the book could be great (and at times it is), but these moments stick out so badly that they’re impossible to ignore. These are major plot points that serve as the foundation for an event that is rotting from the inside.

It’s not a two way street. The Final Crisis fans laud this series as the type of book that requires multiple readings to really get everything out of it. That doesn’t work for me, because all it does is point out the flaws of storytelling more and more each time I read it. All I can see are these paper thin scene constructions that are just thinly veiled ways for Morrison to promote his Seven Soldiers books. It just feels fake. And it really does just read like bad writing. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing for a writer’s agenda to be so strong in a book like this. It hurts itself. Once again, it undercuts itself. So why should I care? I’m going to keep reading this book because I’m already on the hook through issue five, and it’s certainly possible that Morrison’s going to draw it all together (we’d better see more of Frankenstein or it’s going to be pretty damned silly that he got three pages of this issue), but it’s going to take a lot of legwork for him to make me buy into this. I can’t turn off my brain and ignore the flaws if I’m supposed to read this so intently to pick up on the little details that are really nothing more than references to other characters that (at least to this point) have no basis on any part of the story. I can’t talk about what’s coming up. I can only talk about what I’ve got in front of me. And no sir, I don’t like it.

You may look at the surface and see the pretty pictures and the gee whiz cool moments (most of which involve Libra), but all it’s doing is covering up the decay.

Desiato’s Top Ten Monthlies!

From the perspective of purely focusing on ongoing titles, this list was surprisingly more difficult than I thought it would be. I read a lot of minis. So books like Atomic Robo or Comic Book Comics or the Inhumans stuff are not going to be on this list. I’ve done my best, and here’s what I came up with.

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8

It’s enjoyable. It’s not necessarily deep in the way I think of other comics I enjoy, but a lot of that comes from it being adaptation material, and for whatever reason I have a lot of trouble thinking of these books as comics as such so much as they are simply vehicles to continue a story from a different medium. It doesn’t really affect my enjoyment of the series (to my knowledge), but it basically creates a bit of a mental block that stops it from transcending a certain sense of mediocrity of vision.

9. Captain Britain and MI:13

It’s at number nine because we’ve only got four issues and it’s been a Secret Invasion book first and foremost, so we’re going to have to see what this series is capable of when it’s put out on its own and not piggybacking off a big event. I love it so far, and I haven’t had a single complaint, and I’m hoping the quality continues when the book strikes out on its own.

8. Avengers: The Initiative

This would be The Order. Hell, this should be The Order. They should have let Fraction keep going and then he would have been forced to drop Punisher to make room for Invincible Iron Man and everything would have been groovy. Avengers: Initiative isn’t as good or interesting or risky as The Order was, but it’s still an excellent book, and it’s the only place you can really get that sense of the post Civil War status quo (and I LOVE the post Civil War status quo). It’s still good stuff and it’s still got some interesting new characters, and it’s an important piece of the Marvel Universe.

7. Terry Moore’s Echo

I’ve never read Strangers in Paradise, so I started reading Echo more off the name recognition of Terry Moore than actually knowing or liking his work. Good decision for me. It’s a very good book, and we’ve got a ton of different angles from which to approach it. It’s a government conspiracy book. It’s a science fiction book. It’s a relationship book. It’s a fugitive chase scene book. It’s all of these things rolled into one. And it’s very good.

6. Green Lantern Corps

Since I started reading the GL books, I’ve enjoyed Green Lantern Corps demonstrably more than its single minded ongoing brother. I love the Green Lantern Corps as a concept, which is part of the reason why the solo title can wear a little thin on me from time to time. I’m not really interested in the one man so much as the sea of thousands.

5. The Immortal Iron Fist

I’ve only gotten one issue of the post Brubaker Fraction run, and it’s still good, so the title is still up here on the list of things I look forward to every month. It’s got a solid cast of characters and a good foundation of the Iron Fist mythology to use, and the writers have done an excellent job of making Danny Rand someone to care about. It’s good chop socky fun, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

4. New Avengers

Marvel’s flagship. With Bendis all in the mix of the big events since Secret War, everything of importance has a tendency to be seen through the lens of the New Avengers. That’s obviously quite the case now with Secret Invasion, but this has been an excellent book for pretty much the entirety of its run.

3. Thor

Straczynski’s book is huge and sprawling and yet focused and insular at the same time. I just reviewed issue ten, and I put most of my thoughts for the series as a whole into that review, so you can just go read that to see just why I love this book as much as I do.

