Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9

And so it's come down to this... There's a part of me that never expected(or wanted, to be honest) this mini-series to end... It's won my Mini-Series of the Year award for two years straight now, and with good reason... This mini is everything a long-time Marvel fan such as myself could ever ask for. Cult favorite characters(the Young Avengers), along with a shocking return(the Scarlet Witch), coupled with awesome guest stars(Magneto, Quicksilver, Dr. Doom, the Avengers, the X-Men, etc), and really, what more could you ask for? Great art? Check. Fantastic dialogue? Check. A spellbinding story? Yeah, that gets a check as well. A part of me is actually afraid to open this final issue up, because I almost can't believe it can live up to the awesomeness of the prior 9(A:CC #1-8, plus that bonus issue) issues we've already received... Well, here we go, here's hoping this issue FINALLY gives me my first perfect score of 2012.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9(of 9):

Summary: This issue opens with Iron Lad begging the Avengers to allow him to take Stature into the timestream so he could try to find a doctor from the future to bring her back to life. The Avengers say no to that offer, since they already knew the damage messing with the timestream could cause. Iron Lad decides that he was going to take Cassie's corpse with him anyway, at least until Vision steps in and tells Iron Lad to leave Stature in peace. Iron Lad blows up at Vision, telling him that since he created him, he could just as easily take him apart, and with that, Iron Lad destroys Vision. With that taken care of, Iron Lad reiterates that he wanted to take Stature with him, but the Avengers are more determined than before to make sure he doesn't. Iron Lad then questions why his Young Avengers teammates weren't defending him, and is told by the Young Avengers that by messing with the timestream, he was acting like Kang... Iron Lad angrily corrects his teammates and tells them that he'd be BETTER than Kang ever was, before storming off into time. From there, Lord Summers reluctantly leaves the Scarlet Witch alone(since Dr. Doom all but confessed to being behind the Decimation event last issue), but not before telling her to make up for what she had done to mutantkind, lest he kills her himself. Wonder Man tells Wanda to be wary of the Avengers, since they weren't the same team she had once been a part of, before taking his leave. Captain America tells Wanda that she'd always have a spot with the Avengers if she wanted one, in a really nice little moment. Magneto and Quicksilver both want Wanda to go with them, but she turns down both offers since she wanted to try to make a life for herself... One that also included her two children. From there we fast forward a few days to the Young Avengers. Patriot quits the team, citing the deaths of Stature and Vision, as well as the mistakes he had made during his time with the team. To make sure he isn't tempted back into superheroics, Patriot then tells his ex-teammates that he was moving to Scottsdale, Arizona. Hawkeye(Kate Bishop) also quits, having lost her best friend in Stature. Wiccan then follows suit and quits the team, since he felt his best bet was to never use his powers ever again. Naturally, Hulkling quits to be with Wiccan, leaving Speed as the lone Young Avenger. And since one person does not a team make, the Young Avengers are officially disbanded. With that, months pass and Speed, Wiccan and Hulkling watch events unfold in the Marvel Universe, from Spider-Island to the return of the Human Torch. While Speed and Hulkling are excited by the changes, Wiccan remains melancholy through it all, still blaming himself for the events that led to the death of Stature and Vision. Hulkling finally has enough of that and tells Wiccan to snap out of his funk, before pretty much proposing to him. With that, Wiccan and Hulkling (FINALLY) kiss, but are interrupted by Ms. Marvel at their window... That's kind of creepy... She tells the two to get into costume and head out to Avengers Mansion. Upon getting there, they meet up with Speed and Kate, and are taken to the garden behind the Mansion by Captain America and Iron Man to see Scott Lang and a statue that was erected in honor of Vision and Stature. This issue ends with Cap telling the kids the one thing they had always wanted to hear from him since the very beginning of the first Young Avengers comic, that they were, and always would be, Avengers.

Thoughts: Well, what can I really say here? I guess I'll start with the obvious. This mini-series will always be amongst the first things I point to when people ask me what my all-time favorite comic book is. When people question what my favorite single issue ever is, I say “X-Men #25, the Fatal Attractions issue.” with no hesitation. And now when people quiz me on my favorite mini I'll be able to say, “Avengers: The Children's Crusade” with zero hesitation. So yeah, this issue didn't change my unbelievably high opinion of this mini-series. BUT(you had to see that coming...) this issue wasn't perfect. There were a few things here that I absolutely loved, and was SO pleased to FINALLY see happen(and longtime YA fans will know what I'm talking about right away), but there were other things that just kind of fell flat... Patriot, Vision, Iron Lad and Stature leaving(for various reasons) was a bit vexing. Wanda kind of disappearing annoyed me a bit. I'm especially confused by Scott Lang's rebirth... I mean it's cool and all, but with Cassie gone, I don't quite get it. So yeah, this issue wasn't perfect, but it was still better than most of the comic books I'll read this month(if not ALL of the comics I end up reading this month), and the ending, with Captain America, of all people, FINALLY recognizing the Young Avengers as Avengers was a nice way to end this mini. And if this is the last we see from these characters, be it for a while or for good, at least I'll always be able to say that yes, they all were Avengers.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Amen, Cap. Amen.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #8

The first comic book review of this week is an easy one... This is the best mini-series I've read in ages, and depending on how things end up, it could wind up being my favorite mini-series ever. How's that for an introduction? So without further ado, here's the penultimate issue of Avengers: The Children's Crusade.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #8(of 9):

