Daken: Dark Wolverine #18

For the rest of the week, due to the sheer number of comic books I have to get through, as well as Christmas, I'll be reviewing all of my comics, Marvel, DC and otherwise, using the good/bad/verdict format. I'm sure most of you guys don't care, but I figured I'd put that out there. Anyway, next up for the night is the latest issue of Daken, a series that is slowly marching towards the end. I've got to say, this series really fell apart when Dan Way and Marjorie Liu left. Rob Williams started off well, but the drug storyline was just the wrong way to take the Daken character, in my humble opinion at least... Oh well, let's see how things shake out this issue.

Daken: Dark Wolverine #18:

What Happened: After an initial misfire, Daken manages to convince the Runaways that Marcus Roston was related to the Pride in some manner. After listening to Daken for a bit, Chase realizes that Roston was his “creepy Uncle Eli”, a guy the Pride wouldn't allow to join them since he was insane. Figuring Daken to be the good guy and Roston to be the bad guy, the kids agree to assist Daken... But after Daken leaves they decide to see what they could dig up on him... From there, Roston grows tired of being a movie star and wanders away from his movie set crying... Daken heads off and finds FBI agent Kiel, who was contemplating leaping off the LAPD administration building to stop her addiction to the Heat drug Roston concocted. Daken talks her off the ledge(the hell?!), saying that he saw a lot of himself in her(really now...). Roston floats over and uses his still unexplained powers to kill everybody in the LAPD building before turning his attention to Daken on the roof. Roston moves in to finally kill Daken, but is halted by the Runaways, who arrive on the scene to assist Daken in his hour of need.

The Good: Daken plus the Runaways is definitely a good thing. Williams explained away that whole idiotic, “Chase was run over by a car!” that ended the last Runaways series by simply saying that Chase had been in an automobile accident and got better... Now let us never speak of that last Runaways series again... Due to the impending cancellation, we're FINALLY going to get to the end of this Roston/drug storyline. Thankfully.

The Bad: Williams just never seemed to “get” Daken... Getting addicted to drugs, losing control of himself, his strange infatuation with Kiel, it all runs counter to what Way had done with Daken through Origins, Dark Wolverine and this series... It may be a little thing, but Victor was drawn wrong(what was with his hair?) and didn't have enough lines.

The Verdict: Eh. Daken may be one of my favorite Marvel characters(I was PSYCHED to finally get his card in UMvC3 earlier today!!), but there's a part of me that's actually happy about the impending cancellation of this series... As much as I love the guy, I think Daken needs to go off, lick his wounds and come back a few months from now, giving us the time to forget these last several issues ever happened.

Score: 6 out of 10.How about a Daken and the Runaways series, Marvel?

Invincible #86

Alright! Here's a comic I've been looking forward to reading since the last issue came out! Oddly enough, taking the title character OUT of the series made it 100 times more enjoyable for me... Weird. Anyway, this issue should have a HUGE Allen the Alien/Nolan showdown, as well as Oliver, who along with Cecil Stedman NEED their own series!! Enough intro, let's get to it.

Invincible #86:

What Happened: Quick reminder of the events of the last issue... Allen has revealed to Nolan that the Coalition had managed to perfect the Scourge Virus, which is one of the few things that could kill a Viltrumite. With all of the remaining Viltrumites in the universe hiding out on Earth, Allen plans on releasing the virus on Earth, which would eliminate the Viltrumite menace once and for all. The problem? There's a good chance the virus would also kill every human on Earth since their DNA was so similar to Viltrumites. Allen sees this as a risk worth taking, while Nolan thinks that potentially wiping out the entire human race is the wrong way to deal with his people... This issue opens with Nolan and Allen taking their battle into outer space so as to not damage/kill anyone on the Coalition homeworld. Allen gains the initial advantage, but Oliver soon joins the battle and attacks Allen to aid his father. Before the two can really take advantage of Allen though, a mess of Coalition soldiers appear on the scene. With the soldiers momentarily preventing Nolan and Oliver from attacking, Allen again tries to reason with Nolan, telling him that a) it wasn't 100% guaranteed the virus would kill humans, and b) even if it did, those billions of deaths would prevent several billion more in the future. Nolan counters by saying that living on Earth changed him from being one of the most hardened of Viltrumites to somebody who was willing to stand against his conquest hungry people. In Nolan's eyes, the longer his people lived amongst the humans, the more likely they'd turn out like he did and recant their ways. After hearing both side, Oliver sides with Allen and the Coalition over his father and declares that if the death of all humans was what it took to rid the universe of the Viltrumites, so be it. Seeing that Nolan wasn't going to change his mind here, Allen tells his soldiers to restrain Nolan so he could get his mission over with. Nolan knocks the soldiers around and makes a move towards Allen, but is stopped by Oliver, who slugs his father. Nolan goes to attack Oliver, but can't bring himself to strike his son. With that, Allen attacks Nolan anew which leads to a battered and beaten Nolan retreating. Allen lets him go and asks Oliver to accompany him to Earth since it was almost assured that Invincible would be as bullheaded as Nolan was. This issue ends with Nolan returning to his wife Debbie to tell her that they had to get to Earth to warn Invincible, before collapsing.

