Stuff I Read This Week 4/30/14

Avengers #28: Avengers came off of having a really good run during and after Infinity. Jonathan Hickman's penchant for world building gave rise to some goddamn good superheroing in the past year. The latest story from the past few issues involving alternate universe Avengers coming into the 616 dimension has had some potential, but has also some weird pacing, making for a strange read. 

Fortunately, business starts to pick up again in this issue that mainly centers on Bruce Banner in an awkward sitdown with Tony Stark. This leads to some hard truths about the manner of the Avengers' new format as well as some of the threats the Illuminati has kept at bay from the shadows in Hickman's New Avengers series (which, by the way, has gotten so slow, I'm not sure it's actually moving anymore). This is awesome because a). it gets back to displaying the world building elements that Hickman does so well and b). because we get to see more of the cunning Bruce Banner that fans have really wanted to see over the years from Hulk lore. It's nice to see that his place in the Marvel Cineverse has inspired a more fleshed out presence from Green Goliath's more enlightened side. Salvador Larroca's pencils are as strong as they've ever been. He gives off a very clean, almost cinematic storyboard style that pulls off some truly engaging scenes. The look of Banner keeping his anger in check, holding back "the other guy" is compelling and ominous.

Bottom Line: Delightful art, coherent, nicely paced tie in to New Avengers....it's nice to see Hickman getting back on track. 8.5 out of 10

Silver Surfer #2: Dan Slott and Michael Allred got the new Silver Surfer off to a strong start. Slott borrows a lot from Doctor Who, but as any Whovian can tell you, there are certainly worse places to draw inspiration from. After all, while comics have the capacity to act as gospel and lead in parts of pop culture, they also have a history of, to their benefit, being very derivative as well. 

This issue picks up with the Surfer flying off under duress to combat the mysterious Never Queen that threatens the people of the Impericon. We gain some insight into exactly what makes our hero's foe such a threatening one. Meanwhile, Slott also gives us ample time with his accidental partner, Dawn Greenwood, displaying what makes her such an appropriate companion (see what I did there, Whovians?) for the Surfer. In many ways, she's reminiscent of Clara, the Doctor's latest traveling buddy. It's great to see a female character take herself out of the damsel in distress box for a change (looking at you, Laurel Lance from Arrow) and take charge of a situation. There's a page in particular where Slott teases readers with a few possibilities of things to come for this unconventional team-up of sorts. There is simply NOTHING complain about art-wise in this book. Some fans have complained about the more visually lighthearted it takes, but honestly, Marvel could use a little more of that. Dawn is portrayed in a way that's stylish but isn't oversexualized and the Surfer has very dynamic poses that jumps right out at you. 

Bottom Line: Another great installment that makes future adventures out to be very promising. Thus far, this is one of the best relaunches of the Marvel NOW initiative. 9.5 out of 10.

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 29 or It Was Inevitable That Sheldon Cooper Would Become A Comic Character....

Superior Spider Man #19: Despite my numerous declarations that Superior Spider-Man sucks, I have to hand it to Dan Slott. The past few issues have been particularly awesome. The best thing Slott could do with this book is take a break from focusing on Doctor Spiderpus' champion level douchebaggery and do something heroic. The second best thing he could have done was resurrect Michael O'Mara, the 2099 Spider-Man for a good old showdown.

Having said that, it wasn't much of a showdown. In fact, you would think these two would have had much more to talk about even if it was in the middle of all time and space becoming unraveled (or whatever the actual conflict was in this story). Also, being from the future, why doesn't Future Spider-Man know that Peter Parker isn't really Peter Parker if all of this has already happened? In fact, the whole resolution to this time crisis seemed a bit anti-climatic, essentially giving Doctor Octopus another stage where he can call everyone inferior. The spiel has gone from Spider-Man being a weird mix of Batman and Sheldon Cooper to just outright being Doctor Doom in a different outfit. There are a couple of scenes where Spider-Man declares his unrivaled intellect and it just leaves you groaning "Oh, for fuck's sake, man." The great thing about Spider-Man has always been that he's semi-relatable and, despite him being a flawed character, you could see yourself having a beer with the guy. If you knew someone like Doctor Spiderpus in real life, you'd have pushed him down a flight of stairs or eaten the lo mein he kept in the fridge at work. I understand that Tony Stark and Spider Jerusalem prove there's a market for charming, douchebag do-gooders, but I don't see the point in reading about an unlovable hero whose day-saving seems completely incidental compared to him "bwahaha"ing all over the place.

Ryan Stegman's artwork is definitely something to marvel at (no pun intended). Although his rendering of "chronotons" screwing up time and space (I guess that's what was happening) make some of the panels feel a bit claustrophobic unnecessarily, he has a style that's just perfect for the 2099 environment. It actually makes you feel like maybe there could be an opportunity here to resurrect the old Spider-Man 2099. This story arc has been impressive and it could ended that way if Slott hadn't seen fit to cop out and once again leave the moral of the story being "Because I'm Spider-Man, bitch."

