Thursday, July 7, 2011

Heroes for Hire #9 & Thunderbolts #160

Another day, another batch of Fear Itself crossover issues to read. This time around we'll be checking out the first of the Heroes for Hire Fear Itself issues, as well as the next part of the Thunderbolts Fear dealings. Say what you will, but Marvel is REALLY getting their titles behind Fear Itself, aren't they! It seems like nearly every Marvel comic I picked up this week is connected in one way or another with Fear Itself... Anyway, enough small talk, on to the comics!

Heroes for Hire #9(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: This issue kicks off with Paladin trying not to get himself killed by the Serpent possessed Thing... Now THAT'S how you start a comic book! Paladin calls in to Misty Knight for some assistance, and she sends the Gargoyle out to help. With Yancy Street destroyed, Misty tells Paladin and Gargoyle to try to lure Thing out of that area so the rescue crews could get in... Easier said than done. Meanwhile, some smalltime criminal pharmacist living on Yancy Street has been doused in chemicals and turned into some sort of monster. While all of that is happening on Yancy Street, Misty sends the Shroud to the Raft prison to survey the damage and try to wrangle any super-villains who try to escape. Shroud is able to hold his own against a few of the villains, but is soon confronted by more powerful villains. Misty sends Elektra in to assist the Shroud, and the two manage to put down a few minor villains and enter the fractured prison. Inside the prison, the Purple Man is preparing to throttle the life out of the comatose Puppet Master, but is soon confronted by the Shroud and Elektra. Before the two heroes can make a move on the Purple Man, a whole horde of Purple Man controlled villains enter the room, intent on keeping the heroes off of their master.

Thoughts: No complaints here. We had an appearance from one of the Serpent's Worthy, which validates the Fear Itself banner on this comic, as well as several heroes dealing with the fallout from the events of Fear Itself. Add Elektra and the Purple Man, and you've got the makings of a perfectly acceptable comic book. So like I said, no complaints here, let's move on.

Score: 7 out of 10.I am SUCH a fan of the Purple Man... First off, his real name is awesome. Secondly, when used correctly, he's a HUGE menace!


Thunderbolts #160(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: With the world gone crazy thanks to the Serpent and his Worthy, the Thunderbolts decide to go after their possessed teammate Juggernaut, with the hopes that they could free him from the Serpent's possession. To that end they teleport just outside Chicago(which is where Juggy is headed) and decide to try to do the unthinkable... Stop the Juggernaut. The team starts off with Songbird creating a pink road under Juggy's feet, leading him around in circles. With Juggy disoriented, Moonstone approaches Juggy and tries to use her psychiatric training to ease Juggy's rage. Unfortunately, Juggy is having none of it and knocks Moonstone away. As a last recourse, Satana links herself and the rest of the team with the Ghost and sends him inside of Juggy. Satana leads the team through Juggy's inner self, where they find Juggy's soul being taken over by one of the Serpent's henchmen, Kuurth. Satana tries to banish Kuurth from Juggy's body, but Kuurth resists Satana's spells and instead tosses her and her teammates out of Juggernaut's body. Juggy lashes out with his hammer, scattering his teammates, leaving the T-Bolts with no other recourse than to attack Juggy head on. That goes about as well as you'd expect, and this issue ends with Juggy literally dropping the hammer, sending a massive shock wave out that literally shakes Chicago.

Thoughts: I could have just cut and paste my comments from the Heroes for Hire review above because this issue left me feeling the exact same way. We finally got the Juggernaut/T-Bolts showdown, the T-Bolts tried EVERY trick in their arsenal to stop Juggy, but they STILL came up short. There was one thing that did bother me with this comic, but it really wasn't the fault of the writer, Jeff Parker. It's more on Marvel's editorial staff... In this issue the Juggernaut was headed towards Chicago. In Fear Itself: The Home Front #3, which came out a few weeks ago, Juggy was tearing through Missouri. In Fear Itself: Youth In Revolt #3, which came out the same day as this issue, Juggy was rampaging through Las Vegas. Finally, in Uncanny X-Men #540, which came out the SAME day as this issue of T-Bolts and Youth in Revolt, Juggy was in San Fransisco... Now, it's conceivable that Juggy DID walk through all of these states, but he hasn't exactly been shown to be moving all that fast in ANY of the Fear Itself comics I've read, which makes me wonder how the hell he made it from New York to San Fran in what had to be less than a week, if not sooner... With Juggy appearing in so many Fear Itself crossover issues, you'd think editorial would have done a better job figuring out where Juggy should and shouldn't be each week, and how he managed to move so quickly from one location to another. But enough about that, this comic was good, and that's the important thing.