The Good: Um, everything? Seriously, there wasn't a dull moment in this comic. Every page, every scene, every piece of dialogue was just perfect here. Not only that, but the story itself is full of so much gray! You can EASILY understand the argument both Allen and Nolan were making, and could see why Oliver sided the way he did.

The Bad: Nothing I can think of...

The Verdict: Yeah, this comic was perfect, no question about that. I love stories that aren't totally cut and dry, and this one fit that bill completely. It's rare when a comic book can actually give you a story where you can easily see both sides of the argument presented. Usually in a comic book when you are presented with an argument that is supposed to be shades of gray, it's STILL easy to see which side is “right”(I'm looking squarely at YOU, Civil War!)... If you want to know which side of this argument I fall on, it really wasn't that difficult of a decision for me to make... I am fully on Allen's side here. Yep, I'd be willing to potentially kill all life on Earth in order to save future generations from the horrors of the Viltrumites. I totally get what Nolan is saying here(that the Viltrumites may soften as he did and no longer threaten the universe with enough time spent on Earth), but what if Nolan WAS an aberration to his people? What if the rest of the Viltrumites DON'T soften their stances and DO go through with their long range plan, which would be to have children on Earth. Children who would eventually grow up to help the Viltrumites conquer the universe? Then again, what if Nolan ISN'T an aberration and living on Earth, living as a human, DOES change the Viltrumites? See, it's NOT that clear cut. But for my money? If I were in Allen's position, hoping the Viltrumites change isn't worth the risk. So yeah, needless to say, I can't wait for the next issue as the Coalition forces begin their move towards the Earth...

Score: 10 out of 10.I really do love Oliver...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #4

Well, this comic can't be as bad as the first DC book I read tonight... At least I hope not!!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #4:

What Happened: While Red Hood and Arsenal are battling against a member of The Untitled(who I'm still a bit foggy on...), Starfire is attacked by a big green guy named Crux. During the fight, Crux reveals his origin story(as any good super-villain should), which is basically that a Tamaranean warship crash landed on his parents and killed them, causing him to devote his life to destroying any Tamaraneans who came to Earth. The two battle for a while, but Crux realizes that he can't defeat Starfire and seemingly goes to escape... Or does he?!? In actuality, Crux leads Starfire to a massive Tamaranean... um, something, and the... um, big Tamaranean thing does something not so good to Starfire. Crux smugly tells Starfire that she was now human(or something) before leaving. As for Hood and Arsenal, they basically only manage to piss off The Untitled which leads to the duo beating a hasty retreat. It's at that time Arsenal spots the explosion from Starfire coming in contact with that big Tamaranean thing. Arsenal wants to go to help Starfire, but Hood knows he has to stop The Untitled, so the two split up, with Arsenal going to check on Starfire and Hood remaining behind to battle against the powerful Untitled on his own.

The Good: I'm always happy whenever I see Starfire get smacked around. Sorry folks, I don't like her. Roy Harper and Jason Todd were in this issue, so that definitely equals good to me. I really like the artwork in this series... The cliffhanger was a good one that has me interested in the upcoming issue. Crux is a character I wouldn't mind seeing again.

The Bad: I STILL don't fully get what the hell is going on with the All-Caste and the Untitled... While I enjoyed all of the fight scenes and stuff, I just don't get what the deal is with the main story... If Jason kills this Untitled, then what? Does that mean he avenged the All-Caste? Does he continue going around killing the rest of the Untitled? I just don't get it...

The Verdict: Even though I don't get the main storyline here, this WASN'T a terrible comic book... I enjoyed the fight scenes, I just don't get what the mission here is... While Teen Titans and Superboy are slowly starting to come together and make sense, Scott Lobdell hasn't grabbed me yet with this series. But that's cool, as a huge fan of Jason, I'm here for the long haul. Whether I know what's going on or not!

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.I can tell you from past experience that a sight like that is NEVER a good thing!

Nightwing #4

Next comic on the agenda is the first DC book in my new comic pile, Nightwing... I was thisclose to reviewing this comic with Brightest Day Rules, mainly because of that damned Barbara Gordon appearing in this one... I hate her with a passion that is bordering on scary, so expect A LOT of hate for a character who was, at one time, amongst my favorite female DC characters...

