(Kind of...)The Best of the Rest! June 5th edition.

Hey hey, X popping in with a quick post.  A REALLY quick post!  So yeah, as I said in the last post, I've been staying away from the blog and just reading comics for fun again.  Crazy, no?  It's nice to have a little summer vacation again, I definitely need the time to recharge the old batteries.  Anyway, enough bellyaching from me, hows about I talk comics now?

-Age of Ultron #9 was horrible, as expected.  Two fucking Wolverines...  No thank you, one is enough!  The Wolvies and Sue told Pym about Ultron, and wanted him to put some sort of program in Ultron to prevent him from destroying the world or something equally dumb.  So yeah, sucktacular.  I'm still holding out hope that the aftermath will make this whole ugly experience worthwhile...  5 out of 10.

-X-Factor #257 was okay, I guess.  It was all about Layla Miller trying to wrangle Demon Madrox.  Spoiler: she does.  But he's still a demon.  Supposedly this series is ending soon, which sucks.  I'm sure PAD will bring the big guns as we get closer to the finale.  5 1/2 out of 10.

-All New X-Men #12.  What the hell, Bendis?  Seriously, what the hell?!  This series just keeps spiraling down the Bendis spiral of crap.  We get a lot of talking, Jean acting like a bitch, more talking, and Jean acting like a bitch some more.  You'd thing the first meeting between the O5 X-Men and the Avengers would be better, but nope.  Jean is still randomly reading minds, in this case Wanda's, which leads to her throwing a tantrum and then crying...  So basically Bendis has made me hate Jean, who was my favorite female X-Men.  Kudos, Bendis!  4 out of 10.

-Thanos Rising #3 finally gave me a good comic to read.  It showed us Thanos after he left Titan and gathered his pirates.  It also explained Nebula's creation, which was something I wondered about from as far back as the Infinity Gauntlet story.  So again, really good stuff here.  8 out of 10.

-Superior Spider-Man #11.  I know people like to dump on this series, but I'm still enjoying it.  A lot.  Spidey is tasked with making sure that Alistair Smythe is executed, and does his best to outsmart Smythe, but can't account for The Revenge of the Villains Spidey Brutalized!!  I'm definitely looking forward to the angry villains getting their hands(or wings) on Spidey next issue.  8 out of 10.

-I didn't read Ultimates #25 or Iron Man #11 or Stormwatch #21 yet, so I've got nothing to say about them.

-I have been reading a ton of back issues, and most of them are SO MUCH better than the new stuff!  I've been enjoying some Iron Man action from the mid-1980's, back when Tony was a drunk living in the gutter and Rhodey was taking care of business, Iron Man style.  I also finished off Christos Gage's Absolution series from 2009, and it was GREAT.  It was Brubaker good!  See, it's great comics like that which remind me why I love comics so much.  Anyway, I have some Maximum Carnage comics calling my name.  Until Next time, X out.

Best of the Rest! May 15th edition.

Hey all, X here to kick off what looks to be a pretty slim Best of the Rest post.  Both JT and I had lighter than usual comic weeks, meaning we really don't have a load of books to look at.  So yeah.  But hey, JT(whose reviews will be in blue text) will probably grace us with more than the measly one review he gave us last week...  Probably...

Nightwing #20: After some digging around, Nightwing manages to find the Prankster, who he suspects will be able to help him find Tony "The Man Who Killed Dick Grayson's Parents!" Zucco.  However, the two get off on the wrong foot when Nightwing interrupts Prankster trying to kill a corrupt businessman.  After a bit of a tussle, Nightwing ends up getting trapped in a glass box(really), with Prankster telling him the only way he'd escape was to remove his mask, thus revealing his identity.  This comic was okay, I guess.  I still think Prankster has some potential as a vigilante, even though he was coming dangerously close to becoming just another run of the mill villain.  On the positive side, Tony "The Man Who Killed Dick Grayson's Parents!" Zucco only appeared on two pages, and that makes me happy.  Score: 6 out of 10.

X-Factor #256: The team heads after Mephisto in an attempt to send him back to Hell.  Meanwhile, Tier kills all the Hell-Lords Mephisto had locked up.  Mephisto kills Shatterstar and Rictor before he is attacked by Tier.  Before Tier can kill Mephisto, Guido kills Tier, which makes Guido the new king of Hell.  Guido brings Monet back to life and then banishes her from his sight.  So yeah, wow...  This was a big miss for me...  Guido as the devil?  Tier, Shatterstar and Rictor dead?  Mephisto unable to figure out to teleport away from Tier when he was attacked?  Tier killing like 6 Hell-Lords in a small room?  Yeah, bad, bad stuff here. Score: 4 out of 10.

