Review: This issue begins predictable with the Avengers being attacked by the alternate version of Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen. After a few pages of pitched battle, Iron Man figures out that Apocalypse was as confused by his sudden appearance at Avengers Tower as the Avengers were, but Apocalypse, being ultra arrogant, refuses to assist Stark in figuring out how/why he had appeared there. While arguing with Stark, Apocalypse and his Horsemen begin to vanish, and seem angered that they are being shunted through the timestream again. With Apocalypse and company gone, Stark reveals that he was able to scan Apocalypse and picked up several locations throughout time where Apocalypse had been. Stark figures if he follows the trail back to Apocalypse's original location he'd be able to discover the point where time was fractured. Maria Hill decides to split the team into two groups, with one group traveling through time to see if they could right the damage(that group included Stark, Protector, Wolverine and Captain America), while the rest of the team had to travel around NYC dealing with whatever other chronologically displaced creatures were popping up. Stark and his team head off to create a time machine, while the other team heads to Midtown Manhattan and discover a big guy with a sword and a huge red T-Rex.
What I Thought: I've got to say, I'm STILL loving this storyline! Lots of Classic Avengers action, problems in time, Apocalypse, I mean it's like Marvel is specifically trying to cater to me! I don't have a single thing to complain about here... Even Bendis's usually painful dialogue was kept to a minimum! I can't wait for issue #4!
Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.
Ahhh... What says classic Avengers better then Thor pulverizing some losers?
I missed something, who is Protector?
ReplyDeleteAh, that's the new name of one of my all-time favorites(and Grant Morrison creation), Noh-Varr(Marvel Boy). I'm not exactly enamored by the name Protector(I prefer Marvel Boy), but at least he's getting some respect in these great Avengers issues.
ReplyDeleteWho's that in the third panel on the bottom?
ReplyDeleteIs this the Noh-Varr who was in Runaways/Young Avengers: Civil War and Dark Avengers?
How did Stark trace Apocalypse's trail?
Why are Spider-Man and Spider-Woman both on this team?
On a different note, huzzah for JRJ for having Thor will full gloves. I've seen too many pictures of him with half or no gloves in recent years, and that's bad mythology right there. Sorry, myth nerd mini-rant over...
Yup, that is the very same Noh-Varr in that third panel, Nagash.
ReplyDeleteAs for Stark, I guess my answer is... um, I don't know, he's Tony Stark! :P Somehow his armor was able to trace the chronological energies that Apocalypse was giving off while he spoke to the big A. That's Stark's armor for you... It can do it all! I guess Stark's armor has become like Batman's utility belt back in the 60's. Bruce has an infestation of flies to deal with? He just whips out the Bat-bug repellent! Bruce is being pestered by a pack of rowdy hyenas? He pulls out the Bat-lion noise maker!
As for the duel Spiders, why not? I mean it's not like they have identical powers, and it's obvious that Bendis likes Spider-Woman, so I'd guess that's probably the reason. Personally I'll take Spider-Woman over Ms. Marvel or Jessica Jones any day.
Heh heh, rant away Nagash! I can't say I ever noticed Thor's gloves, but from now on, I'll definitely be watching to see what the God of Thunder is wearing on his hands!
Righteo - as you know, not as much knowledge of the Marvel Universe. Don't really know much about him, as those are the only two things I've read with him, and the first he was mind controlled, and the second he was in it for what, three issues? And nobody explained where he'd gone or anything...
ReplyDeleteWell, generally nowadays most of the stuff he would pull from there you an excuse because it's just stuff you might have if you're like that, and they're multi-purpose. The armour, well, it just doesn't make sense. And how does it even work? If Apocalypse can't track it with Celestial tech, why can Stark?
As you can tell, these things bug me...
On Spider-Woman, it seems she has Spider-Man's powers plus some more, so, er, yeah? What's the point in them both. Plus she's the token chick of the team, and is a distaff counterpart to a male character on the team.
And people wonder why I dispared at Marvel's "Women of Marvel" tagline stuff. It's incredibly sexist, and a bigger deal than the "DC is racist" thing, because you can tell why they're killing legacy characters, and it's just because they prefer the Silver Age. Not that they needed to die anyway, but I'm digressing here...
It's these small things you just notice. Only someone wearing them can hold Mjolnir. They're Járngreipr, iron gloves he uses to hold it. But then I suppose he's also meant to be red-haired, which we can't have in a man now, can we?
Noh-Varr actually popped up in a few issues of New Avengers during Secret Invasion, but like most of Secret Invasion, I blocked it out... He was also in a Wolverine one-shot and a post-Siege comic that I can't recall the name of. I think those issues explained how he went from that prison in the Runaways/Young Avengers to now.