2. The Incredible Hercules

So this is certainly the little book that could. Remember the cynicism and incredulity that came with the announcement that Hercules was replacing Hulk in this title? The assumptions that Hercules can’t sustain an ongoing and it would be cancelled in three months or revert back to a Hulk book faster than the blink of an eye. But it persists. And the reason it persists (other than getting the sales bump from tying into Secret Invasion and launching in the aftermath of World War Hulk) is that it’s REALLY DAMNED GOOD. This is the type of book that could legitimately hold on to the readers it gains from the event bumps because it’s so charming and well written and FUNNY and light and breezy goodness. Hercules and Amadeus Cho working your standard odd couple angle may not sound like the stuff of kings, but it is.

1. Nova/Guardians of the Galaxy

Is it a cheat? Probably. Don’t care. You know the implicit trust everyone has in Geoff Johns and all of his books? That’s how I feel about Abnett and Lanning. These guys have been working with Marvel cosmic since its grand rebirth during Annihilation (they wrote the Nova lead in mini) and through the Nova ongoing, Conquest and Guardians of the Galaxy, they have steered the ship of the new look Marvel cosmic. And it’s awesome. And they’re obviously doing well enough that they’ve been rewarded with exclusive contracts and the next World War Hulk sized event with War of Kings. My favorite writers taking on Black Bolt and the Inhumans? And possibly finding a way to make Vulcan interesting? Awesome. But let’s leave that on the side for now. Since I started collecting monthlies, I have not gotten more enjoyment out of any single series than Nova. And Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly no slouch either. So I’m combining number one to basically cover the DnAverse.

So Here’s What I Don’t Get

DHL received my DCBS Box at 10:53 AM Friday morning at their facility in Bristol, Pennsylvania. It is a scant twenty minute drive up I 95 to get from Bristol to my door in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

So why, pray tell, is it Monday evening and I STILL DON’T HAVE MY BOOKS?!?!?

I think people are conspiring against me and don’t want me to read Final Crisis 3. That must be it. And the rest of my books are suffering for it.

Somebody’s getting a call if this doesn’t change by tomorrow. RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION!!!! Perhaps it’s time to switch to UPS shipping.

A Slight Delay

For the first time in a non holiday week, my DCBS box didn’t show up on Friday (thanks, DHL). So that means no Final Crisis review until at least Monday night.

Sowwy.

Review: Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1

So I was given the surprising opportunity to read SI Inhumans today before I get it in my DCBS Box on Friday (it’s certainly possible that it had something to do with my bitching to everyone within earshot about the agony of having to wait TWO WHOLE DAYS!!!!!! in order to read the thing), and I read through it while I was at work. There was a hell of a lot of anticipation on my end. I think if you had to create a pecking order for my favorite characters in comics, the Inhumans run a close second behind Galactus and his Heralds, with a personal affinity specifically engendered for the Royal Family, as you’d be hard pressed to find a more interesting and diverse group of folks under one roof. I have literally liked every story I have ever read about the Inhumans. The Paul Jenkins/Jae Lee Marvel Knights run is well regarded as a classic (and deservedly so), but series like the Pacheco/Ladronn four issue run, or McKeever’s twelve issues, or Son of M or Silent War are all great stories. So combine that with my love for the characters and love for the Secret Invasion event, and you’ve got some big shoes to fill. Also consider that this is writer Joe Pokaski’s first full length comic work (he wrote some of those Heroes shorts as well), and there’s a lot of pressure here.

Well, my fears or trepidation were put to rest on the opening pages, where we see Karnak (he’s a personal favorite of mine out of all the Royal Family) explaining the history of the Inhumans while preaching in front of these beautifully rendered throwback style stained glass windows to catch up readers new and old alike. The current status quo of the Inhumans is also quickly established, as the events of Silent War have not been swept under the rug as some have feared. Maximus is still king of Attilan, the Royal Family still hates his guts, and Gorgon is still in his more animal-like secondary Terrigenesis form. The characterization of the Royal Family is pretty much spot on. Gorgon is still constantly trying to reconcile his temper with his loyalty to his brothers and cousins. Karnak is still a stone cold badass. Medusa still mixes her emotions of fealty, royalty, pride, and honor with that tinge of vulnerability bubbling underneath the surface. And Maximus is (as always) a MASSIVE JACKASS (who constantly takes pot shots at Triton for no reason other than being bored). It is very obvious that Pokaski is either a legitimate fan of the Inhumans or did TONS of research, so it all works in relation to what came before.

