Uncanny Avengers #2

First X review of the week is the second issue of the flagship Avengers title, Uncanny Avengers.  The first issue gave us the Red Skull reveal, what will issue #2 give us?

Uncanny Avengers #2

Summary: This issue kicks off with Captain America, Thor and Havok cleaning up after Avalanche's attack on Manhattan last issue.  Wolverine saunters over and is told by Cap that Havok would be leading a group of Avengers, which would hopefully ease the increasing human/mutant tensions.  Wolvie isn't pleased with this idea, but seems like he'll go along with it.  Meanwhile, Rogue manages to break free and escape two of the Red Skull's goons.  While Rogue is sneaking around Skull's base, the Skull is talking to the recently awakened Scarlet Witch.  The Skull claims that he only wants to talk to Wanda and says that the two of them share the same goal, the eradication of mutantkind.  Wanda refutes that and says she was pretty much crazy when she decimated mutantkind before, but the Skull uses telepathy on Wanda to force her into agreeing to help the Skull with his plans.  It's then the Skull learns Rogue had escaped and leaves Wanda behind.  Rogue pops up and absorbs Wanda's powers, but is unable to figure out how to make them work.  Mind-controlled Wanda has no such trouble and blasts Rogue through the ground where the two women come across the body of Professor Xavier...  With his brain removed.  That infuriates Rogue, who remembers when the Prof brought her onto the X-Men, and snaps Wanda out of the Skull's mental thrall.  However, the Skull and his henchmen enter the room and the Skull tells the two women that he had bonded his brain with Xavier's, and was now one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet!

Thoughts: This was a very, very good comic.  I can easily see it becoming my favorite monthly title if it keeps up like this.  We learned where the Skull came from(he was apparently another clone of the Red Skull who woke up recently), and found out that he had managed to steal Xavier's telepathy.  This issue pretty much did everything right.  It continued to slowly put together the Uncanny Avengers team, gave us some animosity between Wolverine and Havok going forwrd, gave us a sensible reason Cap chose Havok to lead the Uncanny Avengers, made Rogue likable(which is something I always found her lacking), and explained what the Red Skull was doing here.  All that was really missing was some explanation as to what the Skull's henchmen were.  So yeah, all in all, this was a nearly perfect comic.  Needless to say, I wish Rick Remender was writing all of the Avengers books!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.

Telepathic Red Skull has that whole Joker smile thing going on, doesn't he?

All New X-Men #2

Hey everyone, This is JT with the first review of the week. My first review this week will be one other than All New X-Men. The last issue ended with Beast somehow going to the past and asking Cyclops and the other X-Men Originals to return with him to the future and stop the evil, tyrant version of Cyclops we now know and love (well I do anyway.) So how do they respond? Let's find out!

All New X-Men #2

Summary: Things get started with Kitty and Iceman going to get Beast so he can join them in hunting down Cyclops, but they discover he's not there after Kitty phases through his door, which leaves them confused. Back in the past, the Five X-Men are skeptical about Beast's claim, so Beast tells Jean to read his mind, but Jean didn't know how to do that yet at that point. They ask why Professor X can't help Beast deal with Cyclops at his time, so he drops the bomb that Cyclops has killed Professor X in the future. The group is shocked and don't fully believe Beast but after some prodding and a conversation amongst themselves, they join him in traveling to the future. Right when they arrives, Jean is confused as the why the Mutant School is named after her now instead of Charles Xavier, and when Beast doesn't answer she starts to cry. In the school, Wolverine is teaching a class when he smells something, and heads outside, before running at Jean, unsheathing his claws and leaping into the air at her, until he's held in place by Jean. Cyclops and Iceman blast Wolverine, which brings Storm, Iceman, Kitty and some more people outside, and they see the past X-Men. They ask Beast what he was thinking bringing the Originals here, but Beast yells and starts to spasm. They take him upstairs and try to give Beast an IV and as they wait for Reed Richards, Tony Stark or someone from Horizon Labs (Peter maybe?) to show up and help, and Wolverine makes the Originals join him, showing him some clips of present day Cyclops on the TV. Jean makes Wolverine go to sleep, then shows that she could read his thoughts, and that he was proud of Beast for bringing them there. They decide they want to know more, what caused Cyclops to go insane and change so much from what the past Cyclops wanted to be, so when the TV says a New Mutant had recently been spotted, the gang sets their sites there to try to intercept Cyclops going after the Newest Mutant. The issue comes to a close as Wolverine, Kitty and Storm watch as the Original Five X-Men take one of their jets and leave.
 
Thoughts: I liked this issue a lot. This is exactly what I want from this series. Seeing how the past X-Men react to the future and seeing how the current people react to seeing the past X-Men. Plus, Wolverine seeing Jean is something I was looking forward to. I liked seeing the two Icemen meet up as well, since Hank isn't the only one with a giant transformation from the old days, the only person that got off easy was Angel. I'm excited to see how the Original 5 react when they run into Cyclops, especially if he's with Magneto, and if Scott has a breakdown when he see's the Originals, especially Jean.

Score: 8.5/10 

Jean: This is Wolverine. He runs the school. And the rest of his thoughts are... pretty disgusting.

New Comic Day! November 28th edition.

Hey comic fanatics, X here with this week's New Comic Day post!  Huzzah!  Instead of wasting a mess of time talking, how's about I just get into the books I'll be picking up from the comic shop in a few?  Sounds like a plan!  American Vampire #33, I, Vampire #14, Teen Titans #14, Morning Glories #23, A+X #2, All New X-Men #2, Captain America and Black Widow #639, FF #1, Thor: God of Thunder #2, Ultimate X-Men #19, Uncanny Avengers #2, Venom #27.1.  12 new books for me this week, which falls nicely in the acceptable range for me.  This week I'll be reviewing Uncanny Avengers #2, A+X #2 and either Thor #2 or FF #1...  I'm leaning more towards Thor though.  My review days are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.  And there ya have it.  Now I'll be handing things over to JT and giving a hearty X out!

Or not...  It turns out that JT wasn't able to get his part of the NCD post up(which was actually my fault for not getting the post done sooner... Whoops!), so I'll handle things for him this week.  Mi amigo, Senor JT, plans on getting Bedlam #2, Uncanny Avengers #2, Thor: God of Thunder #2, Ultimate Iron Man #2, All-New X-Men #2, Batman: The Dark Knight #14 & Venom #27.1 from his comic shop at some point in the day.  He'll be reviewing All New X-Men #2, Batman: The Dark Knight #14 and Venom #27.1...  Good luck with that issue of Venom, JT...  If it's anywhere near as bad as the past few issues, I pity you...  Um, that's probably gonna do it for real now.  Now, officially, until next time, X out!

Justice League #14

Hey everyone, JT here with my last review of the comic week, and surprisingly the only DC Comic reviewed here this week. So let's get this underway, with the Justice League taking on a much more powerful Cheetah then we're used to, as well as a Cheetah-like Superman, how does the league fare?

Justice League #14

Summary: Things start off with a bang as Superman attacks the League, since he's been werewolf'd by Cheetah. His attack stops when the tribe the league were searching for show up with a horn, and blow on it to render Superman useless from the sound, thanks to his Cheetah form. Cyclops is able to mimic the sound to keep Superman incapacitated while the League split up. Batman and Cyborg stay with Superman and the tribe to try to cure him before he goes into shock from the Cheetah bite, as Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman pursue Cheetah. As the Tribe tries to cure Superman, they explain how the power of the Cheetah has been around for centuries and every generation has a person from the tribe that's chosen to host the Cheetah power. It turns out the Cheetah was hunted by a man known as the Godslayer who also killed other deities, but the Cheetah power survived, and until Barbara Minerva dies, the Cheetah power won't return to the tribe. Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman lure Cheetah to the water where Aquaman holds her until she loses her breath and passes out, allowing her to be captured. While in Belle Reve, we see Cheetah contacting someone, telling them the plan worked and she's in Belle Reve, and to let her know when Black Manta arrives. Back at the Watchtower, Batman reveals to the group after some research that Barbara Minerva is actually a long time criminal, often changing her name and appearance and she's wanted for theft, assault and even murder. Wonder Woman is obviously shocked to see that Barbara was a criminal before the Cheetah incident, and Barbara is the one who corrupted the Cheetah, not the other way around. Afterwards, we see Diana and Clark discussing how it's okay she was fooled by Barbara, because she's trusting and that's something he admires about her. From there, the two go on a date, as Superman and Wonder Woman... at a Smallville diner. So... yeah. They then go to the old Kent Farm, which is run by someone else now since Superman's parents are deceased (ugh... I liked the Kents) The issue ends as Wonder Woman and Superman kiss, and Batman creepily watches/listens with a tracker he somehow managed to place on Superman.
 
