Hell Yeah #1

I was going to review Amazing Spider-Man here, but I've decided to wait until tomorrow night to do that review so I could post it with Venom for that Spider synergy thing I'm going for. That means this comic gets bumped up a few places in my new comic pile. This is a book I decided I'd get on a whim, so here's hoping it's good.

Hell Yeah #1:

Summary: We meet Ben Day in this issue, who's father was a marine during the Gulf War and was saved by the first superheroes. These superheroes then made themselves public and went about making the world a better place. After their appearance, superheroes have been born amongst the world's populace, including Ben, who has some low level strength, durability and a weird tattoo on his neck. With his father insanely famous due to making first contact, Ben is constantly getting into trouble in an effort to get some attention for himself. We eventually meet Ben's dad, who is very supportive of his son, even with all of Ben's troubles, as well as Ben's good friend, a girl named Sara, who is one of the(if not THE) smartest people on the planet. Ben and Sara go to a concert together which gives Ben the opportunity to tell his origin story quick. The next day Ben gets a call from Sara telling him to hurry to their school. Upon arriving, three strangely garbed women exit a smoking hole in the school building and tell Ben that they'd been looking all over for him since everywhere else they've gone he was already dead(?!).

Thoughts: Um... This comic was okay, I guess... It didn't set my world on fire or anything, and none of the characters really grabbed my attention(although Ben could be a good character with time), but this wasn't a terrible read or anything. It just didn't wow me. I'll probably put this series on my pull list, but I'm not sure how long it'll be staying there... The next issue should go a long way in telling me whether this series is a keeper or not.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Neither am I!

Stormwatch #7

First up tonight is the one and only DC book I scored this week... And that's about as much of an introduction I can muster...

Stormwatch #7:

Summary: Something bad happens near Chernobyl, so Midnighter sends Apollo to check it out since they were on monitor duty. However, the team leader, Engineer, told the two to report any findings back to her before doing anything... Apollo ends up facing some sort of creature from a parallel dimension that was mining gravity, since it's dimension was devoid of gravity. The creature dominates Apollo, at which time Engineer sends Hawksmoor, Jenny and the Martian Manhunter to extract Apollo. They also manage to capture the creature, but upon returning to the ship, the ship itself tries to attack the creature, since the creatures were enemies to the Daemonites(and the ship itself was a Daemonite). This allows the creature to get free, at which point it rushes Apollo and vanishes with him. This issue ends with the Manhunter basically telling Engineer that nothing could be done to stop these creatures and that the universe was doomed.

Thoughts: Okay, before I get into the story, two things here caught my attention... The first was the cover of this one. Did you see DC's new logo on it? It's HORRIBLE! You can barely even make it out, especially with that banner across the top. You'd think they'd want to emphasize the DC logo so people would know that yeah, this was a DC book, but I guess not. The other thing was the fact that the creatures in this comic were supposedly from an alternate dimension... I thought the DC “braintrust” and I use THAT term lightly, had decreed there were only 52 other dimensions, or some such nonsense... Since DC has limited their alternate dimensional possibilities, how can these creatures be from another dimension? Eh, I'm probably just over-thinking stuff again... As for this comic, it was okay. It wasn't great, but it also wasn't awful. No real complaints here.

Score: 7 out of 10.

That's probably not a good thing...

Winter Soldier #3

Last review for the night? Winter Soldier. So far the first three comics I've read this week have been pretty damn good. Here's hoping this comic continues that trend.

Winter Soldier #3:

Summary: Putting together the pieces of the puzzle they've managed to acquire thus far, Nick Fury, Bucky and the Black Widow deduct that Lucia Von Bardas was the one working with Red Ghost, and that she was doing so in an attempt to create a war between the US and Latveria. The Doombot Von Bardas managed to get her hands on would be used by her to attack the US, which in turn would think Doom had sent it in retaliation for the attempted assassination Von Bardas set up against Doom on US soil, which would lead to an all-out war... Huh, that actually explains everything... To prevent this, Bucky and BW have to sneak into Castle Doom and try to convince Doom that Von Bardas was trying to frame him... Yeah, that'll be easy. Anyway, Bucky and BW manage to make it through much of Doom's security, but are eventually discovered and attacked by Doom himself. Doom manages to take both heroes down and recognizes Bucky as, well, as Bucky. With Doom's hands around his throat, Bucky has to try to convince the good doctor why he shouldn't kill him. This issue ends with Von Bardas Doombot waiting in a van outside the UN Building.

