Quick Hits: 3/28/11

All right, we have an all-Marvel Quick Hits to get through tonight. With how lackluster just about EVERYTHING coming out of DC has been these past several months, I'm definitely glad to get a few Marvel books in a row, which I know should at least be mediocre. But I'm expecting better than mediocre out of this batch of comics. We have Daken, THREE Captain America comics and this year's Uncanny X-Men annual. Basically this SHOULD be good... Let's find out though...

Daken: Dark Wolverine #7:

Summary: We get started by learning that Malcolm Colcord(of the Weapon X Program) has set up in Madripoor. Who else is in Madripoor? Why that would be Daken, who has managed to force Tiger Tyger into serving as the lieutenant in his burgeoning crime empire. Tyger isn't pleased with having to serve Daken, but she realizes that the only shot she'll ever have at throwing Daken out of Madripoor is to stay close to him. Daken realizes that's the only reason Tyger is sticking with him as well, but since he does need a public face for his criminal empire, he knows he's stuck with her... For now. With Tyger under his thumb, Daken manages to take control of the Madripoor police force by kidnapping the daughter of its commissioner, while taking over the few remaining gang leaders. In other words, Daken's well orchestrated conquest of Madripoor is complete. This issue ends with us learning that Daken was working WITH Colcord(Wha?!) as X-23 and Gambit arrive in Madripoor for some reason.

Thoughts: Um, what? When the hell did Daken hook up with Colcord? And for what reason? Weird... I can appreciate what Daken accomplished over the course of this storyline(consolidating all of the crime in Madripoor), but I still can't say I care much about Madripoor... Anyway, the end events of this issue are setting up the upcoming Daken/X-23 crossover, which should be interesting, to say the least.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.I don't! Or at least not yet...


Captain America: Man Out of Time #5(of 5):

Summary: Having been sent back to his proper time period by Kang, Captain America(Steve Rogers) decides to try to settle back down in the mid-1940's, but soon realizes that the “good old days” weren't exactly as idyllic as he remembered. After seeing just how ugly the 40's were(for everybody who wasn't a middle class white male), Cap decides he has to get back to the present to save his Avengers teammates from Kang. To this end, Cap places his Avengers card in a picture that he knows he'll find in the future, writes a note and sets off the emergency alert. Back in the present, Rick Jones hears the alert coming from Cap's room in Avengers mansion, finds the picture and discovers the card and the letter telling Rick to have Reed Richards pick him up. Reed does just that, and Cap returns to the present, breaks his teammates out of captivity and helps them topple Kang. The Avengers are appreciative, and Cap finally realizes that his place is with them, not in the 1940's.

Thoughts: This was one fantastic mini-series. Mark Waid did a wonderful job of capturing the inner turmoil of somebody like Steve Rogers, who was trying to decide where he belonged. Over the course of this mini, Cap went from being impressed by the future/present, being disgusted by it, longing to get back to his proper time period/the past, getting back to the past and then realizing that things weren't as great as he remembered back in the day. The only gripe I had with this issue is that the Kang battle was basically a foregone conclusion, and was pretty much treated as such. We all KNEW that Kang was going to lose, and this story never bothered to give us the illusion that MAYBE Kang would pull it off. So yeah, the battle was inconsequential, but the psychological stuff with Cap was top notch.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.Poor, poor Kang... Will he ever learn?


Captain America #615.1:

Summary: With Bucky no longer serving as Captain America(there's a reason to read this series!), and Steve Rogers being the commander of SHIELD(and the Avengers), there isn't a Captain America anymore. To rectify that, a former US soldier meets up with Dr. Malus and the Power Broker, and is given enhanced strength and speed so he could become the new Captain America. Fake Cap manages to publicly halt a crime, and gives an interview stating that America needs a Captain America, and he was going to take up the mantle. Needless to say, this angers Steve, who doesn't want to see another untrained person die while wearing his former uniform. Steve begins to track Fake Cap and discovers some AIM goons kidnapping Fake Cap and loading him onto a airplane. Steve sneaks onto the ship and learns that the AIM agents were trying to turn Fake Cap into a new MODOK. Steve manages to halt the process and brings down the AIM ship. SHIELD swings by to mop up the mess, and Steve tells Fake Cap that his short career as Captain America was finished. Fake Cap tells Steve that he'll stop, but that America needed a Captain America to look up to, and that somebody had to take up the mantle... From there we head to one of Nick Fury's hideouts where we find Sharon Carter waiting for him. Sharon reveals that she knew Nick was posing as the Power Broker(!), and that she knew that Nick tipped off the AIM agents to kidnap Fake Cap. Needless to say, Sharon wants to know why Nick did these things, at which point Nick tells Sharon that he was trying to manipulate Steve into taking up the Captain America mantle again. Sharon asks Nick what makes him think that she wouldn't tell Steve what Nick was up to, and Nick plainly states that Sharon wants Steve back as Captain America as much as he does. This issue ends with Steve standing in Avengers Tower staring at the shield of Captain America, pondering the future.

