Weekly Comix! - Week of 8/15/12

I picked up four comics this week and they were ALL good!  What are the odds?!?

Daredevil #17
Yeah, I don't follow Daredevil, but when Mike Allred shows up to draw a Marvel comic, I've gotta buy it!

Apparently, in the last issue of DD, Matt Murdock's pal and business partner, Foggy Nelson, found a box in Matt's office full of Matt's father's remains.  He was so put out by this grim discovery that he tells Matt that he can't trust him anymore and is dissolving their law firm.  I don't know the story behind the box of bones and dust, so don't ask.  I'm just here for the art.

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!

Avengers Vs X-Men (AvX) #10
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.

Saga #6
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.

Wonder Woman #12
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.

The next page is nothing but Wonder Woman kicking Artemis's &%@!  She then make a bargain with Apollo.  He will not pursue Zola's baby if, in the event that the baby does grow to fullfill the prophecy of killing a god and taking the throne, that Diana will be the one to stop it.  It is implied that she agrees as she appears in Zola's hometown hospital to check on her and the baby.  Zola suddenly screams that Hermes took her baby while she was unconscious.  Wonder Woman vows to find the traitor.  We then see Hermes in the home of Demeter, who is keeping the baby for now.  He says some vague stuff about what's coming and we get a glimpse of a figure (looks like Orion from Apokolips) emerging from the snow somewhere and using a boom tube.

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.

Weekly Comix! - Week of 7/18/12

I'm juggling a lot of graphic design/illustration projects at the moment, so I've fallen about a week behind on my comic reviews, but I'm committed to keep them coming.

Avengers vs X-Men #8
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.

Saga #5
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.

- Pick of the Week!!!

Wonder Woman #11
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.

Weekly Comix! - Week of 6/20/12

Lots of fun comic reading this week with just one stinker.

AvX (Avengers Versus X-Men) #6
NOW this story is getting interesting!  At the end of issue 5, Iron Man attacked the Phoenix Force with a new weapon that was supposed to disperse it's energies.  Instead it only fractured the Phoenix into 5 pieces that then inhabited 5 nearby X-Men; Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Namor, and Magik.  The "Phoenix 5" then pick up the unconscious Hope Summers and head back to Earth (they were on the moon).

Issue 6 starts out with the world being transformed by the now almost-omnipotent X-Men.  They are making Africa fertile, creating massive fields of produce in Siberia, creating a huge source of clean drinking water, and establishing virtually unlimited, free energy for the people of Earth to use.  They present themselves to the UN and say that all they want in return is an end to war and violence against man or mutant.  Everything seems pretty peachy, but the US President meets with the Avengers and voices concern that the X-Men have no accountability.  The Avengers meet in secret to try to plan a counter attack should things go bad, but have come up with nothing.  There's a weird section in the secret city of K'un Lun, where Iron Fist is from.  Some weird monks look at ancient drawings showing an Iron Fist facing off against the Phoenix...apparently the kung fu guy is somehow going to be the answer.  And then we see the Scarlet Witch having sweaty nightmares about the return of the Dark Phoenix.

The President orders the Avengers on a strike mission to retrieve Hope Summers from Utopia in the hopes of finding a way to control the situation.  You can imagine how badly that ends.  Scott and Emma alone disperse the Avengers and even Thor can't match their power. Then Scarlet Witch shows up and leaves with Hope and the battered Avengers.  Cyclops tries to grab her arm but pulls back, his hand burning where he touched her.

Afterwards Scott and Emma contemplate what to do next and he is furious that even at their strongest, even after they have given the world everything it needs, that the "humans" still sent the Avengers to attack them.  Scott's solution?  See below.

This issue was SO good and really got me excited about the series again.  It helps that John Romita Jr. has been replaced by Thor artist, Olivier Coipel, who is one of my favorite Marvel artists.  Things are escalating and I think it's going to be one heckuva wild ride!

- PICK OF THE WEEK!

Avenging Spider-Man #8
This series is basically a "Spidey Team-Up" book.  Every issue features Spidey interacting with a different Marvel hero created by a different creative team.  So far there's only been one "meh" issue so far and the rest have been really fun and have featured fantastic art.  So far.

"This issue finds our titular hero teaming up with major Marvel heroes, Dr. Strange and Silver Sable and was totally exciting!", he said with his voice dripping with sarcasm.  Not only were the team-up characters boring but the story was uninspired and the art was mediocre.  Spidey gets pulled into some plan by two bozos on the cover above into helping some European princess escape from Dr. Doom.  Doom shows up, they fight, the good guys find her boyfriend and get her married before Doom can stop them, and then he leaves.