ReplyDeleteI'm not gonna even TRY to explain how/why Stark was able to trace Apocalypse's chrono energy. Bendis needed some way to point the Avengers towards their goal, so Stark's multi-purpose armor seems to be the way to do it. Meh, I've read worse from Bendis, so I'm happy to ignore something like that as long as the story keeps moving in a direction I enjoy.
That's... interesting I guess... First off, there are some differences between Spidey and SW. SW has bio-energy blasts and some sort of phenomenal control besides the enhanced strength/durability. I think she can also use her bio-energy to cast energy webs, but I could be wrong. She's gone through SO many power changes I'm not 100% sure WHAT she can and can't do anymore! As for her being the token woman, like I said before, I don't mind her, and although I personally would rather see a classic Avengers character like the Scarlet Witch or the Wasp in that spot, I'm fine with SW. I will say that this is the first time I've heard somebody call Marvel "sexist". To me the comic book industry has always been written mainly by men for young men/boys. As such the characters are going to be geared more towards males. I mean I know growing up I would always relate more to the male characters then the female ones. That's just the nature of the beast. As long as comics are written mainly by guys, there will always be more men then women.
Man, you REALLY know your Norse Mythology, don't you Nagash?! I am IMPRESSED!
Was he? Well, I only have the Secret Invasion big ass TPB, cause I wanted to see whether it was any good or not (remember that review of it?). I understand the blocking out of it. And I don't read Wolverine, so yeah. And not got to Siege yet, don't have money for TPB. And I don't really buy Marvel continuing series.
ReplyDeleteBecause the plot demanded it? Well, it could been explained better - I mean, they were in Avenger Tower, right? Therefore it has all the latest sensors, including Chronal…
Well, that's what I mean - she has more than Spider-Man, so what's his use power wise? I know Bendis likes him, but still…
Well, all comic book companies are sexist in the way they portray women, but Marvel aren't even trying to hide it anymore with this line of comics. And it's not hard to write female characters, you write them just the same as men. And if comic books are geared towards men/boys, and you running the sex appeal card, surly you would have more women in the comics?
See, I don't really relate to comic characters, as my opinions, my way of life is pretty damn different to them - but then the way I write my characters is more how I see things, though of course I spread my opinions out between characters and do try to put contrasts in so they aren't templates of one another. But that's a story for another day ;)
Eh, it's not so hard. The names escape me a lot of the time, but I know stuff that makes each character. And have you seen the picture of Thor, Odin and Loki from the film? Costumes look good, but still, no damn gloves...
Yeah, I'm almost positive he was in the New Avengers or Mighty Avengers Secret Invasion tie-in... And yeah, I do remember that review, which summed up SI pretty much perfectly! :P
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess saying that the Tower's security systems were the ones to have traced Apocalypse's chrono signature would have made more sense, but then what would Tony have done? :D
I personally would MUCH rather have Spider-Woman and NOT Spidey on the team. To me Spidey is like(or was like)the ultimate loner hero. Sure he'd have plenty of team-ups, but he just never seemed the type to join a team... Until Bendis came along. I mean, Hawkeye can do the jokes, SW tops Spidey power-wise, so I don't really have a reason for him being there... Star power I guess?
I don't know, I see the Marvel women thing as more of a publicity deal to try to attract more women readers to comics. You know, it's like saying, "See, we're not just writing for males anymore!" And as for relating to characters, you might not, but I do think many comic book fans do. Especially kids. A little boy is way more likely to relate to say Superman way easier then to Wonder Woman. Most(although not all)boys are going to be drawn to/want to emulate a strong male figure as opposed to a strong female figure. That's why you see little boys dressed as Superman on Halloween instead of Wonder Woman!
Well, I've got to say, your knowledge of Norse Mythology definitely puts my knowledge to shame! No, I haven't seen 'em yet. I'll have to look around.
Quick, bash our heads into brick walls, we're talking about SI!
ReplyDeleteAs much as any of the others during that scene - none of them contributed, so yeah…
Wouldn't that be Daredevil? I dunno, or Wolverine? I don't know, Bendis likes him, so why have Spider-Woman?
Except they aren't really - when was the last time you saw a kid in a comic shop? Not even when I was in New York in May did I see anyone that looked sortof near my age, and I was, er, 19 at the time (I think - my memory is VERY bad).
I don't see anyone dressed up for Halloween except in either not much effort (for the guys) or somewhat non-existent (for the girls). Halloween isn't really a big thing in England, except it's an excuse for girls to dress less and everyone get drunk. And don't know what it's like for kids, never heard anyone say trick or treat, except on TV.
So your Norse knowledge is like my Marvel knowledge ;)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/07/thor-3d-captain-america-3d-comiccon-marvel-studios.html
Picture is there, and guess what, it's in 3D. Of yoy of yoys.
I hate 3D films...