Thoughts: You know, this was a strange comic. The main story, with the Fake Cap was alright, but not great. However, the last few pages, especially the reveal that Nick Fury was trying to manipulate events, and Steve's actions in the Tower, pushed this comic from an okay issue to a really good/great issue. I've always been a sucker for Nick Fury's cloak and dagger dealings, so yeah, this issue definitely pleased me. Then again, whenever you have Ed Brubaker writing a Captain America comic, what's not to like?

Score: 9 out of 10.Damn that Nick Fury and his mind games!


Captain America and Batroc the Leaper #1:

Summary: Some mercenaries have hired Batroc to keep Captain America(in this case, Bucky) off their backs while they steal something. While meeting with the mercs, one of them taunts Batroc for having never beat Cap, to which Batroc tells the merc that nobody has ever beaten Cap, because if they did, there'd be no Cap(good point there...). Anyway, the mercs commit their crime, and Cap attempts to stop them, at which point Batroc... um, leaps into the fray. Batroc fights with Cap, and actually manages to trick Cap into a trap, which would have allowed Batroc the opportunity to escape. However, Batroc can't pass up the opportunity and instead of escaping, goes back after Cap, moving in for the kill. By this point Cap is back up, and slaps Batroc around, causing Batroc to go back into retreat mode. Batroc endangers some bystanders, which draws Cap's attention, allowing Batroc to make good his escape. Back in his hotel, Batroc learns that the mercs ended up being captured by Cap(which doesn't surprise him), while he revels in the fact that he escaped Cap, which he considers a draw.

Thoughts: I actually REALLY enjoyed this comic... I mean, I expected nothing going into it(it was about Batroc!!!), but Kieron Gillen turned this into a fun little romp. Batroc has always had a bit of a respectability streak, and Gillen really showcased that here. Yes, Batroc is a scuzzy mercenary, but he's a respectable scuzzy mercenary, which is what this one-shot hammered home. On top of that, there was also a reprint of a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Tales of Suspense issue featuring an early Cap/Batroc battle. As a fan of Captain America, what more could I ask for?

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.That middle panel REALLY needed a comical sound effect.


Uncanny X-Men Annual #3(2011):

Summary: Tired of being invaded by the denizens of Limbo, Lord Summers the First tells Madison Jeffries and Dr. Nemesis to build a gateway to Limbo. Somehow Jeffries miscalculates and the gateway explodes, sucking Nemesis, Lord Summers, Hope “Worship Me” Summers and Namor into the portal before it closes. Lord Summers immediately realizes that the four mutants weren't in Limbo, so he decides to split into two teams to try to figure out where they were/how to get out, with himself and Hope one one team and Namor and Nemesis on the other. Namor rapidly grows tired of Nemesis and ditches him, while Lord Summers and Hope get attacked and knocked out by strange aliens. Back on Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia), Emma Frost decides to head to New York to ask for assistance in finding the missing muties. This issue ends with Lord Summers and Hope waking up before Blastarr, who wants to know how the two mutants made it into the Negative Zone so he could use it to get out.

Thoughts: Hey, you know what? I really enjoyed this comic! Sure it had Lord Summers, his whore and Messiah Hope in it, but the story was really strong, strong enough to help me forget all about my blinding hatred of all things mutant. So kudos to writer James Asmus for that. The second part of this story takes place in the Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier Annual #1, which is sort of weird since there isn't a Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier ongoing series... I mean why would a mini-series that ended months ago need an annual? Marvel's odd title choices aside, this was a really good comic, that should only get better with the inclusion of Steve Rogers... Who knew?!

