Silver Surfer #3 & Iron Man 2.0 #4

To make up for those two long DC reviews from yesterday, here are two much quicker Marvel reviews. See, it's all about balance!

Silver Surfer #3(of 5):

Summary: In Mexico, the High Evolutionary is terraforming a barren desert into a lush forest using the Power Cosmic he swiped from the Silver Surfer and Galactus's stolen spacecraft. You know, it takes STONES to steal Galactus's spaceship! Just sayin'... The Evolutionary also uses his newfound abilities to provide water for an elderly man who was dying of thirst. The powerless Silver Surfer and his gal pal, Suzi Endo, manage to sneak aboard Galactus's ship after distracting the Evolutionary. As for the elderly guy, he turns silvery(like the Surfer used to be) and flies away... Well okay then... Suzi tries to interact with Galactus's technology and is knocked loopy as a result. Before Surfer can figure out what to do, the Evolutionary arrives on the scene, showing the Surfer what he had done to the elderly guy. The High Evolutionary explains that he had cured the old guy of all disease and taken away his emotions, leaving him “perfect”. The Evolutionary continues, stating that he wanted to travel the universe, making entire worlds “perfect”, but that he first needed a herald who would find these worlds that were yearning for perfection. The Surfer turns down the offer flat, not wanting to part with his rediscovered emotions, so the Evolutionary takes Suzi and turns her into his Seeker, ending this one.

Thoughts: Not bad. Not great, but not bad. This was one of those comics where I thoroughly enjoyed certain scenes(anytime the Evolutionary was around), while I hated others(pretty much all of the stuff with the Surfer and Suzi)... If nothing else, this issue reaffirmed the fact that I'm a sucker for ultra-intelligent villains who think their actions are, in some way, helping the world/universe(Magneto, Dr. Doom, Lex Luthor, the High Evolutionary, etc). Too bad this wasn't simply a High Evolutionary mini-series!

Score: 6 out of 10.High Evolutionary to Earth: "Drop Dead!"


Iron Man 2.0 #4:

Summary: This is going to be the easiest review I've ever done! War Machine(thanks to Tony Stark's money) manages to get one of his aids into a government facility to read the real origin of Palmer Addley. We start at the beginning, and learn that Palmer was always a really smart kid, but that he came from a slightly dysfunctional household. As a teenager, Palmer fell into an anarchic way of thinking, and began to rail against the government. Eventually Palmer's anger turned violent, and he shot up his former workplace, which is all War Machine's aid can bear to read before she gets up and leaves.

Thoughts: Well that was quick! This series is moving along at an interesting clip. In a weird sort of way, the Palmer Addley stuff took a backseat to the War Machine stuff the first three issues. Sure, the storyline is called, “Palmer Addley is dead” but the first three issues seemed to be setting up War Machine's new duds more than anything else. This issue did a complete 180, with Rhodey not showing up once! This comic was ALLLLL about Palmer! While I did enjoy the insight we got here, I can't say this issue blew me away or anything. It was, as they say, a perfectly acceptable comic, nothing more, nothing less.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Palmer Addley is dead... AND an anarchist!