Best of the Rest! April 10th edition.

Hey all, X here to herald in a brand new BotR post.  Not only that, but this is the 3,000th post here at the blog!  That's A LOT of posts!  Speaking of a lot, I picked up a slew of comics on Wednesday, so it should go without saying there are gonna be A LOT of comics covered in this post.  As always, I'll get things started and JT will pitch in towards the end of the review.  JT's text will be in blue.  With so many comics to dig into, let's end the intro and get to the main event.

Alpha: Big Time #3: In this issue, Alpha DOESN'T screw up!  Huzzah for the greatest hero ever!!  He saves that girl he likes in school from a fire(and she naturally knows who he is, because she's not a moron), and talks to Doc Parker about his powers, which seem to be growing.  However, the main villain of Pittsburgh takes umbrage at a hero being and town, and since everybody knows who Alpha is, decides to pay his family a visit.  So yeah, this comic?  You know I loved it!  I read it from cover to cover with a smile on my face.  I just can't help but to love this character, and this series.  Alpha is honestly what all teenage heroes SHOULD be.  Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Ultron #1AU: With all of the other Runaways dead, Victor has been saving whatever kids he could find in destroyed Los Angeles.  Luckily for him, the various Ultron patrols can't seem to figure out what he is, and as such haven't killed him.  Oh yeah, and Victor has been hiding his powers from the kids he was rescuing, while subtly using them to hide from Ultron.  At least until one of the kids sees him doing robot-y stuff, and the Ultrons attack.  It's then that Victor decides to stop slinking around in the shadows, afraid of Ultron and finally fights back.  This was another really good comic.  Man, with the exception of AoU #5, I have been having some GREAT luck with my comic reading this week.  I liked the art, and the writing nailed Victor perfectly.  This is a character that needs a much bigger place in the Marvel U.  Score: 9 out of 10.

Walking Dead #109: This issue dealt with Jesus and Rick putting their plan to attack Negan in motion.  Rick informs certain people from his group(Andrea, Carl, Michonne), while Jesus tells a select number of folks at the Hilltop.  However, by the end of this one, Jesus seems to realize that one of the guys he told was in Negan's pocket.  This was an okay issue.  I mean, nothing really happened, I wasn't blown away by it, but it was a fine way to kill a few minutes.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Hawkeye #9: This issue gives us a look at the four most important women in Hawkeye's life(Mockingbird, Black Widow, Kate and Spider-Woman).  Plus it advances the story with the mob having it out for Clint by having an assassin kill Clint's neighbor, Grills.  So we had action, comedy, and Kate calling Clint a bitch.  Yup, this one checked all the boxes for me.  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Thor: God of Thunder #7: Current Thor and Future Thor get together and prepare an attack on Gorr's planet.  Meanwhile, Gorr captures Young Thor and forces Young Thor to work on Gorr's master plan...  A gigantic bomb.  No complaints with this one.  Gorr is still a great villain, and I enjoyed seeing the two Thors interact.  The reveal at the end wasn't something I was all excited over(so Gorr has a big bomb...  Even though he's killed most every god without a giant bomb...), but I'm sure Jason Aaron has a reason Gorr is concocting that bomb.  So yeah, again, good stuff here.  Score: 7 out of 10.

Secret Avengers #3: AIM's scientist supreme and a few henchmen drop in on a weapon's expo, claiming they had every right to be there since they were members of a UN recognized country.  Needless to say, that leads to Nick Fury(jr) and Daisy Johnson fighting AIM.  A US senator ends up getting killed during the ruckus, and AIM escapes with the Iron Patriot armor, which they seemed interested in using Mentallo to pilot.  Also, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Mockingbird find a half destroyed Jocasta at a wrecked AIM base.  Hey, I liked this comic too!  What's going on this week?!  I'm still not 100% sold on AIM as the main antagonists here(they seem too faceless without somebody like MODOK leading them), but I'm slowly starting to get into this story.  Plus, anytime you throw Hawkeye, Black Widow and Mockingbird into a comic I'm gonna be a happy camper.  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Fantastic Four #6: Reed decides to take the kids to the Big Bang.  For SCIENCE!!  While there, they find a body floating around in the void and rescue it.  It turns out the body is an older version of Blastaar, and he attacks.  Franklin uses his powers to send Blastaar back outside before the ship is critically damaged.  Ah, there we go...  I knew my comic reading luck was too good prior to this issue.  So yeah, I didn't like this issue at all.  The F4 are too cardboard for my tastes here, and the two kids are incredibly irritating.  Like to the point where I've stopped reading their dialogue because they piss me off so much.  Besides that, there's nothing interesting happening here...  Oh no, something mysterious is wrong with Ben!  Oh no, Reed has a mysterious disease!  Oh no, Sue is pouting!  This series just isn't for me, so I'll be dropping it come Wednesday.  Score: 2 out of 10.

Superboy #19: This issue actually gives us SB's full origin(um, shouldn't that have happened in the zero issue?), as well as Harvest's.  Harvest is from a future where humanity is at war with the meta-humans, who have taken to abusing their powers.  As for SB, he is a clone of Lois Lane and Superman's son, Jon.  Jon was taken in by Harvest after his parents thought he had died.  Why?  Because Harvest intended on using Jon to kill every meta-human, since Jon was the most powerful of the metas.  However, Jon was messed up due to his hybrid Kryptonian/human DNA and wound up in a coma, so Harvest created a clone to try to help Jon(who he came to love like a son).  So yeah, SB is the clone of the son of Lois and Supes, and that?  That is SOOOOO much better than SB as the clone of Supes and Lex, or Supes and a random scientist.  I have to say, this issue was really good.  Like, surprisingly so!  I'm usually blasting Scott Lobdell's work, but he brought his A-game here.  Harvest became a deeper character, while SB has an origin that I like.  I still don't understand why we didn't get this in issue #0, but hey, at least we got it here.  Score: 8 out of 10.

Ultimates #23: The leader of California sends Tigra and Quake from the West Coast Ultimates to attack Cap at the White House.  Meanwhile, WCU member Vision has stolen Tony Stark's nuclear satellite and has sent it hurdling towards Sacramento   The leader of California figures that will be seen as an attack on California and will lead to the west coast states banding together against Cap and the rest of the country.  This issue was kind of a snoozer for me.  I just never got into it.  So yeah, that's all I have to say about this issue, actually...  Score: 5 out of 10.

Batman and Red Robin #19: In this issue we're introduced to Carrie Kelley, a college student that had apparently been tutoring Damian for thousands of dollars, as well as her blonde roommate that wears purple. (Hint, hint?) Anyway, She goes looking for Damian at his home but no one answers. Bruce starts looking into her life and when he tells her that her services are no longer needed, she asks where Damian is, causing Bruce to leave without answering. Also, Batman heads off to find Frankenstein with the intent of having him help resurrect Damian. Frankenstein is not on board with this, and neither is Red Robin, who finally pops up when Alfred asks him to go check out Bruce's location. Tim tries to stop Bruce but ends up getting punched in the face for his troubles. Sensing that Batman will do whatever he has to, Frankenstein blows up his lab/lair, leaving Batman at square one, now very pissed at Tim for interfering on his quest to resurrect Damain. This was a weird issue, considering Red Robin was barely in it and his name's in the title, but it was far from bad, plus Bruce dealt with Denial on his first of the five steps of grief. Next is Anger, and Red Hood is involved! Score: 6/10

Wolverine #2: In this issue, Logan is pursuing a child that seems to be mind controlled by some kind of alien-like being, as we see it's mind controlling other people as well. Logan wants to stop the being without hurting the kid, but he has a laser gun that basically disintegrates people on impact. Logan tries to talk the mind controller down and distracts it long enough to disarm the kid, who then leaps off of the building while still being controlled. Logan leaps after him and catches the kid, then lands with his body taking the impact. Logan and the kid survive, but someone else now has the laser gun, but they're dealt with by Nick Fury, who shows up to help Logan investigate the mind controllers. The issue ends with The Watcher showing up, meaning this is a big problem. I enjoyed this issue, It's weird how a story with Wolverine facing a kid could be this entertaining but it was, also Cornell has a penchant for mind control, doesn't he? Score: 7/10

Saga #12: This issue starts with us seeing some of Prince Robot's time on the front lines during the war, where he's saved by a medic that promptly dies afterwards. From there we see him take a call that basically motivates him to find Alanna and Marko and get home to his family. Prince Robot heads off to meet the author of the book Alanna read when she fell in love with Marko, and the author basically says he wrote it for a check and doesn't believe in what he wrote. He and Prince Robot share some words before the author reveals his son, a former war hero, hanged himself in the bathroom upon returning home from war. Prince Robot calls his son a coward and the author pulls a weapon on him, but Prince Robot shoots him in the leg first. Prince Robot decides to wait at the house for Marko and Alanna, knowing they'd seek out the sympathizer, but doesn't realize they're already there, hiding upstairs and aware of the Prince's presence. I enjoyed this issue, I like that everyone is humanized so no one really feels like a bad guy, everyone has motivation so it seems real. Prince Robot, The Will, Marko and Alanna, even Gwendolyn to a degree. Score: 7.5/10

And that my friends, is the Best of the Rest. I'll be here tomorrow with the final review of the comic week, Uncanny X-Men #4. And I probably will have short reviews for the week after while I play Injustice until my eyes bleed. Lol, anyway, til next time, this is JT, signing off!

