Taking a breather...

After some thought, I've decided not to review the rest of the comics I picked up last week, mainly due to a) being tired as hell from work, and b) the comics not being particularly good... So, for the record, the comics I won't be reviewing are Journey Into Mystery #638(which I'd give a 5 to), Voodoo #9(which was probably a 5 or so), Mighty Thor #14(which was around a 3), Secret Avengers #27(which I'd go with a 0 for), Teen Titans #9(which was about a 5 1/2) and Batman Inc #1(which I'd give about a 6 to)... So yeah, not exactly anything to write home about there... With the scores for those books being as lackluster as they were, I just couldn't get myself to spend the time punching out reviews for them. On top of all that, the blog has been feeling more like work and less like fun as of late, which is always a sign that it's time to take a step back and reconsider things... Anyway, I'll be back (after a very short break) on Wednesday with a fresh New Comic Day post, but until then? Vampire X out.

New Mutants #42

So this is the third part of that Exiled storyline that's crossing over with Journey into Mystery... I didn't really like the first part, but enjoyed the second part. What will the third part bring???

New Mutants #42:

Story Points:
-The New Mutants and Loki go around collecting various items/pieces from the former Asgardians.
-The plan is for Loki to create a spell to undo the first spell he gave Sig that transformed all of the Asgardians into their current Non-Asgardian forms.
-Loki does the spell and when the New Mutants ask if he had fixed everything, Loki tells them off course not... Since he really didn't get his memories back and was just role-playing with the New Mutants...
-HA!!!
-Upon walking outside though, the New Mutants and Loki see that he did do some sort of spell, as weird demons were menacing the community, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Okay, I really wasn't enjoying this issue all that much. I mean it was okay, but not something I was all that enthused about. But that twist with Loki was genius! Never once did I imagine that he DIDN'T have his memories and was just playing along with the New Mutants. It makes such perfect sense too, because Loki in his current, non-Asgardian form was a really lonely kid, so it makes sense that he'd play along with the New Mutants spell-making “game”. So yeah, that twist alone brought the score for this issue to the point of respectability.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Journey Into Mystery #637

Okay, the bar for this comic is set REALLY low, as a result of the first part of this storyline. Seriously, it'll be hard for this comic to actually be any worse than Exiled #1!

Journey Into Mystery #637:

Story Points:
-The New Mutants are trying to figure out what happened to the Asgardians when they are teleported to their apartment, seemingly with no memory of what happened...
-Expect for Nate, who has seen his fair share of reality manipulation, and snaps the team out of their trance, getting them back to searching for the Asgardians again.
-Nate is awesome, obviously.
-The New Mutants run into Thor, who thought he was a mechanic, and wouldn't listen to any nonsense from the New Mutants about him being the God of Thunder.
-The team then runs into Loki, who they manage to snap out of the spell since Loki is the trickster god or something like that... *shrugs*
-Loki and the New Mutants go to Sig's apartment where they find Sig's, who gloats about ridding the world of the Desir. He tells Loki and the New Mutants that they'd surely fix things, but that with the Desir gone, he felt smug and safe.
-This one ends with the Desir, apparently remembering everything, eating dogs and such.

Thoughts: Well this issue was 20 times better that the first part of this storyline! I liked the New Mutants role in this one, with them trying to fix the mess with the Asgardians, I liked Loki running around role-playing by himself, and I liked the ending here A LOT. Good stuff.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Journey Into Mystery #636

First up tonight is the final issue of the Nightmare/Daimon Hellstrom storyline in this series... After the absolute garbage we got with Daimon in the Fearless, this issue is probably going to be the last time I get to see Daimon in a non-evil role for a while. And that makes me both sad AND angry...

Journey Into Mystery #636:

Summary: This issue begins with Nightmare finishing up the creation of his EVIL MALFESTED DREAM CROWN(in all caps), while Loki secretly calls a meeting with the other Fear Lords to tell them that Nightmare was plotting to become the King of Fear, with, yes, that's right, his EVIL MALFESTED DREAM CROWN. The other Fear Lords attack Nightmare and defeat him, with the Dweller-in-Darkness stealing the EVIL MALFESTED DREAM CROWN for himself. The other Fear Lords don't like THAT idea anymore than Nightmare holding the EVIL MALFESTED DREAM CROWN, and go after him. In other words, the Fear Lords would end up in constant battle with one another, with none of them ever managing to claim the EVIL MALFESTED DREAM CROWN due to the interference of the others. Which was Loki's plan all along. Daimon Hellstrom(who is GOOD in this issue) takes his leave(presumably to become EVIL), but warns Loki that if one of the Fear Lords were to ever gain possession of the EVIL MALFESTED DREAM CROWN, he'd blame Loki and come for him. From there we get some shenanigans between Loki and Leah in Broxton, and this issue ends.

Thoughts: This issue read SO fast! Seriously, I was done with it in like a minute or two! I enjoyed this issue, and to be honest, kind of wanted it to go on a bit longer... I thought the way Loki tricked the Fear Lords was really slick, but again, it all ended so quickly... I don't know, I guess that's a weird gripe to have about a comic, but yeah, the briskness of this one did kind of hurt my enjoyment of it just a tad.

Score: 7 out of 10.

In this issue, Daimon Hellstrom is: GOOD.

Journey Into Mystery #635

Our first review for this Friday night? The latest issue of Journey Into Mystery, starring the awesome Kid Loki. With each passing issue I can't help but fear that we're getting closer to the end of the Kid Loki era, as you'd think Marvel would want full-grown Loki around for the movie... Whatever the case may be, I shall enjoy my Kid Loki while I still can.