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.You see, this is what we need more of, Cyclops laying bloodied on the ground.

Quick Hits: 2/21/11

Since I just did two DC Quick Hits in a row, I think it's high time for me to head back to the House of Ideas and do a Marvel post. So that's what I'll be doing. A few good books, a few okay ones, and one perfect score(wow, Marvel is REALLY impressing me lately!) should make this a must read post!

Avengers Academy #9:

Summary: We pick up here with Tigra reiterating that Veil, Striker and Hazmat were being tossed out of the Academy for their assault on the Hood. The kids go to pack, and Pym decides to call a meeting with the rest of the faculty to discuss the expulsions. Finesse heads to Quicksilver and explains that she wanted to meet the Taskmaster, since they shared the same powers and she suspected that he was her father. Quicksilver agrees to take Finesse to the Taskmaster's last known base, if only to avoid what he figured would be a terribly boring and sanctimonious meeting with the other Academy advisors. Finesse and Quicksilver arrive at the base and beat up on some cannon fodder, but don't find Taskmaster there. Finesse asks to remain behind to see if she could find something that would tell her where Taskmaster had gone, so Quicksilver takes off. Once Quicksilver is out of sight, Taskmaster jumps down and attacks Finesse. The two talk and fight for a while, until Taskmaster has had enough and tells Finesse that the fight was over. Taskmaster tells Finesse that he had no idea if he was her father or not, that he wouldn't give her any hair or DNA samples, and that the only reason he wanted to fight her was to see if there was anything he could pick up from her fighting style to remember her by, since his brain could pretty much only remember movements and not conversations. Since Finesse was just like him, she only fought by melding several different fighting styles together, meaning that most likely Taskmaster would end up forgetting about her in short order. Before he leaves, Taskmaster tells Finesse that her best bet was to stay with the Avengers, live off of Tony Stark's fortune and learn as many Avengers secrets as she could. Taskmaster tells her that every day she'll get better and better and that that was all life was about for people like them, before leaving Finesse behind. Back at the Academy, the rest of the faculty members overrule Tigra and bring the expelled students back, since it seemed more risky to leave potentially dangerous teenagers out in the world with no supervision. In the end, Tigra comes to accept their decision(after talking to Quicksilver of all people!) and she heads back to her room where she watches the tape of the students brutalizing the Hood over and over again.

Thoughts: Christos Gage is really putting together one hell of a good series here! As always I enjoyed any scene that Quicksilver was in, being a huge, and unabashed fan of Pietro. I also REALLY enjoyed the scene with Taskmaster and Finesse. Gage did a great job of making Taskmaster into a more sympathetic figure, which really took me by surprise. I've always liked Taskmaster, and the way he was portrayed here went a long way in further strengthening his character. As for the expulsion stuff, it ended the way I expected it to. I mean we all knew we weren't going to lose three main characters this early in the series, so all of that stuff was kind of anticlimactic. But everything else here was REALLY good, and definitely worth checking out, whether you're a fan of the Avengers or not.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Fatherly advice from Taskmaster?? Weird...


Silver Surfer #1(of 5):

Summary: With Galactus recuperating from the Thanos Imperative mini-series, the Silver Surfer finds himself with some free time on his hands. He ends up drifting back to Earth, where he happens across two people being shot by drug smugglers. The Surfer blasts the smugglers and heads to the woman who was shot by the smugglers and tries to heal her with the Power Cosmic. While he is doing this, the smugglers hire the Cybermancer to try to try to talk to the Surfer for some reason. Anyway, the Surfer manages to heal the woman, and happens to touch Cybermancer, who feels the Power Cosmic and is overcome with emotion, something the Surfer can no longer feel. Before the Surfer can leave, he is suddenly attacked by several machines, before being ambushed by the High Evolutionary, who apologizes to the Surfer for what he was doing. The Surfer summons his surfboard to him and tries to make some distance between himself and the High Evolutionary, but his board drops him and he crashes to the ground. The High Evolutionary teleports away and the Surfer finds himself surrounded by the drug smugglers from earlier. He warns the smugglers to get back, but they open fire instead, and the Surfer is shocked to not only feel the bullets, but to see his silver coating slide off of his body.