Best of the Rest! Week of 3/27/13.

Hey all, X here to finish this week off with a BotR post!  Last week I was joined by my king, the illustrious JT.  This week?  This week I'm not sure if JT is here or not...  So yeah...  If he does decide to add a few comics, you'll know it's him by the blue text.  If he doesn't decide to join in?  Then just ignore everything I just typed...  Okay, with that taken care of, let's get into it.

Fantastic Four #6AU: This was the obligatory Age of Ultron tie-in issue.  Now, I'm sure you're wondering, "But X, aren't the F4 doing the whole Swiss Family Robinson thing?  How are they involved in this event?!"  To that I respond, "Marvel wants money!!!  And event crossovers equal cash!"  Basically, Black Panther somehow contacts Reed through space and time and tells him that Ultron had attacked the Earth.  The F4 leave the kids behind and return to Earth, where they are killed one by one by Ultron's droids.  Only Sue survives, and she ends up with the resistance.  I actually enjoyed this issue.  But I think it was the Ultron fan in me who enjoyed this and not really the F4 fan.  I can't help but enjoy a comic that sees Ultron masquerade as Dr. Doom, and then proceed to kill the Thing.  Yeah, there were some holes and the F4 being a part of this event felt a bit forced, but still, I liked it.  Score: 8 out of 10.

Teen Titans #18: Ah Scott Lobdell...  This issue opens with five pages of Tim Drake crying over Damian Wayne's death.  He literally cried for FIVE straight pages!  I don't know when Tim and Damian became so close, but there ya go.  From there, Tim heads to the Titans and complains about them not doing enough to protect teenage heroes.  To that end, Tim and the Titans attack the Suicide Squad since Amanda Waller had captured a teenager with powers.  But wait, it turns out Waller did no such thing, and that Tim only went after the Squad to make a mysterious deal with Waller.  And then Trigon flew through the sky on a three-headed horse.  Really!  I don't even know what to make of this series anymore...  Last issue Tim was possessed by Raven and making out with his female teammates left and right.  This issue Tim wasn't possessed by Raven...  Maybe...  Unless he was when he was with Waller...  Possibly...  So by this point, I have NO clue as to whether Tim is possessed or not...  But Trigon DID fly around on a three headed horse. Of that I am sure.  Score: 6 out of 10.

I, Vampire #18: This was the penultimate issue of this series.  All I can really say about this is that it looks like Tig finally died(YAY!!!) and Mary came back from the dead.  Again.  This issue just flat-out didn't click for me.  Of course it didn't help that Constantine-lite was hanging around.  So yeah, sadly, I didn't enjoy this one.  Still, I'll miss this series when it's gone, because the early issues were great.  Score: 4 out of 10.

Thunderbolts #7: The "team"(and I use that term as loosely as possible) are now on-board a submarine.  Flash wants to mutiny against Rulk because Rulk hasn't been forthcoming with information...  Or something.  Rulk beats everybody up, and then tells them that he had been using them to clean up areas where there were gamma bombs.  But wait!  It turns out Rulk was wrong and that somebody has been creating gamma batteries instead of bombs.  Meh.  I'm giving this series two more issues, if it doesn't improve?  I'm done.  Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.

A+X #6: Two stories in this comic, as usual.  The first one stars Wolverine and Captain Marvel.  They're playing poker, they argue a bit, a villain attacks, but ends up joining the game.  The second story gives us Thing and Gambit beating the Yancy Street gang in poker...  Yup, two stories, two tales about poker...  And yes, that is indeed very weird.  I enjoyed the Wolvie/Marvel story more out of the two, but I can't say I'd recommend either story unless you're a hardcore fan of the four characters here.  Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

FF #5: Hey look, it's another FF comic!  In the same post!  Madness!!  This comic has nothing to do with the Age of Ultron storyline, which is especially weird, since it would make more sense for this team to deal with Ultron since they're still on Earth and all...  Anyway, Old Torch goes crazy after some guy touches his coat and tries to torch a neighborhood.  Scott and the gang end up defeating him and let Herbie watch over him.  Alex heads to Latveria to seemingly warn Doom of Scott's plans.  The reveal at the end shows us that Medusa is secretly working with Wizard...  Damn it!  This is a series that I would drop without a second thought...  If it would get bad!  Instead, I find myself enjoying this series, when I know I shouldn't!  If I'm being honest, I can see myself dropping F4 before I drop this title...  How weird is that!  Score: 8 out of 10.

Hey crew, JT  here with two reviews for the BOTR post so we can end things on a good note. So here are my reviews for Scarlet Spidey and Morbius, The Living Vampire. 

 Scarlet Spider #15: This issue featured Aracely running from Los Lobos, but she's eventually caught by the sibling Werewolves. Before they can do anything, a blood thirsty, six eyed, freaky looking Kaine shows up and engages Los Lobos. Kaine manages to rip out the brother's eye, and stabs him through the chest with his... spider...leg or whatever their called. He then pulls a Superboy Prime and rips the Werewolves arm off, causing the sister to pick up her brother and run. Kaine goes to attack Aracely but she somehow connects with him, through her powers and I guess Kaine's memories, and he sheds his horrible skin and is himself again, with a long beard and shaggy hair. From there, Aracely helps Kaine get back to his normal self by cutting his hair, going to get his tattoos redone since they've been removed due to his full body healing, and he gets back to his life, but now he knows he doesn't have to wonder if he's a monster, he definitely is. From there we see Julia Carpenter, still in her coma, whisper Kaine's name, as well as see someone else saying The Culling will soon began. No one tell Marvel that DC did a story called The Culling like a year ago. The issue comes to a close with Aracely being possessed and the Male Werewolf being killed by some old dude with a beard. (This review was way longer than I expected.) So basically, this entire story was pointless, everything is how it was before except now Kaine has given into The Other, knows he's a monster...for now, and Aracely is possessed. Score: 4/10

Morbius The Living Vampire #3: In the last issue we saw Morbius bite a chunk out of Noah the gangster's neck. He's immediately shot at but dodges the bullets until Noah's hideous girlfriend shoots Morbius in the neck. Once Morbius wakes up from...being shot in the neck, she tells Morbius to use his doctor skills to save her boyfriend or she's going to torture Morbius and kill his friends, a girl by the name of Becky, and the kid she babysits, Henry. Morbius agrees to help and fights his blood lust to do so, but Noah wakes up halfway through and attacks, so Morbius slams him down and kills him in the process. Oops! The issue ends with Noah's ugly girlfriend entering the room to see Noah dead then yelling that Morbius and his friends are dead!!!! Well...this issue was not as strong as the first two. Nothing happened in this issue either really, it was kind of filler. Morbius bit a chunk out of a dude's neck in the last issue, he tried to save him and he died in this one. So you literally could've skipped this issue if issue two ends with Morbius biting Noah and issue four starts with Noah being dead. So... yeah. Score: 3/10

And that's it for us, thanks for dropping by the check out the best of the rest post for this week, and be sure to check out my review tomorrow for Injustice: Gods Among Us #3. On behalf of my buddy X, and myself of course, this is JT, signing off!

Best of the Rest! Week of 3/13/13.

Hey there X-Maniacs, X here with some explaining to do...  So I've become horribly obsessed with Civilization 5, and have been spending entirely too much time playing that game.  At the expense of the blog. Yeah, I know, bad X...  Truth be told though, it's not completely my fault, as the past two weeks have seen me bring home a ton of mediocre books...  I've been giving out 7 out of 10's like there's no tomorrow!  To rectify things(and to make sure I post more than JT!), I'm gonna dust off that old tried and true blog post, The Best of the Rest!  Basically, I'll take a quick look at everything I've read(and haven't reviewed), and throw some thoughts out there.  Don't expect in depth reviews(or competent work, but if you're reading this, you probably don't expect anything competent to begin with!), just some thoughts, and a score.  Okay, we set?  Great.  Let's get this polished off.

Walking Dead #108: Jesus takes Rick to see Ezekiel, who has a tiger...  Yeah, I'm not sure how a frigging tiger managed to live through the zombie apocalypse, or ended up with Ezekiel, but here we are.  Ezekiel wants to team up with Rick's group and attack Negan, however, Rick has some reservations when he sees that one of Negan's men had defected to Ezekiel's side.  I enjoyed this issue, as always.  Kirkman is always strong here.  Negan is still a wonderfully over-the-top asshole, and I can't wait to see him get his comeuppance from Rick, although I will be really sad to see him go.  He's a fantastic villain...  Score: 7 out of 10.