From a story perspective, it’s what you’d expect. Iron Man delivers the Black Bolt Skrull to Medusa, who is kind of a bit upset about it, and the Inhumans proceed to examine themselves from within Attilan to see just what this means for them while they attempt to find their missing deposed king. But the Skrulls are ready for them, and much of Attilan is burning by the end of the issue. I won’t go into specifics because this is a book that really requires a fresh approach to enjoy the way things play out. But I will say that someone is messing with the Terrigen crystals, and whoever designed the Inhuman Royal Family Super Skrull that appears in this issue could potentially be my new best friend. I think that thing may honestly be cooler than the Illuminati Super Skrull from Secret Invasion 2. We’ve got an ending with a very strong allusion to certain events of another recent Marvel event, and we have that undeniable need to read the next issue RIGHT NOW and the long, dark soul searching month of quietude before the next onslaught of awesomeness. And truly, what more is there to ask for from a monthly periodical comic book?

I wanted to end this somewhat haphazard and hastily put together review by talking about Tom Raney. Now, I already mentioned how great those opening stained glass style panels look. And the badass Inhuman Super Skrull. But the rest of the book is drawn in this wonderful clean style that is a pretty big departure from what we’ve gotten used to from an Inhumans book. This book does not revel in the darkness the way that Jae Lee or Landronn or Frazer Irving drew the Inhumans. It’s much more along the lines of of the artists that worked on McKeever’s twelve issue series, but even that was relentlessly dark at times. This book is not done from that perspective. The colors pop. Everything is vibrant and clear as day. It’s VERY different, but not in a bad way. This is also a different style compared to Raney’s work on Annihilation: Conquest, which I think has a lot to do with the coloring as well, so hats are off to the folks at Guru EFX for doing a great job on making this book like no other that has preceded it. That’s not discounting Raney, of course, as his lines are confident and strong, and his expression work from the myriad of Medusa’s emotions to Maximus’ indifference to Gorgon’s rage and Karnak’s frustration enhances the words in a way you can only get from the comic medium.

To say this book lived up to my expectations would be no small feat considering how excited I’m been to read the thing ever since it was announced (or more accurately ever since New Avengers: Illuminati #5 when I desperately wanted to see what the Inhumans would do about Black Bolt), but the combination of the spot on writing and the great art and the little subtleties that come from both the writing and the art really make for a truly compelling piece of superhero fiction. My mind is at ease and still swimming in a sea of Inhumany goodness. Won’t you join me?

Immediate Thoughts: Secret Invasion #5

Things keep moving. I think more has happened in this issue compared to others, as you’ve got some big moments (Agent Brand rescuing Reed, Reed’s Skrull identifying plasma gun thingie, Skrull-Vell going AWOL again, everyone from the ship in the Savage Land officially being outed as a Skrull) that are still balanced with the character moments.

Things I liked:

LOVED the double page spread of the Skrulls’ media takeover. I don’t think it’s supposed to indicate that everyone on the TV screens have been replaced by Skrulls (John McCain, Barack Obama and Dr. Doom are Skrulls! Oh noes!), but it’s creepy and effective and has this otherworldly vibe to it that reinforces the “you’ve already lost” motif of the Skrull occupation/invasion.

I also like the way that Bendis is very specifically choosing the characters that are making waves in combating the Skrulls are just the folks that the Skrulls didn’t take into account. No one on the Skrull ship even recognized Agent Brand as a potential threat (or a likely candidate for a Skrull sleeper agent), which gave her the opening to rescue Reed. No one took Nick Fury into account (which is a little odd, considering they sent a Skrull after him and he killed it. Makes you think they would have found out about that one), which allowed him to burst on the scene with a bunch of other unknowns (his new Howling Commandos/Secret Warriors), warn Maria Hill to start using LMD’s, and coordinate the final battle. He’s got an in with Bucky, which would explain Cap joining the fray presumably in issue six. Everyone the Skrulls assumed would be a threat had been successfully compromised. That’s good planning on Bendis’ part.

Poor, poor, pitiful Hawkeye. Bendis takes him down a peg AGAIN (yep, Mockingbird’s a Skrull, but just like New Avengers 43 showed us, she didn’t know she was a Skrull, which’ll probably make him even more enraged) and he’s out for blood. Green blood. And I wouldn’t be surprised if his rage leads to some accidental red blood being spilled (watch your ass, Kate Bishop).