FF #7: Wizard and his newest incarnation of the Frightful Four(himself, Blastaar, a brainwashed Medusa, and Bentley-23, who doesn't want to be there) attack the FF.  Bentley-23 predictably betrays Wizard, which frees Medusa from Wizard's mind-control, leaving Wizard and Blastaar as the Not-So Terrible Two.  After Wizard is defeated, Black Bolt takes him into custody for brainwashing his wife(AGAIN!) and decides to have words with him...  Meh.  The story didn't really do much for me, but dammit do I LOVE Mike Allred's artwork!  Seriously, it's like the perfect art for a comic book, and you all know I don't usually care about art in a comic!  So yeah, oddly enough, if not for the artwork, I'd probably have scored this comic lower.  Score: 6 out of 10.

Thunderbolts #9: Hey, check it out, I'm still getting this comic!  Weird...  A mystery man is constructing gamma powered Crimson Dynamo units to be used in terrorist activities.  The T-Bolts manage to take down a few of the units and are able to trace the units back to the man behind them, Elektra's brother.  So yeah, I don't get why exactly I'm still collecting this series...  I don't think I've given any issue a score over a 6!  Methinks I'll be rectifying that when I get to the comic shop on Wednesday...  Score: 5 out of 10.

Avengers: The Enemy Within #1: Yon-Rogg sends Captain Marvel and her teammates after various menaces to keep them distracted so he could steal the piece of the Psyche-Magnetron that CM had stored at her apartment.  After saving her elderly neighbor from dinosaurs(way cooler than I just made it sound, actually), CM returns to her place with Spider-Woman and realizes that she had been burgled.  Spider-Woman promises revenge.  Finally, a good comic!  Huzzah!!!!!  Man this week has been brutal comic-wise for me... I enjoyed this one, and think it set-up the upcoming Avengers Assemble/Captain Marvel crossover nicely.  This feels like an Avengers story should feel, which is a nice change of pace from Bendis and Age of Ultron...  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Iron Man #10: 451 tells Tony a story about how he first met Tony's father before Tony was born.  Basically Tony's dad went searching for 451 after learning that he and his wife were unable to procreate.  451 then makes vague comments about Tony having more parents than he knew of...  UGH!!!  What the hell is happening here!?  THIS is the story they think are going to grab movie-goers who just saw Iron Man 3?!?  Really?!  Come on, Marvel, this is a DC-esque bungle!  You're better than this!  Yeah, in case I haven't made it clear, I think this entire storyline is idiotic.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  All I know is that we better discover that 451 was lying the whole time to be an ass or something.  Anything else will be horrible.  Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.

Or, maybe JT won't review anything at all...  Huh, go figure!  I'm sure he'd blame his lack of reviews on me taking Nova #4, but don't buy JT's lame excuses!  He's a slacker!!  Slacker!!!  On the plus side, unless he somehow manages to do -1 reviews next week, he'll definitely have more reviews next week than he did this one.  But enough about that guy.  Check back tomorrow for a Throwback post by yours truly.  Until then?  X out.

Best of the Rest! April 17th edition.

Hey all, X back again with a new Best of the Rest post.  Between myself and JT(whose reviews with be in a blue text), there should be plenty of comics to check out.  So instead of talking about it, let's get to it!

Venom #34: Yes!  This is exactly what I want from this series!  This issue starts off with Toxin kicking Venom's ass, which leads to the mysterious cannibal showing up to join the fight.  However, Toxin is all, "Who invited you, bitch?!" and proceeds to BITE the head off of the cannibal!  That in turn leads to Venom biting off one of Toxin's arms!  Excellent!!  Toxin shrugs that off, grows a new arm and continues the ass-kickery.  Venom finally halts the assault by injecting Toxin with the serum that keeps his own symbiote under control.  Toxin rushes off since his symbiote was acting up, and Venom drags his battered ass to a rooftop to recuperate and prepare for round two. So yeah, Cullen Bunn just needs to keep doing this.  Every single issue.  Because this issue rocked.  Score: 8 out of 10.