Journey Into Mystery #635:

Summary: Loki, Leah and Hellstrom(currently VERY good) go around the world waking people up before Nightmare could kill them. Why would Nightmare kill them? Because their sleeping minds contained an enormous amount of fear due to the Fear Itself event, and Nightmare wanted to harvest that “fear stuff”, becoming the most powerful fear lord around. Besides that, Loki is being forced to stay awake since his mind contained the greatest amount of “fear stuff” due to his close proximity to the Fear Itself events. After lots of teleporting and traveling, Loki, slowly getting delirious due to lack of sleep, takes Leah to the side and tells her to pull the “fear stuff” from his mind. Leah is hesitant since that act could possibly kill Loki, but Loki forces her to preform the ritual. Leah's magic is successful and upon getting the large amount of “fear stuff” Loki calls Nightmare to him. Nightmare arrives, intrigued by what Loki was holding. Loki offers Nightmare the “fear stuff” from his head, since such a large amount would give Nightmare what he needed and as such Nightmare wouldn't have to go around murdering people in their sleep anymore. Needless to say, Nightmare happily accepts that offer and escapes back into the Dream Realm before Hellstrom arrives on the scene. Hellstrom is furious that Loki double-crossed him like that, but Loki explains that by giving Nightmare what he wanted Hellstrom would have the time needed to free the other people who were trapped in their nightmares. Hellstrom is pissed, and this issue ends with Hellstrom threatening to kill Loki for his antics.

Thoughts: Hellstrom, Loki, Nightmare, of course I enjoyed this one! Yeah, sure, I didn't fully get the way this issue ended, nor am I 100% sure of what Loki's plan is, but overall I enjoyed this issue, and really, that's all that matters.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Hellstrom is currently: Good in this issue.

Journey Into Mystery #634

Last review of the night is what could either be a great comic, or a terrible one... This issue has all of the ingredients to be great, now it's just a question of whether everything will come together here...

Journey Into Mystery #634:

Summary: Figuring Loki was responsible for the recent Serpent/Dark Asgard inspired dram deaths, the suddenly NOT evil Daimon Hellstrom attacks Loki, figuring Loki had taken on the guise of a child to mess with his head. Leah comes to Loki's defense and casts some protective spells, at which time Loki and Leah bicker with each other. After listening to this bickering for a bit, Hellstrom realizes that Loki was telling the truth and that he really WAS a child again. Loki tells Hellstrom that he was also having the Dark Asgard nightmares so Hellstrom decides to go into Loki's dreams to see what was going on. With that, Hellstrom and Loki go to sleep, with Leah watching over them. The two are immediately separated, and Loki winds up having to face several of his nightmares, before Leah apparently comes to his rescue. The two travel through the dream dimension and Loki rapidly realizes that the Leah traveling with him wasn't the real deal on account of her being too nice to him... HA! Loki ends up linking with fake Leah's mind and discovering that Nightmare was behind the nightmares(I knew it!), and that he was using the residual fear from Fear Itself to fashion himself a crown of fear energy in an effort to become the most powerful Fear Lord. Upon learning who was behind the plot, Leah and Hellstrom wake Loki up and he tells them what was going on. Loki also reveals that since he was so close to what happened during Fear Itself, he had the largest amount of fear in his head, meaning that if Nightmare could kill him, he'd have all the energy he needed to complete his crown of fear.

Thoughts: I loved this comic! Hellstrom was written perfectly(for a change...), the villain of the piece makes perfect sense, as does his plan, and the story, dialogue and art all came together perfectly. Sure, this comic wasn't perfect, but it was damn good, and that's better than most of the books I read.

Score: 9 out of 10.

See, THIS is the Daimon Hellstrom I'm a fan of!

Journey Into Mystery #633

It's a storyline guest-starring Daimon Hellstrom. Seriously, no matter what happens in this one it's almost guaranteed a score of a 7 or higher!

Journey Into Mystery #633:

What Happened: The Fear Lords have a meeting to discuss the events of Fear Itself and try to make themselves feel better in the face of the fact that the Serpent embarrassed them all. Notably, Nightmare isn't at the meeting... In Poland, Daimon Hellstrom(acting strangely like a vampire) arrives at the home of a girl who was asleep for days and was suffering terrible dreams about Dark Asgard. Before Daimon can do anything to help, the girl dies. Daimon angrily leaves to get to the bottom of this, since this wasn't the first case of a child being terrorized by similar dreams. A simple spell reveals to Daimon that Broxton, Oklahoma was at the heart of whatever was causing these bad dreams... Or should I say nightmares... In Broxton, Loki ends up having a terrible dream about Dark Asgard, but is forced awake by Ikol. Loki and Ikol head to the ruins of Dark Asgard to see if they could discover how Dark Asgard was still causing fear and come to the conclusion that it wasn't Dark Asgard itself that was behind Loki's terrible dreams, but Loki's own mind. At the same time, Daimon arrives at Dark Asgard and upon seeing Loki immediately figures the terrible dreams were being caused by him, which leads to Daimon moving in to attack Loki, ending this issue.

Thoughts: This was a very enjoyable comic. The main story here was very strong, although some of the other stuff happening here(the All-Mother in Asgardia, the bully in Broxton, Leah, etc) definitely took this issue down a few notches for me. Yeah, it's rather obvious who's trying to take advantage of the Serpent's handiwork(come on, it HAS to be Nightmare!!), but a comic book with both Daimon Hellstrom and Loki in it is always going to be all right in my eyes!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Loki vs Hellstrom? I'm there!

Journey Into Mystery #632

Next up tonight? Journey Into Mystery. And seeing as that my last post ran kind of long, I'm going to try to balance things out by moving through this review at a brisk pace. Will I succeed? Probably not, but that's the plan!

Journey Into Mystery #632:

Summary: It's Yule season in Asgardia! Think Asgardian Christmas. So the Asgardians are celebrating and punching Loki, which seems to be a Yule tradition(as Loki himself said, no wonder he turned evil!). Loki goes to visit Leah and discovers that Hela had left him a package. Figuring it was a Yule gift from Hela, Loki opens it and discovers seven Hel-wolf pups. It seems when Loki had taken the Hel-Wolf to Hel to distract Garm, the beast the guarded the entrance to Hel, Hel-Wolf did some first class distracting... If you catch my drift! Since Garm was too busy to care for the pups, she sent them to Loki since he had been responsible for Hel-Wolf and Hel-Wolf was dead. Loki tells the All-Mother about this and she tells him that he had to find the pups a home since they were too dangerous to keep in Asgardia. Loki is successful in finding six of the seven pups a home, but is unable to find pup #7, a rather foul mouthed creature, a home. As such the All-Mother tells Loki to dispose of it by tossing it into the World Tree. Loki can't go through with it and takes it back to Leah, telling her the Hel-pup was now going to be her roommate. From there, Loki names it Thori(get it?) and that pretty much ends this one.