Thoughts: First things first, the cover of this issue? Seven different shades of awesome. As for this comic? It too was seven different shades of awesome! I have to say that I really liked that Ed Brubaker actually came right out and told us what was going on, who the bad guys were and what they wanted. The little recap about Von Bardas and her relationships with the US and Doom was a nice, smart touch. I don't know about other people, but I like knowing what's going on in a comic and Brubaker smartly filled us in on everything going on here. Besides that, the Doom/Bucky & BW fight was great. Doom SQUASHED the heroes, as he should have. First off, he's DR. DOOM! He should beat just about anybody! Secondly, Bucky and Widow confronted him in his own castle, giving Doom the home field advantage. So yeah, Doom went over strong here, as he should have. Besides that, the rest of the story is falling nicely into place as Brubaker begins to find his groove in this series... I can't wait to see how much better things get next issue.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Woooo, now THAT'S an ass-kicking!

Irredeemable #35

First up tonight is a look at the only comic from Boom! Studios I read, Irredeemable. And it appears that in a few more months, I won't be reading any comics from Boom! as Mark Waid(series creator and writer) has decided to end the story of the Plutonian... So I will most definitely be enjoying these final few issues of Irredeemable while I still can.

Irredeemable #35:

Summary: This issue focuses heavily on Bette Noir, who has been possessed by Modeus, in a brilliant move on Modeus's part. First we see Bette/Modeus tricking one of the Plutonian's goons into going after Gilgamos, Kaiden and the ghost of Charybdis. Next, Bette/Modeus manipulates another of the Plutonian's goons into becoming a weapon for her/him. By this point, the Plutonian, who figured out what Modeus had done last issue, is rapidly approaching a fully prepared Bette/Modeus. Meanwhile, Gilgamos gives Kaiden the seeds to a tree that would bear fruits of immortality, since that would allow the human race to continue, even though the planet was a wreck due to the massive radioactive fallout spreading across it(as well as the Plutonian's actions). However, eating the fruit would close the door to the afterlife forever, meaning Kaiden would be permanently separated from the love of her life, the ghost of Charybdis. And watching this scene play out? The goon Bette/Modeus sent from earlier. Back to the main story, as Modeus uses Bette's powers in ways she could never imagine, taking the Plutonian down hard. While that's all going on Qubit is trying in vain to reach the Plutonian to see what's going on. Bette/Modeus figures that she/he and the Plutonian could now be together, since Bette was the woman of the Plutonian's dreams, while Modeus had always been romantically interested in the Plutonian. Needless to say, the Plutonian isn't interested in such a relationship, but tellingly, Plutonian can't bring himself to blast Bette/Modeus. Plutonian does try to tell Bette/Modeus about the radiation that was threatening to destroy the Earth, but Bette/Modeus could care less since she/he could go anywhere in time or space with the Plutonian. This issue ends with Bette/Modeus climbing on top of a fallen and distraught Plutonian.

Thoughts: Well, it seems that Mark Waid is going to bring the awesome as we get ready to say adios to this series. The scenes with Bette/Modeus and the Plutonian were great, because of all the emotions at work here... Modeus figured he could finally be with Plutonian since he was residing in the body of the Plutonian's ideal woman. The Plutonian couldn't bring himself to blast Modeus, because he was wearing Bette's face. On top of that, Modeus has managed to unlock the true potential of Bette's powers, making him/her almost a match for the Plutonian himself. Besides that, you have the quandary Kaiden finds herself in, and the Plutonian's henchman preparing to attack Kaiden, Gilgamos and the ghost of Charybdis... Needless to say, I can't wait to see how Waid brings this great series to a close.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

I love that Modeus is basically taunting dead Bette to her own face!