Iron Man #8: 451 manages to get Tony his armor before Tony is murdered by Death's Head.  That leads to a massive brawl between Iron Man and DH, which 451 uses as a distraction to deactivate the cloaking device the Voldi had been using to hide from the Celestials.  The Celestials arrive and obliterate the planet and everybody on it.  Needless to say, Tony doesn't appreciate 451's actions and announces that he would have vengeance.  This issue was a meh for me.  It wasn't awful by any stretch, the fight between Tony and DH was cool, and I enjoyed 451's swerve, but I'm not going to remember this issue past tomorrow.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Daredevil #25: Matt finally comes face-to-face with one of his tormentors, a guy wearing a facsimile of his original yellow attire named Ikari(which means 'Fury' in Japanese).  Oh, and Ikari?  He has all of DD's enhanced senses.  The two have a spectacular battle across the rooftops of Manhattan, ending up in a sporting goods shop.  DD manages to set off the sprinkler system, and hopes that his foe's inexperience with his hyper-senses will cause him to become totally disoriented by the noise and falling water.  And it's a great plan.  Except for one thing...  Ikari isn't blind!  Ikari beats the ever-loving hell out of a shocked Matt, who has no choice but to turn tail and run away, all while Ikari yells taunts after him.  Yeah, this issue?  Awesome.  I NEVER saw the swerve with Ikari having his sight coming, and when Matt realized Ikari COULD see?  Amazing!  I wanted to scream FOR Matt!  That's how perfect the reveal was.  Amazing work by the incomparable Mark Waid.  Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.

X-Factor #254: Hey, this "Hell" storyline is still going on...  Okay...  Tier decides he doesn't want to kill the Hell-Lords, which pisses Polaris off since Tier kind of has to or everybody is screwed.  Meanwhile, Mephisto is unsurprisingly knocking off the other Hell-Lords, polishing off Hela right after she had killed Asmodeus.  Jezebel, Possessed Madrox and Guido attack X-Factor since Jezebel needed Tier if she had any hope in defeating her father(Mephisto).  That leads to a showdown between Monet and Guido.  This issue was solid.  Much like most of this storyline.  It's okay.  It's not great or anything, it's okay.  To be honest, I'm to the point where I'm waiting for this storyline to just end already...  Score: 7 out of 10.

Nightwing #19: So Dick Grayson is in Chicago now, as he's decided to track down and capture Tony Zucco, who, in case you were unaware, killed Dick's parents.  The cops hate Nightwing because the cops in Chi-town hate costumed heroes, and Dick is broke because he won't ask Bruce for money.  Because they're feuding again after Death of the Family and Damian's death.  But honestly, do those two really need a reason to feud?!  They're almost always pissed at each other for one reason or another!  But I digress...  So yeah, Dick has no money and has to take a roommate in his apartment...  Because that's smart for a masked hero like Dick...  Anyway, it seems Zucco, who was the person who murdered Dick's parents, is the mayor's chauffeur or something...  The mayor is corrupt, it seems.  On top of that, the Prankster is punishing criminals.  So yeah, Dick's first issue in Chicago?  Not perfect.  But hey, it wasn't awful, so there's that!  I have to say, even though he appeared on a grand total of one page, the Prankster seems extremely interesting.  I liked the costume and I liked his brand of vigilantism.  So I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Prankster and less of Tony Zucco, who was the man responsible for the deaths of Dick Grayson's parents.  In case you hadn't heard...  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Dark Avengers #189: This is the penultimate issue of this series, and I have to admit, I won't really miss it...  It started off with such promise, but man did it fall apart quickly...  Basically Evil Dr. Strange dies when he randomly explodes.  That frees Skaar from Evil Strange, so Skaar can finally attack Evil Thing.  Ragnarok picks up that dimension's Thor's hammer(wait, how?!), which makes him turn into a guy who looks like the Executioner...  And AIM is still up to something, but damned if I know what!  Yeah, I don't have anything else to add to that issue...  Score: 4 out of 10.