Secret Avengers #2: Dammit, I want to love this series...  I really do...  But so far I'm just not feeling it...  This issue brings Taskmaster into the fold, as SHIELD rescues him from Bagalia(that villain country that isn't at all a rip-off of DC's Zandia...).  But wait, it looks like Tasky is a double-agent.  I mean, I should like everything going on here...  Taskmaster, obscure villains like Crossfire and Mentallo, Nick Spencer writing it all, but it just hasn't clicked for me yet.  I'm still hopeful here, but that hope is slowly diminishing.  Score: 4 out of 10.

Thor: God of Thunder #6: This issue was the Gorr origin extravaganza!!  And it was pretty good, as expected.  We find out why Gorr hates gods(they failed his family repeatedly), and see where he gets his powers from(aliens).  Like I said, this was a good issue.  Would I have liked to see some Thor?  Yes, of course.  Even with no Thor at all, this was still one of the better books I read this week, so no complaints here.  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Thunderbolts #6: And the storyline from hell continues...  It's been SIX issues now!  And the team is STILL doing their first mission!!  Madman died here, so that's a plus, but I just want the team to get the hell off that damn island and fight some real villains already!  Thankfully, the first part should be accomplished with the next issue, but really, where's Baron Zemo and some Masters of Evil to fight these T-Bolts?!  Instead we're getting a Punisher/Elektra/Deadpool love triangle...  Weird...  Score: 3 out of 10.

Superboy #18:  This series continues to be oddly readable.  Probably because there are three writers here, meaning we have Tom DeFalco and Tony Lee to filter Scott Lobdell's garbage.  Superboy spends this issue fighting Plasmus, while Dr. Psycho takes a peek into SB's mind.  Oh yeah, Lex Luthor is in SB's mind for some reason...  To be honest, this issue is kind of what Thunderbolts needs.  A protagonist(Superboy) battling an antagonist(Plasmus).  Simple.  Throw in Dr. Psycho and Lex(kind of) and you have a good comic!  From DC!  Go figure.  Score: 7 out of 10.

Fantastic Four #5: Have I mentioned that I hate Franklin and Valeria?  I have?  Good, because this issue did nothing to change that.  Those two are so annoying.  Throw in a story that sees Julius Caesar turn out to be a time-travelling alien shape-shifter(yup...), and you have a recipe for disaster.  On the plus side, we're moving forward with the main storyline, as Sue has learned of Reed's condition.  But on the negative side?  Everything else.  Score: 3 out of 10.

Ultimate X-Men #24: I am still so conflicted about this series...  It's really not bad...  If I overlook my blinding hatred of Kitty Pryde...  How is she the leader of mutantkind...  I mean Storm is RIGHT THERE!  But yeah, back to the story.  Mach Two and the evil mutants are up to no good, Utopia is flourishing and elements of the government aren't pleased to see that.  It's really not bad.  I like most of the characters here. Jimmy is awesome, I like seeing Warpath and Psylocke with the evil mutants, even Mach Two has potential as a mini-Magneto.  But Kitty...  Grrr...  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Huzzah, I'm done!  Seven comics, one post.  I very well may try to do a post like this every week on Monday.  That way I can to three or four in depth reviews for Thursday and Saturday, while covering everything else on Monday.  But, as with everything I do, that's subject to change.  Anyway, hope ya enjoyed reading this(I actually enjoyed typing it up!), and until next time, X out.

Fantastic Four #4

This is going to be a rather speedy review, because(spoiler alert!) nothing really happened here!  Onward!!

Fantastic Four #4: 

Summary: Reed and company visit an alien planet and discover that there were cave paintings depicting the Foursome well before they arrive.  Sue decides to let the aliens treat her like royalty for a while, while Reed heads back to the spaceship.  Eventually Sue feels guilty about the way the aliens doted over her and heads back to the ship where she confronts Reed, telling him she knew he was hiding something.  After that we learn that Reed had painted the cave drawings himself with the use of a time machine...  Reed promises to come clean with her to end this one.  Oh yeah, and Franklin has some more nightmares.

Thoughts: Meh.  That, in a word, sums up my feelings for this issue.  Much like Ultimate X-Men before it, this is a series that just isn't doing it for me...  It's okay and all, but there's no one character here that I'm a fan of...  I can't stand the two kids, and the other four are just plain boring.  There's nobody for them to interact with, its just the Four, and nobody else.  And that is already starting to get tiresome for me.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Reed Richards: Father, scientist, artist.

Fantastic Four #3

Another X night as I polish off two more comics before tomorrow and New Comic Day.  The first review of the night will be Matt Fraction's Fantastic Four.  In a half an hour?  It's Ultimate X-Men.  Let's get to it.

Fantastic Four #3:

Summary: Reed has set up an educational mission for his kids on a planet that seemed to be formed from unstable molecules.  Besides giving the kids something to do, Reed is hoping to learn something about the ongoing breakdown of his own molecules on that planet.  After a lot of bickering from the kids, the time comes for Reed, Sue, Johnny and the kids to land on the planet.  Unfortunately, the planet tries to... well, eat the group, which leads to Sue having to wrap everybody up in her force field.  The Thing leaps down from orbit to help(really?!), which gives Reed, Sue and the kids the opportunity to get into their landing craft.  Johnny heads off to help Ben, while Reed reaches out of the craft to snag Ben, pulling him to safety   The group heads back to their spacecraft and that's that.

Thoughts: This issue definitely wasn't up to the level of the first two, that's for sure.  The story was nothing, and the kids were SO annoying!  They were annoying to the point of me not wanting to read their dialogue anymore.  They were that annoying!  As for the story, it was a pretty empty little one and done.  The Family Richards explore an alien planet.  The planet tries to eat them.  The group escapes with their lives.  Meh.  This issue is the first one that actually made me wonder if the storyline going on in this series has any legs...  Next issue should be pretty telling.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

SHUT UP!!!!!!!!

Fantastic Four #1

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

Fantastic Four #1

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

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

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

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

Quick Hits: 2/25/11

Hello from a very snowy upstate New York, X-Maniacs! My school closed down for the day so I figured I might as well get this Quick Hits post taken care of before heading out to do some more shoveling. This time I've shaken things up a bit and tossed two DC and two Marvel books together, as opposed to a fully Marvel or fully DC post. Before I even read these four books I was expecting the two Marvel books to be WAY better than the DC ones, mainly because I've been enjoying the Marvel comics I've been reading way more than the DC ones lately. But believe it or not, it was one of the DC books that pulled down the high score for the post! Could this be the beginning of a DC resurgence?! No, I seriously doubt it, but I can wish, can't I?

Booster Gold #41:

Summary: We get started with Booster and Michelle arguing with Rip Hunter about Rip's decision to send Booster back to the 25th century to stand trial for stealing from that museum he used to work for. Before anything can be decided, Rip's laboratory hideout is attacked by Dr. Nishtikeit, a Nazi Booster ran afoul of during WWII. It seems Nishtikeit was sent hurtling through time thanks to Booster and has been plotting his revenge for years. Nishtikeit(damn is that name a pain to type!)and his Nazis manage to bypass a very surprised Rip's defenses and bang Rip up pretty good. Booster attacks Nishtikeit and with some help from Michelle(back in her Goldstar attire), Booster manages to push the Nazi attack back and send Nishtikeit on his way. After the battle, Michelle figures that since Booster had saved Rip's skin again, he'd drop the whole, “Go and turn yourself in, Booster” thing, but alas, Rip is still adamant that the right thing to do was for Booster to make amends for his original crime. After some thought Booster realizes that turning himself in was the right move, and Rip tells him that he'll probably only get a slap on the wrist, considering all the good he did with the stuff he stole. A quick 25th century trial later and Booster is sentenced to 5 years in prison for his theft. This issue ends with Booster sitting in his cell and being introduced to his new cell mate.

Thoughts: I had absolutely no problem with this comic. I enjoyed the battle between Booster and Nishtikeit, I liked seeing Michelle don her Goldstar gear once again, and I thought Booster agreeing to turn himself in was the right move. I mean he DID steal all of his crime-fighting stuff! Shouldn't he have to face up to what he had done? I still don't get why that little girl, Rani, is in this series, and her parts didn't add anything to the story for me, but besides that little gripe(and having to type out “Nishtikeit” over and over again!) I have nothing really bad to say about this one.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.D'oh!