Thoughts: This comic was a light-hearted Christmas style tale, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I had a few good chuckles, the story and art were fine, no major complaints here. If you want to read a light-hearted Asgardian x-mas tale, this one was by far the best one I've ever read. Granted, it was the only Asgardian x-mas style tale I've ever read, but my point stands!

Score: 8 out of 10.Loki saying that line at the bottom of the page out loud and completely nonchalantly made me legitimately laugh out loud.

Journey Into Mystery #631

The first review for today is the last new Marvel comic book in my pile, meaning we have a day and a half of DC books coming up after this... So yeah, brace yourself for that.

Journey Into Mystery #631:

Summary: We kick this off with a recap of the events of Fear Itself #7.2, which I can happily ignore since I already reviewed that particular comic. From there we find Loki betraying the Disir, by sending them to Mephisto, which actually helps Loki accomplish another goal of his... With the Disir now in Mephisto's domain, Loki warns the All-Mother of this news since Hela and Asgard's dead were located in a corner of Mephisto's Hell... Seeing as that the Disir eat Asgardian souls(or something along those lines) Asgard's dead being so close to the Disir could definitely be seen as a bad thing... As such, the All-Mother allows Hela to return to her former domain of Niffleheim. Hela is naturally pleased and tells Leah to remain with Loki since he still had other promises to fulfill. Loki hides Leah(his BFF) in a hole in the ground before heading back to the chamber of the All-Mother. The three female leaders of Asgard tell Loki that they wanted him to serve as their secret knife in Asgard, telling them what was occurring in their kingdom. In return for Loki's secretive services, the All-Mother wouldn't reveal to the Asgardians that Loki had freed Surtur from his imprisonment in Limbo. From there the scene shifts one final time and we head to Muspelheim, the home of Surtur, where we discover the massive fire demon hard at work on a new weapon...

Thoughts: This was a perfectly acceptable comic book. It set the stage for the future, and gave Loki a new direction, as a sleeper agent of sorts for the All-Mother. Besides that, we had Mephisto still corresponding with Loki, Hela still expecting something else from Loki, and Surtur planning anew. So while this wasn't my favorite issue of this series, it was still a good, solid issue that laid some groundwork for future events, and hey, every series needs an issue like that every now and then.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.If Kieron Gillen had a Mephisto series, I KNOW I'd buy it!

Journey Into Mystery #630

So Volstagg is on the cover of this issue I see... This is going to be one of the rare cases where I hope the cover of a comic book ISN'T an accurate depiction of what we'll find inside!

Journey Into Mystery #630(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: My god... This issue was all about Volstagg! The horror!!! The only thing worth mentioning is that it's revealed definitively here that yes, Volstagg was indeed the Asgardian controlling the Destroyer armor(which wasn't a huge surprise, but was at least explained). Other then that, this issue involved Volstagg telling his children the fake story of how he and Thor ended the threat of the Serpent. Sorry, but there's NO way I'm going to get more in depth with this issue than that!

Thoughts: Ugh... In case you didn't know, Volstagg is the Asgardian I hate the most. I think he's supposed to be a joke character, but unfortunately for me, I don't find him the least bit funny. So yeah, that's a pretty serious problem. The only part of this comic worth anything were the first 6 pages or so with Loki. But once Volstagg went home and started telling his terrible stories, the bottom of this issue fell WAY out for me.

Score: 2 out of 10.This scan is proof that this awful comic book really happened and wasn't some sort of terrible nightmare I had...

Journey Into Mystery #629

Next up: more Fear Itself!!! This time around, it's lil' Loki and his crew trying to do what they can to help Thor and prevent him from dying at the hands of the Serpent... I think we all know how well THAT turned out!

Journey Into Mystery #629(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: We discover that Loki and his “Magic Secret Action Squad”(his words, not mine) had managed to write a new part to the story of the Serpent, causing the Serpent to feel a slight pang of fear while battling Thor, which Thor ultimately takes advantage of to kill his vile uncle in Fear Itself #7. Loki also frees Surtur in Dark Asgard and tells Surtur that it wasn't Asgard he gave to Surtur when they made their deal, but Dark Asgard... Nice one! Surtur is a bit pissed, but decides to destroy the foul Dark Asgard since he'd still be free to launch new attacks on Asgard when the battle against the Serpent was over. When it's all said and done, and the dust has settled, Loki is now more alone than he ever was before with the only person in Asgard who gave him a second chance, Thor, gone.

Thoughts: Eh. Much like Iron Man, this was a series that started out really strong during the early stages of it's Fear Itself tie-ins but slowly petered out. Sure, this comic gave us a bit of background as to what was going on behind the scenes during the climatic final battle in Fear #7, but it wasn't anything that I'd classify as “must read”... So while this was an okay comic, it definitely was one that could have been skipped without missing all that much.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Jeez, that's one demon I wouldn't want to piss off...

Journey Into Mystery #628

Ah, now here's a series I've been enjoying since the Fear Itself tie-in issues began, which is the opposite of how I feel about MOST Fear Itself tie-ins! I've enjoyed following Loki as he clandestinely organized a strike force against the Serpent, and with Fear Itself ending in a few short weeks, this issue should finally reveal the full breadth of Loki's machinations... Or at least that's what I hope!

Journey Into Mystery #628:

Summary: This issue kicks off with Loki and his allies(roll call! The Disir, Tyr, Leah and the Destroyer) managing to breach the Serpent's stronghold, the floating city of Dark Asgard. Loki and company manage to make their way through the Serpent's forces and head towards the Serpent's library, luckily only running into some of the Serpent's lesser minions. The group manage to enter the library, where Loki and Leah go and look for a book of some importance while the rest of Loki's group barricade the doorway and attack the forces that try to enter. Loki and Leah manage to find the book, and Loki reveals that the piece of Surtur's sword he received from Surtur was actually a magical pen?!