Thoughts: Hmm... I've always been a fan of the Surfer, so seeing him in a solo adventure once again was a treat. There were parts of this story that made me very happy(I LOVED seeing the High Evolutionary show up!) but there were also things that happened here that I could have done without. A simple Surfer vs the High Evolutionary story where the High Evolutionary steals the Surfer's powers for some mysterious and possibly nefarious purpose, leading to the Surfer being tasked with hunting down the High Evolutionary and regaining his powers would have been fine. I don't get why this Cybermancer woman is being included in this story at all... The only thing I can think is that she'll become some sort of romantic interest to the Surfer(they did feel a “spark”) who assists him against the smugglers and the High Evolutionary. I'm REALLY not interested in reading a romantic tale here... That's not why I read Silver Surfer books. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I doubt Greg Pak would have gone through all of the trouble introducing the Cybermancer if he didn't have lofty plans for her.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Would you believe that I didn't realize that the High Evolutionary was even in this comic until this scene, even though he was right on the cover?!


Captain America: Man out of Time #4(of 5):

Summary: Captain America(Steve Rogers) is still trying to come to terms with being brought out of suspended animation some 60 years displaced from his proper time period. Cap goes about helping the Avengers and trying to assimilate to modern society the best he can, but during his free time he spends his days trying to find somebody from his past to reconnect with. After a lot of searching, Cap discovers that his old commanding officer during the war was still alive, so Cap heads to the nursing home to visit. Cap explains his story to the general, and eventually manages to convince the older man that he really was who he claimed to be. Cap spends most of his free time with the general being filled in on what he missed the last 60 years, getting a counterbalance to Tony Stark's much more rosy picture of America. Cap's conversations with the general tend to be way more about what was wrong with America than what was right, leaving Cap with an increasingly pessimistic outlook of the country he sacrificed so much for. Eventually the general dies, and Cap heads to his room one final time to pick up some mementos the general wanted him to have. Cap speaks to the general's private caretaker and the two discuss things, with the caretaker(an immigrant) eventually telling a confused Cap that there was no other country she'd rather be living in. Cap heads to Avengers Mansion and is told to suit up since the Avengers were heading to Washington to confront some mysterious craft that had landed there. The craft belongs to Kang, and he explains to the Avengers that he intended on conquering the Earth of this time period, the same as he had done in the distant future from whence he came. Tiring of the battle with the Avengers, Kang blasts all of them except for Cap to prison cells. Cap attacks Kang and Kang realizes that much like himself, Cap was also from another time. Cap keeps fighting back against Kang, so Kang sends Cap back to 1945, which is where Cap wanted to go all along.

Thoughts: Wooo, Mark Waid sure can tell a great story, can't he?! I loved every single page of this comic book. Every page. Waid did such a fantastic job of writing how out of place Cap felt in a world that had moved on 60 years with out him. And the character of the general really did a great job of telling Cap all about the America that Iron Man had neglected last issue. Sure America was all about the great accomplishments that Iron Man had told Cap about last issue, but there were also the warts that the general brought to light. As this comic went on you could see how the general's words were influencing Cap's own views and opinions on everything that he was experiencing. That's what was so great Cap's conversation with the caretaker. After Cap had been told how terrible America had become, she still wouldn't want to be back in her home country, leaving Cap confused to which America was reality, the general's or Iron Man's. The cliffhanger at the end was also the perfect place to end this comic, with Cap finally getting back “home” but knowing that remaining where he most wanted to be would mean possibly dooming his Avengers teammates to imprisonment or death at the hands of Kang. Yes, much like Man Out of Time #3, this was a perfect comic.

Score: 10 out of 10.Wait, Kang can tell all of that by SMELLING Cap?!