Wolverine #6:

Summary: We kick this issue off a few weeks back with Lord Summers the First going over a computer scenario of how to kill Wolverine if it became necessary to do so. Basically the plan would be for Magneto to tear the adamantium from Wolvie's skeleton, Namor to pull Wolvie's head off and then Lord Summers the First would finish the job by blasting Wolvie's body into ashes. Back to the present, Lord Summers the First, Emma Frost, Magneto and Namor(hmm, why ever would that group of characters be there?) confront the recently returned from Hell Wolverine on the steps of a church. It seems that Daimon Hellstrom was able to get Wolvie's soul back into its rightful body, but he isn't able to expel the evil spirits that had taken possession of Wolvie... Um Hellstrom, isn't that kind of your whole shtick?! Anyway, Hellstrom tells Lord Summers the First that Wolvie has to fight off the evil spirits himself, and after taking a quick peek in Wolvie's mind, Emma realizes that Wolvie was losing the mental battle against the spirits... Badly. From there Wolvie becomes Possessed Wolvie again(YES!) and runs about attacking Hellstrom and his Ghost Riders. Realizing that he couldn't allow Wolvie to run amok in the streets of San Fransisco, Lord Summers the First gives the order to Magneto and Namor to take Wolvie down... Permanently.

Thoughts: Well there was some good and some bad here... The bad would be the fact that Lord Summers the First was in this issue. Man do I hate that guy now! I also didn't like the fact that Hellstrom couldn't exercise the spirits from Wolvie's body, especially considering that's kind of his thing... That would be like if you asked Storm to make it rain and she was like, “Well right now I just can't do that.” Hellstrom SHOULD have been able to send the spirits back to Hell from whence they came. At least that's the way I saw it. Oh, and I was also REALLY annoyed that everybody kept calling Wolvie “The most dangerous mutant alive.”... Really?! In a world where you have Magneto, who can control the magnetic poles of the entire planet, Franklin Richards, whose abilities even alarm Galactus, and Nate Grey, who can read, manipulate, and control minds(as well as numerous other powers), WOLVERINE is “the most dangerous mutant alive”?! Sorry, I don't think so. But in all honesty, those are just little gripes. The majority of this comic wasn't that bad. You had Wolvie trying, and failing, to expel the spirits from his head, the return of Possessed Wolvie, and Possessed Wolvie running wild. All in all, this was a good, but not great comic.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Finish Him!!!


Justice League of America #54:

Summary: Most of the beginning part of this comic is an explanation as to who Eclipso and Bruce Gordon are, and what their relationship is. The short form is that Bruce is the guy the Eclipso entity possessed. After the whole magic craziness with the Starheart a few issues back, it seems that Eclipso has managed to possess Bruce, even though there hadn't been an eclipse. Now in control, Eclipso decides he is going to collect characters with a connection to the shadow realms, starting with the always awesome Shade. With the Shade under his thrall, Eclipso heads around the globe and does exactly as he said he would, possessing several shadow-based characters. After collecting a veritable army, Eclipso heads to the moon to collect the last piece of his puzzle, JLA member Jade.

Thoughts: Hey, I REALLY enjoyed this story! First things first, Congorilla didn't show up, which is always a good way to get me to like a JLA comic. Besides the lack of Congorilla, the story made sense and unlike the last storyline, actually gave some background info on the villain of the piece, Eclipso. I mean that last storyline just kept adding obscure villains I'd barely(or never!) heard of and expecting me to know what their connection to each other was, as well as their connection to the JLA. This issue plainly spelled out WHO Eclipso was and WHAT he was doing. It's always good to know what is motivating the villain of a story. Eclipso wants to collect characters with shadow powers. Now he doesn't come out and say why, but that's fine, because that can be revealed as the story moves forward. I mean to me it makes sense that he'd want to make those characters use their combined powers to put the Earth into a state of perpetual night, but maybe he has something else up his sleeves. The Jade thing was a bit of a surprise, since it seemed that Eclipso would have wanted Jade's brother Obsidian, who DOES have a connection to the shadow realms. Eclipso helpfully explains why he was going after Jade, stating he wanted a character who was touched by both darkness and the White Lantern's powers. Where the HELL has the James Robinson who wrote this comic been hiding, because for the first time since he started writing this series I'm looking forward to the next issue. Oh, and the Shade was in this comic, and being a HUGE fan of the Shade, that made me pretty happy.

Score: 8 out of 10.Adding the Shade to any comic automatically makes it better!


Fantastic Four #588: The Final Issue!

Summary: This issue begins with the Avengers arriving at the Baxter Building seconds too late to save the Human Torch from the Annihilus's Negative Zone army. Sue arrives soon thereafter and goes into a deep depression, pulling away from everybody, including her husband. Filled with rage over what Annihilus had done, Reed walks into a top secret room in the Baxter Building and retrieves the Ultimate Nullifier(!!!) and opens the Negative Zone portal, apparently so he could wipe out the Negative Zone altogether(!). Standing right near the entryway to the portal is a small creature resembling Annihilus himself. Reed shows the creature the Nullifier and seems ready to do the deed until the creature reaches behind it and shows Reed a tattered piece of the Torch's FF costume. Now conflicted, Reed decides to simply close the portal and walks away. From there the FF have a wake for the Torch, and several super-heroes show up to mourn. Meanwhile, Kristoff Vernard(the kid who believed himself to be Dr. Doom a few years back)is being coroneted as the new ruler of Latveria while Dr. Doom himself watches quietly from the shadows. A few days later the FF buries Johnny's(empty?) coffin and Doom himself arrives at the funeral, but at a distance, to pay his respects. Spidey takes Franklin out and tries to help him cope with losing his uncle, something that Spidey himself knows all about. With Johnny buried and gone, Valeria and those genius kids living at the Baxter Building begin to brainstorm as to who should take Johnny's spot on the FF, when suddenly Valeria changes her mind and decides that the only thing the kids would be looking into was killing Annihilus, once and for all. Thing takes out his frustrations on Hulk and Thor, while Reed decides to reform the council of otherworldly Reed Richards'. We end things with Reed's father(looking WAY younger than I remember him looking)arriving at Reed's lab.

Thoughts: Hmm......... I SHOULD have liked this issue. A lot. But unfortunately this was one of those rare comics where there was no dialogue. The main story consisted of 6 spoken words. That's it. 6. The Spidey/Franklin story was a normal(and good) comic story, WITH dialogue, but that was basically a back-up story type of tale. I totally get what Jonathan Hickman was going for with a “silent” comic. The silence was supposed to make everything seem more powerful. I've read other “silent” comics before, and I've never liked them... I need dialogue in the comics I read. For me there are three important factors needed in every great comic book; a great story, great dialogue and great art, in that order. Yes, to me, good dialogue is more important to a comic than the art is! So removing the dialogue REALLY, REALLY hurt my enjoyment of this one. Sure, some scenes did actually come across well without words, the scene where Reed tries to comfort the despondent Sue, and when Reed decides to Nullify the Negative Zone immediately come to mind, but those scenes were the exceptions. I would have liked to have seen what Bruce Banner and Donald Blake had to say to the Thing, what the heroes at the funeral had to say, or what the reaction was from the kids when Valeria decided that Annihilus had to die. But alas, I'll never know. Oh well. This was a good comic, but I can't help but think that it could have been a great comic.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.This scene was both awesome AND creepy! The total package!

Fantastic Four #587

This review is FULL of spoilers(and pretty long!), so be warned...

Review: We get this party started with Ben(who is still de-powered as a result of the potion he took a few issues back)and Johnny trying to force back the initial thrust of the Annihilation Wave that had begun to invade the Baxter Building via the Negative Zone portal in Reed's lab. It looks as if Ben, Johnny and the kids are going to be overrun until Valeria knocks Leech unconscious with a pipe, which halts his mutant power-dampening abilities, allowing Franklin to use his reality manipulating abilities to push the horde back into the portal. It turns out that Reed(and obviously Valeria)knew Franklin had been regaining his powers(although Franklin himself didn't)which is why Reed always had Leech hanging around Franklin. Valeria tells Ben and Johnny that the only way they could hold off Annihilus' forces was to head into the Negative Zone side of the portal and close it from there. With no recourse, Ben and Johnny take Franklin, Valeria and a few other powered kids into the Negative Zone to try to shut out the Annihilation Wave. Meanwhile, Sue discovers that Namor was mistaken and the ancient sect of Atlantians didn't want to kill her, but instead wanted her to lead them as their queen(!). Namor is infuriated by that, since he sees himself as the king of all the oceans, and refuses to accept this proclamation, even though this would halt the hostilities between the Atlantian sects. Sue backhands Namor to the ground(!!!)and tells him that from this point onward, the ancient Atlantians were under her protection, meaning Namor had best honor the non-aggression pact between the Atlantians. Namor responds to that affront by lusting after Sue... HA! Finally, Reed and a few denizens of Nu-World are trying to get as many people as possible off of the planet before Galactus destroys it. Reed learns that one woman(with a HUGE head)had managed to collect all of the minds of the people of Nu-World, meaning that by saving her they'd save collective minds of the people of Nu-World. Reed nearly makes it off the doomed planet before he is confronted by the Maestro, who demands to be taken off-world or he'd allow nobody to leave. With little time and no recourse, Reed agrees to take Maestro along with him. So now knowing Reed and Sue are safe, we head to the Negative Zone where Johnny, Ben and a few of the powered kids are picking off some of Annihilus' forces while Valeria and the smarter kids are trying to figure out a way to close down the portal. Unfortunately the main brunt of the Annihilation Wave(some million or so of Annihilus' forces)is practically upon the heroes, meaning they were out of time. The only thing left to do was for one person to remain behind and and manually close the gateway from the Negative Zone, even though that would mean sure death at the hands of Annihilus. Ben decides that he'll make the sacrifice since he wasn't going to let Johnny stay behind, but Johnny has other ideas and cheap shots Ben, tossing him through the portal, sealing himself in the Negative Zone and beginning the countdown to close the portal down. Needless to say, Ben is incensed, but there's nothing he can do. Johnny says his good-byes to Ben and turns to face the endless hordes approaching him while the portal slowly seals up. Before the portal closes off completely, Ben watches as Johnny is completely overrun, and this issue ends with Ben sitting with Franklin and Valeria in front of the now closed Negative Zone portal.