Thoughts: Um, okay... For whatever reason, I never really managed to get into this comic. I was a bit annoyed that none of the Worthy, who should have been by the Serpent's side on Dark Asgard, confronted Loki and company once the Serpent's goons set off the alarm. I guess the Serpent was THAT confident that he didn't care someone had breached Dark Asgard? I don't know. Plus this issue strongly focused on the Disir, who I really could care less about. Eh, hopefully this issue was just a blip and the next issue will be on par with the prior couple of issues.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Wow, those are some UGLY buggers!

Journey Into Mystery #627

And after a one issue reprieve, we're back to the Fear Itself tie-in issues of Journey Into Mystery. I've been surprised by just how much I've enjoyed this series since I started collecting it several months ago, here's hoping Kieron Gillen can continue his extremely strong work with this issue.

Journey Into Mystery #627(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: Hey, it's an all Mephisto comic! This issue gets started with Mephisto entering a bar at closing time to tell the bartender the story of how his day has gone. With the Serpent ravaging the Earth, Mephisto heads up to Infinite Embassy, which is where all of the various godheads meet up and discuss matters that concern them. Through some asking around and snooping, Mephisto discovers that while the Olympians want to fight the Serpent on the behalf of humanity, the other godheads have decreed that the Serpent's invasion of Earth was an Asgardian affair, and as such the other godheads wouldn't interfere... And no, the Olympians don't want to defend Earth out of the kindness of their hearts, they are currently living on Earth and fear being wiped out when Odin and his army raze the Earth to kill the Serpent. From there, Mephisto heads to the Devil's Advocacy, which was the meeting place for the hell-lords and demons. Some demons want to attack the Serpent for his audacity(Cyttorak), while others have no interest in confronting a being as powerful as the Serpent. As for Mephisto, he feels the best move is to simply sit back and let the drama play out, and since Mephisto is the preeminent devil in the Marvel U, the hell-lords seem to abide by this decision. Next, Mephisto heads to Nightmare's domain to see how the fear-lords were holding up. Nightmare is a wreck since the Serpent was feeding off of the fear permeating the Earth, which was leaving no fear for Nightmare to feed off of, basically starving Nightmare. Mephisto prods Nightmare for information, and discovers that the other fear-lords were content to simply sit back and let the Serpent's assault run it's course. Nightmare on the other hand wants to attack the Serpent head-on, hoping to defeat the Serpent and feed on all of that sweet, sweet fear. Mephisto manages to convince Nightmare against such a rash action before heading back to his version of Hell. Back home, Mephisto writes a message to be given to the Serpent asking for a treaty between Mephisto's forces and the Serpent's army. Mephisto also writes a second message that is to be given anonymously to whoever was in control of Asgard once the battle against the Serpent had ended. This message reveals that Loki had made a deal to free Surtur from Limbo, something the Asgardians would have Loki's head for.

Thoughts: What can I say, I'm a sucker for Marvel mythology. Be it the various gods or the assorted demons running around the Marvel U, I love reading about them. Mephisto, when written properly, is a great character, and here? He was definitely written properly. There's really not much more I can say about this comic. You'll either love it or hate it, depending on your view of beings such as Mephisto, Nightmare and the godheads. Me? I absolutely loved this issue.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.And now you know!

Journey Into Mystery #626.1

Today begins with one of Marvel's .1 issues... Now normally I'm fine with these .1 issues, but the timing for this one is rather odd... Journey Into Mystery has been neck deep in Fear Itself for the past couple of issues, so doing a .1 issue now, one that isn't connected to Fear Itself, just seems all kinds of weird... Oh well, let's see what's going on in this one.

Journey Into Mystery #626.1:

Summary: The events of this issue actually take place between panels 4 & 5 in Journey #622 for those of you who need to know that sort of thing. As for me, I have NO idea what happened in that issue, so on to this issue! Loki summons an ancient spirit from the Eldritch Realm called a Teller, whose gimmick is... well, telling people secrets and stuff. You see, Loki realizes that the gods of Asgard are mistrustful and suspicious of him, and wants the Teller to show him what the gods really think of him when he's not around. To that end, the Teller shows Loki conversations between the Warriors Three, Sif and Brunnhilde, as well as Odin and Heimdall. The main gist of what everybody is saying is that they don't trust Loki and don't understand why Thor does. The Teller asks Loki if he wanted to know what Thor was saying about Loki, but Loki quickly refuses that offer. Having learned what he wanted, Loki tries to send the Teller back to the Eldritch Realm, but unfortunately for Loki, the Teller refuses to go without payment... That payment? Loki's future. Loki balks at that and tries to leave the room, but the Teller's magic wraps Loki up and begins to slowly drag Loki to the Teller, who revealed that he was going to eat Loki in order to get Loki's future. Loki screams for Thor, which the Teller finds amusing, since the Teller could see all of Loki's own conflicting thoughts on the God of Thunder. Right before the Teller eats Loki(and his future!), Thor arrives on the scene and strikes the Teller with lightning, demanding it returned from whence it came. The Teller goes, but warns Thor that down the road he may end up kicking himself for not allowing the Teller to end Loki then and there. With that, Thor reveals that a voice warned him to save Loki(the voice was Ikol's, Loki's pet bird/the knowledge of Loki's older self), so he responded. Thor goes on to ask Loki what this whole scene was all about, and Loki tells Thor the truth, that he wanted to know what the other Asgardians thought about him. Thor tells Loki not to worry about what they thought now, since with time the Asgardians would grow to accept Loki. With that, Thor tells Loki to be more careful with his magic, and the Teller, in his home realm, curiously watches that scene play out, wondering if Loki was truly changed from his last incarnation while promising he would eventually get the payment from Loki he felt he deserved.

Thoughts: This was an excellent .1 issue. It pretty much told you everything you'd need to know about this series and Loki by looking through the eyes of the other important characters in Thor's comics... Except for Thor, which I found to be the most interesting part of this comic. Did Loki not want to know Thor's inner thoughts because he already knew Thor's thoughts, or was Loki afraid that he'd discover that even his beloved brother had doubts about Loki and was only keeping him around in order to keep a close eye on him? So not only was this a great jumping on point for this series, it was also a great story. So kudos to Rob Rodi and Pasqual Ferry for this one.