Nova #3: In this issue of Nova, we see our protagonist run into The Watcher. He eventually is able to see through the Watcher's eyes that there are a ton of ships in the distance, but since he doesn't know what to do with that knowledge, he heads back to Earth. On Earth, Sam's mom hints she may know about Sam using his dad's helmet and says he can talk to her about anything. After that, Sam is approached by Gamora and Rocket Raccoon, who tell him he's the last of the Nova Corps and they start training Sam. In the midst of training, the Guardians mention the army that's on the way to attack Earth, and Sam tells them he saw it, thanks to the man on the moon, so they send Sam on recon since his Nova helmet can see the cloaked ships. The issue ends with Nova getting blasted in space by the ships, so I guess they can see him. Oops. I enjoyed this issue, it was nothing spectacular but it was a solid read. Score: 6.5/10

Captain Marvel #12: This issue focuses on Cap Marvel and Deathbird's aerial fight with Cap confined to her flying bike. After a long, tough battle, Cap finally defeats Deathbird, but has to fly at the end to due so, which weakens Cap due to the lesion on her brain. Throughout the issue we see her doctor talking to another doctor, the new one having dealt with a case like this before. It turns out his patient was Captain Marvel's friend, Helen Cobb, although she supposedly died in a fire. The doctors meet Cap at home to give her some news that we aren't privy to until the next issue. The issue ends with the mysterious man in the park revealing himself to be Yon-Rogg, now fully powered due to Captain Marvel's fights with Deathbird powering him. This was another solid issue, I enjoyed the fight with Deathbird but all the Doctor mumbo jumbo kinda slowed things down for me. I'm not familiar with Yon-Rogg but after looking him up and seeing he's the one that kidnapped Carol which led to her getting her powers, I'm excited to see where this goes. Score: 7/10

Justice League #19: This issue opened with Jason Todd and Alfred talking, so yeah, that's a free point from me. The two are attacked as some mysterious man who makes his way through the scan and past Batman's retinal scanner somehow to Bats' contingency room, as he has a case with a plan to beat each member of the League. The mystery man steals Superman's case, which has Kryptonite. Batman eventually returns and Jason is beating himself up for not hearing the intruder sneak up on them but Bruce says she's just glad Jason and Alfred are okay. After some help from Aquaman and Cyborg, they aren't able to figure out how this person got in or what they were after, Batman seems to know but plays dumb. Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman fight some terrorists in Kahndaq, but Americans aren't allowed there, so Kahndaq is contemplating waging war on America. Batman meets with Supes and Wondy and they discuss how they went about things when he reveals he knows their dating, and also that someone came to the Batcave and took something to hurt Superman. The issue ends with Firestorm and the Atom, two of the newest Leaguers being attacked in the Watchtower by none other than Despero, wearing a Kryptonite ring. I enjoyed this issue surprisingly. I definitely didn't expect for this review to be so long. I enjoyed seeing Jason and Alfred, so... do more of that, Geoff Johns. I also enjoyed seeing Supes and Wondy fighting crime, and the odd way they influence one another, kinda reminds me their relationship in of Injustice: Gods Among Us. Lastly, this mystery man that knows Bruce could be interesting if done the right way, I'm curious to see who he is and why he'd help Despero, since I don't think it's him. Oh, and I like the new Atom, she rocks. Score: 8/10

Alright gang, that's it for me and mi amigo. Tomorrow, expect a new type of review from X, which he'll explain then, but until now, on behalf of buddy X, this is JT, signing off!

Iron Man #7

Thursday is an X review night, which means two new reviews for everybody!  Huzzah!!  We'll start the festivities with Iron Man.  So far this series has been strong.  Definitely better than average(for me anyway).  Enough intro, let's get to the main event.

Iron Man #7

Summary: So the Voldi want to try(and kill) Tony Stark for killing their god, the Phoenix.  Not good.  Luckily for Tony, a rogue Rigellian Recorder has stopped by his cell to offer up it's assistance   What is a Rigellian Recorder, you ask?  Basically a probe.  This one, 451, has gained a degree of sentience and doesn't want to see Tony punished for defending himself and his planet.  451 tells Tony of an ancient Voldi trail by combat.  The Voldi are no longer a war-like race, and as such aren't the best of fighters.  451 figures Tony can hold out in the arena for a little while, at which time 451 will snatch Tony's armor and presto, Tony is Iron Man and can leave/beat the Voldi into submission, etc.  Tony enters the arena, and being way more skilled in battles, defeats several Voldi fighters(with lots of headbutts!), which worries the Voldi Supreme Justicar, as Tony is becoming more and more popular with the common Voldi people.  To deal with this, the Supreme Justicar hires Death's Head(who has been EVERYWHERE lately!) to serve as Tony's final opponent...