Summary: We begin this one with Dr. Doom now in control of the Scarlet Witch's reality warping abilities. Doom is happy about this fact(needless to say) and promises to use the powers to make the Earth into a utopia... Provided he was accepted by everybody as the Earth's ruler. Wanda tells Doom to return her powers since they would undoubtedly destroy Doom as they destroyed her, but Doom feels he's better equipped to deal with the power and disregards Wanda's words. Doom asks the Young Avengers if they would follow him, but they also refuse. Spurned, Doom sends the Young Avengers and Wanda back to where the X-Men and Avengers had been battling. The X-Men immediately attack Wanda and Emma Frost knocks Wanda out telepathically. The Young Avengers warn the two teams that Wanda was no longer a threat, and upon looking in Wanda's mind, Emma sees that Doom did indeed possess Wanda's powers. Lord Summers, even knowing that Doom was the real menace here, still wants the X-Men to take Wanda into custody to answer for all of her depowering of mutantkind, and all of the damage that rash act had caused. Wiccan sticks up for Wanda, trying to explain that her actions were a tragic accident, and that most of the X-Men and Avengers committed crimes before they had become heroes. Before the heroes can decide whether to listen to Wiccan's words or not, Doom appears on the scene and offers the X-Men and Avengers several boons(cures to various ailments, world peace, the return of dead friends/teammates), provided they accepted his “benevolent” rule. The assembled heroes natural say no to that offer, so Doom grows to an enormous size and engages the Avengers, X-Men and X-Factor in battle. Wanda asks for Wiccan's assistance, figuring the two of them would be able to create a spell that would force Doom's stolen powers back where they belong(I think...). Ant-Man joins the fray, figuring he could disrupt giant Doom's attention by flying into his ear, but he is seemingly squashed by Doom. Stature freaks out at that and grows to match Doom's size, flooring Doom with a punch. Doom retaliates with a massive blast of energy that sends Stature hurtling away from him. The rest of the Young Avengers join the fight against Doom, which allows Wanda and Wiccan to complete the spell, which opens a portal granting Doom more power. Doom continues to try to absorb the power, but it turns out to be too much for his body to hold, as the power burns Doom's face and body, leaving him back where he started, scarred and without Wanda's powers. Wanda tries to help Doom to his feet, but Doom pushes her away and seemingly takes credit for all of the evil acts Wanda did during Avengers Disassembled and House of M(??), before teleporting away. With Doom gone, Ant-Man regains consciousness and returns to normal size just in time to see all of the heroes tending to his critically injured daughter.

Thoughts: Well, first things first, I guess. This issue was probably my least favorite issue of this mini-series thus far. That's not to say that it wasn't still really good, it just didn't move me like so many of those early issues did. Maybe it's because most of this issue was just a big fight between giant Doom and the heroes, which robbed us of all of the awesome dialogue and character development we had been getting prior to this issue. Besides that, Wiccan and Wanda's actions were kind of hard to figure out... Were they trying to get the powers away from Doom and back to Wanda? Were they trying to get the powers away from everybody? Were they trying to force Doom to try to absorb more power than his body could handle? Were they going for something else altogether? I was never sure. Oddly, this series is kind of making me LESS interested in the upcoming Avengers vs X-Men event... I mean we're already GETTING the Avengers vs the X-Men in this mini-series, probably written and illustrated WAY better than we'll wind up with come this Spring. I would fully expect a perfect score for the next issue, because with the main battle already fought, we should get what made those early issues so fantastic, lots and lots of character interactions in the aftermath of this one. Will Wanda have her powers? Who will take her, the X-Men or the Avengers? Did Ant-Man return to life just to watch his daughter die? What of the Young Avengers? Will they end up back in limbo, or does Marvel FINALLY have plans for these wonderful characters? So while this issue didn't blow me away, I'm already expecting the final issue to be one of the best comics of 2012!

Score: 8 out of 10.Oh Doom... When will you ever learn...

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7

If you haven't read my New Comic Day post, here's the story. This is my pick of the week. There have been 7 issues of this mini-series released before this one, and of those 7 issues, 5(!) of them received perfect scores. In other words, this is the best mini-series I've read, probably in my entire life. So there you go, and here's the review.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7(of 9):

Summary: After having given X-Factor's Rictor his mutant powers back, the Scarlet Witch wants to do the same for all of mutantkind. The problem? Waiting outside the offices of X-Factor Investigations are the combined forces of the Avengers and the X-Men. Upon arriving outside, Captain America and the Avengers want to protect Wanda since, for better or worse, she was an Avenger. Lord Summers, being an uber-douche, wants Wanda taken to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia) where she can face punishment for the House of M debacle. Magneto decides to side with the Avengers, and with that, all of the heroes begin to battle in the streets. Wanda and the Young Avengers stand back and watch for a while before Wanda angrily springs into action, using her powers to put all of the heroes to sleep, since if they were going to act like little children, she'd treat them as such by giving them nap time... HA!! With that, Wanda teleports herself and the Young Avengers to the one man she felt could help her accomplish what she wanted to do(the reactivation of the X-gene), Dr. Doom(!). Wanda reveals to the surprised Young Avengers that upon learning of the “deaths” of her two sons, it was Doom's magic that allowed her to use her powers to manipulate reality itself. Unfortunately for the both of them though, the power Wanda had acquired drove her crazy and led to the events of Avengers Dissembled. Doom seems eager to help Wanda, too eager to help in Patriot's mind, and Wanda, Doom and Wiccan join hands to begin the spell that would restore the powers of all of the mutants who lost their powers on M-Day. Patriot, refusing to believe that Doom was simply doing this out of the kindness of his heart, and figuring Doom was after Wanda's powers, snatches Hawkeye's(the Young Avengers version) bow and an arrow and fires it at Doom, hoping to interrupt the spell. The arrow does interrupt the spell, causing a massive mystical explosion that leaves Wanda unconscious, Wiccan angry and Doom gone, save for his mask. Wanda eventually wakes up and reveals that her reality manipulating powers seem to have abandoned her. Before the Young Avengers could figure out where the powers went, Doom floats down from the heavens, with his face healed, announcing that he would take care of everything...

Thoughts: Well, this comic wasn't AS perfect as many of the prior issues, but it was still damned good, almost definitely better than a good 95% of the comics I'll wind up reading this week. Instead of getting more of an emotional impact or more of the Young Avengers, we got a kick-ass battle between the X-Men and the Avengers and the reveal of how Wanda's powers became as strong as they did(something Bendis never bothered to explain during Disassembled). That's the cool thing about this mini. It has a little something for everybody. You want fantastic dialogue, awesome action, great art, emotional scenes, this mini-series has had all of that at one time or another. Add my absolute love for the Young Avengers, and there's no way I couldn't love this issue.

Score: 9 out of 10.Jeez, Lord Summers is an asshole no matter what the series is!

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6 is still perfect!