Score: 7 out of 10.Don't they know who he is?!?

17 comments:

  1. hey man i know ur not a new avengers fan but this steems stongly from story threads coming from the main avengers book
    this is from the september solcitations
    [ NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #1
    Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
    Pencils & Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
    From the creative team of SECRET WAR! Simon Williams doesn't think the Avengers are helping the world and is willing to do whatever is needed to stop them. Including bringing in his own NEW team...THE REVENGERS! One of the biggest throwdowns in Avenger's history starts HERE! ]

    this stuff in this issue will lead to another anual or one shot by the same team

    here is the cover
    http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/marvelcomics/201109/NAANNV2001_cov.jpg

    sounds of any intrest to u?
    i seems like wonderman is really going all out on his no fucking more avengers thing lol

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  2. hey man
    when you post ur review of uncanny x-men for the scan can u post the big page spread at the end of the book i cant find it elsewhere and i have no scanner

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  3. Your "Heroes for Hire" review reminded me that I really need to read the trade that I have. Lol.

    Elektra is awesome! Also Purple man is awesome two, he's named after my favorite color!!! Lol. That's all I have to say for now.

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  4. Yep, I already plan on getting that annual, Movieartman! I saw the solicit for it a bit back and knew right away I'd be getting that one! I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about Wonder Man turning against the Avengers, but the premise of this story DOES sound interesting, and I'm REALLY interested in seeing who Wondy teams up with against the Avengers.

    That was the EXACT picture I scanned for that comic a few minutes earlier! I should have the review done and posted sometime tomorrow afternoon, scan included!

    You have a Heroes for Hire trade, Lisha! Wow, it sounds like you probably have about as many trades/loose back issues laying around to read as I do! :P As for your words on Elektra and Purple Man, agreed and agreed!

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  5. wanna go on a little trip in Charles Xavier's little brain?
    Here's the ticket!

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d3lceou

    yeah Zebediah Killgrave is a pretty cool villain, but as far as mind control goes, Mesmero was more relatable & Sauron was funnier.

    Saidi

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  6. I too enjoy purple man but I also love when Cage puts him in his place. For example during new avengers breakout! when the purple man is so smugly walking around druing the riot and thinks that he can control luke cage once again. Nope! your prison food has been drugged negating your powers! Cage then completley destroys him, only to be saved by Zemo :-/
    -There was also a newer issue of thunderbolts like 140ish where purple man again tries to control luke cage and Cage spouts of something about nanites calling him a chump after a head butt haha.

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  7. DUDE!
    big things still to happen in Fear itself
    http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33167

    And Loeb and McGuinness will create "_ _ _ _ _ Reborn?

    http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33160

    it could be bucky reborn :) :) :)
    BUT being Leob its very likly to be somthing dumb like cable reborn what do u think X-Man?

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  8. Well, besides the powers, the name Zebadiah Killgrave is like the BEST villain name ever! I mean I don't know if there's a name out there that screams villain more than Killgrave!

    Ha, yeah, after the stuff Killgrave did to Jessica Jones, it's no real shock Luke enjoys taking as many shots as he can at Killgrave, Cap. It's always funny when Killgrave tries to take control of somebody and is totally owned by them, because Killgrave is SO arrogant! Nate Grey did it a while back, Luke's done it a few times, and it's always great, because Killgrave is one incredibly arrogant character!

    Hawkeye as one of the Mighty = Huge Win in my book! :D Well, Loeb did do a part of that mini-series that came out when Cap died(I'm blanking on the name though), but yeah, Loeb seems more connected to the Ultimate Universe or the Hulk books... But a Bucky reborn would sure make me happy, no matter who wrote it!

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  9. Lol, I have so many trades on my bookshelf I could open up my comic shop lol.

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  10. I could open up a chain of comic book stores! :D

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  11. Lol, I really believe you can. I'd shop there!

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  12. finally got a copy of H4H #9. but i wasn't too wild about it. the story didn't really grab me much and the art style was a little too . . much like the art in a MAD magazine satire.

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  13. Yeah, for me, H4H #9 was alright... It wasn't great, it wasn't actively bad, it was just sort of there. I doubt I'll remember it in a month's time, but that's what this blog is for!

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  14. good point. #5 & #6 were pretty good but #7 & #8 just kicked ass all the way in terms of humor, action and the banter between the characters. #9 just feels like such a discontinuity from the roll the writing was on. i doubt i'll start buying the series again until it gets back to what it was before the Fear It's Self story line crossed over.

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  15. Well, you know I'll be here to fill you in on what happened if you want, Dave. H4H + Fear Itself = must buy comic for me!

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