Thoughts: I get why it happened, but I really could've gone without this date. And how the hell fif Batman place a tracker on Superman.... he has SUPER HEARING. He should be able to hear something that's literally right on his back! Also, I can't help but be annoyed when Superman tells Wonder Woman he admires how trusting he is, when pre-New52 he was the most trusting guy around! Hell, he gave Luthor like a million chances to reform. Anyway, the stuff with Cheetah was interesting, I liked the swerve that Barbara's the evil one, that was interesting, as well as her apparently working with Manta and someone else. I'm also wondering if the Godslayer is someone we know, like Ra's Al Ghul or Vandal Savage, someone who could've been around to build such a legend. I did like that Aquaman is starting to get a little boisterous, which is building for his big beef with the League, which is soon if I'm not mistaken. So there were a lot of pluses to this issue, but the big sappy date with Supes and Wondy hurt my enjoyment of it.

Score: 5.5/10 

Batman: Superman is one of the most important people in the world. This man is my friend. Tell me this will work.

Hawkeye #4

Well, in the end I decided to go with what I knew would be a good read as opposed to taking my chances and read something I could pretty much guarantee would suck...  Therefore, my last review of this week will be Hawkeye #4 instead of Red Hood and the Outlaws #14.  I mean really, READING Red Hood #14 will almost definitely be painful enough, why prolong that torment by forcing myself to review it as well?!

Hawkeye #4

Summary: This issue kicks off with SHIELD abducting Hawkeye from his rooftop barbque to tell him that a tape of him apparently murdering the world's most wanted terrorist.  And to make matters worse, the tape was being auctioned off in Madripoor.  Since the tape getting out would mean bad things for the Avengers, SHIELD, the US government and Hawkeye, SHIELD tells Hawkeye to take an unlimited credit card and head to Madripoor to buy the tape from the auction.  Kate Bishop(Hawkeye's sort of sidekick) questions what was going on, but Hawkeye refuses to involve her in this mess and leaves for Madripoor.  After some misadventures(which happens to any hero visiting Madripoor), Hawkeye arrives at the casino holding the auction...  But is kidnapped by goons who were following Madame Masque's orders...  D'oh!  Hawkeye tells Masque that she was keeping him from buying the tape of him killing the terrorist with his unlimited SHIELD credit card(?!) so Masque takes it from him and has him locked up in a room while she heads to the auction with the card herself.  Masque ends up out bidding all of the other villains for the tape and takes it back to her room, where we find out that she was actually Kate disguised as Masque, while Hawkeye himself is being surrounded by weird ninjas.

Thoughts: First things first, the art in this issue was way better than the art from the first three issues, which is a GREAT thing.  Anyway, on to the story here.  The story was actually really good...  BUT(you had to know that was coming!), the reveal that Kate had taken Masque's spot was SO obvious!  Once Hawkeye mentioned that Kate was rich, you knew that she was going to tail him to Madripoor, where we saw Kate in disguise trying to catch a taxi(her speaking English was a HUGE hint).  Add the fact that Masque didn't have Hawkeye killed, as well as Hawkeye spilling his guts to Masque about what was supposedly on the tape and where to find the unlimited credit card, and yeah, Masque HAD to be Kate, and Hawkeye HAD to know.  So yeah, that was a tad bit obvious to me. However, like I said, the story here WAS very strong.  Granted, I really don't like the idea of Hawkeye, once one of the Avengers staunchest supporters of the "Avengers NEVER kill!" rule, a man who broke up his marriage because his wife allowed the man who raped her to fall to his death, would kill somebody...  But until it's actually shown that he did the deed, I'll reserve judgement on that.  Here's hoping Matt Fraction stays true to the spirit of Hawkeye though and we discover that there was something else, something more Clint Barton-like, on that tape.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Sorry, no picture for this one on account of my laptop dying a slow and painful death...

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #17

Hey crew, JT here on the Sunday before Cyber Monday (I gotta buy a 3DS...) with my second review of the week, Ultimate Spider-Man. With Miles having taken on a few threats over the last year and a half, coming out on top, and becoming a member of the Ultimates, what's left for your miniature web-slinger? How about entering the battlefield to take on a bunch of HYDRA agents in War Machine super suits? So let's see how Miles deals with his latest obstacle in this issue of Ultimate Spider-Man.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #17

Summary: We start things off with Spider-Man in a field somewhere, obviously tired and hurt, walking somewhere when a SHIELD carrier flies above him, but he can't get their attention and is out of web fluid so he can't attach to it. We jump back four hours to see Hawkeye giving a speech about how he and the heroes have to stop the Americans that joined HYDRA, and how it's their job to end this, he also teams up Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, as he says it was a order from Captain America personally, which of course gets under the skin of Spider-Woman. As Miles experiences a war close-up, we see his Dad is being taken somewhere along with two other people that were arrested and thrown in the paddy wagon. The van is knocked over and the SHIELD agents are held at gunpoint by HYDRA agents, who free Miles and the other two prisoners, and ask if they wanna join. Miles' Dad contemplates it until the HYDRA agents kill the SHIELD agents in cold blood, leaving him stunned. Back on the battlefield, Spider-Woman repeatedly tells Miles to leave, but he stays and does his thing, which allows him to take out a few War Machine's, until Spider-Woman tells him to get out of there, which leads to Miles snapping and asking what her beef is with him. They decide to put a pin in the conversation when more War Machine's descend upon them, so we jump back over to Brooklyn and see Miles' mother arrive at the blockade trying to get home, but the SHIELD agents allow everyone to go past once the area has been marked as clear, so she heads inside and finds her husband, Jefferson, sitting on the couch holding an assault rifle (I think, I'm not good with guns.) and she asks if he's okay, but then starts to cry as she asks where he got that gun. Back with Miles, Spider-Woman offers Miles a thousand bucks to just go home, saying this is too dangerous for him, but Miles wants to help. The War Machine's take their attack from the Spider's and pursue Captain America as he flies overhead, and Miles webs one of the WM's to tag along. While oon top of the War Machine, Miles covers the pilot's eyes which causes them to crash into Giant-Woman's shoulder, and they both fall to the ground below. Miles hits the ground and passes out, and awakes hours later in the field, hurt and walking home, ending this issue where it began.
 
Thoughts: This was a fine issue. I liked that Miles wanted to stick around and help but Spider-Woman wanted him to leave, thinking he'd end up like Peter. Considering there's been almost twenty issues you forget how green and new to this Miles is, so it makes sense for her to worry about him, even when he is handling his own. I also really enjoyed Hawkeye's opening speech, but I just like Hawkeye in general, so yeah. The stuff with Miles' dad was weird though, I mean, I guess their hinting that he joined HYDRA or something but his dad has been a pretty odd character, I guess I could see him joining HYDRA since he's anti-vigilante/mutant and whatnot, and it would add another dimension of awkwardness between him and Miles, but the look on his face when the SHIELD agents were killed did not look like a man who'd turn around and say "I'm in!" All in all this was a good issue, I'm interested in what happens from here with Miles and his father.