Avengers Academy #27

Okay, a quick word here first... I am a huge fan of Avengers Academy, as is evidenced by how much I shamelessly promote it at any given opportunity. I am also a huge fan of the Runaways, and have been horribly disappointed by how the Runaways have fallen since Brian K Vaughn left the kids in the hands of other, lesser writers. So, in theory, this issue SHOULD be fantastic... Will it be? With Christos Gage at the helm, I am VERY optimistic.

Avengers Academy #27:

Summary: This issue kicks off with Striker holding a press conference telling the world that he was gay. Ever the media-hound, Striker is hoping that news would get him some serious face time with the tabloids, and sure enough, he gets a call from his mother with tons of interview offers... Striker is awesome... Anyway, the Runaways managed to sneak into the Avengers Academy campus during the press conference and seem to have some sort of plan. Before they can enact it though, Juston and his Sentinel arrive on the scene since the Sentinel had sensed the Ultron tech in Victor... Well that right there just upped the awesomeness quotient of this one... Seeing a Sentinel and fearing the worst, the Runaways attack it, which leads to some of the Academy staff and students getting into the battle. Before things get too out of control, Pym arrives on the scene(at about 30 feet tall or so) demanding the fighting stops so he can find out why he had received a report that there was Ultron tech on the campus grounds. Victor explains to Pym that he had been created by Ultron, which was why the Sentinel was sensing Ultron tech... Oh and Victor then does what I was hoping he would and tells Pym that since Pym had created Ultron and Ultron had created Victor, Victor was pretty much Pym's grandson(!). I love Christos Gage's writing!! Now that the battle had ceased, Pym asks why the Runaways had come to the Academy and Chase reveals that he thought Old Lace was still alive, since he could “feel” her mentally again. When Nico used the Staff of One to tell them how to find Old Lace, the Staff pointed to Reptil as the catalyst for finding Old Lace. Pym decides to look into the situation and invites the Runaways inside where they have some funny interactions with the Academy kids. Ultimately Pym figures out a way to open a dimensional portal to the dimension Old Lace was in by using Reptil's amulet as a... um, dinosaur tracer. Before opening the portal though, Pym pulls Tigra aside and tells her that they had a responsibility to take Molly and Clara away from the rest of the Runaways since they were so young. More on that later... From there, Pym takes everybody into his lab and manages to open a portal to another dimension. The Academy kids, some of the staff and the Runaways all enter the portal and before long Old Lace and Chase(as well as the other Runaways) are reunited. Since the Avengers Academy staff had done what she needed them to do, Nico casts a spell to see what the Academy staff really wanted from the Runaways and sees the conversation from earlier between Pym and Tigra. Needless to say, she isn't pleased, and that ends this issue.

Thoughts: You know, I laughed out loud no less than FOUR times during this issue... It was hysterical! Not only that, but the story was fun and made sense, the art was pretty good, and ALL of the characterizations here were spot on. Seriously, Gage wrote Victor so well(my favorite Runaway, fyi) I'm hoping he stays with the Academy after this storyline. The conversations between Victor and Pym were EVERYTHING I had been hoping for coming into this storyline. The ONE thing I was REALLY hoping we'd get to see was Pym and Victor interacting because of their obvious connection, and as usual, Gage did not disappoint. I really don't have any bad things to say about this issue... Wait, does that mean what I think it does?!?

Score: 10 out of 10. You know what? What the hell, this issue gets my first perfect score of 2012. It was the perfect blend of story, dialogue and humor, so kudos to the creative team on this one.