Thoughts: This was, as usual, a good, solid comic book.  I really don't have any complaints.  Hell, I even got a huge laugh out of Tony worrying that one of the Voldi may figure out a counter for the headbutt.  So yeah, nothing mind blowing here, but good, solid stuff.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Tony Stark's headbutt is truly the greatest fighting move known to man.

Iron Man #6

And we're already up to our final review of the night!  Man, that was sure fast, no?  We'll end things with the latest issue of Iron Man...  In space!

Iron Man #6:

Summary: So Iron Man defeats some space pirates and gets rewarded by the princess of an alien world, who throws a big ol' alien shindig.  Tony and the alien hit it off and she ends up taking him back to her room, where he removes his mask and the alien throws up...  Huh.  It turns out that facial hair is a big no-no on that planet and the alien throws poor Tony out of her room.  While he's walking down the hallway, he's attacked by a pair of robots who accuse him of deicide.  Tony defeats the robots, but allows himself to be taken into custody since he knew this was a charge he wasn't guilty of.  This issue ends with the aliens accusing Tony of killing their god, the Phoenix.

Thoughts: This was a pretty good comic.  Kieron Gillen seems to have a good feel for Tony's voice, which is a good thing since most of this comic was just Tony and the alien princess chatting.  The story looks like it has some good potential, as it makes sense that some civilizations WOULD worship a cosmic force like the Phoenix.  It'll be interesting to see how Tony beats this particular charge.

Score: 7 out of 10.

My nose?

Iron Man #2

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

Iron Man #2:

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

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

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

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

Iron Man #1

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

Iron Man #1: 

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

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

Score: 8 out of 10.

Now THAT is what ALL AIM agents should look like!

Those Avengers...

One more day until New Comic Day, so that means one more filler post. Today we'll swing back to Marvel and I'll post a few of my favorite scenes from the awesomeness that was the West Coast Avengers. Why the West Coast Avengers? Why not?


Let's see, we have the happy, loving couple that were Hawkeye and Mockingbird.


Hawkeye showing how much respect he has for his mentor, Captain America.


Ultron using one of the best insults ever on Iron Man.


And finally, some heart-warming stuff between Ultron and his “father”, Hank Pym.

Ghost Rider #0.1 & Iron Age Alpha #1

We have two Marvel books here, both of which I picked up on a whim last Wednesday. I know next to nothing about both series going in, so we'll see if either one impresses me. Both are written by Rob Williams, who Marvel seems really high on nowadays, so this should give me a good feel for his work. Or maybe not...

Ghost Rider #0.1:

Summary: We kick this one off with a retelling of Johnny Blaze's origin, but with all that “Ghost Rider is an angel now!” stuff thankfully omitted. Johnny whines about the Ghost Rider curse, as well as the fact that every woman he meets usually turns out to be some sort of monster(literally). While sitting in a bar moping, some guy named Adam approaches Johnny and offers to take away the Ghost Rider curse. Johnny figures there's a catch and blows the guy off, but after catching a beating from a drunk, Johnny decides to take Adam up on his offer. Adam tells Johnny that the only catch is that the Ghost Rider curse would randomly attach itself to somebody else, and Johnny, class act that he is, says that's fine by him. With that, Johnny follows Adam's words and is stripped of the Ghost Rider curse, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Huh, I really hated Johnny Blaze in this issue... What the hell happened to him?! I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of his, I've always favored the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider, but I don't remember Johnny ever being portrayed as an annoying, slack-jawed hick... I mean he literally screamed, “Yee-Haw!” at one point in this comic! The hell?!? After reading this issue, and seeing what's in store for this series, I don't see myself sticking around for very long. I'll pick up the first few issues since they tie into Fear Itself, but that'll probably be it, unless the new female Ghost Rider really wows me, which I don't expect. I don't get why Danny isn't getting to be GR again if they're done with Johnny... Again. While I'm on the subject of things I don't get, why the HELL is Marvel making the new GR female? What is with their obsession with taking established characters(Mr. Sinister, Bullseye, Loki, Wolverine, Ghost Rider) and changing their sex? Why not, oh, I don't know, CREATE a NEW character! I know, crazy...

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.It's a random scan of Ghost Rider!