Nightwing #4:

What Happened: Alright, I'm going to be straight with you guys here... I didn't read this comic. Like at all. I basically looked at the pictures. Seriously, that goddamn Batgirl was on nearly EVERY PAGE!!! So to save myself from a massive brain hemorrhage, I skipped this one. All I can tell you is that in the end, after that usurpering hag finally left this issue, Dick found a hidden book with his name in it. Do I know why he went looking for the book? Nope. Do I care? Right now? Nope.

The Good: Um, Dick is still having sex with Raya... I guess that's good for him, right?

The Bad: This was basically an issue of Batgirl, which stars a character I refuse to read about...

The Verdict: Um, yeah, sorry about the lack of a review, but as I said, I refuse to read anything with this version of Batgirl in it, and this issue was no exception. Maybe if she wasn't on practically every page, I could have given this issue at least a semi-read. But as it is, I couldn't read a damn thing. If Kyle Higgins wants to write Barbara Gordon so bad, maybe he shouldn't be writing Nightwing. 'nuff said.

Score: 0 out of 10. Here's hoping this is the final imperfect score of the year...Hey look, it's one of the ONLY pages WITHOUT Batgirl on it!

New Mutants #35

Here's a series that's always near the top of my new comic pile. I've said it before, but it needs to be said again... Adding Nate Grey to ANYTHING will ALWAYS make it better!

New Mutants #35:

Summary: Blink manages to save the New Mutants from crashing the Blackbird by teleporting the plane to the ground and safety. From there, Blink explains that she'd been following this band, Diskhord, since everywhere they play a gig seems to unleash some sort of disaster. The New Mutants decide to assist Blink with her investigation into Diskhord, and Moonstar splits the team up, with most of the team going with Blink while Cypher and Warlock head off in search of the energy that nearly downed the Blackbird. On Diskhord's tour bus, Warlock and Cypher discover a box and upon opening it, Warlock is blasted clear out of the bus. Inside the box, Cypher finds a bizarre creature(could it be Quoggoth or Shuma-Gorath itself?!?!) and is knocked out by the very sight of it. Meanwhile, Blink and the New Mutants watch as Diskhord manage to summon a tornado with their instruments and are forced to save the people at the concert, which allows Diskhord to make good their escape on their tour bus, with the apparently dead Cypher along for the ride.

Thoughts: I didn't love this comic, but I didn't hate it either... It was a perfectly acceptable comic book, nothing more, nothing less. I mean the story here was flat out weird, but not weird in that I couldn't understand it, just weird. I enjoyed the art, and Nate was in this issue, so that's always a positive, but I can't say this issue is going to stick in my head after I post this review...

Score: 7 out of 10.My god, if that IS Quoggoth the awesomeness factor in this series just managed to increase by 4. If it's Shuma-Gorath, that factor would increase a hundredfold!

Wolverine and the X-Men #3

One more review for the night, the third issue of the Wolverine and the X-Men series. This series has been pretty good thus far, but I've got to say, the art has been very hit or miss... If the art were to stabilize, this series could possibly be among my monthly favorites.

Wolverine and the X-Men #3:

Summary: Wolvie and company manage to take down Krakoa(actually an artificially grown grandchild of the original), thanks to Kid Omega lending a hand in a clandestine sort of way... Yep, school troublemaker and renowned terrorist Kid Omega manages to get into Kid Krakoa's head and convince it not to attack the school anymore, which actually leads Kid Krakoa into asking Wolvie and company to join the school... Yeah... With that menace taken care of, Beast manages to restore the two NYS school board officials to their normal selves and then smooth talks them into allowing the school to stay open. From there, Wolvie has Matt Murdoch(that would be Daredevil to the uninformed) sue Kade Kilgore(the leader of the baby Hellfire Club) for damages to the school since the attack was directed by Kade. As revenge for that, Kade hires the suddenly alive again Sabretooth to make Wolvie's life a living hell, something Tooth is an expert at.

Thoughts: Well, so much for this being amongst my favorite series! Seriously though, this issue was a major step back for me. The fact that Kid Omega is ALREADY beginning to turn into a good guy really left a bad taste in my mouth here. I have no idea why he decided to stop Kid Krakoa from eating the school, Wolverine and everybody else, and make good on his own escape... Maybe he has an evil, nefarious plan up his sleeve? Hopefully?? On top of that, the school board officials suddenly forgetting the last 24 hours and giving an obviously demolished school their seal of approval was also kind of dumb. Add Sabretooth's appearance here(he hasn't even officially returned yet in the pages of Wolverine!), as well as the STILL unexplained mini-Nightcrawler clones running around and you have the recipe of a comic I just didn't enjoy all that much. Oh well, better luck next issue I guess...

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Oh good, Kid Omega to the rescue..........

Venom #11

Second comic of the week? Another series written by Rick Remender. Obviously I must really enjoy his work since his books are usually towards the top of my comic pile, but did I enjoy his work enough this year to name him as my favorite writer of 2011 in my year end awards? Don't worry, you'll know in a few more days...

