New Comix! - Week of 9/26/12

Mike Allred is back drawing Doop!  What more do you need to know?!?

Wolverine & the X-Men #17

How do you make the best X-Men book even better?  You get Mike and Laura Allred to do the art on issue 17 is what you do!  The artist who co-created Doop is back to draw him once again for this one issue.  Doop has been a background character in this series since it began, usually seen manning the reception desk or occasionally filling in as substitute teacher.  His presence is what convinced me to start buying this book, as he has only appeared sporadically since his previous team, the X-Statix were killed.  As good as this book is every single month, I've wanted more Doop.  In this issue I get everything I could have hoped for from him.

This issue focuses on Doop and what in the world his roll is at the Jean Grey School.  The students think he's a joke.  The faculty think he's a shiftless bum.  What does Wolverine see in him?  We're treated to a series of flashbacks, showing Wolverine practically begging Doop to come fill some mystery position.  Doop make Wolverine agree to a series of bizarre and dangerous stunts before he accepts.  Wolverine then explains that his school has many enemies who wish to destroy it and his duties on various super-teams keep him away from the school too often for him to properly protect it, which is where he wants Doop to step in.  It's Doop's job to seek out and destroy any potential threats to the school!  Sweet!  Afterwards we see Doop stopping threat after threat, sometimes with violence, sometimes by seduction (seriously..ha!).  He stops a nazi bowling league, an aggressive county school board, an intergalactic robot army, Sabertooth, Fin Fang Foom the dragon, outplays the devil in a guitar competition, and shuts down a scathing review from a blogging nun.  Thoughout the book he becomes more and more run-down and everyone at the school thinks it's because he's a loser, while he's actually exhausted from saving them from various threats every night.  The issue ends with Doop passed out in the hallway wearing one of Wolverine's suits.  Wolverine brings him a blanket and says, "Keep up the good work." before walking away.  

I liked this issue so much that I kept wanting to stop reading it because i knew it would end.  Doop is such a crazy character that you never know what's going to happen and I LOVE random-style humor.  It's as zany as a Marvel comic can get and still stay in-continuity.  I haven't read a bad issue of Wolverine & the X-Men yet, and this issue sets the bar even higher than normal.  So fun.  So cool.  Great art.  Holy crap.

- No Brainer Pick of the Week

Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #16

I think this MAY be the first Ultimates comic I've bought in the current series.  I used to love the Ultimates back when the Ultimate Universe was new, but after the first 2 story archs, the quality level went down to the point where I just didn't feel I had to buy it anymore.  I picked this issue up mainly because I read about it in the news, and I like being in the "know" on important events in the comic book world.  I have a reputation to uphold, after all.

Quick Setup (I know most of this because I read Ultimate Spidey): In a storyline titled "Divided We Fall", Washington DC was attacked and destroyed, the country is in chaos, states are seceding, sentinels are taking over the midwest, the Carolinas are at war with each other...it's a mess.  

In issue #15 the American people voted Captain America President of the United States via write-in ballot (i think that's how it happened).  In this issue Cap addresses the nomination in a press conference outside of the Triskellion (SHIELD's base of operations).  After listing the challenges ahead, Cap accepts the position and immediately leaves in his jet stating "America is my White House."  He then gets right to work, commanding the Thor and IronMan with precision.  He flies to Carolina and physically collects the leaders of both sides and forces them to make a truce.  He then heads to Detroit where a dictator and his militia have taken control of the city and takes down that guy.  In between missions he's warned to follow the proper channels of authority by a smarmy senator.  Cap continues doing what needs doing anyway.  After the Detroit mission, the new director of SHIELD (I don't even remember his name) gets the order from the senator to destroy Cap's plane because he doesn't play by the rules.  The director fires the missile and is quickly knocked down by the Black Widow.  As they fight Cap's jet crashes into the control room and he tackles the director, beating him easily and officially firing him for trying to assassinate the President.  Meanwhile, Thor is checking out a disturbance in Wyoming which turns out to be an army readying to invade America led (to Thor's astonishment) by his own son.