Score: 9 out of 10.Loki running to Thor, and then hiding behind him was a really nice touch here.

Avengers Academy #18 & Journey Into Mystery #626

Two Fear Itself tie-in comics to get through tonight, with both of these series usually being really good. Here's hoping that trend continues here.

Avengers Academy #18(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: The Avengers Academy kids are trapped in Infinite Avengers Mansion with the Serpent possessed Titania and Absorbing Man, with no way out due to the Serpent possessed duo destroying the teleportational matrix. Titania and Absorbing Man split up to torment the kids and Titania comes across Mettle, Hazmat and Veil. Titania makes quick work of Mettle, throwing her hammer at him, sending him through the walls of the Mansion and out into the void surrounding the Mansion. Hazmat's blasts prove to be ineffective, so Veil tries to seep into Titania's body in her ghost form to possess Titania like Veil was able to possess Korvac a few issues back. Veil goes for it, but is driven out by all of the horrendous images in Titania's head. With Mettle gone and Veil defeated, Hazmat does what I would have done from the start, runs like hell! Meanwhile, Absorbing Man is busy beating the hell out of Reptil, leaving him close to dead. Striker and Finesse are watching Reptil get taken down in the communication room when Hazmat comes running in. Realizing they were WOEFULLY outmatched, Striker suggests that since the Avengers Academy kids had the potential to become big-time super-villains(it's true, read the earlier issues of this series to learn more!), they start acting the part... Back with Titania and Absorbing Man, they've hung Veil and Reptil on a statue of Thor(HA!) while discussing further ways to terrorize the other Academy kids. While the two are making out/thinking, Hazmat walks over and proposes an alliance with the two villains, since the Avengers hadn't been able to help her gain control of her powers, and as such she had no real allegiance to the team. The two villains are intrigued by this turn of events, and discuss taking Hazmat up on her offer, which gives Striker and Finesse the opportunity to sneak over and carry Reptil and Veil away. The two villains realize what was transpiring too late and Hazmat detonates herself in a violent explosion, burying the villains under some rubble, allowing Striker and Finesse to get Reptil and Veil into the medical lab. From there, Hazmat manages to bring Mettle back inside and Finesse takes him into the medical lab while Striker and Hazmat lead Titania and Absorbing Man on a merry little chase. The two kids split up and are chased by the two villains, eventually leading each villain to a holographic image of Giant Man. The villains throw their hammers at the Giant Man images, but realize too late that they had been tricked as Absorbing Man's hammer goes slamming into Titania and vice-versa. The force of the hammers sends the two villains out of the Mansion, buying the Hazmat and Striker the time to return to the medical lab where Finesse was waiting with some news. Since the teleportational system was down, Finesse has decided to use Pym particles to have the six Academy kids in the room grow out of the dimension Infinite Avengers Mansion is located in. Unfortunately, activating the Pym particle machinery has alerted Absorbing Man and Titania of the machine's location, at which point the Absorbing Man begins to absorb the machine's abilities, which leads to the Absorbing Man causing the entire Infinite Avengers Mansion to grow. Why is this a problem you ask? Because if the entire massive Infinite Avengers Mansion was to grow large enough, it would probably level a city and kill millions upon appearing on Earth.

Thoughts: There's really only one thing I have to say about this comic. As of right now, August 19th, 2011, it is my favorite comic book series. I don't say that lightly either. I have over over 50 comic books on my monthly pull list(let that number set in for a moment...), and after looking at my list of comics, THIS is the series that brings me the most enjoyment with each issue. Now, I'm a very fickle person. In two week's time I may be talking about how some other series is my favorite. But right now, at this moment, after reading like 8 new comics this week so far, there's no hesitation in my voice when I call Avengers Academy my favorite monthly comic. The bottom line is this. This series is only $2.99. If you're reading my words and haven't read this series yet, give it a shot. You don't even have to know much about the Avengers or their history. Most of the main characters here are characters who were created for this series, so there's not that much history to catch up on. There's really nothing else for me to say.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.I ALWAYS propose treachery!!


Journey Into Mystery #626(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: We get started with Kid Loki and the Hel-Wolf heading to Limbo. Upon arriving, Loki is unimpressed by his surroundings, while the Hel-Wolf reminds Loki that he swore to serve Loki as long as the Hel-Wolf lived, and that after the Hel-Wolf's trip to Mephisto's Hell, the Hel-Wolf had, technically, died... With that, the Hel-Wolf charges after Loki to eat him for all of the humiliation Loki had put the Hel-Wolf through. Unfortunately for the Hel-Wolf, it draws the attention of the being Loki wanted to meet in Limbo, Surtur... Needless to say, that's the end of the Hel-Wolf, as Surtur literally picks the Wolf up and eats it... Huh. Loki approaches Surtur, and offers to assist Surtur in escaping Limbo, at which point Surtur could attack Asgard to his heart's content. Surtur is a bit suspicious of Loki's words, and Loki reveals that he needed a piece of Surtur's Twilight Sword, and in return he'd free Surtur into Asgard to reap his bloody revenge. Loki swears an oath that he wouldn't break his promise to Surtur, so Surtur gives Loki a small piece of his massive blade and Loki returns to Asgard with it. From there, Loki meets with and concocts a plan with an unknown Asgardian, before stealing the Destroyer armor and heading to Earth to meet with his allies in order to enact his plan to destroy the Serpent's dark version of Asgard.

Thoughts: I've got to say, while there are times when this series leaves me a bit perplexed, overall it's a blast to read. I've really grown to love the Kid Loki character. Doug Braithwaite's wonderful art really helps this series too, as his art just perfectly fits the feel of this series. My regular readers know I normally could care less about the art in a comic, but in this case, Braithwaite's art actually makes reading this series better! Let's see, I was a bit sad to see the Hel-Wolf go, as I really enjoyed it's banter with Loki. The deal Loki made with Surtur is obviously going to favor Loki, which will probably lead to Surtur wanting revenge on Loki at some later date, but with the Earth in such dire straits due to the Serpent's attack, Surtur is currently the lesser of the two evils. Now I was a bit confused by who Loki tricked into taking control of the Destroyer armor... I'm not exactly a huge Thor historian(I only just started reading Thor seriously earlier this year), so I may very well be wrong here, but I thought that the Destroyer armor had to be inhabited by the spirit of another in order for it to work. If that's the case, I'm very curious to see which Asgardian Loki convinced to bond with the armor, undoubtedly earning the ire of Odin in the process. Overall? I enjoyed this issue a lot, and hope that Loki and this creative team stick with this series for a good long time.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Super-villains sure do love giving soliloquies ...