Yep, just one review in this post, and it's the comic I was most looking forward to reading all week... Scratch that, all month... Hell, I've been looking forward to reading this one since the moment I finished the last issue actually! And boy did this issue not disappoint. If only every Avengers comic was like this mini-series has been... Hell, if only every comic book was as good as this mini-series has been! Well, let's not waste any more time, here's my review of the awesomeness that is Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6(of 9):

Summary: Having regained her powers and memories, the Scarlet Witch isn't exactly what you'd call happy, as she also recalls decimating mutantkind and killing several Avengers, including her husband, Vision. With those thoughts in her head, Wanda decides to kill herself the same way she disassembled the Avengers, with an army of magic created Kree warships and Ultrons. While the Young Avengers ponder what to do, Hawkeye, Beast and Jessica Jones emerge from Avengers Mansion to see exactly what the hell was going on here. Upon seeing Wanda bursting with power, and the identical way so many Avengers died before(including Hawkeye), the three Avengers are taken aback, at least until the Young Avengers bring the resurrected Scott Lang over to them. After a quick explanation of how they retrieved Lang from the timestream and how Wanda was back to being Crazy Wanda again, Hawkeye contacts the rest of the Avengers and tells them what was going on. Iron Man tells Hawkeye to keep Wanda there for as long as possible, and to try to keep casualties to a minimum. Not wanting to see somebody like Wolverine murder the woman he felt was his mother, Wiccan has Stature bring him up to speak to Wanda. Wanda decried the fact that her husband, teammates and children were dead, and Wiccan refutes all of those points, telling her the Avengers were still standing, the Vision was still alive(in a way...) and that him and his twin brother(Speed) were Wanda's children. Not fully believing him, but curious, Wanda uses her magic on Wiccan and realizes that Wiccan and Speed are indeed her long thought to be dead children... Well, there it is, it's official now! Wanda makes the forces she created disappear, and lands to talk to her sons. While Wiccan is simply happy to have found his mother, Speed is more realistic, and warns Wiccan that the Avengers were simply going to come by to put Wanda down, as they had planned before the House of M. Beast approaches Wanda and tells her that with three words she took the mutant powers away from millions of mutants, and he was hoping she could undo the damage that she did. Wanda tells Beast that she doesn't want to unleash a worldwide spell like that again(because she's not Crazy Wanda anymore), but that she would be willing to try to fix a depowered mutant who wanted to act as a guinea pig. To that end, Jessica Jones recommends heading to X-Factor Investigations, which had taken numerous cases from depowered mutants wanting to know what had happened to their powers. Upon seeing the Scarlet Witch, and knowing that angry former mutants would probably try to kill her upon seeing her, Madrox tells the collection of Young Avengers and Avengers to leave before there was trouble. Wanda reiterates that she wants to try to undo what she did, so Rictor agrees to serve as the guinea pig, much to Shatterstar's dismay. Wanda walks over and grabs Rictor's face, hitting him with magic that sends him flying across the room. With that, the room shakes, and Madrox figures that now Wanda was going to bring his offices down on him, until Rictor reveals that he was the one who created that tremor, and that his mutant powers had returned(!!!). Madrox congratulates Wanda on her accomplishment and tells her that was one depowered mutant down, with about a million more to go. While Wanda let's that number sink in, the X-Men land outside Madrox's offices in force, not looking very happy. When asked what her plan was, Wanda simply states that she'd give the X-Men what they wanted the most, more mutants.

Thoughts: Okay, let's not even play any games here, I'm giving this comic a perfect score. Once again, Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung have proven that they are the best writer/artist tandem in all of comics. There's so much I want to say about this comic, that I don't even know where to start... I mean we now know definitively that Wiccan and Speed ARE Wanda's sons. Yeah, it was practically a given anyway, but this issue put it down once and for all, they ARE who we thought they were. Besides that, we have Wanda back at full power. And NOT insane! I mean the fact that she gave Rictor his powers back could have huge ramifications throughout the Marvel Universe. First though, let's talk about Rictor... Will he be keeping his powers? I mean because if he did, that would be eight different kinds of awesome! I'm a bit dubious because, in a way, it seems like this mini-series is taking place in it's own little world... I mean with how long it's taken this mini to come out, when would Peter David give Rictor his powers in X-Factor? If he was to give him his powers back now, then we'd know that Wanda's spell was permanent. It's the laggy timing of this series that's throwing everything out of whack. Personally, I can't see Rictor keeping his powers... But then, he has them back now, so maybe he will. And what of the previously dead Scott Lang? Will he remain alive too? There are SO many ways this mini-series could go as we race towards the finish line, that I don't even want to throw anymore guesses out there. I'm just going to sit back, smile, and enjoy the best Avengers story that I've read in ages.

Score: 10 out of 10.Finally.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #5(of 9)

Okay, here's the story... Originally I was going to pair this comic with another Marvel book, but after reading it, I realized that this was one of those comics that deserved it's own post. Don't know why? Read on!

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #5(of 9): Writer: Allan Heinberg. Penciler: Jim Cheung.