This was a good issue.  It was fun watching a scenario where Cap is elected President and to see what he would do with the title.  That being said, I'm still not compelled to keep buying the series to see what happens next.  Decent issue though.

New Comix! - Week of 9/19/12

Read a trio of good comics tonight with each one better than the last.  I'll review them in the order I read them.

Wonder Woman #0

With the New 52 relaunch's year anniversary, DC Comics is producing #0 comics for each series with the idea being for them to be an easy jumping-on point for new readers.  This one features a backstory on the New 52 version of WonderWoman.  

In this flashback story we follow a 12-year-old Diana as she goes through the rituals of a young Amazon warrior.  At one point she is approached by her (unknown to her) Uncle Eres, the God of War.  He offers to teach her to be a great warrior and secretly hopes she will take his place as the God of War.  Over several months she advances quickly with her skill.  Finally, Eres sends her into a labyrinth for a real test and she comes face to face with a minotaur.  She eventually defeats the beast, but when she won't kill it where it lays Eres becomes enraged and turns his back on his pupil.

This was a good comic, but nothing outstanding.  I really enjoy Cliff Chiang's artwork on this character and he is probably the only reason I've hung on with this series as long as I have.  I will probably give the next storyline a chance and decide whether to stick around for a while based on the direction it goes.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #15

This comic is intertwining with the overall Ultimate Universe storyline, United We Stand.  The US has been attacked and is falling apart from within.  States are seceding, sentinels have taken over parts of the country, and Washington DC has been obliterated.  

Miles is back at school telling his best friend, Ganke, about meeting Captain America and Aunt May giving him Peter's web-shooters when the announcement is made that school is going on a hiatus until city officials feel they can guarantee the student's safety (Miles goes to a dorm-type school for smarty smart kids) and they are all sent home.  Miles heads home and find homocide detectives there who question him about his uncle's death.  They explain that their people have deduced that the new Spider-Man did not kill him, but that his own equipment malfunctioned and they are still looking into the case.  Miles is relieved that the cops no longer think he's (Spidey) a murderer (they obviously don't know he's Spidey).  With his parents working long hours and school on break, Miles takes Ganke's advice and heads to the Triskellion to try to join the Ultimates and help the country.  He's still getting the hang of his web shooters, so when he snags a helicopter to hitch a ride to the floating base, it doesn't go very smoothly.  First he hits the window of the Triskellion and is dragged along it and up to the roof.  There, SHIELD troopers open fire on him (he's not authorized to be there...yet).  He webs them up then promptly slips on the wet rooftop and falls on his butt.  He looks up to find Cap starring down at him and asking what he's doing there.  Spidey says he's there to join the team and the last scene is Cap starring at him.

This book is consistently good.  I like the new Spider-Man.  I like Bendis writing Spider-Man. David Marquez has done a good job filling in for Sarah Pichelli while she drew the Spider-Men mini-series (see below), but I'm ready for her to come back.  He's good, but she's just better.  

Spider-Men #5

And the best mini-series I've read in years comes to a close.

Mysterio has trapped Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe with no way to come back.  He's won and he knows it, but it's not enough for him.  He wants to see Peter suffer.  Against his better judgement, he activates one of his avatar robot bodies and opens the portal to the Ultimate Universe so he can send it through and check on his foe.  Before he can do anything though, webbing shoots through the portal and pulls him in face-first.  He looks around shocked to see 2 Spider-Men, a squad of SHIELD operatives, and the Ultimates glaring at him.  Peter and Miles team up to berate him verbally and Peter prepares to return home when Mysterio breaks free and uses his illusion powers to trap the heroes in imaginary nightmares.  As he runs towards the portal he's tackled by Miles who tumbles through the portal to the regular Marvel U.  The two fight it out in his laboratory for a bit before Miles tackles him back through the portal back to the Ultimate U.  This time it's all over for Mysterio.    Nick Fury offers to lock him up there, so Peter's secret identity can stay a secret in his world.  Before he leaves, Peter gives Miles his blessing to carry on the torch as well as a LONG list of advice including dating one girl at a time, never loaning money to Wolverine, & not letting his Aunt May marry Doc Ock (that almost happened in the regular continuity), ect but the portal closes and he's cut off mid-sentence.  The story ends with Peter back at home.  He showers then goes to his computer to look up his world's version of Miles Morales on Google, asking aloud, "I wonder if we have a Miles Morales?"  With a look of complete shock on his face, Peter says, "Oh my god."  End scene!