Score: 7/10 

Hawkeye: And Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, you two stick together. You are a tag team.

Iron Man #2

Next X review for the week is going to be another Marvel Now! title, this time the second issue of Iron Man.  I've got to say, almost all of the Marvel Now! books I've read thus far haave impressed.  So kudos to Marvel.  To bad DC couldn't have gotten things this right last year...

Iron Man #2:

Summary: This issue begins a year ago with some nut calling himself Arthur recruiting a fantastic mech pilot to be his Lancelot in the tech-built New Avalon he was putting together   Fast forward to the present, where we see that New Avalon had managed to get their hands on some of the Extremis tech, thus making them a target of Iron Man, who was hunting down all of the Extremis tech that AIM had sold.  Knowing that IM would be coming after them, Arthur invites IM to come to New Avalon for a duel of sorts.  IM takes the challenge and Arthur promises to give IM all of the Extremis tech they had in exchange for several of Tony Stark's patents and systems depending on who won the duel.  IM decides to play along and meets the Circle, Arthur's band of armor-clad, Extremis-enhanced knights, as well as Merlin, a genius who Tony had ruined during his younger days.  IM ends up battling and defeating the Circle one by one until getting to Lancelot, who uses her experience as a pilot to maneuver around IM and lay several hits on him.  However, IM was actually concentrating on the forcefield surrounding the Extremis tech the whole time and manages to blast through the field, destroying the tech.  With Extremis out of Arthur's hands, Tony flies off.  Lancelot however, takes that as a victory since IM was unable to defeat her.

Thoughts: I liked this one.  I think Arthur and the Circle have some real potential to be reoccurring foes for IM.  Arthur, Merlin and Lancelot in particular were pretty well developed by Kieron Gillen in just one issue.  So yeah, bottom line here?  This was another good, solid comic.  It wasn't spectacular, but it was good, and that's all I really need.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Iron Man can be such a great jerk sometimes...

Amazing Spider-Man #698

Hey guys and gals,JT here with a HUGE review on tap, that Dan Slott said would set up things for ASM #700 and beyond, and he was not overreacting. No more delaying, let's get straight to it.

Amazing Spider-Man #698

Summary: We kick things off on the Raft with the SWAT team raining down on Doctor Octopus' cell because he's finally speaking and showing activity after being basically comatose for the last few weeks. As they move in, Doctor Octopus mumbles "Peter Parker" as we see a gold Ockbot crawling along the top of a building. From there we see Spidey, happily web-slinging around New York until he's called to stop a crime, which he does by knocking a robber loopy. Turns out the robber is just a guy in a costume trying to avoid a harsher jail sentence since super-criminals have more leniency than an armed robber, but that didn't stop Spidey from knocking the guy out like he was punching the Incredible Hulk. Spidey flees the scene and heads home, commenting on how he's got a nice apartment, boyish good looks and more, when he notices a scar on his face he got during the Hobgoblin fight, which he vaguely remembered getting, then notes he "probably heals faster than most". From there Spidey listens to his voicemails, reminding him to stop at MJ's club (which causes him to remember them meeting for the first time and he says they should get back together), a message from Jay Jameson reminding Peter to come see Aunt May at the hospital (to which Peter refers to May as "That dear sweet woman." and lastly a message from Max Modell confirming Pete's evaluation at work. Peter heads to meet with Max and basically tells him that all of his experiments thus far have been child's play, and Peter has even better tricks up his sleeve. Peter then heads to his lab and mixes up a new batch of web fluid, remarking how incredible it is he came up with such a formula while only a Sophomore in high school. Afterward, Peter stops at MJ's club and tells her they should be together, he's tired of taking the little steps they have taken in the past. MJ is caught off-guard by Peter's presumptuousness and remembers she said she's go see Aunt May at the hospital and Peter says he's going too, and as MJ goes to get her coat, Peter winks at some nearby women. Peter and MJ visit Aunt May to see her first steps since the accident, and Peter tries to talk to MJ about getting back together but he's signaled on his Avengers ID card and has to go to the Raft, Jay tries to tell him he needs to be with his family but MJ vouches for Peter's job being busy and needing him for a big project so he leaves, but Aunt May comments to Jay that Peter seemed flirty with MJ and she may finally get some grandchildren. Spider-Man heads to the raft and meets with the Avengers when he's told Doctor Octopus has been asking for him, as Peter Parker. Spidey goes to meet with him one on one and Doctor Octopus whispers "Peter Parker". Spidey unmasks and says "Yes, I'm Peter Parker." to which a crying Doctor Octopus says he's Peter Parker. Spidey says not anymore, and reveals that at some point, he switched bodies with Peter Parker, and now Doctor Octopus, with all of Peter's memories and his body, plans to live Peter's life while Peter dies in his old, withered body, and Ock won't even reveal to Peter how he did this incredible trick. Peter (in Ock's body) flat-line's as the Medics come in and try to save him, meanwhile the NEW Spider-Man leaves, remarking he's got better things to do with the rest of his life.
 
Thoughts: Holy....shit. Who saw THAT coming? This issue blew my mind, so thanks Dan Slott for doing something amazing that literally shocked me. I was speechless for a few minutes after reading this comic, and seeing Peter in Ock's body, helpless and crying that he was Peter Parker was one of the saddest things I've read in a comic. Now there's a ton of ways this can go, obviously the morality that if Peter had let Doctor Octopus die, he could've avoided all of this. There's also the question of how long has this been in play? Did this start when he put on Ock's helmet at the end of Ends of Earth? How did Ock do this and how long has he planned it? Was there nothing Julia Carpenter could do to help Peter? The body change had to happen between this issue and #697 because Doctor Octopus seems to not remember how he got that scar for a second, when Peter got it fighting Kingsly and Urich. I'm interested to see if Ock stays Spidey, I mean we know Superior Spider-Man has a different Spidey but WILL it still be Octopus? And what happens now that Peter Parker is supposedly dead, although the medics could save him. Regardless of all of that, this issue was perfect. The reveal made a ton of sense and warranted a re-read as SOON as I finished it, which explained so many things. This was a perfect comic, and definitely one of the best single issues I've read, not just based on the shock value of the ending but the way it was crafted to show you that while this was Peter, it also wasn't. I look forward to seeing what Slott does from here.

Score: 10/10 

Spider-Man: I've got better things to do with the rest of my life.

Captain America #1

Happy Thanksgiving, X-Maniacs!  I get the honor of doing the first review of the week, and while I wish I had gotten Amazing Spider-Man #698(which was AWESOME!), I still ended up with a trio of good titles, two of which are Marvel Now! books, including this one...  Yep, in this review, I get to take a look at the first issue of Rick Remender's Captain America run.  With how insanely awesome Ed Brubaker's multi-year run on this series was, Remender has some HUGE shoes to fill.  Well, without further ado, let's get to it!

Captain America #1

Summary: This issue kicks off with a flashback to a young Steve Rogers watching his father take out his frustrations on his mother.  Afterwards, his mother teaches young Steve a lesson, no matter what happens to you, always get up.  From there we head to the present where Steve(as Captain America, naturally), brings down an eco-terrorist before heading off to meet with his girlfriend, Sharon Carter.  Sharon gives Steve a gift(it's his 90th birthday!) and begins talking SHIELD business with him.  However, Steve is only half listening since he's still contemplating Sharon's earlier marriage proposal to him.  Sharon eventually tells him that a subway line under Manhattan that had been abandoned for 80 years had suddenly been having trains, and pedestrians  arrive.  Steve and Sharon go to investigate, but are told there was only room for one on the strange train, so Steve naturally goes.  While pondering Sharon and marriage, Steve is cuffed and drugged by a bunch of weird creatures.  When he wakes up, Steve finds himself strapped in a lab with a baby in a tube connected to the wires hooked up to Steve.  A huge needle comes down from the ceiling and stabs Steve in the chest just as the mastermind behind this scene shows up, none other than Armin Zola(!).  Before Steve's blood is drained by the Nazi scientist, Steve follows his mother's advice and manages to fight off the drugs being used to tranquilize him and gets up, much to Zola's chagrin.  Steve grabs his shield and flings it through the lab, destroying pretty much everything before hopping out a window, and escaping Zola's headquarters on an airplane.  With Steve gone, Zola bemoans the fact that Cap had killed his child(?!) and reveals that the baby in the tube was something he had been designing for decades to a young girl, who Zola had also cloned(!).  After gathering himself, Zola demands his mutates bring him Cap, alive and unharmed.  As for Cap, he crashes the plane and climbs out of the wreckage, revealing he had tucked the baby from the tube away in his shield.  This issue ends with Cap looking up and quickly realizing Zola's base was in another dimension and that he, and the baby, were stranded.

