Outsiders #36:
Summary: Black Lightning brings his renegade Outsiders team to visit his daughter, Thunder, since he wanted to check in with her after being absent for so long. While talking to Thunder and her girlfriend, Grace, Black Lightning's other daughter, Lightning(get it? Thunder &Lightning! How clever.......) brings several of her JSA teammates over to arrest her fugitive father. While that battle is raging on, Geo-Force thinks he is seeing the spirit(ghost? dream?) of his sister, who tells him to stop trusting everybody and to kill his enemies. Back to the battle, Black Lightning ends up surrendering to the JSA, since he didn't want to see either of his daughters harmed. Amanda Waller shows up and offers Black Lightning a way to avoid being sent to prison for betraying the US when he sided with Geo-Force and Markovia, head into Markovia and take down Geo-Force and his army. Black Lightning happily(??) agrees.
Thoughts: Meh. There wasn't really anything wrong with this comic(for a change) but with that said, especially in light of the fact that this series is being canceled soon, I just couldn't work up any interest in it... I mean it was perfectly acceptable and all, but sadly for this series, it may just be too little too late for me. I'll stick it out until the end, but my interest here is really, really low.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
That is one suck-tacular team...Secret Avengers #10:
Summary: Shang-Chi's evil father is just about ready to possess Shang, when Steve Rogers and his Secret Avengers crash the party. The Shadow Council(who were hoping that assisting Shang's father would help them move their evil empire into China) immediately jump into the fray, hoping that they could distract the Secret Avengers long enough for Shang's father to complete the ceremony. However, Steve came prepared and enlisted the help of the Prince of Orphans, who takes Shang's father and the Council completely by surprise. Unable to complete the magical ritual, Shang's father disintegrates, and the Shadow Council attempts to escape. While the Secret Avengers manage to capture Shadow Council agent(and Steve's former WWII ally) John Steele, Max Fury and the Shadow Council's enigmatic leader manage to escape. This issue ends a few days later with Steve heading down to visit Steele to try to figure out what turned him bad.
Thoughts: First off, I have to admit that I'm quite pleased to see this story come to an end. To say that I could care less about Shang-Chi and his evil father is an understatement. I enjoyed this issue more than the last four parts of this storyline, maybe because I knew this was the final part, or maybe because this was pretty much an all action issue. Either way, this was a pretty good comic, and I'll be looking forward to learning more about the mystery of John Steele.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Women... Always stabbing people...Secret Six #31:
Summary: Scandal Savage's current girlfriend is kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, just as Scandal is having a nightmare about her former(and dead) girlfriend, Knockout. Scandal wakes up and remembers that she had acquired a “Get out of Hell free” card WAY back around the beginning of this series(sheesh, what a thing to forget about!) and decides she'd use it to free Knockout from Hell. However, upon looking in her floor safe, she sees that the card had been stolen, and realizes that the only person on the Six with the skill to have broken into her floor safe was Ragdoll. Scandal attacks Ragdoll in his bedroom, and the two battle while the rest of the Six watch dumbfounded. Eventually Scandal impales Ragdoll with her wrist blades, which leads to Ragdoll using the “Get out of Hell free” card himself and vanishing. Scandal is incensed and decides that she was going to go to Hell to retrieve the card before Ragdoll could use it. Black Alice tells the team where a porthole to Hell was located and the team head down to the underworld, being met by Ragdoll and a small army of demons.
Thoughts: Eh. There are two major problems with this series for me... Ragdoll and Black Alice. I despise the both of them, and I'm REALLY hopeful that Ragdoll stays in Hell at the conclusion of this storyline. I mean he's just not funny anymore. The gag got old 20 issues ago. As for Black Alice, I really don't care to read about a bitchy goth girl. I don't see how she fits on a team of mercenaries, and as such I don't get why she'd even be on the team. And the stuff with Scandal's girlfriend being kidnapped by her ex? I don't even know what the hell that's all about. A lot of things have to happen for me to start enjoying this comic again, hopefully this issue is going to lead to one of those things.
Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.
Good!!!!!
I'm glad to see Secret Avengers was at least okay this month. If I recall correctly, it hasn't scored quite that high for a little while now. How many more issues until Brubaker is replaced by Nick Spencer?
ReplyDeleteYeah, this issue actually made better sense than the last few issues, plus it was the end of the Shang-Chi stuff, so it was all good! I honestly don't know... I'm guess ing issue #12 or 13. I know he's the writer for #13 according to the solict book I got from the CB shop, and Brubaker is writing #11, so I'd guess #12?
ReplyDeleteDespite the presence of Metamorpho I have to agree that is indeed one suck-tacular team.
ReplyDeleteThat grouping of characters(with the exception of Metamorpho) really doesn't scream Outsiders to me at all...
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