Ugh.  This was the most generic, lame, watered-down story I have read since that awful Mighty Thor Annual two weeks ago!  C'mon Marvel, how about some quality control?!?  And this has been such a good series too!  That's the bad thing with having a comics pull list at your comic store.  You're expected to buy every issue, even when there's a crappy one.  Next month features a more interesting pairing of Spidey and the revamped Ms. Marvel and features fantastic Marvel artists, Terry Dodson!  Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

Do NOT buy this issue.  It was awful.

Wonder Woman #10
Here we have my only DC purchase of the week.  I have really been digging the new mythology-heavy Wonder Woman story, but the past few issues have really gone off-track.

This issue continues the story of Diana in Hell facing an imminent marriage to her uncle, Hades (eww).  I read this just a few days ago and can barely remember what happened...not a good sign.  Long story short she tries to run away, some of her godly allies show up to try to help her, Hades gets mad.  He says she lied when she said she loved him.  She replies that she didn't lie because she loves EVERYONE and that HE will never love until he first learns to love himself.  Then they trick him into looking into a mirror and then WW shoots him in the heart with one of Eros's guns (think Cupid's arrows).

This is a big departure from the main story and it feels like the writer is making it up as he goes along.  What is the big picture?  What's the point again?  Just 2-3 issue ago this was a compelling story.  I'm hoping it picks back up soon because i lose patience with bad stories quick.

I'm going to be generous and give his 3 stars because the overhaul on WW has been so dramatic and welcome.  Also, the art has been consistently entertaining.  I like the costumes and the reimagined look of the gods.  And Hermes has bird legs, which is fun.

Saga #4
The story of star-crossed lovers and new parents, Marko and Alana continue!

This issue actually begins with a bounty hunter called "The Will" taking time away from hunting the main characters to relax at the Las Vegas of space stations, The Sextillion.  Keep in mind this is a "mature" title.  The Will walks around seeing all manner of sex acts being performed by bizarre aliens without seeing anything he wants to participate in.  The proprietor of Sextillion notices his apathy and takes him to a special wing staffed with slave girls.  His slave girl is a six-year-old girl.  Thankfully The Will is a heartless killer, not a sick pervert and he kills the pimp right there as the little girl hugs him in thanks.  This story is interjected throughout the issue, but that's The Will's part all told together.

Wow...weird opening huh?  Not sure how The Will is going to fit into the grander scheme of this story, but he's a pretty cool, Han Solo-type guy. I'm hoping he'll end up helping the main characters.  Speaking of...

Alana, baby Hazel, and Izabel the teenage ghost are dragging the unconscious Marko across the planet trying to save his life after he was wounded by a bounty hunter.  Alana is still furious because in his fever dream mutterings Marko mentioned a wife named Gwendolyn.  He wakes up and has a lot to answer for.  He explains that Gwen was his fiance back on their home world but when he left to join the war he changed a LOT and she stayed the same and they grew apart.  Then he met Alana and the rest is history.  The next morning they are preparing to leave the planet (i'm not sure how since they have no ship) when an attack ship from Alana's army appears right in front of them.  Alana says there are 6 soldiers inside and that maybe they can talk their way out of this when Marko says "No."  Though he took an oath of pacifism and swore to never draw his sword again he draws it now and says, "We fight".

It has been implied through this new series that Marko is one bad mutha with a sword, but we have yet to see it do to his oath of non-violence.  That being said, the moment where he breaks his oath would have had a lot more weight if it happend 50 issues into the series instead of 4.  I love this story and can't wait to see what he can do, but I have to question the timing of this.

Other than that it's a great issue.  Wonderful artwork.  Compelling characters.  REMEMBER THIS IS NOT FOR KIDS!  You don't want your thirteen year old getting his hands on this.  If you're old enough to handle it though, it's a great read.  It would have gotten pick of the week if AvX hadn't been just as good and more all-ages friendly.

New Comix! - Week of 5/16/12

Well, I've gotten 6 weeks behind in posting comic reviews, but i'm determined to catch up without missing any of the past weeks.  Here goes!