Yeah, as a fan of Pym, Ultron and Victor, this issue rocked hard.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9

And so it's come down to this... There's a part of me that never expected(or wanted, to be honest) this mini-series to end... It's won my Mini-Series of the Year award for two years straight now, and with good reason... This mini is everything a long-time Marvel fan such as myself could ever ask for. Cult favorite characters(the Young Avengers), along with a shocking return(the Scarlet Witch), coupled with awesome guest stars(Magneto, Quicksilver, Dr. Doom, the Avengers, the X-Men, etc), and really, what more could you ask for? Great art? Check. Fantastic dialogue? Check. A spellbinding story? Yeah, that gets a check as well. A part of me is actually afraid to open this final issue up, because I almost can't believe it can live up to the awesomeness of the prior 9(A:CC #1-8, plus that bonus issue) issues we've already received... Well, here we go, here's hoping this issue FINALLY gives me my first perfect score of 2012.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9(of 9):

Summary: This issue opens with Iron Lad begging the Avengers to allow him to take Stature into the timestream so he could try to find a doctor from the future to bring her back to life. The Avengers say no to that offer, since they already knew the damage messing with the timestream could cause. Iron Lad decides that he was going to take Cassie's corpse with him anyway, at least until Vision steps in and tells Iron Lad to leave Stature in peace. Iron Lad blows up at Vision, telling him that since he created him, he could just as easily take him apart, and with that, Iron Lad destroys Vision. With that taken care of, Iron Lad reiterates that he wanted to take Stature with him, but the Avengers are more determined than before to make sure he doesn't. Iron Lad then questions why his Young Avengers teammates weren't defending him, and is told by the Young Avengers that by messing with the timestream, he was acting like Kang... Iron Lad angrily corrects his teammates and tells them that he'd be BETTER than Kang ever was, before storming off into time. From there, Lord Summers reluctantly leaves the Scarlet Witch alone(since Dr. Doom all but confessed to being behind the Decimation event last issue), but not before telling her to make up for what she had done to mutantkind, lest he kills her himself. Wonder Man tells Wanda to be wary of the Avengers, since they weren't the same team she had once been a part of, before taking his leave. Captain America tells Wanda that she'd always have a spot with the Avengers if she wanted one, in a really nice little moment. Magneto and Quicksilver both want Wanda to go with them, but she turns down both offers since she wanted to try to make a life for herself... One that also included her two children. From there we fast forward a few days to the Young Avengers. Patriot quits the team, citing the deaths of Stature and Vision, as well as the mistakes he had made during his time with the team. To make sure he isn't tempted back into superheroics, Patriot then tells his ex-teammates that he was moving to Scottsdale, Arizona. Hawkeye(Kate Bishop) also quits, having lost her best friend in Stature. Wiccan then follows suit and quits the team, since he felt his best bet was to never use his powers ever again. Naturally, Hulkling quits to be with Wiccan, leaving Speed as the lone Young Avenger. And since one person does not a team make, the Young Avengers are officially disbanded. With that, months pass and Speed, Wiccan and Hulkling watch events unfold in the Marvel Universe, from Spider-Island to the return of the Human Torch. While Speed and Hulkling are excited by the changes, Wiccan remains melancholy through it all, still blaming himself for the events that led to the death of Stature and Vision. Hulkling finally has enough of that and tells Wiccan to snap out of his funk, before pretty much proposing to him. With that, Wiccan and Hulkling (FINALLY) kiss, but are interrupted by Ms. Marvel at their window... That's kind of creepy... She tells the two to get into costume and head out to Avengers Mansion. Upon getting there, they meet up with Speed and Kate, and are taken to the garden behind the Mansion by Captain America and Iron Man to see Scott Lang and a statue that was erected in honor of Vision and Stature. This issue ends with Cap telling the kids the one thing they had always wanted to hear from him since the very beginning of the first Young Avengers comic, that they were, and always would be, Avengers.