Man, what a great ending!  I wonder if they'll work the regular universe Miles Morales into the ongoing Spider-Man comic?  This story has been top-tier work, writing and art.  As a Spidey fan, I have thoroughly enjoyed every single issue.  Bendis worked some real magic here.  I'm sorry to see it end, but all good things...

- Pick of the Week!

New Comix! - Week of 9/12/12

 

Avengers vs X-Men #11
Things are revving up to a thrilling conclusion in the AvX story.  In the past several issues the  Phoenix-powered X-men have become unstable do to their tremendous power and have turned on each other.  Now only two remain, Emma & Cyclops, and they split the power of the Phoenix between them.  In the last issue, the Phoenix's first-pick host, Hope, channeled some weird, mystical kung-fu power (yeah, I know...it's the weak point of the story) and actually hurt Cyclops, sending him to the moon where he took hours regaining his strength before heading back to Earth.  Now the Avengers are marshaling all their forces and have teamed up with the rest of the X-Men in an attempt to curb the ever-erratic Phoenix Two.

The issue starts off with scenes of the non-Phoenix-powered X-Men joining forces with the Avengers and admitting that this has all gone terribly wrong.  At the same time we see the only two inhabitants of the mutant island Utopia, Emma Frost & Cyclops, having a creepy discussion about how they'd like to burn the world and start it all from scratch.  Suddenly Cyclops feels something in his head and flies away.  He meets with Professor X on a beach somewhere and they go back and forth about the Phoenix.  Professor X tells Scott that he's disappointed in him and that he is going to stop him now.  At that point Scott realizes that the professor has been in his head and he has been blinded to the fact that he's been under attack throughout the entire conversation.  Dr. Strange has been holding him in place while the Avengers battle Emma Frost.  Massive action sequences follow with most of the Avengers attacking Scott directly now.  The Scarlet Witch hits him with her hex bolts, which have hurt the Phoenix multiple times throughout this story, but then Emma explodes covers her with fire. Then Hulk smashes Emma into the ground. Then Scott sets Magneto on fire. Then Scarlet Witch attacks Scott again. Then Thor attacks Scott but is swatted away. Then Hawkeye shoots Scott. Then Iceman freezes Scott.  Then Scott says, "I'm sorry, Emma." as he attacks his lover from behind.  She hits the ground and has just enough time to say, "I can't believe you." before he's all over her, holding her down and choking her and attacking her with his Phoenix powers...or something vague.  As she passes out (i guess?) there's an explosion of power and Cyclops has absorbed all of the Phoenix force.  <<SPOILER ALERT>> Professor X steps up to stop him and Cyclops seemingly makes the professor's heart explode in his chest and he collapses.  Wolverine orders Hulk to throw him, Fastball Special-style, but Wolverine is burnt to a crisp before he even gets close.  Scott then falls to his knees and is engulfed in flame.  The last scene is an awesome double-page spread of Cyclops pulsating with power as the Dark Phoenix (see below).  And the issue ends.

I apologize for that long recap, but I couldn't do this insane issue justice if I wasn't detailed.  This hasn't been my favorite crossover event, but there have been some thrilling moments.  This issue was one huge, crazy fight and I thought it was really fun.  I hate to see <<SPOILER ALERT>> Professor X get killed off, but honestly he hasn't been much of a factor in the X-men for several years now.  I'm sure they'll bring him back somehow sometime relatively soon, and when they do, I hope he once again takes charge of the X-men and brings them back together as a school and a team.  Cyclops has done a decent job leading them since the Prof stepped away, but I don't think he'll be doing much leading after the next issue.

Olivier Coipel was back on art duty this issue, which was a very good thing.  He's one of my favorites and in my opinion has done the best job of the rotating artists on this series.  A can't-miss issue for those following the story.  I try to reserve my 5-star ratings for really exceptional books, so this one only scores a 4.  That being said, 4 stars is pretty high praise from me.