Summary: This issue starts off with the Avengers, the Young Avengers, Wonder Man, Magneto, Dr. Doom and several Doombots all battling each other to get their hands on Wanda Maximoff(who still doesn't remember her past), the woman formerly known as the Scarlet Witch. Luckily for the Young Avengers, their former teammate Iron Lad(the teen who will grow up to become Kang the Conquerer) has arrived from out of the timestream to save Wanda(and Wiccan) from Wolverine, who had moved in to murder her... Damn that hairy little canuck! Iron Lad freezes Magneto and Doom in their places with his time manipulation abilities, and starts to gather the Young Avengers together. By the time he's gathered the team however, Doom has broken free and flown off looking for Wanda, with Magneto in hot pursuit. Where has Doom gone you ask? He's managed to track down Wiccan and Wanda on the outskirts of Latveria and is attacking Wiccan for attempting to steal his soon-to-be bride away. Magneto(as well as some of the faster Avengers) arrive on the scene and attack Doom, giving Iron Lad the opportunity to get close enough to Wanda and Wiccan to ferry them(and the rest of the Young Avengers) into the timestream and out of harms way. With Wanda gone, Doom stops fighting and tells the gathered heroes(and Magneto) that they had made a terrible mistake. Doom explains that he was trying to protect Wanda from all of the so-called heroes, and that now she was out there loose, with the ability to manipulate reality itself, with nobody but a bunch of children as her guide. Iron Lad decides to take Wanda and the Young Avengers back in time RIGHT before the events of the classic Avengers: Disassembled storyline, with the hope being that seeing the pre-destroyed Avengers Mansion would help jog Wanda's memory. Iron Lad also promises the team that while they'd be able to see everything going on, they wouldn't be able to alter it... Or at least that's the plan. Upon arriving at the Mansion, there seems to be a glimmer of recognition in Wanda's eyes, but she claims that no memories had returned to her. Ant-Man(Scott Lang!!!) walks outside and Stature(that would be Scott's daughter Cassie Lang) rushes over to Scott and hugs him and Scott hugs her back, meaning Iron Lad's time-cloaking technology had obviously failed. Before Iron Lad can figure out how he messed up, Jack of Hearts(!!!!!!) arrives at the mansion, signifying the beginning of Disassembled... This is just awesome beyond words... While the kids are panicking about getting out of the past before things literally blow up in their faces, Wanda freezes at the sight of her old teammate. While the kids(and a VERY confused Scott Lang) are waiting on Iron Lad to get his time machine working, Wanda approaches Jack and reveals that she did indeed remember him. Jack begs her to stop him, but before Wanda can react, Speed rushes over and drags Wanda away from Jack, just as he explodes, destroying the Mansion. Things temporarily fade to white, and the kids(and Scott) wake up in front of the Ant-Man memorial statue, which freaks Scott out a bit. Iron Lad checks his chronometer and discovers that they had managed to return to the present of their proper timeline, a timeline where Scott Lang had been killed in Jack of Hearts' explosion... Iron Lad has no clue how they returned to the present, nor how Scott was there, but his questions are answered by Wanda, now in full Scarlet Witch attire, announcing that she returned them all to the present, and oh yeah, she now remembers EVERYTHING!!!

Thoughts: You know, this comic was so unbelievably good that I had a hard time typing up this review... I literally couldn't type fast enough, and that's NEVER happened to me before. This comic was a masterpiece in every single aspect. The story was perfect. Simply perfect. If I were working at Marvel I'd throw ANY amount of money at Allan Heinberg and BEG him to write at least three ongoings a month. I mean seriously, this comic was flat-out perfect from beginning to end. I'm not saying really good, or even great, I'm saying PERFECT! On top of that, the dialogue was superb. Every character got a chance to speak, and there were little things, like Vision being jealous of the attention Stature was showing Iron Lad, that made this comic THAT much better. And the art... Jim Cheung is AMAZING! The scene where Wanda first lays eyes on Avengers Mansion, the look on Wanda's face, and her actions and posture from that scene forward was simply fantastic. I mean Cheung captured Wanda's slowly returning memories masterfully. And the scene with Jack of Hearts... It was... I'm running out of adjectives! I was just stunned by the sheer awesomeness of it all. And I haven't even mentioned how awesome the opening fight scene was or the battle between Magneto and Dr. Doom... Or Doom's speech to the Avengers... Or how awesome the scene where Cassie and her father embraced was... Or like a zillion other things. What more can I say? THIS is comic book perfection. THIS is the reason I read comic books. THIS comic is the best super-hero book on the market, period. If you're a fan of the Avengers then you MUST pick this issue up(and hell, the rest of this mini-series!)... As you can probably tell from this blog, I read A LOT of comics, and this was easily the best single issue I've read in at least 5 years. Easily.

Score: 10 out of 10. If there was a number greater than perfection, this comic would be it. Seriously, a 10 out of 10 doesn't really do this issue justice! That's how good it was.

Since this comic was SO amazing, I decided to post not one, not two, but FIVE scans from it... Enjoy.Simply amazing.

Quick Hits: 3/20/11

Having suffered enough after reading those 14 mainly crappy comics from last week, I've decided to reward myself by reading the three comic books I'm most looking forward to from this week, Amazing Spider-Man, the Fear Itself Prologue, and Children's Crusade: Young Avengers. Yes, after suffering through Krypto defeating Kid Flash in a race, and Deathstroke's eye inexplicably being pulled out, I think I deserve a break. So thank you Marvel, for helping me remember why I collect comic books with these three awesome issues.

Amazing Spider-Man #656:

Summary: Picking up from last issue, Massacre has kidnapped a mess of hostages and has shot one and blown 7 of them up as a warning to the police to stay away so he could steal some money from a bank. Spidey(still without his spider-sense) arrives on the scene to help, and manages to get a spider-tracer attached to Massacre before getting shot in the gut. Spidey tells the cops to let Massacre get away, since he figured he'd be able to track Massacre with the tracer. Unfortunately, Spidey's spider-tracers use his spider-sense to tell him where the bad guy has gone, and with no spider-sense, the tracer is useless... D'oh! Mayor Jameson gets wind of Massacre's massacre(what?) and holds a press conference stating the usual lines(we'll catch the bad guy, we're strong people, etc). After the press conference, Jameson meets up with a young child whose mother was one of the people Massacre killed, and still reeling from the death of his own wife, Jameson promises the boy that Massacre WOULD die for his crimes. From there Spidey rigs up a new armored Spidey suit to compensate for the lack of a spider-sense just as Massacre takes a few hostages at the stock brokerage he worked for before he went crazy and became a costumed super-baddie. It appears Massacre has discovered the spider-tracer and wants Spidey to show up so he could kill him. Spidey(in his shiny new costume) arrives on the scene and immediately covers Massacre's hostages with webbing that blocks radio signals, thus preventing Massacre from blowing them up. By this point Mayor Jameson has arrived on the scene and has ordered the police snipers to kill Massacre once they had a clear shot. Massacre tries to shoot the hostages, but Spidey leaps in the way and deflects the bullets. Now officially pissed, Massacre pulls out another remote control and threatens to blow up some hostages that he hid away from the scene of the battle. Spidey webs the remote to Massacre's hand, which blocks the radio signal and leaves Massacre with only one useful hand, at which point Spidey pummels the villain into near submission. Massacre manages to stagger towards an open window, right in the line of the police snipers, who fix their sights on him and fire, as per Jameson's orders. Spidey jumps in the way and deflects all of the bullets, which saves Massacre, since Spidey refused to see ANYBODY die while he was on the scene ever again. The paramedics take Massacre away and Jameson confronts Spidey over saving Massacre. Spidey tries to use the old, “If we kill him we're as bad as him” speech on Jameson, which simply serves to infuriate Jameson further. With that, Spidey swings away and this issue ends.