Thoughts: Well that's that. I was predicting it would be Johnny to give his life at the conclusion of this storyline, and sure enough, he was indeed the FFer to go. With that said, it didn't lessen the impact of Johnny's death. I've got to admit, I was a bit misty-eyed after finishing this issue, which is a sure sign of a VERY well-written comic. But let's take a look at the other members of the FF before I get into Johnny's situation any more deeply. Reed was warned by Galactus a few issues back that Galactus was aware that Franklin had regained his powers, and now that Franklin had actively USED those powers, you have to think that Galactus is going to be less than pleased. On top of that, Reed was forced to bring the Maestro(the evil, older version of the Hulk)back to Earth with him, yet another bad sign. Meanwhile, Sue is now the leader of a sect of Atlantians, which will almost definitely lead to Namor hitting on her more than usual. You have to wonder if she'll throw herself into her new Atlantian duties upon learning of the death of her little brother and avoid the surface world altogether. And then there's Ben, who always had a older/younger brother relationship with Johnny, and was helpless to save Johnny in the end. You have to wonder what kind of affect that will have on Ben's psyche. So that's the remaining members of the FF... What about Johnny? Well, since this is comic books, the moment I closed this issue I immediately began to wonder how Marvel would bring the Torch back. Jonathan Hickman actually left a number of options on the table... First off, we didn't actually SEE Johnny die. He was mobbed by the forces of Annihilus, but it's not like we saw him torn to pieces of eaten or anything, meaning Annihilus could capture Johnny and leave a fake skeleton or something behind for the FF to find. Why would Annihilus do this? Who knows, he's a bug-creature, I can't figure out how he thinks! Next up is the vague conversation between Valeria and Dr. Doom a few issues back. Who's to say that Valeria doesn't have some sort of agreement in place with Doom to save Johnny with one of Doom's time machines provided she assists Doom regain his intellect. Finally, Franklin once created an ENTIRE world after the Onslaught crossover to protect the heroes who “died” after that x-over. With his ability to alter reality, who's to say Franklin doesn't toy with reality itself and resurrect his uncle? Or let's go WAY out on a limb and look at the FF Annual from 2010. In that issue Johnny is tricked into knocking up a woman, and the story ends with the woman deciding to throw herself into the timestream to stay hidden from the FF's various enemies(or something along those lines). How about little Johnny Jr emerges from the timestream and takes the place of his deceased father on the FF? That would bring some new blood on to the team while still keeping a strong connection to the Torch himself. And that's just four ideas that came to mind immediately after reading this issue. I'm sure a writer with the skills of Hickman has like 25 different scenarios to bring Johnny back to life/replace him. Personally, I see one of the first three scenarios I mentioned taking place(Johnny coming back to life), with my money on the Valeria/Doom scenario. So the only real question left is this; how long before Johnny comes back? I say the over/under for Johnny's return is 12 months. Start placing your bets now!

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

Fantastic Four #586

Review: Just like the last couple of issues, there are three separate storylines going on here, so I'll tackle them one at a time to try to keep this review as coherent as possible. First off we head to the Invisible Woman and Atlantis, where Namor had just killed the king of a rival Atlantian sect. The rival Atlantians are shocked and infuriated by Namor's actions, and as such decide they were going to kill him and his men. Namor seems nonplussed about the situation, which leads Sue to believe that Namor had an ace up his sleeve(if he wore sleeves...), and sure enough, several of Namor's warships prepare to attack the cathedral. Sue erects an enormous invisible barrier, keeping Namor's forces out, while keeping Namor and the angry Atlantians inside. After a day of keeping her shield up, Namor approaches Sue and explains that the rival Atlantians were an ancient sect of Atlantians who had always been hellbent on murdering all that stood in their path, be it fellow Atlantian or surface dweller. Needless to say, Sue is somewhat dubious, but Namor begins to translate some of the words the ancient Atlantians had been using around Sue, which leads to Sue realizing that the rival Atlantians were planning on killing Sue as some kind of sacrifice. Next up we head into space, where Mr. Fantastic was hanging out with Galactus and the Silver Surfer. The Surfer brings some guy named Ted(sorry, I have NO clue as to who he is!)and Alyssa Moy(who is apparently a robot now)on-board for the ride to Nu-World. Upon arriving in Nu-World's orbit, Galactus demands to know why the occupants of Nu-World(a future version of Earth)killed his future self. Reed explains that 500 years in the future, the sun will destabilize, and that the Earth would begin to freeze. Billions of Earthlings die, and the remaining humans decide to head back in time by using Galactus and his massive powers. The future humans succeed in escaping their doomed planet, but in doing so kill Galactus. Upon hearing this story, Galactus asks Reed if he could find a way to make sure that future doesn't come to pass, lest Galactus destroy the Earth immediately to avoid his eventual death. After some thought, Reed tells Galactus that even if he couldn't fix the sun, he would be able to provide the Earth with enough food so that they'd never become desperate enough to try to kill Galactus. Galactus is cool with that, but decides he was going to eat Nu-World, because all that talking had made him hungry... Okay, maybe that's not EXACTLY what happened, but close enough. Reed doesn't want to sit by and watch Galactus eat a few billion people, so he asks Galactus for a few minutes so he could try to teleport as may people from Nu-World as he could before the planet was devoured. Galactus cautions Reed, telling him that he wasn't going to give Reed any time to save the inhabitants of Nu-World, and that if he happens to be on Nu-World when it was eaten, Galactus would go and eat Earth too. Ever being the hero, Reed rushes planet-side to help the denizens of Nu-World. Finally, the Baxter Building comes under attack by forces of Annihilus, who were hiding on Earth. The bugs want to open the portal to the Negative Zone inside the Baxter Building in order for the main army of Annihilus to cross over and destroy the Earth. The Human Torch and Thing(who is still powerless)are tasked with fighting off the invaders as well as protecting all of the children who were going to school there. Unfortunately, this issue ends with the bugs breaching the Negative Zone portal, allowing hundreds of Annihilus' insect forces to come spewing out.

Thoughts: Whew! This was the embodiment of a set-up issue, ladies and gentlemen! Jonathan Hickman is lining up all of his pieces in preparation for next issue's climatic(double-size!)issue. Sue is trapped under the sea with Namor, surrounded by crazed ancient Atlantians, Reed is about to be devoured by the big G, and Johnny and Ben are being over-run by Annihilus' forces... So yeah, this was a pretty good issue, but it WAS a set-up issue, and as such, I never really found myself THAT engrossed in the story, since I knew nothing major was going to happen. We all know something major IS going to happen next issue, so this issue was basically a formality. It had to happen, but nothing COULD really happen... So that's what I thought about this issue. Before next issue, I wanted to throw out my prediction for which member of the FF would be taking the long dirt nap... I'd say the safest member of the team looks to be Reed, since his death would cause Galactus to head back to the Earth to eat it, and that's not going to happen. I can't see Namor allowing any harm to come to Sue, plus it would be REALLY lame if she gets killed off by a bunch of no-name Atlantians! Which leaves us with Ben and Johnny... This entire story seems to be setting up Ben as the fall guy, especially since he doesn't have his powers, and as such is vulnerable for the first time in a long time, but I think that's just TOO obvious... Nope, my pick is Johnny. I can see Ben protecting the kids from Annihilus' forces, and being overrun, only for Johnny to fly in the way of what would have been a fatal blow to Ben and/or the kids. So that's my pick, Johnny sacrifices himself for either Ben or the kids, and then gets to do the whole dramatic good-bye to Ben. With Johnny dead, Ben's powers return and he clobbers Annihilus and his goons. Plus that scenario leaves Ben filled with guilt over the fact that he allowed his powers to be taken away, which in a way, caused Johnny to perish. Of course, Hickman might mix things up and move some of his pieces around the board next issue, messing up all of my predictions, but as is, I say the Matchstick gets snuffed out. But that's my idea, what about the rest of you FFers? Who do you see biting the bullet?