- Pick of the Week!

Wolverine & the X-Men #16
For being an AvX-related issue, it has very little to do with the AvX story, or Wolverine's team.  This issue focuses on the villains from the first Wolverine & the X-Men storyline, the all-new, all-pre-teen Hellfire Club.

In this issue we learn all about the backstory of the new Black King of the Hellfire Club, Kade Kilgore.  We learn how the brilliant boy learned to kill at an early age.  How he manipulated his rich father's influence to get inducted into the Hellfire Club as a kid before killing his dear old dad.  We see how he has used the world's new fear of the Phoenix Five and mutants in general to explode his already massive fortune into limitless resources by selling state-of-the-art new sentinels.  By the end of the issue we see him and his 3 best friends, all Hellfire Club elite now, standing outside of Salem Center, NY, the town where Wolverine's school resides.  I don't know what Kade has in store for Wolverine's team, but it won't be good.

Despite being a character-building issue about a character I know and care little about, it was a fun read, well-written with great art by Chris Bachalo.  I have not read a bad issue of this title yet.  As long as Jason Aaron handles the writing, and the same artist team handles the art, this will be a book worth buying.

Oh...and the BEST part of the WHOLE BOOK comes at the very bottom of the last page where it reads, "NEXT ISSU: DOOP!"  YES!!!  I love Doop!  His occasional appearance in this book is what convinced me to start buying it in the first place!  He has been serving as an adjunct professor at the school, but has been little more than a funny background element.  This little weirdo faced off against Thor once!  It's about time he saw sees some action!  I'm hoping the Hellfire kids attack the school and Doop is all that stands between them and the students.  Unfortunately, we have to wait 30 days to find out...GO DOOP!

Conan the Barbarian: Border Fury #2
What a letdown.

This story continues Conan's quest to stop the rampaging of a man who is destroying Cimmerian villages in his name.  With his lover, Belit, a fearsome pirate captain from the South beside him, he tracks the villain across his frozen, mountainous homeland.  Belit is out of her element and realizes that she is slowing Conan down, so she convinces him to go without him and she will try to keep up on her own.  By the end of the issue, it seems that Conan has found the place where his impostor hides, but it's unclear if that is the case or not.

It's cool to finally see Conan's homeland, Cimmeria, that I have heard about for years, but the story is really nothing special.  The downfall with this issue is the art.  In the last issue, Becky Cloonan handled the pencilling and it was VERY unusual art for Conan, but it was very well done and a welcome change.  This issue is drawn by Vasilis Lolos, and it is NOT good.  I don't want to be too harsh here, but it doesn't fit this genre or this character.  If he handles the art in issue 3, I won't buy it.  Not a good choice, Dark Horse Comics.  Get Cloonan back, or find that Cary Nord fella.  He knows how to draw Conan!

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #2
It's been a while since issue 1 came out, but the adventures of an amnesiac Prince Adam continues.

In the last issue we were shown a very different version of Eternia than the cartoon we all knew and loved.  Skeletor has won and taken over the land.  He made He-Man forget who he was and sentenced him to the life of a lowly woodsman in the forest outside of Castle Grayskull.  Apparently the rest of the Masters have forget themselves as well.  Feeling the pull to find out more about his vague past, Adam leaves his cabin and is attacked by Beast Man, who he barely defeats, to his surprise.  He never remembers fighting anyone before, but he has the reflexes of a seasoned warrior.  He continues his journey, not sure what he's looking for.

This issue sees Beastman being tortured by Skeletor for his failure.  In the meantime, Adam has made it to a desert and is in the process of crossing it when he is captured by a trio of nomads and taken to their desert lord, who turns out to be the villain Trapjaw.  Trapjaw sentences Adam to trial by combat the following day.  As Adam fights for his life (again surprising himself with the combat skills he didn't know he possessed) he evades attacks from mulitple nomadic warriors before Trapjaw himself joins the fight.  Without the Power of Grayskull, Adam is no match for him and is about to be cut down when the villain is bowled over by a stampede of desert dragons.  The stampede is the work of one of the nomadic women, who turns out to be Teela and has no idea who Adam is or why she felt like she should risk her life to save him.  They escape into the desert.  Afterwards Skeletor comes to the camp and questions how Adam escaped capture and death.