Bottom Line: I honestly thought there were enough unlovable jackasses on The Walking Dead that we didn't need to read about one in a Spider-Man comic. Sadly, I was mistaken. 7 out of 10.

Avengers #21: It's a fortunate thing that the Infinity event is coming closer to its end because there's only so many ways I can say "Goddamn, this is good shit!" Jonathan Hickman very clearly has a great appreciation for the sandbox of a universe he's been given to play in and it radiates off of every page whether it's a victory for the villains or a loss for the heroes.

This issue mainly deals with the aftermath of Thor's bold stand against the Builders and the liberation of Hala, the Kree homeworld. There are definitely things to like about how Hickman has handled this. For one thing, despite the fact that it's usually enjoyable to see the reverence alien civilizations show towards Captain America, I found it a nice change a page to focus on a character whose general opinion was "You know, that was kind of a dick move." Another great thing about this issue is the return of Captain Universe to the battlefield in a semi spectacular fashion. Some people don't like that there wasn't much of the actual Avengers in this issue, but I actually appreciate that. A theme that Infinity highlights well is that Earth and, by extension, the Avengers are not the center of the universe and when they are, it's usually not in a good way (this means you, Kanye West). There are characters in the galactic Marvel U who believe that Earth is the Wild West of space and will eventually lead to the whole of creation being wiped out probably by accident and that deserves some exploration, too. Also, there are too many non-Avengers that play a role in this story to not highlight them.

To the surprise of absolutely NOBODY, Lenil Francis Yu's artwork hits all the right marks here. The real treat here was the scene in which (minor spoiler...sorry) the Alliance lets loose the Annihilation Wave... goddamned Annihilation Wave upon an almost victorious Builder fleet.  You have to appreciate Yu's penchant for crafting a good "holy shit" moment.

Bottom Line: If you want an Avenger focused book, it might feel out of place, but this is still really good sci-fi storytelling. 8 out of 10.

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 23 or Can We Please Have a Thor/Ted Nugent Team Up?

Infinity #1: For all intents and purposes, Marvel readers SHOULD be suffering from a little jet lag as far as company wide crossovers are concerned. Especially after Age of Ultron. The argument could be made that it's a little soon to throw fans into another event right after AoU's massive letdown ending. Ask a boxer how ready he is to get back in the ring after he's been clobbered. Seriously, wake Manny Pacquiao up and ask him. I'm pretty sure he's still on the floor. However, that may not be a reason sufficient enough to write off Infinity.

In recent years, Marvel's trend has been to have events be chain reactions of one another. "Civil War among heroes caused the world to infiltrated by aliens which allowed Green Goblin to rise to power which brought Captain America back to kick his ass which blah blah blah blah....." Infinity comes across feeling like it has a completely different identity than that. This is largely thanks to Jonathan Hickman's style of crafting stories on an epic sci-fi scale. His work on The Avengers and New Avengers (which have been the primary books building toward Infinity, by the way) are a perfect indication of why his writing is what it is. Every moment in a Hickman book feels like whatever's happening is for all the marbles which is what the Avengers always be about anyway. Even the little things like the ominous fly pages in between beats give you the distinct feeling that you're about to have your mind blown. Infinity is no different in this regard.

This book touches on pretty much all of the important points from Hickman's Avenger stories. The "Illuminati" has been doing top secret, fucked up things for the good of all (again), the "Builders" have been going from world to world doing quite the opposite of building things and....oh, yeah, Thanos is ready to start some shit with Earth again. It's going to interesting to see what a pure science fiction voice such as Hickman's can do with the concept of an ascended beings whose business is "evolving" sentient races. It's not the first time we've seen this kind of thing, but he gives us enough to lead us to believe it's headed somewhere awesome. Jim Cheung's pencils are absolutely gorgeous. This is evident because of a particular page detailing a world being razed that is just one of the best "we've come to destroy all" scenes I've ever looked at.

One drawback that presents itself here is that, being the result of things that happened in at least three different books, Infinity isn't the easiest to jump into. However, if you like grand events and have grown tired of DC's Trinity War (which I'm almost certain is being written with the help of 12 sided dice and a Mad Libs book), this is certainly something to pick up.

Bottom Line: You may have to do a little homework to catch up, but this event is superhero shit done well. 9 out of 10.

Thor: God of Thunder #11: This is a book that flew below my radar for far too long. Thor's stories in the past have, for a long time, been a bit ambiguous with their handling of the character, not really giving him an identity aside from him being the Avenger who talks in "thee" and "thou." But I dare to say that Jason Aaron's run so far is going to end up being one of the essential runs they talk about in ten years when someone wants to get into Thor but doesn't know where to start.