Uncanny X-Force #5:

Summary: This is NOT an easy comic to recap... Basically the World, which is where Fantomex was created, has been infiltrated by some unknown force and had been evolved some one million years. Fantomex wants to learn the identity of this mystery foe, and ends up heading home to his “mother” to tell her about his recent adventures. Several heroes who look like Deathlok show up, kill Fantomex's mother and try to do the same to him. Fantomex barely manages to escape, mainly thanks to EVA and this issue ends with Fantomex and EVA crashing right in front of Deathlok himself. Okay, that was the main storyline running through this comic, let's get to the good stuff. There was also a scene with the rest of X-Force, who were responding to a meeting called by Deadpool. It seems Deadpool is really upset about Fantomex killing Kid Apocalypse on the moon last issue. Wolvie basically tells DP that was what happened on X-Force, and that if he didn't like it he shouldn't have signed up. Deadpool winds up storming away leaving Wolvie behind to call Pool a bloodsucking mercenary who only cared about the money. Archangel tells Wolvie that Pool never cashed a single check, meaning he was on X-Force because he thought the team was really trying to do good. Psylocke tries to comfort Wolvie, who she sensed was also having trouble coming to terms with what happened on the moon, but Wolvie pushes her away, stating that Fantomex did what had to be done.

Thoughts: I really didn't like the Fantomex portions of this story at all, but I have a reason for that. I haven't read Fantomex's origin in YEARS(probably not since he was first introduced by Grant Morrison all those years ago) so my knowledge of the World wasn't where it needed to be. On top of that, I still haven't read those Wolverine: Weapon X issues with Deathlok, meaning I have NO idea what Deathlok's connection to Wolverine/the Weapon X program is... Now I do have those Weapon X back issues laying around, I just haven't read them yet... I guess I probably should though. So yeah, the Fantomex stuff didn't do much for me. I did enjoy the X-Force meeting though. It went a long way in showing how leading the team was affecting Wolvie, as well as showing a kinder side of Deadpool... I know, how weird is that?! Deadpool(like myself) seemed to be really bothered by Fantomex killing Kid Apocalypse, and tells the team as much, which leads to Wolverine getting very defensive about the way things went down. Everybody else on the team can see that the stress of leading X-Force(along with the 700 other things Wolvie does in a month) was getting to Wolvie, with the exception of Wolvie it seems. So that one little scene went a long way in developing the characters of Wolverine, Deadpool and even Fantomex, even though he wasn't there. So in closing, I really liked the X-Force meeting(which was like 4 pages), while I wasn't that pleased with everything else.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Fantomex sure did a lot of talking this issue...


Thunderbolts #153:

Summary: We begin with Hyperion stealing the wristband from the drowning Songbird that allowed the non-criminal members of the Thunderbolts to shock the criminal members of the team into complying with their orders. Juggernaut climbs out from the rubble he was buried under last issue and spots Hyperion trying to figure out how to get the wristband to work. Juggernaut asks Hyperion where the rest of the team was and Hyperion calmly explains that they were either missing, eaten or drowning. Juggernaut hops into the water and pulls Moonstone and Songbird out, spotting Ghost who was examining one of the monsters the team had encountered upon reemerging from the water. Since Juggernaut couldn't preform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the two women because of his size and strength, he leaves them with Ghost while he heads off to set Hyperion straight. Meanwhile, Mach-V and Luke Cage manage to climb out of the mouth of one of those pesky sea monsters from last issue and try to figure out just how the mission went so bad. Juggernaut catches up to Hyperion and tries to smack some sense into him, but is jolted by the wristband Hyperion stole and is pummeled by Hyperion. Juggernaut tries to hold his own, but the combined might of Hyperion, plus the wristband is too much and Hyperion moves in for the kill, being stopped by the timely arrival of Moonstone and Ghost. Hyperion prepares to laugh off the duo, but realizes too late that he had dropped the wristband during the fight with Juggernaut, and that Ghost had retrieved it. Ghost activates it, shocking Hyperion, and Moonstone, Juggernaut and Ghost beat Hyperion into a quivering mass of Jello. After having their fun, Ghost contacts Luke and tells him that the monsters were being controlled by nanites, and that Songbird could counter the frequency with her own sonic powers. This issue ends with Man-Thing walking over to the defeated Hyperion and burning him for destroying Man-Thing last issue.

Thoughts: This was one of those perfectly acceptable comic books I tend to talk about every now and then. Nothing earth-shattering happened, I probably won't remember it a month from now, but it was a fine way to kill a couple of minutes. The battle between Juggernaut and Hyperion, which dominated this issue was a fun little romp, and went on to show that the criminal members of the T-Bolts are beginning to act more as a team and less as individuals. After reading this issue I can honestly say that there isn't a character on this team that I don't like. And THAT is very rare for me, as there always seems to be a character on every team book I read that I completely detest. So kudos to Jeff Parker for turning me into a fan of Ghost, Man-Thing and Luke Cage, who is written WAY better here than he was(is) in New Avengers. Sorry Bendis, but I HATE the way you write Luke!