Thoughts: This was yet another really good issue of Amazing. I mean since I started collecting this series again, I don't think I've scored any issue under an 8, which is REALLY impressive. I like Massacre as a villain, and was glad he didn't simply get blown away at the end, since I think he has some real potential. I also really liked the way Dan Slott emphasized how important Spidey's spider-sense was, and how difficult it was for Spidey to function without it. Sure, there were a few things here that bothered me, like Spidey dodging all but one of Massacre's bullets WITHOUT any help from his spider-sense, and Spidey's co-workers(sorry, they just don't have the same charm as the Daily Bugle staff), but all in all, this was a highly enjoyable comic, as usual.

Score: 9 out of 10.And with that, Spidey gets the big ol' FAIL award!


Avengers: The Children's Crusade: Young Avengers #1:

Summary: We kick things off with Iron Lad exiting the timestream to confront his future(and EVIL) self, Kang the Conqueror. Iron Lad prepares to defeat his future self when grown up versions of the Young Avengers(notably minus Wiccan) arrive on the scene and tell Iron Lad to leave Kang along since he's one of the Avengers now, same as them. Iron Lad is totally floored by that revelation and tries to remind his former teammates that the reason they first banded together was to defeat Kang, NOT team with him! From there we get a flashback from before the Young Avengers first went public and only included Iron Lad, Wiccan, Hulkling and Patriot on their roster. The flashback is AWESOME, and involves the kids trying(and failing) to defeat Electro right before Electro breaks out all those super-villains from the Raft, which accidentally leads to the reformation of the Avengers. Back to the present(future?) where Kang and the grown-up Young Avengers explain that the reformation of the Avengers was actually a really bad thing as the Avengers had become more willing to permanently eliminate anybody they believed was a threat, including Wiccan. Kang tells Iron Lad that after Wiccan and the Young Avengers tried to rescue the Scarlet Witch from Latveria, the Avengers came down and killed both Wiccan and the Scarlet Witch. Iron Lad can't believe that fact and rushes back into the timestream to prevent these grim sounding events. Once Iron Lad is gone, grown-up Wiccan emerges from the shadows and asks Kang if it was really necessary to lie to Iron Lad. Kang says probably not, but that the lie would send Iron Lad to Latveria, where Iron Lad would start the chain of events that would turn him into Kang and destroy the Avengers... Forever!!!

Thoughts: Um, it was Allan Heinberg writing the Young Avengers, drawn by Alan Davis... How do you THINK I felt about it?!? I LOVED it! EVERY page of it! First off, the art gave the comic a younger X-Men-ish feel, which actually fits this series very well. But then Davis is one of the FEW artists whose work I can pick out of a line-up, so it was cool to see him lend his distinctive style to my favorite band of teenage heroes. And yes, the Young Avengers ARE my favorite group of teenage heroes, probably ever, so needless to say(and unsurprisingly), I loved this issue. Nobody writes the YA's like Heinberg, which he proved again here. What more can I say? This issue was a weird little fill-in issue in the middle of the Children's Crusade mini-series, but I loved it, and it has me anticipating the next issue of Children's Crusade more than ever!

Score: 10 out of 10.Good art, a good story AND funny as hell? What more could I ask for?


Fear Itself Prologue: Book of the Skull #1:

Summary: This issue gets underway with Baron Zemo assisting Sin in breaking into one of her father's(that would be Herr Red Skull)secret bases. Why is Zemo there, you ask? He owed Sin for the information she gave him about Captain America(Bucky Barnes) a while back. They head to Egypt and infiltrate the base, getting past several of the Skull's deathtraps and discovering a book. Sin starts to read the book, which takes us back in time to WWII. During the war, Skull had some Hydra magicians preform a ritual sacrifice of some Atlantians to gain the favor of some dark god. The dark god sent something to Antarctica, which is where Skull and his Nazi goons decide to go. They are followed by Captain America(Steve Rogers), Bucky and Namor, who is VERY angry about the sacrifice of his fellow Atlantians. The Nazis arrive first and discover a golden hammer(which nobody is able to lift) and a giant blue creature. By this time the heroes arrive, and Skull tells his magicians to hide the hammer, while he hops in an airplane to escape. The heroes fight and defeat the giant, figuring that the giant was what Skull had summoned, never knowing about the golden hammer. After reading all of that, Sin decides that she has to find the hammer, so she could do what her father never could, find a way to use it. Zemo and Sin manage to escape the base before it blows up, and Sin shoots at Zemo, damaging his teleporting device, since she didn't want him sharing in the secrets they learned. From there Sin teleports onto Zemo's plane, leaving an angry Zemo lost in a desert in Egypt, swearing revenge.

Thoughts: First things first, I could read Cap's WWII adventures FOREVER when written by Ed Brubaker. So needless to say, I LOVED the flashback sequence. This issue gave us our first real glimpse into what Fear Itself is going to be about, and it has me quite intrigued. I'm going to guess that Sin discovers the location of this mystery hammer and manages to lift it, giving her the powers of a god. And quite frankly, there are few things worse than somebody as insane as Sin gaining the powers of a god... I've been loving the work Brubaker has been doing with Sin, so I'm looking forward to seeing where Matt Fraction decides to take her, especially if she really DOES become a universe-level threat. Needless to say, I am PSYCHED for April 6th , which is when the first issue of Fear Itself arrives. I can GUARANTEE that it'll be WAY better than any event comic that comes out of DC in 2011. Hands down, no doubt.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.The beginning...