Thoughts: Awesome!!  That's really all I could think after putting this issue down.  It ticked all of the boxes I was hoping Remender would tick.  It gave us some development between Cap and Sharon, it brought back one of Cap's old foes(the HUGELY underused and under-appreciated Zola), gave us a great story, great art(sorry, I'm a huge JRJR mark), and a sweet cliffhanger.  So yeah, I loved this issue and am SO looking forward to seeing where Remender goes with this storyline.  Personally, I'm really hoping the baby Cap rescued grows into the new Bucky, because, why not?  Um yeah, I could keep heaping praise on this issue, but instead I'll just give it the inevitable perfect score and move on.

Score: 10 out of 10.

Check me out, dropping perfect scores like candy!

New Comic Day! November 21st edition.

Hey Comic Readers and True Believers, JT here with this week's New Comic Day. This is a pretty big week as we finally have the much hyped issue of Amazing Spider-Man that will basically lead into the new Spidey series we have coming in January. Dan Slott's been pimping this issue HARD, for months, so needless to say that's getting picked up by your truly, but let's see what else I picked up. This week I plan on grabbing Iron Man #2, Justice League #14, Amazing Spider-Man #698, Captain America #1, Hawkeye #4, Minimum Carnage Omega, and Ultimate Spider-Man #17. As for my reviews, I'm reviewing Justice League #14, Amazing Spider-Man #698, and Ultimate Spider-Man #17. My review days are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, and you can expect ASM #698's review this Friday. Now, enough of my jabbering, time to pass the torch to my buddy X.

And now it's X-time!  Not all that much for me to say here, so I'll just get to which books I plan on picking up from the shop later on today...  Hellblazer #297, Nightwing #14, Red Hood and the Outlaws #14, Amazing Spider-Man #698, Avengers #34, Captain America #1, Daredevil #20, Dark Avengers #183, Hawkeye #4, Iron Man #2, Ultimate X-Men #18.1, Uncanny X-Force #34, & X-Factor #247...  Besides those, I MAY also be picking up Indestructible Hulk #1, Comeback #1, Clone #1 and Minimum Carnage Omega #1...  It's REALLY telling that Minimum Carnage Omega is on the maybe list...  Usually when I start a storyline/x-over I stick with it til the end, but after how awful the fifth part of this storyline was, I'm not all that keen on wasting $4 on it...  I'll be reviewing Captain America #1, Iron Man #2 and either Hawkeye #4 or Red Hood #14(Nightwing is also a slim possibility).  My review days are Thursday, Saturday and Monday.  And that's it, until tomorrow for a review of Cap #1, X out.

Fantastic Four #1

So I decided to go with Fantastic Four #1 instead of Thor #1 for my last review of the week...  It was literally a toss-up, and FF came out on top.  But hey, I've already posted my thoughts on Thor #1 over at the Forum, so if you want to talk about that comic, shoot on over there!  With the gratuitous plug finished, let's dig into Matt Fraction's Fantastic Four!

Fantastic Four #1

Summary: We kick this issue off with Franklin Richards waking up with one of those nightmares he has.  He calls out for his mother, but she's galavanting around a few billion years ago with the rest of the Fantastic Four.  The FF are somehow in the mouth of a dinosaur, and the dinosaur manages to tear Mr. Fantastic's arm up really bad, which surprises the team since, being elastic and all, that isn't supposed to happen...  Reed manages to get the group back to the present where Franklin tells Sue that he doesn't want to go into space...  Reed heads to his lab and examines his arm, discovering that his molecules were breaking apart, and that he feared the same would happen to the rest of the FF.  After some thought, he decides to head off into the unknown universes to look for a cure, since there was no cure for the rate of molecular decay he was suffering in any of the known universes.  With that, Reed tells the team that he wanted to go off through time and space to show his children(Franklin and Val) the things they were learning about firsthand.  Sue remembers Franklin's plea of not wanting to go into space after his nightmare and questions if there's anything wrong with Reed.  Reed simply tells her to trust him...

Thoughts: Not bad.  This was an interesting start to this series, with a story(the FF could be dying due to molecular decay) that should hold my attention.  And as a plus, it was clearly written and not at all confusing, which is what caused me to drop the FF books when Jonathan Hickman was the writer.  So kudos to Matt Fraction for a strong start.  Honestly, with Reed holding this HUGE secret from the team, Sue knowing something was off and Franklin having a bad premonition, the next few issues should be a blast, especially when Reed's secret inevitably comes to light.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

You know it's not good when the smartest man in the world says "uh-oh"...

Batman and Robin #14

Hey guys and gals, JT here with my final review of the comic week, and I'm closing things out with Batman and Robin. The last issue ended with Robin dealing with a bunch of zombies in Gotham, because that place is literally THE WORST PLACE to live in the history of existence. So, how will The Dark Knight and The Boy Wonder deal with their own Waslking Dead? Let's see shall we?

Batman and Robin #14

Summary: This issue starts with Batman dealing with a bunch of zombie-like people attacking and trying to eat civilians but of course most are thwarted by Batman. Batman then repeatedly tries to reach Robin for most of the issue to make sure he's okay. Meanwhile, Robin is playing possum as he's being carried by a bunch of the "zombies" to their leader, who proclaims Robin to be a treat that "must be savored". Robin springs into action and sets off a few explosions to put distance between the leaders of the zombies and the civilians that were held captive there. Robin leads most of them to safety and they escape by using an underground train, but the zombies are right on their tails. Robin is ready to try to fight them off when he's joined by Batman, who looks to be in a REALLY foul mood. Batman and Robin make quick work of the zombies... I mean.. like one page's worth of fighting, before Batman scolds Damian for shutting off his com-link. Batman reveals that The Joker was behind this, as he was the hooded leader Damian briefly encountered. Back at the cave, Bruce basically tells Damian that he worries about him because he doesn't want to fail him the way he failed Jason by not being able to save him in time, and he's terrified that Damian only seems to care about himself. Damian proves Bruce wrong as he produces a lone pearl he found in the sewers below Crime Alley, previously belonging to Martha Wayne. The issue comes to a close as Bruce tells his son he's proud of him and they hug.
 
Thoughts: So, this issue was odd for me. I mean... it seemed very rushed. Joker was behind the zombies? If Joker has the ability to make people into zombies... why not just go with that? Also, the people who are zombies, they were never cured or anything. And Bruce and Damian just beat them up... they're not dead or anything. So presumably, there are still zombies in Gotham... they just have to wake up. I mean, I guess this issue served to humanize Damian before his run-in with The Joker but it just seemed all over the place and like nothing really happened or got solved, which really hurt my enjoyment of this.

Score: 4/10 

Bruce: Damian... I'm proud of you.

Walking Dead #104

Second X review of the week is from Image and is Walking Dead.  This is always a solid read, we'll see what we get here.