New Avengers #14 & Journey Into Mystery #625

Hey all, two more Marvel comics to breeze through today, both of them Fear Itself tie-in books. Before I get to those two comics though, since I actually managed to logically plan out my massive 20 book week, I can tell you exactly which books I'll be reviewing every day until this coming Wednesday! How awesome is that! So unless I get buried under a mountain or something similar, here's the schedule for the rest of the week... Today I'll be reviewing New Avengers #14 & Journey Into Mystery #625, while Sunday brings Ghost Rider #1 & Black Panther #521. Monday I'll be reviewing Teen Titans #97 & Superman #713, which brings us to Tuesday where I'll be scraping the proverbial bottom of the barrel and braving Birds of Prey #14 & FF #6. So there you have it, X-Maniacs, a nice, orderly, set in stone look at the rest of the week! With that out of the way, let's take a look at New Avengers and Journey Into Mystery.

New Avengers #14(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: This issue starts with Mockingbird talking... And talking... And talking... Yes my friends, Brian Bendis IS indeed writing this issue! Why do you ask? Blah blah, Mockingbird was given the Infinity Formula, blah blah, it saved her life, blah, blah, blah. From there, Spider-Man announces he was quitting the New Avengers(and who could blame him!! They suck!!!) because Victoria Hand was their liaison, and he hates Norman Osborn and she used to work for Osborn or something. Whatever. Eventually Mockingbird walks in the room and everybody is surprised to see her alive, which gives Wolvie the chance to pull Spidey aside to try to talk him into staying, or leaving, who really knows? Then Sin's Nazis attack New York, and the New Avengers rush into battle. Mockingbird is pleased with her newfound enhanced abilities, and tells us. Again, and again, and again... My god, does Bendis think blithering idiots are reading this?!? Anyway, Mockingbird's happiness with her new abilities turns to sadness when Avengers Tower falls to the forces of Sin. And then Mockingbird talks some more, and this issue ends.

Thoughts: You know, Bendis really impresses me sometimes. I mean just the other day, I gave a comic he wrote a perfect score because I enjoyed it so much. Today? Nope, we won't be getting anywhere CLOSE to a perfect score! First of all, for all I complain about the awful Justice League line-up, THIS New Avengers line-up is pretty damn bad in it's own right! First of all, we have Spider-Man, Thing and Wolverine, who all have responsibilities to other teams/series first. Then there's Ms. Marvel, who I've always hated, Luke Cage, who I hate when he's written by Bendis, Iron Fist, who's there because... Well, I don't know why he gets to be an Avenger, but I guess if Luke can LEAD an Avengers team, why can't Iron Fist be a member, and Mockingbird, who I actually REALLY like, but was written WAY out of character in this issue. I mean she even said it herself, she's a secret agent! She prefers staying in the background! In this issue, she wouldn't shut up!!! What the hell Mockingbird was this?! Bizarro Mockingbird?!? My god, I have to read another comic book quickly to rinse the stain of this comic from my brain! NOW I remember why I never picked this series up!

Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.Hey look, Mockingbird is talking and talking and talking and talking and......


Journey Into Mystery #625(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: Man are these Journey Into Mystery comics hard to review. I'm just going to go with the broad strokes, because a whole mess of stuff happened here. In Hell, Hela and Mephisto are at each other's throats thanks to Loki's chicanery. Mephisto believes Hela was going to throw in with the Serpent, and Hela felt Mephisto was about to unjustly declare war on her. One of Hela's lieutenants tells Hela that Mephisto had the souls of the Disir within his realm, which further inflames the situation. As for who told Hela's lieutenant this news? Loki of course! With the two hell-lords distracted, Loki and Tyr manage to sneak into the Tongue's quarters(the Tongue was sent to Hela by the Serpent to see if she'd ally herself with him), and force him to hand over the documents he had from the Serpent before Tyr kills him. Now holding official evidence of the Serpent's plans, Loki rushes over to Hela and Mephisto and reveals that the Serpent was planning on causing a revolt in Hela's Hel. Hela realizes that she couldn't defeat Mephisto AND quell a revolt at the same time, and Mephisto has no interest in conquering a Hel that was in full revolt. The two hell-lords decide to put aside their differences for the time being and decide to listen to Loki's advice and deal with the Serpent, since he caused so much friction between Hela and Mephisto. To that end, Mephisto sends half of the Disir to Hel to make sure none of Hela's souls attempted a revolt and gives Loki the other half to deal with the Serpent. Hela in turn gives Loki her two top lieutenants, Tyr and Leah, before heading back to Hel to make sure no uprising occurs. Now having gathered more forces against the Serpent, Loki sets his sights on the next part of his plan to defeat the Serpent, a trip to Limbo.

Thoughts: I'll admit, there are times when I'm reading this comic and have NO idea as to what's going on... But then I'll turn the page and love what I was reading... It's weird. This comic was like that. I'd read a page and be completely lost, and then turn the page and find myself enjoying the story. Go figure. As usual, I'm loving young Loki, and enjoying the hell out of the artwork and dialogue. Sure, the story goes over my head at times, but hey, as long as I enjoy the dialogue and art, that's something, right?

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Poor Loki seems to be having some problems here...

Fear Itself: Deadpool #1 & Journey Into Mystery #624

I picked up 3 Fear Itself tie-in issues earlier today, and figured I'd take two of them and do some reviews for them posthaste. After looking at the covers of the comics, it became VERY obvious that I didn't want to read Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1 due to the fact that Howard the Duck was on the cover, so that helped me decide on which two comics to review...