Score: 8 out of 10.Run Reed RUN!

Merry Christmas!!!

Hey all, I just wanted to wish everybody out there a very Merry Christmas(or if you prefer, a generic Happy Holidays!)! Since I'll be doing the whole, “Christmas with the family” thing tomorrow, I probably won't be able to post any new material until Sunday. I should have Teen Titans: Cold Case #1 and Deadpool #30 up and posted by then(at the least). Well, that'll do it for now, here's hoping everybody has a great holiday season, X out.

Fantastic Four #585

Overall: Each member of the Four have their own storyline going on here, so I'm going to tackle each story separately. Upon returning to the Baxter Building, the Human Torch and the Thing(who is still human thanks to the serum he took)look up and spot Galactus standing on the roof. The Torch flies to the roof, while Thing heads inside to watch the kids. On the roof of the Baxter Building, Mr. Fantastic explains to Galactus why there was a dead future version of Galactus buried deep within the Earth. Upon hearing Reed's explanation, Galactus tells the Silver Surfer to locate the beings who were responsible for the death of his future self, which the Surfer does. By this point the Torch has arrived on the scene and is told by Reed to head inside the Baxter Building to protect the kids, since he'd be staying with Galactus for the time being. Johnny reluctantly does as he's told, and Reed, Galactus and the Surfer teleport to Galactus's ship. Once they arrive on the ship, Galactus tells Reed that he feared(!!!)staying on the Earth for too much longer because Reed's son, Franklin, had regained his full powers. Meanwhile, the Invisible Woman is trying to broker a peace deal between the warring parties of Atlantis. Everything seems to go swimmingly(heh heh)at the Atlantis conference, with Sue's presence leading to peaceful relations, until Namor gets up and kills one of the rival kings of Atlantis! Why? Because he's Namor, and he does whatever he wants!

Yep, things are DEFINITELY heating up now! I didn't even mention in the review the fact that Annihilus's forces were preparing an attack on the Baxter Building in order to open the gateway to the Negative Zone. So yeah, this issue was chock full of goodness. So we have Reed in space with Galactus, who is worried about the return of Franklin's powers, Sue, who looks to be stuck smack-dab in the middle of an Atlantian civil war, and Johnny and Ben who are tasked with watching the Baxter Building, which is about to be attacked by the forces of Annihilus. All while Ben has been depowered! So going into the final two issues of this storyline, I could see any of the FF members being killed off. I can't even make a guess at which FFer is going to bite the bullet, because Jonathan Hickman has crafted this story perfectly. It really could be anyone, which will make this story that much more interesting going forward.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Wow, does Steve Epting draw one sweet Galactus or what?

Fantastic Four #584

Overall: The Thing decides to take the potion the Future Foundation kids created for him, which in theory is supposed to allow him to turn human once a week every year. He asks the Human Torch to hang around him while he takes the potion in case something goes horribly wrong, which Johnny agrees to do, and Thing drinks the potion... And it works! Instead of looking like a misshapen rock monster, Thing actually reverts back to being Ben Grimm again. With Ben finally looking human(after 49 some odd years), Johnny offers to take him out on the town, which Ben readily agrees to. In the meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic sees his wife, the Invisible Woman, off as she hops a plane to meet with Namor to deal with some Atlantian issues. Back with Ben and Johnny, they hit the town, hang out with their fellow heroes, watch a Giants game(Let's go Giants!!!), go to a bar, beat up the Yancy Street Gang and Ben ends the night by paying a visit to Alicia, who is happy for Ben. Sue lands on Utopia(AKA evil mutie island)and meets up with Namor, who naturally hits on Sue, because he's Namor and he's awesome. Back at the Baxter Building, the Silver Surfer confronts Reed about the dead Galactus from the future he discovered buried in the Earth, and Reed offers to explain to the Surfer what the story was with that. Unfortunately for Reed, it's not the Surfer who wants to hear Reed's explanation, but a very unhappy Galactus!

Mmm, now things are starting to heat up here! We all know that one of the members of the Fantastic Four will die within a few issues(I mean right on the cover it says, “Countdown to Casualty”!)and with the way the team is spread out, it could be any one of them... Reed is alone with an angry Galactus, who could blink and eye and revert Reed into a bunch of atoms, Ben is no longer the Thing, which is great for him, but leaves him highly vulnerable to any potential attacks, especially since he's traveling with Johnny, who is a well known public figure, and then you have Sue, who is trying to help Namor broker peace between warring factions of Atlantians... So yeah, right now anything could happen, which makes for some very good and suspenseful reading.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Namor, you rule!!!

Fantastic Four #583

Fantastic Four #583: Writer: Jonathan Hickman. Art: Steve Epting(!).

Review: Oh boy, here we go... This issue starts off with the Fantastic Four battling citizens of the Forever City who were trying to march onto US territory. While the FF have their hands full with the High Evolutionary's goons, Valeria is sneaking around her father's laboratory where she learns about his meeting with the Council, who seem to be a collection of several Reed Richardses throughout the multiverse who had banded together to try to solve all of life's problems. Valeria finishes going through her father's files and learns that Reed had turned down an invitation to join the Council since he didn't want to leave his family. From there we head to Latveria, where Dr. Doom is bemoaning the fact that he was brain damaged. Due to his diminished IQ, Doom decides he was unfit to rule over Latveria and resolves to abdicate his throne and concentrate on regaining his intelligence. Before he can make that move though, Valeria teleports to his throne room to speak to him about what she found in her father's lab. While this is occurring, the FF are mopping up the High Evolutionary's men, and are preparing to return to the Baxter Building. Back with Doom, Valeria tells the good Doctor that by choosing to stay with his family her father made a selfish decision, since going with the Council would have benefited way more than Reed's immediate family. Valeria asks Doom to help her father, and in return she promises to help him regain his intellect. After a moment of contemplation, Doom agrees and Valeria returns to the Baxter Building just ahead of her family. This issue concludes with the Silver Surfer standing deep inside the Earth looking upon the corpse of Galactus angrily.

What I Thought: Hmm, hmm, hmm... Where to begin... Well first off, I stopped reading the FF series after Mark Millar's horrendous run ended, and only started collecting the series again about two issues ago in preparation for this storyline. So going in I knew next to nothing about many of the plot threads Jonathan Hickman has been weaving. The High Evolutionary's Forever City? Dr. Doom having brain damage? The Council? Never heard of any of it! I was half hoping that this would have been a jumping on point for new(or in my case, returning)fans, but this was most definitely NOT a jumping on point. It was more like a “jumping into the deep end of the pool and trying to learn how to swim” point. I just didn't understand a good 75% of what was happening here. Hopefully before the next issue I can get my hands on some back issues or trades, because I was just in over my head here, which led to me just not enjoying this comic as much as I think I could have. Oh well, maybe next issue will make a bit more sense then this one did...

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.I find super-intelligent children SO creepy...

Fantastic Four #569

This is the last issue of the Fantastic Four I'll be reading for the foreseeable future. Why? Because my subscription runs out with this issue and I think I can find better ways to use the $20 it would take to re-up for a year. Sorry FF. Anyway, this issue is written by Mark Millar and pencilled by Bryan Hitch... Hey, no it's not! The story is Mark's, but the scripting duties have fallen to Joe Ahearne. Not only that, but Bryan isn't on pencils here, Stuart Immonen does the honors. Well, with all that out of the way, onto the story!

-The FF is under attack by FF's from several different dimensions. The Marquis of Death explains to the team that he has agreed not to destroy the Earth's of the attacking FF members if they kill the FF of Earth 616... Yes, this is going to be VERY confusing. Upon learning from Reed that the Marquis is actually a future version of Clyde Wynchem, Ben decides to go and kill Clyde in the present, thus ending the rampage of evil, future Clyde... And nobody on the team lifts a finger to stop him... OOOOK...

-Reed whips up some kind of fancy doohickey(I believe that's the technical term)with the help of his daughter Valerie and Ben arrives at Area 87, which is where Wyncham's younger self is being held. The Marquis Apprentice tries to stop Ben, but Ben simply punches him, knocking him out of the fight... That was easy! Ben arrives at the dream machine, which has been keeping Wyncham sedated and before we learn what he does, we head back to the Baxter Building, where the horde of evil FF members have finally gained entrance. Valerie turns the machine her and Reed where working on and all of the invading FFers are knocked unconscious.

-At that moment, the Thing teleports in with Wyncham, who was told by Ben that his evil future self is running amok. Upon learning of the actions of his evil future self, Clyde decides to help the FF stop the Marquis. The Marquis arrives and battles his younger self through countless dimensions. Eventually experience triumphs over youth and Clyde is defeated by the evil Marquis. The Marquis gloats about his success and Reed tells him that the machine that knocked the invading FF members out also gave all of their powers to him and his three teammates. The FF then attack the Marquis with their powers enhanced to the nth degree, finally putting him down.