AvX #4
In the last issue Cap kicked Wolverine out of an airplane over the antarctic to keep him from killing Hope, the girl destined to be the next host for the Phoenix.  Cap wants to save the girl and somehow shield her from the Phoenix Force.  Wolverine believes (from past experience) that the only way to save the girl and the world is to kill her before she becomes something awful.  In this issue he is picked up in the frozen wasteland by the girl herself, Hope.  Both the X-men and the Avengers are searching the world for her and she is in the least likely place, with Wolverine, her would-be executioner.


Hope makes Wolverine a deal.  She wants to try to control the Phoenix and use it for good.  If she can't control it, she wants Wolverine there to put her down, if necessary.  To protect the Earth they hijack an A.I.M. (lame Marvel Universe terrorist organization) spaceship and head for the moon so she can meet the Phoenix before it gets to our planet.  When they get there they find the Avengers waiting for them.  Wolverine searched his soul and decided even HE didn't have what it took to kill a teenage girl in cold blood so he contacted the Avengers for help.  And then the X-Men show up via teleportation (thanks to Colossus's mutant sister, Magik) to take Hope back home.  And THEN the Thor rudely interrupts the ensuing argument by landing unconscious in a crater on the surface of the moon (he and a squad of Avengers were sent to outer space to try to slow down or stop the Phoenix)...The Phoenix has arrived.


While not the most exciting issue, it wasn't boring either and moved the story along nicely.  There were some really great character moments between Hope and Wolverine also.  I still question John Romita Jr. handling the art duties on this title.  I like his art, but on more of a smaller-scale project.  I LOVED it when he drew monthly Spider-Man stories.  These grander-scale projects don't seem ideal for his style though, in my opinion.


All in all a good issue in an increasingly interesting story.  I thought this storyline would be just a string of nonsensical fights, but it's shaping up to be better than I expected.

AvX Versus #2


This title is for the aformentioned nonsensical fights.  That being said, it's fun, which was the point.


This issue features fights between Captain America vs. Gambit, and Spider-Man vs. Colossus.  


In the Cap-V-Gambit fight, Cap fights someone distractedly until Gambit charges his uniform and makes it explode.  Cap then turns his full attention to the cajun mutant and knocks him out with one punch!  


In Spidey-V-Colossus, Spidey is severely outmatched.  Spider-Man is actually one of the stronger heroes in the Marvel Universe, but Colossus is stronger usually...and NOW he is also empowered with the powers of the Juggernaut....SOOO...Spidey loses.  In true Spidey fashion, he prepares to fight to the end, but Daredevil shows up and tells him that Hope isn't at that location so they just leave.  


The art in the Spidey section was good, but the art in the Captain America section was drawn by superstar artist, Steve McNiven, and was phenomenal.  McNiven is in my top 5 favorite artists.  I love everything he does.  Period.


This was a fun comic, though I think it's ridiculous that Colossus has been fighting in EVERY  Versus issue that has come out.  Really?  The X-Men don't have any other tough guys?!?


Meh story.  Great art.  Fun reading.

Saga #3


Winner.  This story is awesome and win everything, in my book.  Check it out.


At the end of issue 2, the two main characters were about to be taken down by a dangerous bounty hunter (both sides of the war want them dead because they are in a Romeo/Juliet situation and if the story of their love got out it could demoralize the centuries-old war) when the legendary ghosts of the forest (called the Horrors) show up and scare the bounty hunter away.  The ghosts are all children.  Creepy, huh?


With Marko wounded and unconscious, Alana is desperate to defend him against the creepy kid ghosts that are rumored to kill any living they find.  Instead one of the ghosts (Izabel) befriends the couple and promises to help heal Marko if Alana will agree to one condition.  She wants to be bonded to Hazel (their newborn baby) so she can leave the haunted forest and the world were she and her family were killed in the war.  Alana reluctantly agrees and they set off to save Marko.  As they are traveling Marko mutters from within his fever dreams that he is worried about Gwendolyn...his WIFE!  The last scene ends with Alana's frozen, horrified face.


This story is epic, weird, and addicting.  The artwork is equally weird but SO good.  Please note that this title is for MATURE readers and every issue has included at least one swear word and one bare breast.  That being said, it's one of the best, most original series I'm following right now.  If you're able to get bast the "mature" stuff, I would highly recommend getting on the SAGA bandwagon!

- Pick of the week!

Wonder Woman #9


I've been really enjoying this new take on Wonder Woman, making her much less of a "superhero" and much more a "mythical" character.  That being said, the story is getting weird and a little off-topic.