Fear Itself: Deadpool #1(of 3):

Summary: Wanting to profit from the whole “Fear Itself” thing going on throughout the Marvel Universe, Deadpool winds up getting hit on the head by a sledgehammer that flew out of an exploding van. Pool takes the hammer home with him, puts all kinds of jewels on it and decides to find the most inept super-villain he could find to wield the hammer. Why an inept villain? So Deadpool could then defeat the villain, save some small New Mexican town, and then bask in the rewards that would follow. To this end, Pool finds the Walrus and drops the hammer in front of the idiotic villain from a hang glider. The Walrus figures it was one of the hammers from the Serpent, but is confused by the fact that he doesn't feel any stronger, and that the hammer didn't actually DO anything. Not wanting his plan to fail, Pool puts a lame Halloween costume on over his Deadpool attire and tells the Walrus that he was the Spectre of the Hammers, and that he'd help the Walrus unlock the hammer's true powers, all while directing the Walrus to attack the small New Mexican town Pool had set his sights on. This issue ends with the owners of the van that exploded earlier on wondering what happened to their magic hammer.

Thoughts: So wait, the hammer Deadpool gave to the Walrus really WAS magic?! Huh... This was what you'd call a perfectly acceptable comic. It wasn't great, it wasn't horrible, it just was. It had a few funny moments, but it wasn't as funny as the main Deadpool comic, so for a score, I'll go with a nice, average number...

Score: 6 out of 10.This scene had nothing to do with this comic, but it made me laugh, so here it is.


Journey Into Mystery #624:

Summary: This issue picks up from the events of Fear Itself #3 where Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three helped break Thor out of prison and ultimately led to Odin sending Thor to Earth to fight against the Serpent. With Thor gone, Odin turns his attention to Loki, who he figures was behind the plan to spring Thor from prison. Before Odin can send his wrath Loki's way, Volstagg steps forward and claims that the plan to free Thor was his, and manages to convince Odin to spare Loki. Odin leaves, and Loki is surprised by Volstagg's defense of him. Volstagg explains to Loki that he himself had children, and although he didn't fully trust Loki, he wouldn't want to see any harm befall a child. After Loki has been left alone, he heads to the Hel-Wolf he freed last issue and has it take him to Hel, which was currently residing within Mephisto's Hell. Before Loki arrives, a dignitary of the Serpent is speaking with Hela, the ruler of Hel, asking for her to ally with the Serpent against Asgard. Hela has no allegiance to Asgard, but isn't exactly keen on joining in the battle against Odin. The Serpent's dignitary pretty much warns Hela that if she doesn't side with the Serpent, the Serpent would think Hela didn't fear him, and as a Lord of Fear, the Serpent would feel obligated to make Hela feel that fear, one way or another. With those threats ringing in her ears, Hela tells the Serpent's dignitary that she'd consider the Serpent's offer, telling him to head to his chambers while she thought about it. Hela is torn as to what to do, with her two lieutenants, Tyr and Leah both giving her conflicting advice. Tyr, being from Asgard, wants Hela to stand with the Asgardians, while Leah warns against such actions. Anyway, when Tyr is alone, Loki approaches him and tells him that he wanted to try to help defend Asgard against the Serpent, and that he didn't want to see Hela pledge her allegiance to the Serpent... To that end, Loki manages to secure Tyr's trust before heading from Hel to Hell, to meet with Mephisto. Loki makes his way through Hell and meets up with Mephisto, and the two talk, with Loki doing a pretty good job of convincing Mephisto that he was the same Loki from before, just in a younger body. Loki tells Mephisto that Hela was planning on allying herself with the Serpent, and that a god like the Serpent would surely be looking for other lands to conquer once he was done with Asgard and Earth, namely Mephisto's domain... Needless to say, Mephisto doesn't like the sound of that, and Loki leaves Mephisto to his thoughts. From there Loki heads to Hela and warns her that Mephisto was planning on invading Hel, which angers Hela enough to get her to head off to confront Mephisto. With Hela now temporarily out of the way, Loki tells Tyr that they needed to do something that would ally Mephisto and Hela against a common enemy... The Serpent's visiting dignitary...

Thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I've actually enjoyed all of the Journey Into Mystery comics I've been reading lately. I just can't help but like young Loki... I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's just something about him I really like. Anyway, this issue left me a bit more confused than the last few issues, with Loki weaving his lies and attempting to manipulate Hela and Mephisto into standing against the Serpent. There were certain aspects of this story I didn't get(the women Loki and Mephisto were talking about, Tyr being in Hel, whoever that Leah girl was, etc), but the stuff I did understand, I did like. So as usual, I'll be looking forward to the next issue of this one.

Score: 8 out of 10.Check out Mephisto's sweet tux!

Fear Itself: Youth In Revolt #1 & Journey Into Mystery #623

First up for today are two Marvel books, both Fear Itself crossover issues. Thus far I've been very high on the Fear Itself event... Will the era of good feelings continue here at the old blog? Read on and find out!

Fear Itself: Youth In Revolt #1(of 6):

Summary: This issue gets started with Prodigy(of Slingers fame!) being asked by Steve Rogers to get a group of younger heroes together to keep the peace while the Avengers were occupied with the events of Fear Itself. To the end Prodigy pulls together a bunch of heroes who had been serving in the Initiative, as well as Firestar, who joined to support Gravity, who wasn't sure if he should bother. From there Prodigy splits the multitude of heroes into smaller groups and dispatches them across the country, where they break up various riots and criminal activities that have been spurred by the Serpent's arrival on Earth. During a riot in Atlanta, Thor Girl, Ultra Girl and a few other heroes arrive to try to calm things down. Unfortunately, the arrival spooks the crowd more since Sin's attack on the White House had just become public, and upon seeing Thor Girl's hammer, the crowd thought Thor Girl was one of the Serpent's marauders. This issue ends with the panicked crowd trying to get at Thor Girl, endangering themselves and Thor Girl's teammates in the process.

Thoughts: Wow, this issue was great! I've always been a sucker for b-list Marvel heroes, and this comic had PLENTY of them! Hardball was here, which means this comic was going to get at least a 7 for a score from me(due to the Hardball Rule), but the great story helped boost the final score up way higher than a 7. For a regular sized comic, Sean McKeever was able to get A LOT of characters face time in this one, as well as some little moments of character development(Prodigy, Ultra Girl & Thor Girl, Firestar & Gravity, Komodo & Hardball, etc). On top of all that, the comic read like a breeze. By the time I got to the back cover I was already eagerly anticipating the next issue. If ALL of the Fear Itself tie-ins turn out like this one, I'm going to be one VERY happy comic book collector!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.You know the rules... Add Hardball to any comic to make it better!