Walking Dead #104

Summary: Everybody in town is still kind of pissed at Rick for caving to Negan as easily as it seems he has, but they naturally don't know about Rick's SECRET PLAN.  I love secret plans...  Unfortunately for Rick, his secret plan, that being Jesus, is spotted by the Saviors and beaten up.  Instead of killing Jesus, the Saviors  decide to take Jesus to their hidden camp(which was what Rick wanted from Jesus to begin with) so Negan can deal with him.  However, since the Saviors are idiots, Jesus slips away before they arrive back at their camp.  Back in town, Rick discovers Carl is missing...  Cue ominous music...  It turns out Carl, figuring his father had turned into a wimp, had stowed away on Negan's truck and hops out with an assault rifle(?!), telling Negan he was going to kill him in retribution for Glenn's death.  Negan tries to talk sense to Carl, but Carl is determined to kill Negan and opens fire on Negan and the Saviors.  Unfortunately for Carl, he's too small to control the gun, and the recoil causes him to drop it.  One of the Saviors goes to beat the hell out of Carl, but Negan calls him off, telling the Saviors that Carl was now their guest.

Thoughts: Oh Carl...  You done stepped in it THIS time!  I mean hell, an assault rifle!?  What was wrong with a pair of handguns?  At least he could have controlled them better!  This was a VERY interesting twist, as it probably messes with Rick's SECRET PLAN, since he can't really wait around now that Negan has his son.  On top of that, Negan can't simply let Carl go back to Rick, since Carl knows where the Saviors are located.  So the question is, what does Negan do to Carl?  It makes sense for him to tell Rick that Carl had tried to kill him, thus demanding a larger tribute from Rick.  But Rick should be smart enough to know that Negan would never release Carl to him...  I, for one, have no clue where Robert Kirkman is going to go with this one.  He's written himself into a brilliant corner, and I can't wait to see how the pieces all line up.  So while this issue wasn't the best in the series, it was a phenomenal set-up issue, one that has me eagerly anticipating next month.

Score: 8 out of 10.

I have to say, Negan may just be the front-runner for best comic book villain of 2012...

All New X-Men #1

Hey guys and gals, Marvel Now has begun, and with All New X-Men we're expected to see the original Five X-Men come to the future and see what they'll one day do, this story has a ton of potential, especially for Cyclops, Jean and Iceman. So let's get to it!

All New X-Men #1

Summary: This issue starts with Beast frantically doing things while in pain, saying he's going through another form of mutant evolution, and he thinks this time it may kill him. He hopes to do something useful in the last days of his life and doesn't want to tell anyone else and burden them by making them worry when they can do nothing to help. From there we see a young woman named Eva out with her friend when she approaches a boy she likes, although their flirting is quickly broken up by Eva's big meat head brother (He's even shirtless for some reason) who punches Eva's crush. This turns into a big fight between the brother, the crush and the crush's friends as Eva yells for them to stop and apparently freezes time, discovering she's a mutant. She's then confronted by Cyclops, Magneto and Emma Frost, who recruit Eva, with Scott telling her he's done a lot that he needs to atone for, and he needs her help. We also see Cyclops and Magik break into a police station and rescue another new mutant, who's being interrogated for healing a woman with his mutant powers. Storm, Kitty, Iceman and Beast are arguing about what to do with Scott, as they have to stop him but going after him would result in a Mutant Civil War, which Storm wants to avoid. Bobby states that he and Beast have known Cyclops the most and if the old Cyke could see the current one he's beat the hell out of him, to which Beast surprisingly tells Iceman he's right. From there we go to the past and see Hank and Bobby telling Scott how upset they are that they were almost attacked by a mob of angry humans, and Hank says he's done risking his life for Humans (HA!) and how he thinks Magneto may be right about them, and how he's resigning from the X-Men. The conversation is cut short when a big blue Beast shows up, who Hank recognizes as him. Beast tells the five original X-Men, Scott, Bobby, Hank, Jean and Warren that he's come from the future for help, he needs Scott to stop his future self from committing Mutant Genocide, as this issue ends.
 
Thoughts: So, I really enjoyed this issue. I thought It was a nice introduction, especially for anyone who's kinda new to the X-Men like I am, having started reading X-Books when Schism started. I thought this did a nice job of setting up the storyline, building questions about Beast, and introducing a few new interesting mutants to Cyclops' fold. I did think Cyclops actually didn't come off as a bad guy here, which was interesting, I mean sure he was fighting people when he could've avoided it, especially in Eva's case, but meh, he still didn't seem like a full-fledged villain, all and all I'm pretty excited for this series, especially when the Original Five come to the future.

Score: 8/10 

Hank: He's me.
Beast: I am.
Bobby: Is that what you look like when you don't shave?

Amazing Spider-Man #697

Wow, we are a scant three issues away from Spidey #700!  JT and I are gonna have fun deciding which one of us gets the honor of doing THAT review!  As always, I'm expecting great things from this issue, as we begin the final countdown to #700...

Amazing Spider-Man #697:

Summary: Peter Parker and Max Modell manage to get to into Norman Osborn's Goblin Vault, mainly due to the fact that the two Hobgoblins chasing after them couldn't seem to work together.  Hobby #1(Roderick Kingsley) warns the two scientists to come out of the Vault since he had a bunch of explosives following Hobby #2's(Phil Urich) girlfriend and Peter's friend, Norah Winters.  Hobby #2 is fine with that...  HA!  Peter decides to don one of the Spidey costumes that Osborn had been using for target practice in his Vault and tells Max that he would hold off the two Hobgoblins with a combination of Spidey equipment and Green Goblin tech, while Max gets to Norah.  With that, Spidey attacks the two bickering Hobgoblins and Max sets the self-destruct in the Vault before rushing off.  Spidey manages to keep the Goblins occupied long enough for the self-destruct to destroy all of Osborn's toys, while Max rescues Norah.  With his spider-sense acting up all issue long(due to Kingpin's spider-jammers), Spidey takes that opportunity to make good an escape from the Goblins, while Hobby #1 zaps Hobby #2 with some electricity, causing the both of them to tumble into the river.  When the two emerge, Hobby #1 says that he wouldn't kill Hobby #2, provided Hobby #2 gave him a cut of his Hobgoblin money.  Hobby #2, not having much of a choice, agrees.  From there, we learn that Norman Osborn had disappeared from his hospital bed, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Thank you, Dan Slott!  Norman Osborn belongs in a Spider-Man comic, hassling Spider-Man!  Not going toe-to-toe with the freaking Avengers(Bendis!!)!!!  If Norman IS indeed up and about(which would make sense as we roll towards #700), I'm glad it looks like he'll be back where he belongs.  As for this issue, it was good.  It wasn't great, probably because I'm so amped up for the next few issues leading into Spidey #700, that I just wanted this storyline to conclude.  But yeah, with this story out of the way, all roads now lead to issue #700, and it should be a hell of a great trip!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Can't all of you Goblins just get along???

Batman #14

Hey guys and gals, after the first issue with the Joker's return and the shocking ending we saw, let's not waste anymore time in seeing how Batman and the rest of his allies deal with the return of The Joker.