Thoughts: Well, what can I really say here? I guess I'll start with the obvious. This mini-series will always be amongst the first things I point to when people ask me what my all-time favorite comic book is. When people question what my favorite single issue ever is, I say “X-Men #25, the Fatal Attractions issue.” with no hesitation. And now when people quiz me on my favorite mini I'll be able to say, “Avengers: The Children's Crusade” with zero hesitation. So yeah, this issue didn't change my unbelievably high opinion of this mini-series. BUT(you had to see that coming...) this issue wasn't perfect. There were a few things here that I absolutely loved, and was SO pleased to FINALLY see happen(and longtime YA fans will know what I'm talking about right away), but there were other things that just kind of fell flat... Patriot, Vision, Iron Lad and Stature leaving(for various reasons) was a bit vexing. Wanda kind of disappearing annoyed me a bit. I'm especially confused by Scott Lang's rebirth... I mean it's cool and all, but with Cassie gone, I don't quite get it. So yeah, this issue wasn't perfect, but it was still better than most of the comic books I'll read this month(if not ALL of the comics I end up reading this month), and the ending, with Captain America, of all people, FINALLY recognizing the Young Avengers as Avengers was a nice way to end this mini. And if this is the last we see from these characters, be it for a while or for good, at least I'll always be able to say that yes, they all were Avengers.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Amen, Cap. Amen.

New Comic Day! March 7th edition

Hey all, it's X here with a somewhat misleading post! The best kind of post if you ask me! As this post is being published, I'm currently slaving away at work. Not only that, but I won't even be getting my comic books for the week until around 7-8 o'clock tonight! However, I figured I'd post a list of the books I EXPECT to pick up later on today... If anything, I can always edit this post when I get home to include anything else I may have picked up or omit anything that I didn't get. But for now, here are the comics I should have in my hands in a few hours time... Irredeemable #35, Stormwatch #7, Fatale #3, Amazing Spider-Man #681, Avengers Academy #27, Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9(!!!!!), Defenders #4, Fear Itself: The Fearless #10, Venom #14, Winter Soldier #3, Wolverine #302, Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #3. 12 books this week, and not only that, but there are several of my favorite comic books on that list! But before we get to this week's Pick and Runt of the Litter, I have to thank my good friend, and blog contributer JT for actually going out of his way and SENDING me a copy of I, Vampire #2! Yes, thanks to JT I was able to pick up I, Vampire #3-6 from the comic shop today as well as those other books and can FINALLY get around to reading those I, Vampire books. So again, a huge thanks to JT for foolishly spending his own hard-earned money on getting me a comic... What a maroon... :P

This week's Pick of the Litter is an absolute no-brainer, it's Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9. All I'm going to say about Children's Crusade is this: I have a comic book collection the size of a small comic shop. I probably have between 15,000 and 20,000 comics(no exaggeration). I also have somewhere around 300-500 trades. Children's Crusade is one of the best Avengers/super-hero titles I have ever read. 'Nuff said. Sure, a lousy ending here could hurt my enjoyment of this mini-series, but overall this was one of the best comic stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading. On a week where Children's Crusade DIDN'T come out, Avengers Academy(with the RUNAWAYS!!), Winter Soldier, Irredeemable or Stormwatch could have had a shot at being my Pick of the Litter, but this week? The decision has NEVER been easier. On the other side of the fence is this week's Runt of the Litter, which will be going to Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #3... I don't know why, but I just never fell into this story as I hoped I would... Maybe I set my sights too high, or maybe the story here is that bad, but I was expecting something way better than what we've gotten. Oh well. And that'll do it for the week. With 12 books this week, expect 6 days of 2 reviews and one day of... well, I don't know yet. I'll figure it out when I get there. Until later on? X out.

Quick Edit... It's 8pm and I just got home with my comics. I ended up picking up Hell Yeah #1 as well as everything on the list above. After I eat dinner(some pizza!), I'll get to reading and reviewing Children's Crusade and Avengers Academy. Those reviews should be up by 10pm (or 11pm at the latest). Until then, X out! Again...

Avengers #217 (March 1982)

One final Retro-Review before I get a sweet, sweet pile of new comic books after work tomorrow. Having taken a cursory look at what's coming out this week earlier tonight, I couldn't be more psyched. But that's for tomorrow and New Comic Day. Tonight we take a trip in the way-back machine to 1982 to read some classic Avengers. Onward!