Okay, the obvious question is, why would Skeletor go through the trouble of making Adam forget who he is and make him live in the woods if he just wants him dead?  He should have killed him back when he won, but didn't for some reason.  He's angry at both of his henchman for not killing him.  I don't get that plot hole.  Other than that, this is a fun, unique take on the He-man mythos and I'm enjoying it.  I feel like they're not taking full advantage of this fun storyline, but as a big He-man fan, i'll take what i can get.

- This wasn't an amazing book, but it was fun and about He-man, so it gets special bonus points.

New Comix! - Week of 9/5/12

Just one book this week...

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #14
In the last issue, Miles' secret meeting with Gwen Stacy and Aunt May was interrupted by Captain America who was only there to tell Miles that he couldn't be Spider-Man.  Through the conversation it becomes apparent that he is acting out of fear that what happened to Peter will happen to Miles and Cap blames himself for Peter's death.  Despite arguments against him, Captain America tells Miles that he will stop being Spider-Man or he will arrest him and call his parents.  He then leaves, having gotten an urgent call from elsewhere in the city.  After he's gone, Aunt May advises Miles to do what he thinks is right and gives him Peter's web shooters.  Miles decides to go prove Cap wrong.  It takes Miles some time to get the web swinging thing down (and it's pretty funny) but he eventually does and heads towards the sound of battle.  When he arrives, Cap is getting his butt handed to him by the Rhino.  Miles has some fun with the web-shooters, but then zeroes in on the control panel on the back of Rhino's suit.  He sticks his fingers in the small slot he finds there and unleashes one of his "venom blasts" which causes the suit to overload and ends the fight very quickly.  As they stare at the smoking remains of the Rhino suit (did he just kill the Rhino?!?) Cap says, "Okay.  But you need training." to which Miles replies, "Oh, I know."

This book is consistently good-great as Brian Bendis is at his best writing Spidey.  David Marquez is doing an admirable job filling in for Sarah Pichelli while she handles the art duties on the Spider-Men miniseries.  The ONLY thing I don't like about his art is his take on the Cap costume.  I mentioned this in the last issue's review.  It looks like he has shoeboxes for shoulder pads!!!  Other than that, the art is very good.  This is one of the best books I read every month.

Obviously the Pick of the Week.

New Comix! - Week of 8/29/12

This was a good week of comics and a surprising one, in that Wolverine and Axe Cop lose my Pick of the Week to...a kiss!  

Justice League #12

When DC Comics relaunched all of their titles last year, Justice League was one of the new series that I tried out.  It was fun in that I was able to see the characters teaming up for the first time, but the new quickly wore off and I ended up not caring enough about the team or the story to make it past the first 6-issue storyline.  What brought me back this month was this cover.  With the DCU being relaunched, it freed up the creative team to trade out Lois Lane for the lady who many fans felt was a better match for Kal-el, Wonder Woman.  Here's what happened...

The story starts off with the League fighting an emotional battle, with each member having to confront ghosts of loved ones they have lost or let down.  The possessed villain in charge of the demons could have captured or killed them all were it not for the timely intervention of WW's old boyfriend, Steve Trevor, who wakes up the League who quickly destroy the villain (who, BTW looks like he came from Snake Mountain or something).  That skirmish is a small part of the book and we soon see the team back at their base in Earth's orbit watching the media feed.  The people of Earth are doubting the League and wondering how much faith they should have in them.  This is largely do to that lame villains plans that I only caught the tail end of.  It's only important because Green Lantern resigns from the team, asking them to blame him for whatever their failure was, to try to regain the trust of the people.  He then flies off into space, where most of his work is anyway.  The really standout moment happens next.  Superman find WonderWoman alone with her thoughts sitting on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.  They have a talk about what it's like being stuck somewhere between humans and gods and as they share their loneliness, soon find themselves mugging down on a National Monument.  That's pretty much the end of the issue.