Batman #14

Summary: This issue starts off with Batman locked in a vat of liquid, the same liquid that turned Joker into the deranged man he is. Harley leaves as Batman yells for her to help, before eventually finding his own way out. He mentions while escaping that he's studied the liquid over and over on nights where he couldn't sleep, looking for signs of what made Joker him, but the only thing that liquid should've done is kill, adding even more mystery to how Joker survived. Batman arrives back at the cave and looks for Alfred, he goes upstairs and finds a purple package with green ribbon, and opens it to find a tape. He plays the cassette and hears that Joker has "Bruce Wayne's butler" Alfred, and has apparently burned his eyes with ammonia, to the point that Alfred thought he was blindfolded. Joker "does it again for fun" while Batman has to listen to the man that raised him scream out in pain. From there, Batman visits Commissioner Gordon, telling him he's taking him to a bunker to protect him against Joker, but Gordon is opposed to the idea, saying he needs to face him, even if it means opening up bad wounds. As Gordon says that he touches pictures of Joker being arrested and Gordon standing over Babs' hospital bed after she was shot by The Joker, when Gordon gets a paper cut and suddenly starts to bleed profusely. He's quickly taken to the hospital, as Batman and Nightwing talk on the roof, with Batman telling Nightwing that Gordon was poisoned with Blood thinners by The Joker. Batman then tells Nightwing that The Joker has Alfred, which makes Nightwing wonder if Joker knows Batman's identity. Batman says he doesn't think so, he thinks he just took Alfred because Joker said he's "planning a party" and would want Alfred, who is the best in his field. Nightwing starts to freak out but Batman makes him calm down, telling him he's not telling anyone else Alfred is missing, because they'd get angry and let their anger distract them which will only work in Joker's favor. Batman says Joker is re-creating his first crimes in new ways, and he needs to head down to the reservoir because he thinks Joker is going to poison the reservoir, and he needs Nightwing at the pipeline. Batman heads to the reservoir and finds The Joker waiting for him, as Joker tells him he's happy he and Batman can talk. He tells Batman he knew Bats would show up and try to stop him so he's already killed the people who would've drank the poisoned water and thrown them in the reservoir, and he also blows up the Pipeline, as Nightwing is blasted off his feet from the explosion. Batman charges Joker but he's restrained by a bunch of chattering teeth ropes, and Joker tells Batman he's the court Jester and he's telling Batman what no one else will, his family has made him lazy, made him lose his edge, and now he can't even deal with Owls without their help. So he's going to give Batman some bad news to help him, and he says it clear enough so Batman's allies can hear over their comm links, He knows who they are... every secret identity and address, and even what soap they use, and now he knows why Nightwing smells so good. He says their all fakers and phonies, but Joker says he knows one more secret, one Batman has kept from everyone except The Joker, who learned it from a book he found in the Batcave. Batman says he's lying, but Joker says we'll see, but in seventy-two hours, each Bat and Bird will be dead, and Batman will be the one who kills them, as the issue comes to a close.
 
Thoughts: Say what you want about Scott Snyder, but that guy knows how to write a story. I was extremely into this comic, especially at the big showdown at the end between Batman and Joker. The stuff with Alfred being tortured and Bruce listened on was done great, the way Gordon was taken out due to the insane plan by Joker, and everything about the way he apparently plans to "Tower of Babel" the Batman allies with Batman's plans. In the second feature we saw a bunch of crime bosses killed by Umbrellas by the Joker, to incriminate Penguin. Joker then tells Penguin that he'll lick the blood off of each umbrella and leave his DNA at the scene so people know it was him, if Penguin agrees to come to this party he has planned, to which Penguin begrudgingly agrees. I enjoyed that as well, as I'm curious to see what Joker has planned for this big party that has him hunting out Batman and his rogues.

Score: 9/10 

The Joker: All of you, beneath your little maskssss! That's right. I know your little secrets identities!

New Comic Day! November 14th edition.

Hey all, X here to take the lead in this week's New Comic Day post!  Looking at what is getting released today, I have to say, this week SHOULD be interesting.  So what should I end up picking up at the comic shop in a few?  Let's take a look!  Batman #14, Grifter #14, Superboy #14, Team 7 #2, Invincible #97, Saga #7, Walking Dead #104, All New X-Men #1, Amazing Spider-Man #697, Fantastic Four #1, Thor: God of Thunder #1, Ultimates #18, Venom #27.  That comes out to a perfect 13 comics this week, which is, as I've said, repeatedly, my ideal number of comics in a given week.  Now, due to JT tricking me, he got to choose which three comics he wanted to review first(usually it's the guy who types up the NCD post who gets first dibs), so yeah, JT made sure to take the best books...  Because he's a jerk.  But instead of stating the obvious, here are the three books I'll be reviewing; Amazing Spider-Man #697, Walking Dead #104 and Thor: God of Thunder #1.  My review days are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. And that'll do it for your friendly neighborhood X, over to JT.  X out.

Hey Todd Squad, JT here after a gracious tag in from my old pal X. Like X said, this is a pretty big week for comics and I was able to tear myself away from Call of Duty: Black Ops II long enough to pick up my weekly haul. Here's what I ended up picking up, Batman #14, Batman and Robin #14, Invincible #97, Saga #7, Walking Dead #104, All New X-Men #1, Amazing Spider-Man #697, Thor: God of Thunder #1, and Venom #27. So with a grand total of eight books, and having screwed X out of first pick by being the most awesome dude to ever grace the planet, I plan on reviewing Batman #14. Batman and Robin #14 and All New X-Men #1, see, I'll even leave X ASM #697 as a show of good faith(X: Thanks, JT!  You're slightly less of a jerk now!). My review days this week are Thursday, Saturday and Monday, so you can expect to see those up then. So until tomorrow, this is JT, signing off.

Iron Man #1

One more X review for the week, this time it's the Marvel Now! edition of Iron Man.  Kieron Gillen is taking over the writing duties of this series with the Now! relaunch, which should lead to some good stories.  Let's see where Gillen decides to do with Tony Stark.

Iron Man #1: 

Summary: This issue kicks of in earnest with Maya Hansen being killed by her creation, Extremis.  However, before her death, Maya manages to get a message to Tony to warn him that Extremis was out.  It turns out that AIM had gotten their hands on the Extremis tech and were selling the technology to anybody willing to pay.  And since Extremis could turn an ordinary person into a insanely powerful killer, it's in Tony's best interest to take AIM down and confiscate all the Extremis tech out there.  Tony crashes the resort where AIM was trying to sell the Extremis tech, and ends up battling against some Extremis enhanced AIM agents. After taking down the agents, Tony forces the head of this branch of AIM to tell him how many Extremis kits he had sold.  The AIM leader tells Tony 4 kits were out there, which leads us rather nicely into our next issue.

Thoughts: So far so good.  This was a good start for the Marvel Now! Iron Man series.  We have a good story, some new threats for Tony, all born from an old threat to Tony.  Basically, this was everything you'd want from an Iron Man comic.  We may be only one issue in, but I think it's safe to say Tony Stark is in good hands going forward.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Now THAT is what ALL AIM agents should look like!

Green Lantern #14

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here once again with another review, and today we're tackling the most recent issue of Green Lantern. After leaving off with Simon Baz, the newest Green Lantern being confronted, rather violently, by the Justice League, let's see how he deals with his first threat as a Green Lantern.

Green Lantern #14

Summary: We get things started with The Guardians discussing how soon their new third army will have taken over the entire universe, in three months time to be exact. The Guardians are called crazy by The mysterious First Lantern, who says they're doing away with souls, and souls are what make life wonderful, but the Guardians retort he only values soul's to torture them. The Lantern says it's funny, now that he's seen what monster's the Guardians have become, and when he escapes, they'll be first on his list. Back on Earth, in Dearborn, Michigan, Simon Baz is confronted by the Justice League, and quickly concedes, saying Superman could take him out by himself, but he may be able to take Batman, to which Flash replies "Yep, he's a Green Lantern." which was a great line. Simon explains that he's not a terrorist, and the ring just showed up, as he pleads his innocence. The League believe him, but ask him to remove his ring as a precaution, and Simon is fine with that. Batman reaches for his ring but a huge Sinestro construct shoots out of it yelling "DO NOT TOUCH MY RING!" which The League interpret as an attack. Simon tries to explain that he didn't do anything, but they pursue him so he runs, and manages to escape with his ring, showing he's definitely a quick learner. Baz then meets with his sister, Sira. who gives him the name and address of the person who owned the rigged van he stole. She also tells him she doesn't blame him for her husband getting in a wreck from racing with him and falling into a coma, and neither would her husband. In deep space, the trapped Guardians, or Good Guardians are still trapped when they hear someone outside of their locked room, and it's the Black Hand. He resurrects the Guardian that was killed by the evil Guardians (confusing right?) and demands answers. He discovers he's in a prison known as the Chamber of Shadows and there is no escape. From there we see inside of Black Hand's ring, as we see Sinestro and Hal Jordan, when they're approached by a cloaked man telling Sinestro he must follow him, as it's time to pay for his crime, as this issue comes to a close.
 