Avengers #217:

Summary: This issue kicks off with the Avengers(who seem to only consist of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Wasp at this point) heading to Avengers Mansion for a meeting. Iron Man arrives first and is told by Jarvis that some goof in armor named the Mechano-Marauder was demanding the Avengers head outside to face him. Iron Man decides to deal with the Marauder himself and the “battle”(if you even want to call it that) is pretty damn funny with Iron Man basically toying with the Marauder while the other Avengers show up for the meeting, greet Iron Man and pay practically NO attention to the Marauder. After having his fun, Iron Man takes the Marauder down and the Marauder tells Iron Man that the reason he challenged the Avengers was because he wanted to look like a somebody. Interestingly enough, this isn't the last time the Marauder pops up, as the man in the armor is Fabian Stankowicz, who attempts to menace the Avengers every now and then, before taking Cap up on a job offer and joining the Avengers staff for a time. Anyway, the Avengers have their meeting at which time Wasp asks to be named Chairperson, since Cap had held the position for such a long time. The other three Avengers have some reservations(mainly that Wasp was still hurting over her VERY recent divorce from Hank Pym), but vote her in unanimously. From there we head to a disheveled and downtrodden Hank Pym, who is wandering the streets of New York, with his life a mess of his own making. Pym tries to call Stark Enterprises to talk to Tony Stark, but gets hung up on by an inexperienced receptionist. From there Pym heads to a bar where he is met by the villainous Egghead. Egghead claims that he wanted to go straight, and says he had created an artificial arm for his niece, Trish Starr. Egghead didn't want to take the arm to the girl himself since she despised Egghead, and asks Pym to do it for him. Egghead practically begs and offers Pym a half million dollars to do this, so Pym agrees to help Egghead out. After examining the arm and finding no threats, Pym takes the arm to Trish and puts it on her, at which point Trish becomes a mental slave to Egghead... Oh poor Pym... Egghead explains that he knew Pym would examine the arm, so he was controlling it by remote control, which is why Pym didn't find anything awry. Egghead then tells Pym that he would force the arm to self-destruct if Pym didn't go to Nebraska and steal a mess of adamantium so Egghead could create an army of invincible robots. Pym reluctantly does as he's asked and steals the adamantium, loading it up in a truck. While driving away with the Egghead possessed Trish, Pym is confronted by an Avengers Quinjet. Pym is pleased to see his former allies, until Egghead tells Pym to defeat his four allies, lest Egghead detonates the arm and kills Trish. Pym attacks the surprised quartet of Avengers, and actually has some success at first... But seriously, Thor, Iron Man and Captain frigging America are there, so Pym eventually loses. Once he loses, Pym shouts at Iron Man to block the signal Egghead was transmitting to Trish, since that would prevent Egghead from detonating the arm. Iron Man scans the area and discovers no outside signals being beamed to Trish since Egghead disconnected from Trish the moment Pym lost. To make matters worse, Trish has no recollection of Egghead possessing her and only recalls Pym forcing her to steal the adamantium with him... Damn, Pym is screwed here! Pym pleads with the Avengers, swearing that Egghead had been behind the whole ordeal, but due to his prior behavior, the Avengers don't buy it, and this issue ends with the Avengers taking Pym into custody and sending him to prison.

Thoughts: This was a really enjoyable read. I mean we had a little bit of everything here. From the comedy portion in the beginning with Iron Man and Fabian(seriously, Cap and Iron Man's conversation WHILE IM was battling Fabian was classic!), to the parts showing just how far Pym had fallen, to Pym getting double-crossed by Egghead, to the tragic end with Pym, this was a strong comic. Yeah, there were a few things that bugged me(if Pym examined the arm, shouldn't he have discovered some sort of explosives since Egghead was threatening to blow it up? Plus, why didn't Pym tell Iron Man to block the incoming signal EARLIER in the battle as opposed to the end?), but overall this was a good read, one that sets the stage for later events which culminate with the death of Egghead himself. Overall? Good stuff.

Score: 8 out of 10.

There goes Pym, smacking Wasp around again...