Yeah, I don't follow Daredevil, but when Mike Allred shows up to draw a Marvel comic, I've gotta buy it!
This issue is mostly a flashback of a time when lame-o villain Stilt Man attacked their offices and tried to kill Foggy. Daredevil stops him using a cool aspect of Matt's sensory powers and saves Foggy's life. It ends with DD vowing to find out who is trying to turn Foggy against him and keep his life on it's newly optimistic track.
This story was very average, but the artwork was classic Allred. You might now his style from X-Statix or Madman. His work for Image Comics is a little too weird for me to read on a regular basis, but I love it when he works for Marvel. If he drew Daredevil weekly, it would be on my pull list, but this was just a random one-issue stint. Thanks, Mike!
The Phoenix Force has divided itself into 2 host bodies, Cyclops & Emma Frost. Cyclops is facing down the Avengers while Emma subjugates the mutants on the island of Utopia to her will like an angry Goddess.
The Avengers try to slow down Phoenix Cyclops while preparing Hope for some attack they've been devising. No one, not Iron Man, Thing, Thor, or Hawkeye can even slow him down. Suddenly he's hit with a wave of green fire and it actually hurts him. Hope and one of Iron Fist's kung-fu buddies are in the air riding a red dragon that spits green fire. The caption boxes name the dragon "Shao Lao, the undying source of the power of K'un Lun, carrier of the Iron Fist energy, endlessly reborn, and who legend says once defeated the Phoenix." It hurt Cyke once, but he shoots an optic blast back and knocks the dragon from the sky. Now the caption boxes say, "This one is young...too young...not strong enough yet..." Cyclops goes in for the kill, when Hope screams "STAY BACK!" at him and shoots green dragon fire from her mouth and runs away surprised to have absorbed the dragon's power. Scarlet Witch steps forward and unleashes her hex bolts, which have slowed the Phoenix before, but Scott is too powerful now and he laughs at her. Hope screams "STOP THIS!" and Cyclops falls powerless momentarily to the ground. She follows that up by kung-fu punching him in the neck and yelling "GO AWAY!" Scott wakes up on the moon and we're told it takes him an hour before he can stand up again. He thinks to himself that he needs more power...Emma's power...then flies back to earth in a fiery rage to battle his lover. The issue ends with Magneto sending his thoughts to Professor X, asking him to come back because Scott and Emma are out of control.
Things are heating up! I'm enjoying this series. Not as much as Civil War or Secret Invasion from a few years back, but fun nonetheless.
One of my favorite titles continues as new parents, Marko & Alana, arrive with their infant daughter and poltergeist babysitter at the Rocketship Forest. They were hoping their ride off the planet would be there, but it's been clearcut to nothing. They start to despair when their ghost friend reveals some hidden planetary secrets and one remaining rocket tree appears from hiding. It's literally a tree that can shoot through space like a rocket. The tree requires a sacrifice for travel and Marko breaks his family sword over his knee, hoping to keep his oath of non-violence after last issue's battle. The tree accepts and they escape from the planet.
The scene switches to where Prince Robot IV has shot and killed the bounty hunter known as The Stalk, thinking her to be a threat. She had been talking to her lover and fellow bounty hunter, The Will, on her phone when she was killed and the prince picks up her phone, thinking it to be her agent. When The Will realizes what happens he says this:
I would not want to be in Robot's fancy pants! The Will has been shown to have a good heart despite his bounty hunting profession, but he has also been spoken of as a very deadly assassin. Anywho, Prince Robot confers with his commanders and gets an idea of where the couple might be heading.
Back on the Tree Rocket, our heroes are surprised when 2 horned warriors teleport into their ship. They use magic to take out the ghost babysitter then engage in battle. Before anyone gets gravely injured, Marko stops the attack by yelling at the newcomers. They stop and take of their helmets as the comic's narrarrator (the baby who is now grown up) explains that the baby's grandparents have come to live with them. They're Marko's parents drawn to their location by the broken family sword!
This series continues to entertain. I love how off-the-wall it is! In last issue's review I mentioned that i hoped that The Stalk's death would cause The Will to side with Marko & Alana. That may or may not happen, but he's certainly going to be a problem for Prince Robot, who's mission it is to capture or kill the couple.
AGAIN...THIS IS A MATURE COMIC BOOK. There is bad language and occasional boobage. If you can't handle that, pass on this amazing comic book until you're older.
In this storyline's finale, Wonder Woman and Hermes are all that stands between Apollo and Zeus's throne. Hera just wants to kill WW's friend, Zola, who is about to birth Zeus's love child, but Apollo and Artemis move to join Wonder Woman and Hermes in battle. As they engage each other, Hera throws Zola off the edge of Olympus where she will fall for eternity. Diana (WW) breaks away from Artemis and dives off the cliff after her as Hermes throws a feather at her legs, giving her the ability to fly. She saves Zola, but Apollo takes the opportunity to sit on the throne, becoming the new King of the Gods. Apollo banishes Hera and sets his sights on killing Zola and her baby who may someday challenge him. Diana sends Zola away with Hermes and takes off her famous bracelets. Artemis says, "Really? You strip yourself of your best defense against a GOD?" Diana responds with, "MY defense? My cuffs were YOURS." as she glows with power that had been kept in check by arm bands.
Looks like the next story arch will tie in the Greek Gods to the New Gods of Apokolips. I'm up for this. I like this mythology take on WW, but it will be cool to see her interact with other DC superhero characters after seeing this side of her. I was on the fence with this series and was on the verge of canceling it from my pull list, but I think they've hooked me into staying on for a while yet.
That DD cover is DOPE!
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