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #4(of 9)

Review: This issue kicks off with Dr. Doom attacking Wiccan, who had finally found his mother, the amnesiac Wanda Maximoff. It was revealed last issue that Wanda was the fiancée of Doom, which needless to say raised all sorts of warning bells in Wiccan's head. The confrontation isn't so much a battle as it is a one-sided beating, as a fifteen year old junior mage is no match for DOOM, and Doom blasts Wiccan into unconsciousness in front of a shocked and confused Wanda. Wanda asks for an explanation, and Doom tells her that he has many enemies, and that it would make sense that they would try to strike at him through his future bride. Wanda seems to accept that story... For now. Meanwhile, Magneto, Quicksilver and the rest of the Young Avengers decide that the only way to rescue Wiccan and Wanda from Castle Doom is for Magneto to stage an invasion while the rest of the heroes sneak in to the castle in the confusion. Wonder Man is also making his way to Latveria, since he still has a slight connection to Wanda from the time she returned him to life, and he is being not-so-secretly followed by the Avengers, who also want to get Wanda away from Doom. Back in the castle, Doom heals Wiccan's wounds with magic and tries to convince the boy that he isn't looking to use Wanda, but is actually in love with her. Doom also invites Wiccan to attend the wedding and remain in Latveria forever. Wiccan is obviously dubious of Doom's words and says as much, at which time Doom reveals that while Wiccan was unconscious he took away the young mage's powers, and that Wiccan would either be a guest in Latveria, or a prisoner of Doom. Back outside, Magneto begins his assault on Latveria, while Quicksilver and the Young Avengers move towards Castle Doom. Unfortunately for them, the Avengers have landed and are standing in between Quicksilver, the kids and the castle. Back with Wiccan, Wanda enters his room and asks him to explain who this Scarlet Witch that he mentioned earlier was, a request Wiccan agrees to, provided Wanda helps him escape the castle. While traveling through the catacombs of Castle Doom, Wiccan tells Wanda all about her past as an Avenger, all the way up to the time she went crazy and decimated the team. From there he begins to tell her who he was to her, but is interrupted by the massive battle occurring outside the castle involving his teammates, Magneto, the Avengers and the forces of Doom. Wolverine makes a beeline for Wanda and tackles her, preparing to kill her for what she did to the mutant race after the House of M. Wiccan tackles Wolverine(?!)and tells him that Wanda had no memories of her former life, nor access to her powers, meaning there was no reason to kill her. Wolverine digresses and moves in for the kill, but is put down by a blast from Iron Lad(!!!), who tells Wiccan that he had arrived to protect Wiccan, with the good of the future hanging in the balance, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Sheesh, how many superlatives can I use to describe this series? Once again, it showed why it was my mini-series of the year last year, and why it WILL be my mini-series of the year THIS year as well. The story is insanely strong, the art is magnificent, the dialogue is spot on, and all of the characterizations are absolutely perfect. The appearance of Iron Lad was as unexpected as it was welcome, as I've missed the teenage Kang since he left during the first Young Avengers series. The only thing that kept this issue from a third straight perfect score was the rather long explanation to Wanda from Wiccan as to who she used to be. For a new fan of the series/characters, the explanation was obviously needed, but for somebody like me, who eats, sleeps and breathes Avengers history, it was a waste of space. Besides that scene, everything else was perfect. I loved the conversation between Wiccan and Doom, as Doom tried to convince Wiccan that they were actually alike, Magneto's banter with the Young Avengers(particularly Patriot)continues to delight me, and the action scene wasn't just tacked on, it led to the long awaited Wolverine/Wanda confrontation, which saw Wolvie nearly pop his claws through her skull. Great, great, GREAT stuff! I can't wait for issue #5!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.What a silver-tongued devil that Dr. Doom is!

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #3 is STILL awesome!

Overall: We kick things off with Magneto and Quicksilver arguing about whether or not the Scarlet Witch has been captured by Dr. Doom, while the Young Avengers stand around and observe. Magneto is of the mindset that Doom has kidnapped his daughter, since Doom is already one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, and holding Wanda, potentially THE most powerful being in the Marvel U would solidify Doom's position. On the other hand, Quicksilver doesn't believe that his sister is the captive of Doom, he still feels that Magneto is behind Wanda's disappearance, and that Magneto is running everybody around in circles. Magneto decides that the only logical course of action is for himself, Quicksilver and the Young Avengers to invade Doom's home country of Latveria and attempt to rescue Wanda. Quicksilver feels that that plan is insane and says as much. After listening patiently for a while, Patriot chimes in and announces that the Young Avengers were not stupid enough to storm Latveria and potentially begin a world war with Dr. Doom of all people. All of the Young Avengers seem to agree with that line of thought except for Wiccan, who wants to head to Latveria himself just to do some scouting. Nobody agrees with that idea, with Patriot not wanting to split the team up and Magneto feeling they could make more of a dent in Doom's defenses together. With no conclusion reached, and the day turning to night, Magneto takes the young heroes to one of his hidden bases near Wundagore Mountain to sleep so they can plan anew the following day. Before arriving, the motley group of characters realize that Wiccan was no longer traveling with them, and that Quicksilver had also vanished. It turns out that Wiccan stayed back and was trying to teleport himself to Latveria, and that Quicksilver had discovered him and was encouraging Wiccan to head to Doom's castle alongside Quicksilver. Before Wiccan is able to complete the spell, the rest of the Young Avengers arrive on the scene and Hulkling threatens Quicksilver to cease trying to manipulate his boyfriend, lest he wants to become a legless speedster. From there we head to New York, where the Avengers have assembled to discuss what to do about the Magneto/Scarlet Witch/Young Avengers situation. Iron Man figures that the Avengers have their best shot at finding Wanda with the help of Wonder Man, who was once resurrected by Wanda, and as such still has some of her magic within him. Wonder Man inquires what the heroes plan on doing with Wanda once they find her and Wolverine blurts out that they need to kill her, which leads to Wonder Man knocking the diminutive mutant through a wall before leaving, informing the Avengers that he'd find Wanda on his own. Wolverine also leaves the rest of the Avengers, informing them that he would find Wanda and kill her, and possibly kill Wiccan as well. Later on at Magneto's base, Wiccan waits until everybody else is asleep before leaving a letter for Hulkling, informing him that he was going to go ahead and teleport to Latveria simply to get a lay of the land. Upon arriving near Castle Doom, Wiccan is almost immediately discovered by some patrolling Doombots, but he manages to trick them by transforming himself into the Scarlet Witch, at which point he tells the robots to take him back to his room, since he had gotten lost. The robots comply, and bring Wiccan to a bedroom, where he comes face to face with Wanda(!!). Wanda acts as if she has no idea who Wiccan is, and mentioning Quicksilver and Magneto also has no effect on her, leading Wiccan to believe that she's either pretending that she doesn't know anybody in order to distance herself from her past life/actions, or that she is truly an amnesiac and really doesn't recall the events of her life. Regardless, Wiccan tells her it isn't safe to remain in Latveria, and that she has to escape. Wanda doesn't want to escape, informing Wiccan that her wedding was the following day, and when Wiccan asks Wanda who she was marrying, Dr. Doom enters the room and tells the shocked Wiccan, “Me.”