Journey Into Mystery #623:

Summary: As he continues to prepare for his eventual war with the Serpent, Odin brings the massive Hel Wolf to Asgard, disturbing many Asgardians, including the young Loki. Loki voices his disapproval of Odin's recent actions to a fellow Asgardian, who agrees, but then tries to slit Loki's throat since most Asgardians still blamed Loki for the fall of Asgard during Siege. Volstagg interrupts the attempted murder and ferries Loki away from the gathered crowd. Volstagg takes Loki to Thor's pet goats, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, and while Loki cleans up after the goats, Volstagg relates the tale of how Thor wound up with the goats(at the urging of Loki, a youthful Thor used a magic bridle to break the rambunctious goats). Telling the tale makes Volstagg thirsty, at which point he leaves to get some mead. With Volstagg out of sight, Loki summons Ikol, the bird with his older self's knowledge. Loki inquires as to who this Serpent character was, to which Ikol tells Loki to go to the World Tree and ask the three wise women who were there. Loki does just that and returns from the trip very disturbed by whatever it was he was told. From there Loki visits Thor for some advice, before heading to the cell that was holding the Hel Wolf. Loki lets the Hel Wolf out, but wraps it in the magic bridle Thor had used years earlier to break his goats. After a while, Loki manages to break the Hel Wolf, and this issue ends with Loki telling the Hel Wolf that they'd be heading to Hel.

Thoughts: I'm still extremely intrigued by this story. There are still big holes as to what's going on, such as what Loki learned from the wise women, but I find myself enamored by the story... I really like Kid Loki, and have to say, the story and artwork here are doing a great job of keeping me interested. This is another Marvel book that I find myself looking forward to every month.

Score: 8 out of 10.Yes, the top panel with Loki taunting while riding the Hel Wolf made me laugh.

Journey Into Mystery #622 & Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier Annual #1

Hey all, X here on his buggy computer with two new Marvel reviews! My power cord is still on the fritz, so until the new cord comes from Amazon I'm still not sure if I'll be able to keep up my regular posting schedule. I'll try to keep posting new reviews daily, but as I said last night, if I miss a day here or there, blame the computer, not me!

Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier Annual 2011 #1:

Summary: Blastaar announces to the Earth that he had captured their “spies” meaning Lord Summers and Hope. Blastaar demands Reed Richards heads to the Negative Zone to grovel for their release or else he'd kill the two mutants. However, Reed isn't available, so Steve Rogers tells the President that he'd head to the Negative Zone and see if he could convince Blastaar to release the two. Steve heads to the Negative Zone, and when Blastaar sees that it wasn't Reed, he tells his forces to kill Steve. Steve manages to outsmart Blastaar's forces and disappears into the prison, in search of the two X-Men. By this point, Hope has freed herself(she IS perfect, you know) and frees Lord Summers. The two sneak into the ventilation system and try to figure out what to do. Steve manages to reach the prison area, and after hearing Lord Summers and Hope talking in the vents, hooks up with them. Lord Summers wants to search for Dr. Nemesis and Namor, but Steve thinks it would be prudent to just get out of the Negative Zone for now, and then come back later for the other two. Steve leads Hope and Lord Summers to the room with the portal back to Earth, and finds Blastaar waiting for them. Blastaar blasts Lord Summers and is prepared to do the same to Steve when a water deprived Namor crashes through the wall and trounces Blastaar. Hope rushes over to thank Namor and he smashes her in the face before turning to face Steve, ending this issue.

Thoughts: No problems here for me. This story moved along nicely, was pretty action packed, and I've slowly turned into a fan of Blastaar since his appearances in the old Nova comic. Plus it had Steve Rogers in it, and Lord Summers didn't really do anything, so I'll be looking forward to the final part of this story in the Namor annual, as crazy Namor tries to kill and(hopefully) drink everybody.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.You'd be surprised if you knew how often that same thing happens to me when I enter a room...


Journey Into Mystery #622:

Summary: Man, I've really missed a lot in the Thor comics... So apparently Loki's spirit is in the body of a 10 year old boy that Thor found, but doesn't have Loki's memories. Needless to say, the other Asgardians hate Kid Loki, as they recall how Loki directly caused the fall of Asgard during Siege. Being pretty isolated, Kid Loki runs into a bird that explodes, revealing a key... This key leads Kid Loki on an adventure where he continues to discover other clues, leading to a book telling the story of Asgard. Kid Loki studies the book and winds up falling into a pocket dimension where he meets an illusion of Loki himself. Older Loki tells Kid Loki why he needed to die during Siege(he had become too predictable) and pledges to assist his younger self in any way he can. Older Loki also reveals to his younger self that a great peril(the events of Fear Itself) was eminent, and that he could assist his younger self when things get their worst. Kid Loki decides to turn Older Loki into a bird named Ikol(Get it? Loki spelled backwards!), which would give him advice when he needed it. From there we head to the events at the end of Fear Itself #1 where Odin takes the Asgardians off Earth with Kid Loki feeling content in the knowledge that Ikol would feed him any knowledge he needed.

Thoughts: Hey, I actually enjoyed this comic a lot! First things first, I stopped reading the Thor comics after Siege. I've never really been a fan of Thor, but I've ALWAYS been a fan of Loki, which I why I decided to pick this comic up. Naturally, I was pretty shocked to see that Loki was a) alive, and b) a child. So initially I was turned off of this comic from the start. However, as the comic moved along, I found myself really liking Kid Loki and enjoying his adventure to discover what the mystery of the key held. The stuff when Kid Loki met Older Loki was a bit confusing, but I think I figured out what the main point of that was(Kid Loki getting Ikol the bird). All in all, good stuff, that will have me adding this comic to my monthly pull list.

Score: 8 out of 10.HA! Even Thor knows that Tony Stark talks too much!