-Reed wants to put lock the Marquis away, but the rest of the team wants him to die for all he's done... Wow, Mark's version of the FF is pretty kill happy! Before anybody can do anything, the Apprentice reappears and puts a force field around both himself and the Marquis. The Apprentice then takes the mangled mask of Dr. Doom off of the fallen Marquis' face and reveals that he(the Apprentice)is in fact Doom! Doom explains that it took him millions of years, but that he eventually tricked the Marquis into making him the Apprentice, and that Doom has always been waiting for just the right moment to strike back at the Marquis... Wow, that seems needlessly complicated. Anyway, Doom taunts the FF with his usual lines, such as, "I'm smarter than you Reed" and "I'll deal with all of you at a later time" before killing the Marquis once and for all and leaving.

-With all of that nastiness out of the way, we go to the wedding of the Thing and his fiancee, Debbie Green. Ben never shows up, which causes Reed to fear the worst. Debbie on the other hand figures Ben has just gotten cold feet and she heads to his favorite watering hole, O'Leary's bar. Sure enough, Debbie finds Ben there and Ben explains to her that he can't marry her because of the danger it would inevitably put her in. Reed(along with a mess of super-heroes)finally manages to track Ben down and Debbie tells them the wedding is off, but that her and Ben are still friends... Yeah, sure! This issue ends with Reed buying Ben a drink.

Meh. I never really got into this storyline, probably because I never read the 1985 mini-series Clyde Wyncham was introduced in. I'm glad Doom was able to save some face by killing the Marquis, because to put it in plain English, the Marquis had really made Doom into his own personal bitch during the early part of this storyline. Of course, with a new creative team coming in next issue, everything that has happened during Mark's FF run will probably wind up being completely forgotten. I was really hoping Mark would have been able to breath some new life into Marvel's First Family, but alas, that was not to be, we mainly received the same old, same old. Oh well. For a score, I'll give this comic a 6 1/2 out of 10. If you read and enjoyed 1985, you'll probably like this comic, if not, it would probably be best to steer clear.Anybody who uses the word "Henceforth" is alright by me!

Fantastic Four #568

This is the penultimate chapter to the "Master's of Doom" storyline. Anybody who has read my reviews on FF #'s 566 & 567 should know that I really don't like this storyline at all. Will this issue change my mind? Probably not, but who knows! This issue is written by Mark Millar.

-Due to the arrival of the Marquis of Death, the Earth's weather has gone crazy. After destroying Latveria(GRRR...)the Marquis and his Apprentice arrive at the Baxter Building and humble the Fantastic Four with ease.

-After tormenting Ben and Johnny, the Marquis offers Reed the chance to save his world from utter destruction if he agrees to allow the Marquis to alter history so that Reed's son Franklin was never born. Reed turns that offer down, and the Marquis asks if Reed would trade Ben for the world. Once again, Reed says no, so the Marquis takes Reed to the holding cell of Clyde Wyncham(the guy from Mark's 1985 mini-series). The Marquis reveals that he and Wyncham are one and the same, and that eventually Clyde is destined to become the Marquis. After informing Reed of this, he tells Reed his world will be spared if he kills Wyncham. Reed refuses the offer, and the Marquis returns him to the Baxter Building, where he is immediately attacked by the other members of the Fantastic Four. They disable Reed, and this issue ends with the bizarre scene of millions of members of the Fantastic Four attacking the Baxter Building... WTF???

-Other Developments: Ben and Debbie(Ben's fiance)have a heart to heart talk, where she asks him to try to control his temper, especially when it comes to normal un-powered folks. Ben agrees because he's in love. Awww...

Like I stated in the open, I really just don't like this storyline. Actually, after reading this issue, I'm a little annoyed with Mark Millar himself. It was bad enough Mark completely trashed Dr. Doom the past two issues, now we find out it was a character from a little known Mark Millar mini-series who squashed Doom? That kind of bugs me. I like Mark and I think he's a brilliant writer(95% of the time), but his inclusion of Wyncham just irks me. I didn't particularly like the "1985" mini, and I really don't understand why characters from that series are making appearances in the main Marvel Universe.

With that said, I did like the way the Marquis of Death went about torturing the members of the FF. To be honest, if Mark would have introduced the Marquis in any other way than he did, I probably would really like the character. He's got a great look, I like his attitude and he has the potential to be a great villain for Marvel's First Family. If only Mark didn't mess with Dr. Doom and his origin to introduce the Marquis... Everything would have been perfect then. Oh well, for a score, I'll go with a 7 out of 10. This issue was definitely an improvement over the last two, but the revelation that the Marquis and Wyncham are one and the same just failed to positively impact me. I'll be quite happy when this storyline finally ends next issue.

Fantastic Four #567

This should prove to be a VERY interesting comic to read. I like(and have always liked)Mark Millar's work, but last issue really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not going to get into it again(if you want you can check out my review for FF #566 here)but the way the last issue went down, mainly the way Mark completely mis-wrote Dr. Doom, had me practically tearing my hair out in clumps! Hopefully Doom will come back looking strong in this issue...

-This is going to be a relatively quick review. After I finish recapping the events in this book, I'll explain why...

-This issue begins with Doom finding a backbone and attacking his master, the Marquis of Death, and his Apprentice. From that point we move forward 5 years and learn that Doom defeated his master and the Apprentice, although the victory cost Reed Richards his life. After winning, Doom reformed, cured practically every ailment known to man and married(and knocked up)the Invisible Woman. So all is right with the world(well, I guess except for Reed dying), right? Not quite. We discover it was all an illusion cast by the Marquis in order to further hurt Doom.

-After Doom realizes what has happened, the Marquis completely and utterly destroys Latveria and every living being therein. From there he inflicts some more physical damage to Doom before taking him back to the Pliocene Age where really big sharks proceed to eat Doom.

-The Marquis and Apprentice return to the present and the Marquis dons Doom's burnt and tattered mask before declaring the Fantastic Four were next.

What the hell can I even say here??? That was frigging awful!!! Goddamn, Mark Millar must REALLY hate Dr. Doom or something, because he made Doom look like a little bitch here. Not even the frigging Beyonder tossed Doom around like this. I've read A LOT of FF comics in my lifetime, as a matter of fact between back issues, trades and Essentials, I'd guesstimate that I've read between 85-90% of the 567 FF comics that have been released. In other words, I'm a big fan of the FF. However, whenever anybody would ask me who my favorite member of the FF is I'd always answer Dr. Doom. But Doom isn't a member of the FF right? That may be the case, but Doom is as important to the FF comics as any of the FF members. He is now, and has always been an integral part of this series. That's why this current portrayal of Doom is so vexing to me. Like I stated last month, Dr. Doom is easily one of the best villains in the Marvel, DC or any other Universe. Doom has faced down the Beyonder, Galactus, Terrax and Mephesto and lived to tell the tale. He has stolen the powers of the Silver Surfer, Aron the Rogue Watcher, the Beyonder and others. When it comes to being a great villain, Doom takes the cake. Or did I guess.

This issue established that these two new characters are practically unbeatable(the Marquis snuffed out an entire country with no effort)so I'll be intrigued as to how Mark is going to write the next two issues of this storyline. My best guess? Dr. Doom returns from the past(he does have a personal time machine in his armor)and helps the FF defeat his master. This way the FF save the world and Doom saves a little bit of face. For me, a HUGE fan of Dr. Doom, that is the only satisfactory way this storyline CAN end. I'll give this issue a score of 6 1/2 out of 10. This was a fast, easy read with some sweet artwork(then again, when isn't Bryan Hitch's artwork gorgeous?), but it didn't really DO anything. Dr. Doom was defeated by the end of the last issue, was it really necessary to use a whole issue to continue to bury Doom?

Fantastic Four #566

Well, it's finally time for me to read about the "Masters of Doom". I'm going to state right now that I'm a huge fan of Doom, and I REALLY don't like the idea of altering his history even a little. Supposedly, Doom is the student of some kind of mega-powerful otherworldly beings... Doom wouldn't even do the bidding of the Beyonder, I'm expected to believe that he's been following the direction of these 2 characters all this time? Grrr... Before I get myself too worked up, maybe I should actually read this comic book. For the record this comic comes from the creative team of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, the same duo that was responsible for Civil War. I'll try not to hold that against them here!

-Let me try to hold back the bile and sarcasm until after I finish off this review. Then I'll let it all out.

-We begin with Reed discovering the body of a dead Watcher in Thailand. Reed brings the Watcher's corpse back to the Baxter Building and autopsies it, discovering that it isn't Uatu(the Watcher who lives on the moon)and that it is from another dimension. Oh, and in case anybody cares to know, Watchers seem to have no perceptible genitalia. Just figured I'd throw that out there.

