The Phoenix 5 are starting to show signs of breaking as Namor sets off on his own to destroy the Avengers in Wakanda. The Avengers lure him in and then go "Avengers Assemble" on his butt. Namor gets ambushed by Spidey, Thing, Thor, Red Hulk, Dr. Strange, Vision & Valkyrie. They beat him down pretty hard at first, but then he catches his breath and breaks Red Hulks arm to the point of bones sticking out of red skin! As the tide turns in Namor's favor, Scarlet Witch steps in and matches Namor's power with her Magic. Vision catches Wanda as both fighters collapse and the rest of the X-men show up. At their arrival, the Phoenix Force leaves Namor and divides that power between the remaining 4, to their surprise. The Avengers on the other hand, retreat to the mystical kung-fu city that is home to Iron Fist. As they stand there, catching their breath, Hope asks, "So...what's the plan? Is there a plan?" and no one has an answer.
I feel like the plot is getting a bit stale again, but at least there was one heck of a fight to keep readers entertained. Adam Kubert stepped in on art duties and did a good job, though I prefer Olivier Coipel's art personally. Overall a good issue, but it didn't really move the story along very much. I'm interested to see how the Phoenix 4 respond to the revelation that when one of them falls, the others become more powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if they start turning on each other.
The weirdest, most entertaining series of the year continues with this opening scene.
Why, yes, that IS a robot prince sitting on a toilet!
Issue 5 starts off with the pooping robot (one of the generals of the war) being informed by his robot wife that she's expecting a baby, but that his father won't let him come home until he catches the two runaway soldiers and their baby, even if he misses the birth of his own child. The robot pooper vows to be home in the first trimester.
His prey happens to be the star-crossed lovers that are the heroes of our little story. As the focus shifts from the bathroom to the happy couple, they are being confronted by 6 soldiers from Alana's military (the "wings"). Marko tries to warn them away, but they get the orders to "pacify" and start firing. Alana takes a slug in the shoulder and Marko quickly forgets all about his vow of pacifism. He rushes forward with his blue, glowing sword and takes out all 6 soldiers. He's about to kill them, when Alana stops him. The rage leaves his face and he thanks her. They tie up the soldiers, steal their ship and make their getaway.
In another part of the galaxy, the bounty hunter known as "The Will" is trying leave the sex planet, Sextillion, with the 6 year old prostitute he just saved. He is confronted by her "owner" and realizes that the only way he can save the girl is to buy her contract, which is way more than he can afford. He quickly calls fellow bounty hunter, The Stalk, to reconsider her offer of teaming up to catch Alana & Marko and split the profits. On the other end of the phone call, The Stalk is standing by the captured soldiers shortly after the couple has escaped. She tells him she's not interested in teaming up anymore and he says he only turned her down the first time because he's in love with her and was angry about the way they ended things. Just then the Robot Prince rides up on a horse, hoping to capture the couple, sees The Stalk, thinks she's reaching for a weapon and he blows a hole in her chest.
This story is SO good! It's amazing that they have managed to fit this much story into only 5 issues! I'm hoping that the death of The Stalk will put The Will on the side of our heroes and he'll help them out instead of hunting them down. He has been shown to be a pretty good guy deep down, despite being a tough bounty hunter, and I'd like to see him become the Han Solo to Marko's Luke Skywalker.
Before naming this book Pic of the Week I need to remind potential readers that this is a MATURE TITLE. There are boobs and bad language in every issue so far. If you're old enough to handle that kind of thing, then pick this story up. If not, get a little older then buy the trade paperback.
The only DC title I'm currently following is the weak link in this week's comic stack, but that's not saying it was bad. Just not quite as good.
In this issue, Wonder Woman's friend, and soon to be aunt...sort of, is at her small-town doctor's office for a pregnancy check-up. While she's in the office, Apollo and Artemis show up intent on capturing the mother of Zeus's unborn child. WW, Hermes, and Lennox try to stand against them, but they don't stand a chance and Lennox ends up getting punched in the stomach hard enough to crack his rock-hard form almost to the point of crumbling entirely. Zola comes out of the office and sees the battle. She hops in her truck and drives it into Apollo's back, only to have him survive the attack and grab her up under his arm. Artemis and Apollo then leave with Zola leaving the heroes beaten in the mud.
The next scene is in Olympus where Apollo presents the pregnant lady to the vengeful Queen of the Gods, Hera, who then gives Apollo his reward, the recently vacated throne of Zeus. The King of the Gods has disappeared and the other gods have been fighting to see who would take his place, and it looks like Apollo has won the spot except...Wonder Woman and Hermes are standing on it ready for round 2!
This book got of track for a few issues, but it's picking back up now. I'm still a big fan of playing up Diana's mythological background instead of making her a female Superman. This approach is WAY more interesting and fun. I'm glad I stuck through the slow issues. I'm starting to get excited again.
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