The Iron Age Alpha #1:

Summary: While attending the opening of a library in Harlem, Tony Stark is attacked, knocked out and kidnapped by a bunch of Iron Man looking robots. Upon waking up, Tony finds himself in an underwater laboratory and is soon confronted by an older man named Donald Birch. It seems that Birch used to be a villain named the Phantom, but wound up discarding that nickname and heading underground since he realized he just wanted to be alone. Birch's feelings changed after he learned he had terminal cancer, and he decided that he wanted to end the world... And he wanted Tony Stark to be there, since Tony was his reason for becoming a villain. To this end, Birch leads Tony into a room with one of Dr. Doom's time platforms and has his robots bring Jean Grey, back when she was Dark Phoenix(!), to the present. Birch has his robots blast at Dark Phoenix, which does nothing but anger her. Realizing what was going to happen, Tony runs to the time platform and is shunted back in time just as Dark Phoenix sends out a massive wave of fire which ultimately destroys the Earth. Now trapped in the past, Tony wanders the streets of New York, ultimately heading back to his old apartment, where he finds a passed-out drunk younger Tony Stark.

Thoughts: Now this was more like it! This was a nice set-up issue for the forthcoming Iron Age mini-series. With a name like X-Man, you KNOW I'm a big Jean Grey fan, so it was awesome to see her return and destroy the Earth, even if it was only a past version of Jean, and only for this mini. I can see loads of potential here, with the older, more mature Tony having to contend with his younger, drunken self. Yeah, there are things I see that I don't necessarily like(Captain Britain...), but for the most part, I'm looking forward to this one.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.So long, earthlings!!!

What If? Iron Man: Demon In An Armor #1

What If? Iron Man: Demon In An Armor #1.

-The premise here is that instead of getting Reed Richards as a roommate in college, Victor Von Doom gets Tony, “Life of the party” Stark.
-Initially Stark and his drunken tomfoolery annoys Doom, but as time progresses, Doom begins to buddy up to the rich playboy.
-It turns up that Doom was only using Tony, and Doom tricks Tony into swapping bodies with him, meaning Doom's mind was in Stark's body, while Tony's mind was in Doom's.
-And to make matters worse, Doom wiped Tony's memory to boot!
-Tony winds up getting expelled from college and deported back to Latveria, while Doom uses Tony's fortune to create Stark Universal, a leading weapons manufacturing company.
-Meanwhile, Tony starts up Doom Industries in Latveria, since he's still a genius, even if he doesn't remember ever being Tony Stark.
-Doom Industries begins to chip into Stark Industries bottom line, so Doom heads to Latveria in a green and silver Iron Man suit to destroy Tony's company.
-Tony dons a, you guessed it, gold and red Dr. Doom suit and the two battle, with Tony emerging victorious.
-Doom tries to bargain with Tony, revealing to him that they were in the wrong bodies, and offering to switch them back to their proper bodies, provided Tony doesn't turn Doom in for attempting to destroy Doom Industries.
-Tony says nuts to that, since Doom had sullied the name of Tony Stark, and decides to remain Victor Von Doom, who was well respected in this world, turning Doom over to the proper authorities.

I'm a sucker for What If's, and this comic didn't disappoint. Sure there were a few things that bothered me, such as why wasn't Doom trying to rescue his mother, but the few inaccuracies weren't enough to ruin this story for me. All in all, a good story, although my review probably makes it sound WAY more confusing then it actually was!

Score: 7 out of 10.Hey, check it out, it's Doom Man vs Dr. Iron!

Avengers Prime #1

Avengers Prime #1: Writer: BENDIS! Pencils: Alan Davis(!)