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Sometimes a little mindless violence is just what the doctor ordered.

Captain America: Man Out of Time #3(of 5)

Review: This issue gets started with Iron Man and Dr. Pym running Captain America through some tests and which leads them to realize that he was indeed Steve Rogers. We find out that Cap had learned of Mr. Fantastic's(or more appropriately, Dr. Doom's)time machine and wanted to head back to the past to return to his life and possibly even save Bucky. Iron Man tells Cap that wasn't a good idea since time travel was still a very new science and as such could have all sorts of unforeseen consequences. Cap tells IM that he still had to at least try to return to his proper time, at which time Cap tells IM to thank his “boss” Tony Stark for all of Tony's kindness and respect towards Cap since last issue. After that compliment, IM gives up trying to change Cap's mind, and tells Cap that he could tell Tony himself since Tony wanted to hang out with Cap that night. From there we head to Tony throwing a party for Cap aboard a brand new Stark Enterprises airplane. The two men talk, and Cap asks Tony if the US and USSR were still allies. Tony tells Cap that the USSR was no more, and that China and India had replaced the Russians as world super-powers. Tony also tells Cap about a few technological advances, and decides to take Cap to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum to give Cap a better idea of the advances in technology the US had made. While impressed, Cap is more impressed by the advances American society made and asks how that came about, at which point Tony plays Martin Luther King Jr's “I have a dream” speech. The two continue their trek through the museum and Cap comes across the Captain America exhibit, where he learns there were three other Captain Americas and Buckys after WWII. Upon seeing this, Cap's mind is completely made up and he decides that since he had been replaced before, there was no need for him to remain in modern times. Since Cap had no idea who his commanding officer was, he decides to see the president to submit his official resignation. Tony reluctantly calls the White House and sets up a meeting, and the next morning, Cap walks into the Oval Office. Cap explains that he felt he had no place in modern times and wanted to tender his resignation so he could try to return to the past, but the president(who is bizarrely silhouetted the whole time)tells Cap that a)time travel wasn't a perfect science yet, and b)Cap had learned too much and could possibly damage the past by accidentally revealing too much about the future. With that, the president refuses to accept the resignation and orders Cap not to try to return to the past, which Cap feels he is duty bound to obey. This issue ends with Cap, now officially stranded in the present, sitting at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial trying to figure out where to go from here.

Thoughts: See, this is a very interesting comic... Captain America came out of the ice originally in the mid 1960's(our time), but obviously that can't stand, because that would make characters like Tony Stark and Hank Pym octogenarians in the present. Mark Waid got around that by slightly shifting the timing of things, with this story taking place in the late-90's/very early 2000's(kind of like the Ultimates). And you know what? That actually worked REALLY well for this mini-series. Cap waking up after 60 years in suspended animation made him even more of a man out of time than Cap floating in that ice for only 20 years. The changes in American society from the early 1940's to the 2000's would be incredibly striking for somebody like Cap and Waid captures that magnificently. Not only that, but Cap's reason for wanting to return to the past isn't even a matter of Cap figuring he couldn't fit in in the present, it was more about him needing to go back to try to save Bucky... That's what made the ending here that much sadder... It's one thing to be stuck in a different era, and having to learn things modern society take for granted(Cap referred to a cell phone as a mad scientist gizmo), but the fact that he can't head back to save his sidekick and best friend is what seems to be hurting Cap the most. The Tony Stark/Steve Rogers relationship was also wonderfully portrayed here, with both men ending up friends even though they were obviously very different, with very different values. While Tony, the scientist, figured Cap would be most impressed by the technological advances of the past 60 years, Cap, the everyman, was more fascinated by the societal changes. As a total American history nut, this issue did an great job blending comic book history with Marvel history, a testament to Waid's awesome abilities as a writer. To say that I liked this comic was an understatement and a half.

Score: 10 out of 10. Yep, this is my first Marvel perfect score this year!Poor Cap...