Um, do you even need to ask what I thought about this issue? Anybody who has ever come to this blog KNOWS that I LOVE the Young Avengers. More than that, I love the Young Avengers when they are written by their original creators(Allan Heinberg: writer & Jim Cheung: art), who seem to have a better feel for these characters then any other writer who has tried writing them. This issue was, in a word, perfect. The story is moving along at a brisk pace, the artwork is crisp and beautiful, and the dialogue is well done, with a perfect mixture of drama and humor. I guess if I had a complaint, it would be that some of the characters didn't have any speaking roles(Hawkeye, Stature & Vision), but even that is fine, because they really didn't need to speak. Everything that needed saying was said by one of the other characters. So gushing aside, what's next here? Well, we now know that Dr. Doom has indeed captured Wanda, and intends on marrying her. We don't know what frame of mind Wanda is in, and whether or not she remembers her past, or is just pretending that she doesn't. Wiccan now appears to be a prisoner of Doom, which will undoubtedly bring his teammates(as well as Quicksilver and Magneto)to Latveria, which should lead to quite the battle. Besides that, we also have the Avengers, Wonder Man and Wolverine all searching for Wanda separately and for differing reasons. The Avengers want to find Wanda, but have already admitted that they're unsure as to what to do once they find her, Wonder Man wants to help her in any way he can since he's always had a flame for her(as well as the fact that she did bring him back from the dead)and Wolverine wants to kill her before her powers get out of control and she creates another House of M type of situation again. Whew! So THIS issue was fantastic, there are storylines aplenty going on here, and it goes without saying that going forward things should only get better! Needless to say, THIS is my favorite mini-series of 2010, period, the end.

Score: 10 out of 10. That's the second straight perfect score for this mini-series, and quite frankly, I expect the perfect scores to continue rolling in! And since I love this mini so much, here are a few images from this comic.Score one for Magneto!

Magneto was SO awesome here it makes my teeth hurt from smiling so hard!

Okay, Magneto was on FIRE in this issue!

Magneto may have been on fire in this comic, but Quicksilver was also getting a few great lines in as well.

Ahhh... Where would Marvel be without that murderous little Canadian?

The next issue can't get here soon enough...

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2 is awesome!

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2: Writer: Allan Heinberg. Pencils: Jim Cheung.

Review: This issue picks up from last issue's cliffhanger, with Magneto introducing himself to the Young Avengers and stating that he wants to help Wiccan and Speed find their mother, the Scarlet Witch(who also happens to be Magneto's daughter). While Wiccan seems moved by Magneto, Patriot(and most of the rest of the Young Avengers)don't trust Magneto. Before Wiccan can say yes or no, the Avengers attack Magneto, with Wolverine telling Magneto that he was warned to stay away from the kids. Wiccan tries to explain to the Avengers that Magneto wasn't trying to abduct the Young Avengers, only talk to them, but the Avengers refuse to hear him out. Wiccan is shocked by the Avengers antics, and Magneto explains that they don't want Wanda found, because if she was found, she'd have to be killed. Magneto then cautions Wiccan, telling him that once Wiccan and his teammates step out of line, they'd find themselves in the Avengers cross hairs. Wolverine punctuates Magneto's point by attacking Wiccan, who is saved by Magneto. Hulkling decides to get Wiccan out of the fray, but Spider-Man approaches the two boys and warns them not to entertain the idea of listening to Magneto. Ms. Marvel approaches the boys and pretty much threatens them, telling them if they try to stand against the Avengers they'd be put down hard. While the Avengers, Magneto and Young Avengers battle it out in the streets below, Wiccan decides he's had enough and teleports his teammates and Magneto away from the battle, leaving the Avengers confused and a bit angry. As for Magneto and the Young Avengers, Wiccan teleports them to Wundagore Mountain, the birthplace of the Scarlet Witch, figuring that would be the ideal place to start the search. Several of the Young Avengers are STILL not pleased that they went against the Avengers and were teaming with Magneto(most notably Patriot), but Wiccan and Speed seem to be fully under Magneto's thrall by this point. The group heads to the grave of Magda, Magneto's wife and Wanda's mother, hoping that Wiccan would be able to use his magic to locate Wanda. Wiccan, Speed and Magneto join hands and Wiccan believes that he had located Wanda in a nearby village, which causes Speed to impulsively take off to locate Wanda. While running through the village at top speed, Speed runs into Quicksilver(!). Quicksilver warns Speed to collect his friends and leave, lest they want Quicksilver to kill them as he intends to do to Magneto. By this point Magneto and the Young Avengers arrive on the scene and Magneto tries to reason with his estranged son. Quicksilver will hear none of it and demands that Magneto release the children, to which Wiccan explains that the Young Avengers had chosen to follow Magneto. Upon hearing that, Quicksilver grabs Wiccan and runs off with him. Wiccan tells Quicksilver that instead of fighting, they should all team up to find Wanda, but Quicksilver refuses, stating that as long as his father was with the Young Avengers, he wouldn't join their cause. Quicksilver does tell Wiccan that he'd be more than happy to work with Wiccan to find Wanda. By now Speed has arrived on the scene and after some bantering goads Quicksilver into racing him to see who was faster(much to Wiccan's annoyance). While the two white-haired speedsters race, the ground lifts up from under Quicksilver, announcing the presence of his father. That does it for Quicksilver, who runs around the village, grabs a bunch of wooden stakes and throws them at Magneto as fast as he can. Magneto and the Young Avengers manage to avoid the projectiles, but unfortunately, a townswoman(who happens to look EXACTLY like Wanda)is impaled by one of the stakes and falls to the ground. The Young Avengers rush to the stricken woman's side and realize that she was actually a robot... And not only was she a robot, but she was a disguised Doombot(!!), causing the gathered characters to realize that the reason nobody had been able to locate Wanda was because she was almost definitely a prisoner of Dr. Doom!!