Review: We open this comic up at the very end of the Siege storyline, with Thor, Capt. Rogers and Iron Man looking over the ruins of Asgard. Cap and Iron Man get into an argument as Cap puts the screws to Tony(in what was actually a kind of funny, if childish scene), before Thor gets agitated that instead of assisting him and Asgard, his two oldest comrades are more interested in acting like unruly children. Thor gets through to the two men, and once everybody calms down, Thor takes Cap and IM to the underbelly of Asgard and shows the fractured portal to the other seven realms(Asgard and Earth being the other two), telling the two heroes that something needed to be done to make sure nobody from Earth snuck into the other realms, and vice-versa. Before the heroes can come up with a course of action, the fractured portal erupts, and sucks Cap, IM and Thor in. IM finds himself alone in an empty field, and decides to tinker with his armor so he can see where he was. While tinkering a large shadow appears behind Tony... From there we head to Cap, who after realizing he was no longer on Earth due to the unusual sky, finds a village and enters what seems to be a tavern full of trolls. Cap apologizes for disturbing the trolls(because he's awesome), before telling the trolls that he was lost, and that he was an ally of Lord Thor. Upon hearing that, all of the trolls decide to attack and eat Cap, but that's a mistake, as Cap beats down dozens of weapon wielding trolls(because he's awesome!). Upon trouncing every troll around him, Cap takes a sword, some chain mail armor, a shield and some arrows and leaves the tavern to continue trying to figure out where he was. Finally, Thor arrives in the realm of Vanaheim(which rhymes with Anaheim), but finds none of its citizens. After some wandering around, Thor is blasted from behind by some strong magic, and turns around to see the Enchantress(with some minions)telling Thor that his days were now numbered, ending this issue.

What I Thought: What the hell!?! This was the BEST BENDIS written comic I've read in quite some time! None of his usual painful dialogue was included, and the dialogue that was here made perfect sense, and showed that BENDIS does seem to have some grasp of Avengers history(which is something I honestly didn't think he had)... I mean, wow! The story was great and engaging, Alan Davis's artwork was exactly what you'd expect from a comic book legend, and the dialogue was excellent(which I can't mention enough!). Iron Man's scene was good, Cap's scene was fantastic, and Thor's scene was great... I really couldn't ask for anything more. One thing though... Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Wolverine didn't show up in this comic, which goes a long way in proving my point that those three characters bring out the absolute worst in BENDIS. If this keeps up, BENDIS will revert back to Bendis, because I'll have no reason to get on his case anymore.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.Those poor stupid trolls never stood a chance!

How very mature...

Wow, appearently Civil War was WAY worse than I remember it being!

So maybe Tony Stark isn't that bad.

I know I'm tough on Tony Stark, but hey, at least he apologized as he tried to kill Spidey!

Ollie speaks the truth!

Oliver Queen calling Iron Man a fatcat... Priceless, absolutely priceless!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Pym may be somewhat "mentally disturbed", but he makes all the points I've been trying to make in a few short sentences. Wow, it's sad when Hank Pym is the voice of reason in the Marvel Universe!

Tony Stark: Jerk, part 5

I'm nearing the end of my Tony Stark bash-athon... For now. I've just about used up the scans I took the other day, so until I find the time to scan new images of Tony behaving badly, I won't be able to rip into Tony anymore. But, I still have some pics to post, so here they are.

First a little background to set this scene. Captain America is battling Mentallo, who has managed to connect his mind to the minds of everyone on the planet. Mentallo, decides to do some multi-tasking, and while his minions battle Cap, he sends his mind out and discovers Tony Stark is Iron Man. Mentallo than confronts Tony in the astral plane, and Tony defeats Mentallo. However, Tony decides to use Mentallo's link to everyone on the planet to erase the knowledge of his secret identity from the minds of every living being on Earth. Afterwards, Tony meets the Avengers, who were affected by his mindwipe, and reveals that Tony Stark is Iron Man. What follows is Cap and Tony having a discussion about the ethics of Tony's actions.

First things first, let me state that in theory, Tony's decision makes sense. However, if you dig beneath the surface, it becomes kind of obvious(I hope!)that Tony crossed some lines he shouldn't have crossed. Basically, Tony decided to tamper with the minds of every man, woman and child on the planet, and yet he sees absolutely nothing wrong with that. Right there, that says a lot about Tony's character, and his sheer arrogance. Yeah, Tony figures he didn't hurt anyone by erasing the knowledge that he was Iron Man, but seriously, if you were an Avenger, and you knew Tony has no qualms with fooling around inside of people's minds, could you ever trust him? Wouldn't you be suspicious of Tony from that day forward? How do you know he didn't do anything else while he was erasing his identity? Maybe he coerced some people to buy extra stock in his company, who knows. The bottom line here is that Tony felt that he had every right to play God, and is completely incapable of understanding why someone like Cap finds that wrong and reprehensible. While I can see right now that many people will take Tony's side on this issue, before you do, ask yourself honestly, do you want a billionaire invading your privacy in the most intimate way possible because he feels his actions are "noble"? I know I'd be pretty pissed if I was an Avenger and I discovered Tony was playing with my mind.