This is the macro side of the Secret Invasion story. It’s designed to hit every major and important story beat that will allow for the overarching story to be told from beginning to end. And Bendis realized that the story he wanted to tell was too big for one miniseries. I’m glad that the event has been structured in the way it has been because it allows for the story to be told in the best and most satisfying way. Yes, it is expensive. But you also get great stuff like Secret Invasion: Inhumans (I read it! It’s awesome! More on it later tonight or tomorrow!) or New Avengers or Captain Britain to fill in the gaps and create this rich tapestry of characters and events that reach all through the vast galaxies of the Marvel Universe. Bendis did set himself up for a fall in a way, because the only way to really pull it off and give every moment its fair shake is to sacrifice the main mini somewhat and turn it into more of a spine for the entire event, setting up side stories as waypoints into other series that will take the time to give them a fair shake. But I do think that Bendis has delivered from the perspective of the small moments that you do see in the SI issues (like the Hawkeye/Mockingbird confrontation from issue 2 or the Tony/Spider-Woman/Black Widow moments from issues 3 and 4, or Veranke’s monologue from 4, or the Agent Brand stuff from this issue) where he gets the chance to really delve into these characters and what would happen when faced with such an awful circumstance as a shape shifting alien invasion.

The book is not perfect, but it’s impossible to (and even if it weren’t, I resolutely refuse to) separate it from the rest of the event. Which is fantastically awesome. So it’s all gravy in my book. Delicious green gravy.

Review: Thor #10

We’ve reached double digits for J Michael Straczynski’s Thor, and it’s taken a little more than a year to get there, so I found this to be a good time to sit down and really parse things out for what this series has been and where it’s going from the perspective of its tenth issue. Haven’t done a full review in a little while, so bear with me.

For a book starring a guy who’s almost always had a shoot first, possibly forget to ask questions later mentality (that is, if by “shoot,” you mean “cave someone’s head in with a large hammer and electrocute his body”), there certainly isn’t a whole lot of action in this series. You’ve got a couple of action pieces, like Thor’s smacking Tony upside the head for all of that Clor business, or Odin and Thor tag teaming against Surtur in Valhalla, but it is quite plainly not the real focus of the series in this first series of stories. For the first time, Thor is legitimately the lord of Asgard. He’s in complete control. And the first couple arcs have been about the rebuilding of Asgard post Ragnarok. Thor begins by finding and waking up all the Asgardians sleeping in the bodies of normal humans, and follows with Thor confronting Odin in Valhalla, who basically gives Thor his blessing (as it were), so he can truly begin his rule of Asgard. And when he does…nothing really happens. But not in that bad way that everyone keeps throwing at Secret Invasion (FUCKERS! I mean…um…nice people that like this blog…erm…let’s just ignore that one). I mean, what would happen here? This is all taking place prior to Secret Invasion, so there are no Skrulls to fight (although it would seem pretty damned easy for the Skrulls to infiltrate Asgard, what with their ability to transform into both humans and Asgardians, but Matt Fraction’s going to have to let us know what’s going on with all that). They’re in the middle of Oklahma surrounded by bemused small town folks that only really bother them when a town meeting is afoot. But of course, there’s more to this than meets the eye. Because Loki’s around. And she’s got breasts.

There are a lot of reasons I could go into about the reasoning behind bringing Loki back as a female. I think it’s a stroke of genius not only from the original reveal (Thor is expecting to find Lady Sif standing in front of him…ah, fuck) but as a way of influencing the way the character works and the way others view her. Maternal figures are often innately trustworthy. It’s an instinctual mother/child thing. So why wouldn’t the ultimate deceiver disguise himself as a figure of ultimate trust? And this current arc is all about Loki’s slow infection of Asgard. This is the second issue of Loki’s assault on Asgard, and much like the past issue, she is using Balder as her proxy. You get these wonderful panels (good work, Mr. Coipel) of Loki skulking in the shadows above Balder’s shoulder whispering things into his ear (“Nah, you should totally do that. It would be awesome! Trust me on this one, nobody’ll notice” Not an actual quote, I just have that kind of voice in my head for Loki), manipulating his movements in classic Loki fashion. But what’s so great about this is the way that Loki doesn’t lie to Balder. He doesn’t need to. Because Balder legitimately is a son of Odin and prince of Asgard. And Thor and Odin didn’t tell him. And Loki knows this. Sure, there’s a reason why Balder wasn’t told he was the son of Odin (it has to do with Ragnarok and Balder’s heralding its beginning with his death). But it’s still kind of a dickish thing to do, especially after Thor brought everyone back, and disrupting Ragnarok was no longer a concern, and yet he still didn’t tell Balder of his true