What I Thought: Well, this was probably the best single issue I've read all year. From the opening battle against the Avengers, to the COMPLETELY out of left field revelation that Doom probably had Wanda, this comic was perfect. Sorry Shadowland and Red Hood: Lost Days, but for my money, THIS mini-series is the BEST mini-series of the year, and we're only 2 issues in with 7 more to go!! I really can't think of a single flaw in this book... Maybe the Avengers acted kind of rashly towards the kids, but even that is sort of understandable considering it looked as if they were conspiring with Magneto. Besides that, this comic was perfect. The art was great, the story had my full attention from the first page to the last, and the dialogue was perfectly done. Every character “sounded” exactly how they should have. Magneto was sympathetic, while also leaving the reader with just the slightest amount of doubt that he was acting in the Young Avengers best interests. The Avengers were portrayed perfectly(Spider-Man tried to reason with the kids, Wolverine wanted to attack first and talk later, Ms. Marvel was annoying, etc), as was Quicksilver, who as usual was acting before thinking. And then there was the Young Avengers... Unsurprisingly Allan gave each character the perfect voice. While this mini-series is obviously centered around Wiccan(and to a slightly lesser extent, Speed), every single one of the other Young Avengers received a moment or two of serious character development. Stature and Vision, Patriot and Hawkeye, Hulkling and Wiccan, each character had their own ideas, plans and wishes, as well as their own time to shine. If only every comic book contained this sort of character development... As you can probably tell by how long the review was, as well as my thoughts on this comic, I REALLY enjoyed this book. I could easily go on for another several paragraphs detailing just how much I loved this comic, but I won't. Instead I'll post the score(which shouldn't be a HUGE surprise!)as well as several scans from the comic. That's right, SEVERAL scans! I liked this comic so much I couldn't decide on just one page to post. I CAN'T wait for the next issue!!!

Score: 10 out of 10.Who wouldn't want Magneto as their grandfather?!?

Yet another example of Wolverine being a jerk...

Huh, I'd forgotten just how much I like Speed... He was a riot in this comic!

Not only is this page beautiful, the dialogue is pretty funny... If you really think about it. BTW, this picture is now my windows desktop background.

Yeah, next issue can't come out soon enough...

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1(of 9)

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1: Writer: Allan Heinberg(!). Pencils: Jim Cheung(!). The ORIGINAL Young Avengers creative team!!!

Review: We get started with the Young Avenger kids battling some crazy racist bible-thumping terrorists. The YA's pretty much have matters in hand, until one of the terrorists claim to have a nuclear device on his body, and that he'd be happy to martyr himself. At this time Captain America(Steve Rogers), Iron Man and Ms. Marvel arrive on the scene, just as the nutjob was about to detonate himself. Before he can though, Wiccan uses his magic in a way he never had before, and the world quickly turns white(ala the Scarlet Witch). When things go back to normal, only the YA and Avengers are still standing, while all of the terrorists lay around comatose. The three Avengers take the kids back to the YA headquarters, and Iron Man reveals the whole ugly truth about what the Scarlet Witch had done after she went crazy(among other things, killed Vision, Ant-Man and Hawkeye, rewrote reality, and de-powered almost all of the mutants). With Wiccan most likely containing the soul of one of Wanda's thought to be dead twins, the adult Avengers are kind of concerned that Wiccan could potentially have inherited Wanda's reality warping powers, and as such want to bring him in for testing. Wiccan tries to explain that he isn't his “mother” and hadn't done anything wrong, but all the Avengers can see in him is his “mother” Wanda and his “grandfather”, Magneto. Feeling betrayed, Wiccan storms off in a huff, telling the Avengers that he wouldn't go through with their evaluation. The Young Avengers follow Wiccan outside and for the most part they seem to think Wiccan should go along with the Avengers, which only upsets him more, and causes him to storm away from them as well. Upon arriving home, Wiccan finds Captain America talking to his parents about his powers. Feeling completely boxed in, Wiccan finally relents and agrees to go with Cap, who tells the Young Avenger that the Avengers would only hold him until they knew what he was capable of. While Wiccan and Cap are flying to the Avengers Tower, they run into Wiccan's boyfriend Hulkling, who tells Cap that nothing had better happen to Wiccan while he was in Avengers custody. Cap tells Hulkling that he's invited to come along to see that the Avengers mean Wiccan no harm. Hulkling and Wiccan end up in a guest room at Avengers Tower, and before they can get comfortable, Speed breaks in and tells the boys that he was there to break them out. Before the two can stop him, Speed runs them through the wall to the rest of the Young Avengers, who were waiting outside. Wiccan explains that while he appreciates the trouble the team went through to get him out of the Tower, he was going to stay, since wherever he ran to the Avengers would ultimately find him. Stature tells Wiccan that instead of giving up, the team should try to find the Scarlet Witch, and show her the her thought to be dead twins(Wiccan and Speed)were alive and well. Stature reasoned that if Wanda learned of this, maybe Wanda would bring Stature's father(Ant-Man)back to life, as well as undo the spell that decimated the mutant race. The team begins to lean towards this course of actions, but before they can decide on a course of action, Magneto(!!)arrives on the scene, stating that it was about time he met his grandchildren.

What I Thought: Ahhhhh....... How I missed this series... I'm so glad to be reading a new Young Avengers story that I can't really say anything negative here. Although to be honest, there really isn't anything negative that I COULD say! I guess I could complain about how easily Wiccan gave up and decided to allow himself to be jailed by the Avengers, but even that was explained away when Wiccan stated that no matter where he went, the Avengers would always find him. No, this comic was nearly flawless. Sure some of the characters didn't get a lot of talking time, but the ones who did sounded exactly as I remembered them. What a satisfying comic book!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.I'd guess the answer to that is that it depends on the prison...