Venom #11:

Summary: So Venom is now AWOL from the army as he's taken the symbiote and gone cross country to retrieve something Crime-Master wanted him to pick up in Las Vegas... What is that something? Well, therein lies the problem. Venom doesn't know. Upon heading to a hotel, he is met by his self-proclaimed archnemesis, Jack O' Lantern. Jack tells Venom that Crime-Master wanted the two to work together to retrieve the mystery something from Vegas. With no real choice(Crime-Master knows Venom's secret identity and as such has sworn to kill everybody he knows if he were to disobey), Venom is stuck with the delightfully insane Jack. The two end up learning of a mine collapse while driving along, and save most of the trapped miners, with Jack shooting and killing a miner who was critically injured, since his friend wouldn't leave the injured miner's side. Naturally, Venom is pissed but can do nothing in retribution since killing Jack would lead to Crime-Master killing Venom's loved ones. From there the two go to a roadside diner where Jack regales Venom with a tale of his childhood, at which time we learn Jack was abducted as a child by Crime-Master and basically raised to be a psychopath. Before the two leave the diner, Jack murders the cook and waitress inside without Venom's knowledge. Besides that, we have Eddie Brock acting like an uber-religious nutjob, deciding he had to eliminate all symbiotes, and Captain America sending the Red Hulk after Venom(since both Cap and Red Hulk were members of the army, and Venom going AWOL was an army problem).

Thoughts: Now THIS was more like it! After how disappointing Uncanny X-Force #19 was, this issue restored my faith in Rick Remender! I really have no qualms about this comic... I guess I could complain about Venom acting very unheroically by allowing Crime-Master to send him cross country with a murderous psycho, especially since Flash could turn to the Avengers or Spidey for help protecting his loved ones, but doing that would also cost him the Venom symbiote, which he's now realized he's addicted to, so Venom's actions here make sense. Speaking of making sense, the Cap/Red Hulk cameo made perfect sense in light of the two both serving in the army. I didn't really like the Eddie Brock cameo since Eddie has seemingly reverted to a one-dimensional religious crazy. But overall? This was a highly enjoyable comic.

Score: 9 out of 10.I've gotta say, Jack O' Lantern is wonderfully crazy.

Uncanny X-Force #19

First review for the week? That honor goes to Uncanny X-Force #19. Sure, the last issue came out JUST last week, and the long-running Dark Angel Saga ended with more of a whimper than a bang, but out of all of the books I picked up this week(21 in all!), this was the one I was most curious to get to, which says a lot for Rick Remender's writing prowess.

Uncanny X-Force #19:

Summary: Fantomex tells Kid Apocalypse(from this point forward, Genesis), that he couldn't return to his home or parents(which was a virtual reality utopia), and that he'd be attending Wolvie's school. Genesis isn't happy about leaving behind his family and life, but seems willing to listen to his “Uncle Cluster”. Wolvie and the rest of X-Force head to Gateway with the Age of Apocalypse X-Men to send them back to the AOA, all except for AOA Nightcrawler, who decides to remain in the 616 Marvel Universe in order to hunt down the AOA refugees(Sugar Man, Dark Beast, AOA Iceman, AOA Blob) who were still hiding out in the 616. Psylocke tries to see if there was anything left of the Warren Worthington she loved, but is heartbroken to discover that he was totally devoid of his former memories and feelings. With a younger clone of Apocalypse heading to his school, Wolverine brings Beast and Kitty Pryde to X-Force's hideout and comes clean to them about the existence of X-Force, as well as the truth behind Genesis. Beast is pretty pissed about Wolverine secretly keeping a hit squad behind his back, but Wolvie manages to smooth things over... Kind of... From there, Wolverine decides that X-Force would now be responsible for keeping his school safe(really?! You put DEADPOOL in charge of campus security?!), and Fantomex is assaulted by Captain Britain who babbles something about making Fantomex pay for what he's done to Psylocke.

Thoughts: This issue was a big old pile of meh for me. The only real saving grace for me was the conversation between Beast and Wolverine. Everything else just didn't do a thing for me. Add the fact that the next storyline involves Otherworld(a terrible concept... In my opinion of course) and Captain Britain(a character I never warmed to), and things are looking down for the future here. So there's my thoughts on the story. As for the art, I'm not sure how I felt about it. On one hand, everybody's ears were huge for some reason... On the other hand, some of the facial expressions were absolutely spot on(especially the look Beast shoots Wolvie upon meeting Genesis), so the art, much like the story was a mixed bag. The bottom line here is that for the first time since... well, since this series began, I'm not looking forward to the future...

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.If looks could kill, Beast would have just killed Wolvie, Daken, AND X-23!