Thoughts: This was a pretty quick issue, and a fast read. I enjoyed the parts with Simon, him thinking he could take Batman because he was "normal" shows that he's a bit cocky and uninformed, but his construct and the way he got the league off of him shows how innovative he is, which is definitely a plus for a Lantern. The stuff with the Guardians was a bit boring, except I am curious to see the first Lantern, and see if he has any ties with any current Lanterns. Other than that, this was a fine issue, I'm excited to see what's next for Baz as well as finally getting some answers for Sinestro and Hal Jordan.

Score: 7.510 

Baz: I mean, you're Superman, even if I knew how to use this ring, you'd kick my ass by yourself. Maybe I could take Batman.
Flash: He's a Green Lantern all right!

Deadpool #1

As sure as the sun sets in the west, Marvel is releasing another first issue of Deadpool...  Counting Cable/Deadpool, this is the fifth Deadpool series we've gotten(sixth if you want to count Agent X, which was kind of the spiritual successor of the first Deadpool ongoing).  If I'm being completely honest, I'm not exactly looking forward to this comic...  The first storyline sounds, well, pretty lame.  But here's hoping new writers Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan prove me wrong and bring us a classic DP story.

Deadpool #1: 

Summary:  So some random necromancer has been running around resurrecting the deceased Presidents of the United States, hoping they could make the country more like the good ol' days.  Captain America ended up decapitating the ghost of Harry Truman, but that action drove the media into a frenzy, so SHIELD decided to use somebody of a lesser status to hunt down these rogue presidents, that somebody being Deadpool.  After defeating Franklin D Roosevelt in Manhattan, Pool is dispatched to Philadelphia, where many of the dead presidents had ended up.  Unfortunately for Pool, he is shot in the back of the head by Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington declares that the zombie presidents were going to tear the country apart and then start it all over again.

Thoughts:  Yep, this was about as bad as I was fearing...  I means seriously, Deadpool vs the former presidents?  Who the hell thought THAT was a good idea?!  Basically this comic was terrible.  It didn't have a good story, but it was also missing the humor that a Deadpool comic so desperately needs, especially for when the story is lacking.  Comedy IS subjective, so hopefully there are some people out there who did enjoy this series.  I just wasn't one of them.  I really don't have anything good to say about this comic, so I think I should end this review here.  Before signing off though, I will say that this series looks to be the first Marvel Now! casualty from my pull list...  I'll give this title one more issue and then wait for a new writer(s) to take over the book.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.

So, I guess Deadpool's whole missing healing factor thing quietly fixed itself...

AVX Consequences #5

Hey guys, JT here with the finale of AVX Consequences. We last ended thing with Cyclops telling Magneto, via some metal shavings that he was ready to be broken out of prison, let's see how things work out for Scott Summers.

AVX Consequences #5

Summary: We start things off with Magneto preparing to break Scott out of Prison, with his cohorts, Magik and Danger. The trio takes off to head to the prison and we jump over to see Captain America, Wolverine, Captain Marvel and a few more Avengers approach hope, as she's sleeping in an alley for some reason. They tell her she needs to head home as people are worried about her while she's out looking for Cable, and that they can help because they have equipment at their disposal that she doesn't. The reunion is cut short when the Avengers find out there's been a prison break. We go back twenty minutes and see Magneto, Danger and Magick breaking into the prison and freeing Cyclops from his power-dampening headgear. Before they leave, Scott wants to go "say his goodbyes", and he goes after the guys that attacked his former mutant pal. He breaks them free and has them put into a portal made by Magik, where something with Tentacles grabs them and pulls them below. Next, Cyclops walks over to the Organizer and tells him he was going to run a business that profited from Mutants, and that they plan on flattening his prison and everyone will escape, so it costs him a TON of money, and Cyclops tells him this is what happens when you try to profit from mutant prejudice. He also leaves Danger to leave a lasting impression on the Prison Organizer, in the form of a giant X cut onto his face, as Cyclops, Magik and Magneto leave via portal. Back in the present, A few of the Avengers show up at the prison, and Wolverine finds a note from Cyclops, saying he knows Wolverine is upset, but with Wolverine being the better man, he doesn't have to be, he can be the man that does what's necessary. Wolverine balls the note up and tells Captain America that Scott has indeed escaped from the prison. We also see Hope arriving home and she finds Cable waiting outside of her window, saying it's his job to watch after her, not the other way around, and he's always watching, as Hope replies "Thanks Dad." The issue comes to a close with Magneto, Magik and Cyclops suiting up, as Magneto says things are different now, with Cyclops responding that their still hated, feared and saving the world, nothing's changed at all.


Thoughts: This issue was pretty quick, but it did serve to establish that Scott is a villain now. He's not The Joker or Green Goblin but he is a Luthor-esque villain that believes he's doing the right thing, even though he's going about it the wrong way, which is fine for Scott. I'm excited to see this new dynamic for the character, and this issue really cemented him in that role for now. I didn't care much about the Hope and Cable stuff, and that really just took away from the character development with Scott, I would've preferred a bit more for Magik as well. But with Danger leaving the team after breaking out Scott, I am curious to see who else joins the "X-Tinction" team, and if Emma will side with Scott after the Phoenix Force betrayal. All in all this was a solid issue to a Mini-Series I really enjoyed, even more than AVX.

Score: 7/10

Magneto: This isn't like how it was before.
Cyclops: You're wrong. Hated. Feared. And saving the world. Tell me what's changed.

Avengers Academy #39

Well, here's a post I never wanted to do...  I've been SO high on this series, pretty much since it began.  I was able to convince a few fellow comic fans(most notably JT, who ended up typing a fantastic post on why people should read this series) to pick this comic up.  I named the series my favorite series of 2011 AND I named the writer, Christos Gage, my favorite writer of 2011.  Simply put, this is my favorite ongoing comic book series.  And sadly, this is the final issue.  There's not much more I can say here.  I will say that it was a magnificent 39+ issues and that I'm sure, on some rainy day, I'll end up pulling this series out of one of my many boxes of comics to read again, and that makes me happy.  So, for the final time, let's check out the latest issue of Avengers Academy...

Avengers Academy #39(Final Issue):

Summary:  There's not really all that much to summarize here, as this issue wrapped up a lot of the stories going on in this series...  X-23 confronted Finesse about the death of Jeremy Briggs, and warned Finesse to stay away from her since they were no longer friends, while Mettle and Hazmat finally decided to take the next step in their relationship.  Striker also ended up getting into a relationship, as he went to the prom with a kid who was inspired by his inspirational video.  Reptil and White Tiger ended up getting kind of cozy, but were interrupted by Finesse, who ended up spending time with Quicksilver.  In the end, the kids were granted enhanced Avengers clearance, and were told that the Avengers no longer looked at them as the next potential Masters of Evil, but saw them truly as the next generation of Avengers...  Well, except for Veil, who had given up her powers.  But things even worked out for Veil, who was no longer the abused wallflower at school, but was a more confident young woman.

Thoughts:  Naturally my thoughts here were pretty bittersweet...  Yes, this was yet another good to great issue of this series, but it WAS the final issue.  From here, many of the characters from this series(although not my two favorites...) are heading into Avengers Arena.  I've already added Avengers Arena to my pull list, but seriously, how long can a comic series with THAT premise possibly last?  Even with the Avengers name on it...  Oh well.  In the end, kudos to Christos Gage for finishing this series off as wonderfully as he did.  As I said in the intro, I can guarantee you I'll be reading this series again, from the first issue to the last, and loving every second of it.  Again.

Score: 9 out of 10.
 
I'll miss this series...