Captain America: Man Out of Time #2(of 5)

Overall: After getting shot last issue while saving a woman, Captain America wakes up in a hospital, still baffled as to where and when he is. Obviously the doctors figure Cap is insane, while Cap figures it's still the 1940's and he's simply dreaming this whole scenario up. Cap leaves the hospital where he bumps into Rick Jones, who asks Cap if he'd help him figure out what happened to the Avengers, who were turned to stone right before they had the chance to reveal Cap to the public. Cap smiles and agrees to help, since as far as he was concerned, this was all a dream anyway, so why not go with Rick and find out why the Avengers were turned to stone. Rick heads to his apartment and gets online looking for info, while trying to explain the Internet to a VERY skeptical Cap. Eventually Rick manages to find a surveillance camera which catches some weird being blasting the Avengers with a strange beam, turning them to stone. Rick decides to make a call to Stark Enterprises to see if they could trace where the strange looking man went, while Cap decides to use the computer to look up a few things, including one thing that shocks him so badly that he leaves, just as Rick gets the information as to where the strange villain had fled. Cap hops along rooftops and breaks into the hotel room of the strange villain, who turns out to be an alien. Cap trounces the villain, and upon discovering that it was an alien, bursts out laughing since it was so ridiculous. Rick arrives on the scene and the alien agrees to turn the Avengers back, lest crazy Cap beats it up again. Rick tells Cap that even though that was an alien laying on the floor, this really wasn't a dream, which Cap finally seems to believe, since he discovered from Rick's computer that President Roosevelt died mere weeks before the war in Europe ended. Cap couldn't imagine that he would dream something that horrible up, meaning that somehow he really was in the future. This issue ends with Cap agreeing to help the Avengers, but deciding that he had to return to his time somehow when he was done.

I have to say, I wasn't really enjoying this issue until the end, with the FDR reveal. That was VERY well done, and played into Cap's already established mythos where he was a huge backer of Pres. Roosevelt. Some of the stuff that happened earlier in this issue was kind of funny(Cap being surprised to see a female doctor, and his puzzlement at some of the terms he heard), but the story with the alien was just okay. All in all, I enjoyed this comic, and can't imagine those feelings will change as this mini rolls along.

Score: 7 out of 10.So Cap went a little bit crazy... It can happen to the best of us.

Captain America: Man Out of Time #1(of 5)

Overall: This mini-series documents the story of Steve Rogers(Captain America)and how he was frozen in suspended animation during the closing days of WWII, as well as his return at the hands of the Avengers. Cap is woken up by the Avengers and at first fights them, wanting to know where Bucky was and figuring he was in the hands of Nazi super-soldiers. The Avengers try to calm Cap down, and decide to hold a team meeting in order to figure out how to prepare Cap(and the public)as to what had happened to him and where he was. When the Avengers leave him, Cap sneaks away and heads outside, where he is met by a version of New York that is much different than the one he remembered. While wandering around trying to get his bearings, Cap hears a cry for help and rushes into an alley where he finds three goons demanding something from a woman. Cap takes care of the goons and goes to help the woman, who shoots him in the gut and runs away with several bags of narcotics. This issue ends with poor, confused Cap laying in the street in a pool of blood.

Hmm... I don't know what I was expecting from this comic, but I don't think this was it... I mean, I knew it was going to be a retelling of Cap's return to the modern day Marvel U after WWII, but this issue didn't blow me over. I hated the ending, with Cap being shot by the drug carrying woman. It was just such a heavy-handed way to say, “Look at poor, naive Cap, trusting a woman like he would have back in the day and paying for it.” Plus the Avengers simply LEAVING Cap alone while they decide what to do about him was pretty strange... The man just woke up from years of suspended animation, is totally confused and they decide to walk away to hold a team meeting?! AND leave the door unlocked?? That's some weird thinking right there... On the plus side, the first half of this comic was all about Cap and Bucky during WWII as they hung out with other soldiers, all the way up to the experimental airplane explosion that sent Cap into the icy waters and ultimately resulted in Bucky becoming the Winter Soldier. I like Mark Waid's work a lot, so I'm pretty confident this story will pick up, but this issue was a bit under my expectations.

Score: 7 out of 10.Women...