What the hell???

I've already gone on the record here on this blog and stated that Steve Rogers, dressed as the Captain here, is one of my all-time favorite characters. In the Marvel Universe, Steve was one of the elite fighters. I'd only consider Wolverine as being anywhere close to the same league as Steve, fighting-wise. With that said, what the hell was Steve thinking here??? Cap, Iron Man is wearing a suit of ARMOR! I don't think a headlock is REALLY going to do that much damage! How the hell do you plan on choking out a dude in a suit of armor? This panel wasn't exactly Steve at his fighting best...

Tony Stark: Jerk, part 4

I figure I'll run Tony Stark's name into the ground for a few more nights before I let up. Tonight, we have basically the aftermath of part 2 of my Tony Stark hatefest. Tony and some random woman come walking into Tony's apartment and they discover The Captain(Steve Rogers)waiting. Tony rushes the woman out and here's what follows.

Jeez, Tony is really at his sleazy best in the above pics. The sarcastic tone Tony takes with Steve right off the bat with the "disappointed" comment really sets the tone for the rest of this conversation. Then, you've got to love the arrogance Tony shows after Steve tells him he's taking him in. Who wouldn't want to wipe that smug look off of Tony's face? I also like the delayed apology Tony gives after learning he allowed some criminals to escape from the Vault. That pause between "I'm" and "sorry" really makes the apology seem forced and insincere. I only included the picture above because it really shows the audacity of Steve Rogers. "Yeah, you're Iron Man, but I'm STILL going to kick your ass." Steve Rogers was flat out awesome! How could I not end this post with Cap hitting Tony in the nads with his shield. That has to be one of my all-time favorite single panels EVER!

Tony Stark: Jerk, part 3

OK, these pics aren't as damning as the stuff I posted in Part 2 of my Tony Stark series, but still, it does a good job of painting him as an unlikable ass. This all took place prior to World War Hulk, which was a REALLY bad crossover. Tony explains that the Hulk was killed/M.I.A. during a mission for SHIELD, and he asks She-Hulk to step in and take down any of the Hulk's foes who might pop up. Jen agrees, not knowing the real story of what Stark and his Illuminati did to her cousin.Regardless of how you feel about the Hulk(personally, I've never liked the character), Jen has a great point about Tony and his posse just sending Hulk away in a spaceship with no trial or anything... Wasn't Stark's whole point during Civil War that you had to obey the law no matter how wrong the law may be?

Then, after Jen had worked for Tony and SHIELD taking in all of Hulk's major enemies, Tony de-powers her for disagreeing with him and dumps her in the middle of nowhere. Like I said in the opening paragraph, Tony's actions aren't as bad here as his actions in part 2, but still these scenes paint him as an elitist who uses people how he sees fit and when he's done with them, he discards them like trash.

Tony Stark: Jerk, part 2

Alright, some background here first. Steve Rogers has been stripped of his Captain America persona by the U.S. government and was forced to relinquish his uniform and shield. Although no longer Captain America, Steve still wanted to fight injustice, so he adopted the new(and VERY unoriginal)nickname of "The Captain". So, Steve has a name and new costume, but no shield. He decides to turn to his "friend", Tony Stark for assistance in getting a replacement shield. Tony during this time was obsessed with destroying any piece of Stark-tech in the world, regardless of who had brought it, or where it was. The first pic just shows that the only reason Tony agrees to help Steve is so Steve won't interfere with his plans to attack the Vault. Classy, no? These next few pics chronicle the inevitable confrontation between Tony and Steve at the Vault. Do you notice that Steve is wearing a gas mask? That's because Tony decided to gas the entire prison before sneaking in and destroying the Guardsmen armor. For the record, the Guardsmen were the prison guards who dealt with the super-powered nut-jobs who were locked up in the Vault. The Guardsman behind Steve is the last one left, Tony had already destroyed all of the other suits of armor.

Yep, that's right, Steve removes his gas mask to make sure the Guardsman won't suffocate in his suit of armor and what does Tony do? He shocks his "friend", leaving Steve conscious, but unable to move, before he then destroys the last Guardsman's suit of armor right in front of the helpless Captain. Think about that for a second. Captain America was trying to save someones life and Tony blindsides him! That's low... That's REALLY low!