New Comic Day! November 7th Edition

Hey Blog Readers that are unfortunately referred to as X-Maniacs, JT here with the first half of this week's New Comic Day post. As always, I will review three comics over the next week, as will my cohort X. Everything we don't review will get a mention over at X-Man's Comic Forum. So let's get to it shall we? My comic haul this week includes Detective Comics #14, Green Lantern #14, Legends of the Dark Knight #2, Smallville Season 10 #7, Avengers Academy #39 (The final issue), Avenging Spider-Man #14, AVX Consequences #5, Deadpool #1, Iron Man #1, and Scarlet Spider #11. So with a grand total of ten comics, I have plenty to choose from. I think I'm going leave Avengers Academy for my buddy X, poetic justice since he's reviewed a majority of the issues here. I'll review AVX Consequences #5, Green Lantern #14, and Scarlet Spider #11. My review days this week are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, so now I'll hand things over to my running mate, good ol' X!

Running mate, eh?  I DO like the sound of President X...  Although I'd be constantly watching my back with JT as my Vice President...  Anyway, as JT did indeed point out, it is time for this week's NCD post!  So huzzah!!  With JT getting a surprising 10 books(what is it, a full moon or something?!), let's dig into the old comic bag and see what I wound up with...  Hypernaturals #5, Stormwatch #14, Avengers #33, Avengers Academy #39, Avenging Spider-Man #14, AvX: Consequences #5, Deadpool #1, Iron Man #1, Scarlet Spider #11, Uncanny X-Force #33, X-Factor #246.  Hey, I edged JT out by a single comic!  I'll be reviewing Avengers Academy #39, Iron Man #1 and Deadpool #1(which I'm kind of surprised JT didn't take for himself.).  My review days are Thursday, Saturday and Monday, with Academy getting the first review of the week.  Like my VP, JT said, any of the books that aren't reviewed here, WILL get a review over at the forum, so don't forget to check that place out.  Annnnnd, that's it.  Until next time, X out.

Ultimate X-Men #18

So in the end I decided to review Ultimate X-Men instead of New Mutants(which was kind of boring) or Winter Soldier(which was FANTASTIC, but would have taken a lot of effort to write a semi-coherent review for).  Of course, I've already posted mini-reviews for both New Mutants and Winter Soldier over at the forum, as well as scores and thoughts.  So hit the forum up if you're interested in talking about those two books, or any comics really.  Anyway, last review of the week time.  Let's get to it.

Ultimate X-Men #18

Summary: Kitty Pryde successfully leads her ragtag mutant army against the Sentinel force, taking down the Sentinels and apparently ending the menace of William Stryker once and for all(we can only hope...).  While Kitty and her group are fighting for their lives, Rogue is fooling around with Quentin Quire, who can touch Rogue(or at least make Rogue think he can touch her).  After the battle, Nick Fury sets up a meeting between Kitty and the new president of the US in the Ultimate Marvel U, Captain America.  Cap basically offers Kitty a reservation for mutantkind to live on(because we all know reservations worked out SO well for Native Americans!) or a cure to their mutations.  In other words, they can live on a reservation or not be mutants anymore...  Hmm, decisions  decisions ..  Anyway, Kitty acts all aghast that Cap would dare to offer her a chance to get rid of her mutation(and all of the hatred that goes along with it) and leaves the meeting crestfallen.

Thoughts: Okay, I'm just gonna come out and say it...  Is it REALLY that bad to have your mutation "cured"?  I mean living a normal life, NOT being attacked by crazed robots or wild bigots, is that REALLY a bad thing?  But naturally, Kitty acts like Cap pissed on her leg or something when he broached the subject.  Go figure.  If anything, the reservation idea should have disturbed her more, because, much like Utopia, putting a bunch of mutants in a stationary place is a recipe for disaster.  Especially in the Ultimate U, where humans hate mutants even more than in the 616(probably deservedly so due to Magneto's antics).  On top of that, my hatred of Kitty is well documented  so I don't like her as the "face" of mutantkind.  Besides those little gripes though, this comic told a good story and hopefully got rid of William Stryker.  Now let's hope he stays gone...

Score: 7 out of 10.

Oh great...  MORE Sentinels!!!

Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1

Hey guys, JT closing off my half of the new comic week with the Avenging Spider-Man annual... that's right, it's been a year already! Let's see how Spider-Man celebrated his year of Avenging.

Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1

Summary: I'm not gonna B. S. you guys with a long drawn out review. This comic was bad. We basically got two brothers, one dumb as a box of rocks, and one slightly less dumb, who are looking for an alien artifact or anything left from a battle in Central Park since that's where the Avengers, The FF and everyone else seem to fight baddies from time to time. They stumble across a box that makes everyone angry and fight, and of course Spidey realizes that everyone is angry and fighting except for the two brothers, so he pursues them. He's cut off by The Thing, who falls under the spell of the device quicker than Spider-Man does, for some unexplained reason. Anyway, the smart brother decides that having everyone fight long enough so they can rob a bank or sell the artifact is a stupid plan, so the dumb brother ditches him, and Spidey pursues him, with the Thing hot on his tail. Eventually, the dumb guy tries to sell the device but things go awry, and when he turns it back on, instead of fighting, everyone wants to hug and love one another. This leads to Spider-Man and The Thing making out.... and it doesn't really matter what else happens here.... The device gets broken, the two idiotic brothers go to jail.. The End.


Thoughts: Well this was bad.... that's not the way you sell a comic, especially an annual. Don't get me wrong, I like comedic comics, I enjoy Deadpool and Empowered and any other comic that tries to get laughs.... but this was horrible and I REALLY could've done without seeing The Spider-Thing kissing hybrid. Instead of a line of the issue, here's a Second Opinion by my buddy X.

Score: 2/10 

"Well this was a terrible comic and a terrible waste of money... No big name villains, no interesting story, and Thing and Spidey making out. I don't know what else to say about this one except don't waste your money on it! Terrible... Score: 3 1/2 out of 10."

Mighty Thor #22

This is the last issue of this series before it switches over to Thor: God of Thunder, written by Jason Aaron.  Believe it or not, Matt Fraction's Thor was the first Thor run that actually got me hooked on Thor.  I tried JMS's Thor run, but it did absolutely nothing for me.  So this issue is a tad bittersweet for me personally.  Anyway, this issue is an Everything Burns aftermath.

Mighty Thor #22(Final issue):

Summary: Odin is pissed that Thor and Loki tricked him out of his self-imposed exile to deal with the threat of Surtur.  To that end, Odin wants Thor banished from Asgardia, and decides to hold a trail for Thor in front of representatives from all the nine worlds.  Odin has the Enchantress defend Thor(since Odin was too close to the case), while Thor is defended by Hreidmar, a troll, or dwarf, or elf, or something like that...  Hreidmar was from that storyline with the dream mare things.  Anyway, Odin and Freyja leave the "court" and head to Asgard-space, where I suspect Odin has other plans...  Anyway, Enchantress makes a very good case, and points out all of the things that Thor had done wrong with his recklessness and impulsiveness, while Hreidmar counters that by saying that Thor always sets everything right.  Eventually, Balder arrives from Limbo(don't ask me what he was doing there!) and tells the gathered that Thor is Asgardia's collective warrior's spirit, and exiling Thor would be like tearing the heart out of Asgardia.  With that, Balder announces he stands by Thor, and is soon joined by the rest of Asgardia, as the Enchantress takes her leave.  Afterwards, Thor confronts Odin and inquires what this was all about.  Odin is coy and leaves, and this one ends with Freyja telling Thor that while they were in Asgard-space Odin knocked her up...  Oh that wacky Odin...

Thoughts: This issue was basically the trail of Thor.  As such, it was a bit of a recap comic.  I mean it was okay and all, but it wasn't great.  It dragged at times(mainly during the parts I had already read), but it was a pretty good comic to read heading into the new Thor series.  If you need a Thor refresher, this issue is ideal.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
 
Hey look, it's Thor!  And he's fighting various menaces!!