-The ex-boyfriend of Ben's fiancee goes on TV to pimp a book about his relationship with the woman, and Ben shows up at the TV tapings to pound the guy for spreading lies. Before Ben can mess the guy up, his fiancee Debbie shows up and pretty much tells him to quit acting like a little kid and to go away. Ben dumps the guy over and storms off.

-And then there was Doom... Doom is in Latveria throwing a celebration for himself since he was put back in charge of his nation in Dark Avengers #1-4. After a while, Doom begins to make preparations for his masters, who are to be arriving shortly.

-Doom's masters finally arrive(Doom calls them the Marquis of Death and the New Apprentice)and Doom bows before them?!?!?! One of them then proceeds to bitch at Doom for being defeated so many times and tells Doom that his failure is disgusting. Doom meekly says that no one can speak to Doom in such a manner, and one of Doom's masters raises a hand and fries Doom, ending this issue.

ARRRGH!!!!! What in the HELL was THAT?????? Doom BOWS before these two jokers??? WHAT?!?! We're talking about Victor Von frigging DOOM here! Doom, the same guy who stole the powers of the Beyonder, Galactus AND Aron the Rogue Watcher!!! This is the same man who went to Hell and defeated the devil in order to save the soul of his mother! God damn, he faced down the devil and he BOWS to these two??? Totally UNACCEPTABLE!

Ugh. I don't even know what else to say... To be honest, the story and artwork was sound, and if not for the end of this book where Doom was doting on those extra-dimensional bozos I'd have given this comic a really good score. I'll give this comic a VERY reluctant score of 6 1/2 out of 10(honestly I wanted to go MUCH lower). The story was good, the artwork was good, but the depiction of Doom was just horrendous. I'm hoping that Doom has some kind of secret master plan(he almost always does)that we'll see at work later on in this storyline. I do have to say that I am VERY disappointed in the fact that Mark has decided to change the mythos of Dr. Doom so dramatically. In my opinion, Doom is one of the best, most complete comic book characters ever, and didn't need any tweaking what so ever. Especially not tweaking like this!

Fantastic Four #564 & 565

Since I plan on reading both of these comics tonight, I figure I'll post the reviews for them together. I'll give them separate scores, but I'll probably concentrate most of this post on the most recent issue, #565.

-Issue #564 basically details the FF taking a trip out to a small Scottish town to spend Christmas with Reed's nephew. That's basically it. They spend time with Reed's extended family, Sue is accosted on the street by a woman stating that Sue has to help the children of the town, one of the villagers tells Sue to disregard the woman, calling her the town eccentric, and some guys decide they want to kidnap Reed and Sue's daughter Valeria. The issue concludes with Franklin and Valeria getting separated from each other in the woods. For a score, I'll give this issue a 5 1/2 out of 10. This really wasn't one of Mark Millar's better efforts, as a matter of fact it was pretty boring. Well, onto the next issue.

-Issue #565 opens with the FF searching the town for their missing daughter. After a search of the woods and an aerial search by Johnny, the FF decide to search door to door.

-While searching, Johnny figures out that Valeria was taken under the lake in the town, even though it is never explained HOW he figured that out. Johnny finds Valeria in a small tunnel under the town and they are attacked by a huge monster. Johnny tries to burn the creature, but he quickly discovers his flames can't singe the creature. Johnny grabs Valeria and makes for the surface.

-Johnny emerges from the underground cavern and the creature follows him. The rest of the FF join the battle, but they can't seem to put a dent in the creature.

-After an extended battle, Sue drops a church on the monster and Ben flings a bus at it, the latter action finally knocking the creature out.

-The townspeople approach and bemoan what happened to the monster, which is apparently named Korgo, and has been protecting the townspeople for the last 2,000 years. In exchange for perfect lives, Korgo demanded a child of its choosing once every 25 years on Christmas. Korgo would eat the kid and continue to grant its "blessing" on the town.

-Reed's nephew explains that Korgo wanted to eat his son, so he offered Valeria instead... Gee, thanks... Reed responds to this news the way any sane parent would and decks his nephew before getting his family the HELL out of Scotland!

All in all, this was an OK issue of the FF. It wasn't exactly memorable, but it was OK. It's a little strange that I'm reading a Christmas story on April 30th, but whatever. For a score, I'll give this comic a 6 1/2 out of 10.

Fantastic Four #563

Overall- I was kind of torn about how I felt towards this issue, but after I give it a proper review, maybe I'll have decided exactly what I thought about this comic. The Thing has proposed to a school teacher named Debbie Green, and she has accepted. So, the wedding is set for 6 weeks, and the paparazzi is practically salivating at the thought of snapping some pics of Ben and his fiancee. Apparently, Debbie has a crazy, stalker(?), ex-boyfriend, who has been following her around the past few issues, and now wants to tell the press all about her. Meanwhile, Sue warns Debbie that her life is about to change in nearly incomprehensible ways, and that she'll almost definitely have to leave her old life behind. Sue tells her to be 100% sure she wants to go through with such a life changing decision... Jeez Sue, what a killjoy!

Reed decides he is going to take the family out to Scotland on a vacation to decompress from all of the recent excitement, and invites Ben and Debbie to come along, to which Ben readily agrees. Why did I add this? Who knows. I guess something will happen on the vacation next issue.

Meanwhile, in an alternate dimension, two veiled beings have destroyed the entire planet, and apparently every living being on it. These two characters seem to be the masters Dr. Doom was referring to last issue. After decimating the alternate Earth, the two characters decide to pay a visit to our Earth, and their favorite pupil, Doom.

On one hand, I really have been enjoying Mark Millar's job on this series. A team like the FF can get stagnant at times(it's the same 4 people for over 40 years now)but Mark has really been pumping out some interesting stories. Now, I'm going to contradict some of what I just said. Some characters don't need to be changed up(even after 40 years)and Dr. Doom is one of those characters. I really dislike the idea that Dr. Doom has ANY masters, no matter how powerful they are. I can't tell you how many times I've read about Doom proclaiming that he has NO master. Doom is the only master of Doom. Dr. Doom has been a favorite villain of mine since I first began reading comics all those years ago, and I really won't be pleased if Mark decides to alter Doom's history dramatically. I know Doom's life story inside and out, and changing up the history of one of my favorite characters is going to raise my ire.

I was also kind of bothered by how the entire FF acted like Ben has never been in love before... Um, does the name Alicia Masters ring a bell? It should, she was Ben's girl for like 30 years! I'm also a little annoyed by Ben's sudden ability to settle down with a woman. His problem has always been the fact that he felt a woman deserved better than a pile of rocks like him. Ben has always been a pretty self-deprecating character, and the fact that he suddenly is willing to marry a woman is just a little weird to me.

Overall, I liked this issue, but the next few issues are really going to make or break this storyline for me. If Mark has Doom playing a subservient role to some other villain, I'm going to be mighty annoyed. If Doom is revealed to be the main threat, and his "masters" wind up obeying him, then I'll forgive the way Mark is overlooking much of Ben's personality flaws. For a score, I'll give this issue a 7 1/2 out of 10. This issue was mainly a set-up issue, and the next issue should really begin the fireworks.

Super Quick Review of Fantastic Four #558-563

Honestly, I should be asleep right now, but I just finished up reading the last few months of the Fantastic Four, and I just wanted to say, while it was still fresh on my mind, Mark Millar did an awesome job on these comics. Jeez, I don't know why I didn't get around to these comics sooner!

The story was kind of long and complicated, and to be honest with you, I really do have to get to sleep, school tomorrow morning and all, but basically, these issues chronicled a team called the New Defenders from the distant future who decided to try to transplant the 8 billion people from their dying Earth to our current Earth. Their leader was the Invisible Woman(she looked DAMN good for a woman pushing 500)and of course Wolverine was a member of the New Defenders. That had me laughing out loud... Even 500 years from now, Wolverine is STILL in every single Marvel Comic! Now that's staying power!

Anyway, the Reed figures out a plan and the 8 billion people from the future get transplanted to a place called Nu-Earth(I think, it's been months since I read the comics where Nu-Earth(?)was introduced). Everything looks great, until Dr. Doom, who had been kidnapped by the future New Defenders to power their time machine murders the future Invisible Woman for having the audacity to capture and use him.

Doom gets arrested and Reed fights to have Doom remain imprisoned, as opposed to executed for his crimes. Doom then makes cryptic references to his master(DOOM has a master?!?!)and tells Reed that he'll be free in no time.

These were really good comic books. I missed some stuff, like the Thing proposing to his girlfriend, Valeria revealing she's super intelligent, among other things, but I've really got to hit the hay! Anyway, tomorrow, I'll read and review the most current issue of the FF, which would be #563. Score-wise, I'd have given these issues a score of around 8 1/2 or 9 out of 10. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed these comics. Bravo Mr. Millar, you're making the FF seem relevant again, and for that I thank you.