The overall book wasn't great, but the moment with Clark & Diana made it great.  I like Superman and WW being a couple.  It makes sense.  I also like that they made the moment feel natural to the characters in the story without it feeling like a comic-selling publicity stunt.  I don't think I'll keep buying this series, but I DID like this issue.  Nice work, DC.

Pick of the Week!

AvX Versus #5

Let's get this one over with.

In another set of bouts between the Avengers and the X-Men, Black Panther faces off with his wife, Storm, and Hawkeye takes on Archangel.  This book is not meant to be a great read, but simply a fun "who would win" exercise that fits in with the larger AvX story.  That being said, I barely cared enough to finish the book.  I don't know or care enough to be moved by the husband/wife fight that ends in divorce in the first half and the writer's complete lack of knowledge about the characters screwed up the second half.  Matt Fraction didn't know that Angel had lost his memory which is a HUGE plot point when his recently-ex-girlfriend Psylock is involved in the story.  In the end, Hawkeye wins by shooting Angel in the gut at point-blank range, and apparently no one wins when superheroes divorce.

Thank goodness Lenil Yu drew the Hawkeye section, or this one would be going straight to Goodwill.  

Wolverine & the X-Men #15

As AvX comes to it's climax, Wolverine and his team meet back at the mansion in Westchester to regroup before the final battle.

It's hard to write a detailed review of this book.  The entire issue is made up of small character moments between various team members.  Friendships are renewed.  New romantic relationships are started.  There's too much going on for me to write about each one.  In the end, Wolverine readies his strike team, consisting of the X-Men on the cover and they head off to end the Phoenix threat one way or another.

This issue could have been a real bore, but with Jason Aaron continuing his phenominal run on this title, it was pure fun.  Great, small moments that add up to a heartwarming calm before the storm.

Axe Cop: President of the World #2

In the last zany issue, a massive army of bad guys from space were launching an attack on the Earth and only Axe Cop, Goo Cop, and Junior Cobb the giant gorilla with gun fists stand in their way.  

This issue starts with a back story of two evil robot brothers who destroy their own planet, then set out to become the baddest bad guys ever.  The scene then shifts back to Seattle where Axe Cop is trying to save the Earth from a bad guy invasion.  Luckily most of the bad guys end up killing each other, leaving only the giant Chee-Rex, who gets punched to death by Junior Cobb.  Suddenly the evil robot brothers appear and blast Junior Cobb.  Then, they climb the Space Needle, break off the top part and throw it at Heaven in an attempt to kill God.  Axe Cop deflects the needle with his axe and it ricochets down to Hell where it stabs Satan through the back.  The robots try to convince the Earth that Axe Cop is evil, but no one believes them, so they go on a rampage, beating up a zoo, leveling all the cities, destroying Axe Cop's vehicles, and blowing up the good guy universe.  They leave Earth and conquer Mercury and some other made-up planets before coming back to earth and killing Satan by tricking him into eating a cake made of water.  With Satan dead, the robots take over Hell and command an army of zombies and demons in an attack to destroy Earth.  In the meantime, Axe Cop's buddy, Goo Cop, is killed by the evil aliens who turned him into Goo Cop, and Axe Cop vows to avenge him.  The issue ends with 2 evil plans forming.  The evil space scientist who orchestrated the original space bad guy invasion plans to create an "everyman" by combining the DNA of every creature in the universe who can best Axe Cop and will take over the Earth for him.  At the same time, the aliens who killed Goo Cop vow to disguise themselves at the President (I think they mean Axe Cop, who is President of the World) and will then order all earthlings to kill themselves.

It's hard to explain the glory of Axe Cop without writing all the crazy details.  This book is written by an 8-year-old and drawn by his 31 year old brother, so you can see where the crazy imagination comes from.  They've been creating Axe Cop together for 3 years now.  I know it makes no sense, but that's why I like it so much.  It's random, hilarious, and pure fun. I wanted to give this one Pick of the Week, but it's hard to beat a really good take on Superman.  Sorry Axe Cop, you're a close 2nd this week.