In this issue, we get a fitting ending to the "Godbomb" and with that, an end to the saga of Gorr, the God Butcher. The Son of Odin was given a time bending, universe spanning problem to deal with, challenged just like a god should be and that challenged answered in epic turn. One theme that presented itself quite often in this story questions the existence of gods, whether or not they do more harm than good and whether they truly deserve to preside over man. Eventually, Aaron's villain, Gorr has a god slaughtering good times making the characters wonder if perhaps his quest is somehow, in a macabre way, justified. Now, it could be argued (and has been by the idiots at IGN) that what we're given is something of a cop out in favor of giving the Thunder God a happy ending. One thing to keep in mind...and this is something IGN couldn't be bothered to remember...is that Thor, despite being noble, determined and a decent judge of character, has NEVER been a philosopher in any sense of the word. Asking comic book character, especially one like Thor, for an insightful answer to a question that real life civilizations have pondered, fought and died trying to answer since forever....that's like asking Ted Nugent, well, anything. The only thing that would have made me happier is if he looked Gorr directly in the face and said, "Because I'm Thor, bitch."

Esad Ribic spared no creative expense while wrapping this arc up in style. The pencils here lend the sort of jaw dropping gravitas a story of this magnitude deserves. There are more than a few moments in this book that look like they should have come out of a mythic tome somewhere. Every time Thor used his hammer, your reaction should be nothing less than "Oh, shit! Are you serious?"

Bottom Line: An awesome, gorgeous ending to the kind of legendary arc that Thor deserves. This is a frontrunner for "Best Goddamned Comic Out This Week" and considering Saga came back this week, that's saying something.

9 out of 10.

Things I Read This Week (or Sometimes I Think Marvel Lost the Instruction Manual to Marvel)....

BE ADVISED: SPOILERS....KINDA

Avengers #4:

"Here, Hyperion. Drink. It's like vodka, but for men."~Thor

You know, I confess I was (still am) worried about the plot for this book feeling rushed because it's biweekly release, but Jonathan Hickman seems to be handling it just fine thus far. His penchant for high-minded sci-fi concepts seems to blend well with this franchise, reminiscent of Grant Morrison's handling of All Star Superman. Adam Kubert's pencils seem to barely tow the line for Kubert standards which some may not be able to engage with right away. This title seems to employ a Justice League Unlimited model, highlighting different combinations of a set pool of team members each issue.

This week seems to shine a spotlight on Hyperion from Squadron Supreme fame which leads me to my only real problem. A while back, Marvel introduced the Sentry into larger continuity, exploring the question "What if Superman were a Marvel character?" The result was....questionable at best. In fact, it felt like the writers were so frustrated with the lack of a real plan for the character, they rushed him to a early (or all too appropriate) grave, never speaking of him again. Perhaps, this was a planned statement on what would probably happen to a Superman in the Marvel universe, but I doubt it. My hope is that Hyperion is not another attempt to introduce a similar variable into the Avengers ant farm. Quite simply, Marvel already has a Superman....and it's Captain America.

Bottom Line: Thus far, this title has been Orson Scott Card meets Stan Lee in it's approach and Hickman sees no reason to deviate from that plan. Kubert's pencils leave a little something to be desired, though. 7.5 out of 10.


Superior Spider Man #2: I should mention right off the bat that after reading Amazing Spider Man #700, I am immensely skeptical about this direction and how the story would return to status quo (because let's face it...that's the only place "events" like this go). However, I made a bet with a friend that I would give Dan Slott four issues to turn this exercise in convolution into something readable. After which, I'd wash my hands of the whole thing.

Having said that, this issue of Superior Spider Man is fucking awful. This issue runs with the revelation from #1 that Peter Parker's ghost is following our new Spider Man, Otto Octavius, to make sure he doesn't completely ruin his reputation. Since it's become apparent that a character like Doctor Octopus doesn't have the personality to keep SM fans interested for thirty pages, Peter's has become a surrogate for decent dialogue, bemoaning Otto's decisions in his attempt to life the life of his former nemesis. To sum all that up, Peter Parker has become a secondary character in a Spider Man book, further proving that Slott, though handling a terrible paradigm shift in the Spiderverse as best he can, doesn't really understand the character he's writing.

Peter Parker is a great man hiding in the caricature of a "good guy." He could be anything he wants. He could be as much a scientific boon to the world as Tony Stark. He could be mayor of New York if he applied himself. But he can never truly be any of these things because he has to be Spider Man. He has to play the "good hearted yet irresponsible fool." In some ways, Peter Parker is the most noble character in the enter Marvel universe. In short, there's nothing redeeming or noble about giving your enemy a second chance in your last moments on Earth if you're just going walk around haunting him, whining about him hitting on your girlfriend.

Bottom Line: Dan Slott's doing the best he can with a terrible situation, but he needs to do better. 7 out of 10