In this issue WW and her greek mythology friends head off to Hell to rescue her friend Zola from Hades.  They succeed, but not before Hades shoots one of Eros's (Cupid's) guns (instead of arrows...clever, huh?) and strikes WW in the heart.  He then lets the rest of the group go and keeps Diana to be his wife.  This is extra creepy when you realize that she is Zeus's daughter, making Hades her uncle.


The issue ends with Hades questioning Diana's love for him.  He asks her to prove it by putting her Lasso of Truth around her next as a noose, so she can't lie about it.


The art is still good.  The story is getting lame quick.  I want to see WW take on evil, spiteful Hera, not mucking around in Hell with Hades, dealing with his abandonment issues!  I'm hanging on for a few more issues, but it needs to pick up the pace and inject some excitement.

New Comix! - Week of 4/25/12

Wow! I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last comic review!  Since then we moved our family to Houston and I just never picked it back up.  Guess it's time to get back on the saddle.  Prepare yourself though.  It's going to be wordy until I get you caught up on everything.

AvX - Versus #1
Since I've been away from reviewing Marvel has kickstarted their big crossover story of the year, Avengers vs X-Men.  To properly review this book I will need to give you a quick synopsis of what's happened.

Years ago Jean Grey was killed by a mutant who thought he was Magneto at the time (until Wolverine beheaded him) and the Phoenix force disappeared.  No the Avengers have discovered that it's out in outer space and headed for earth at blinding speeds.  They have also discovered that it is headed for young Hope Summers, the "Mutant Messiah" that Cyclops is sheltering on his mutant island, Utopia.  They fear for the safety of earth, given the destructive nature of the Phoenix, and plan to take Hope into protective custody for the sake of Earth.  Cyclops and the X-Men also know about the Phoenix coming back, but hope that it signifies a rebirth for the mutant race that has had only one new birth (Hope Summers) since M Day years ago, the day that a crazed Scarlet Witch depowered most of the mutant population.  Needless to say that when Captain America showed up on Utopia looking to take Hope with him Cyclops was not inclined to acquiesce to his request (thank you Barbossa) and answered him with an optic blast to the shield.  The helicarrier then comes through the clouds with 2 dozen Avengers pouring out ready for battle and the story begins.

In AvX Marvel is doing something that's half genius, half douchey.  In the main AvX book individual fights are shown starting, described with a word box about how incredible the fight is, then the story moves along without showing the fight.  To see the fight you have to buy this series, AvX Versus.  See what I mean?  It's cool that they are expanding the fights that fans want to see, but at the same time they're practically MAKING you buy a tie-in book.  Whatever...I think it's fun.

Each AvX Versus book features 2 fights, each drawn and written by a different creative team.  In issue 1 we get to see Iron Man versus Magneto written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Adam Kubert and Thing versus Namor written by Kathryn Immonen and drawn by (husband?) Stuart Immonen.  I'm not in the "know" on these writers, but these artists are the real deal.  That's a good thing because the story in this book is very minimal. This is ALL about the fight and both artists do a great job.  The only thing I didn't like about this book was how both fights ended.  Things were going along great and then both fights end very abruptly and without much impact, almost like there was time limit or something!  SPOILERS AHEAD!!!  The Avengers win both of these fights, but again, I'm not sure why.  Both fights are neck and neck and then...over?  Magneto gets disheartened when he feels the oncoming presence of the Phoenix out in outerspace and Iron Man just flies off claiming that he won?  Underwater Namor and Thing are duking it out back and forth when Thing rips the tusks from an underwater monster and uses them to pin Namor to the ocean floor and...fight over?!?  He just walks out of the water the winner and you can clearly see Namor in the background flying out of the water already free.  How is either of these a win?  Neither of the Xmen fighters are out of the overall war!  Plus, it's not like Namor to get embarassed in an underwater fight and just let it go!

The story was pretty week the more I think about it, but the brawls were so fun and the art so good, I'm going to forgive quite a lot.

 - Book of the Week!

The Might Thor  #13
In my last post before I disappeared for half a year I told you how Thor died inexplicably at the end of last years' mega-event, Fear Itself.  That's when things got weird.  Sorry, but this is going to take some explaining...

After Fear Itself, Odin picked up his dead brother and disappeared leaving the 9 realms without King.  His wife, Frigga, teamed up with 2 other goddess-types that I can't be bothered to remember to become the triad known as the All-Mother and announced their plan to unite the 9 realms under one kingdom called Asgardia.  All seemed to be going well with the rebuild of fallen Asgard and the Mighty Tanarus continued to protect both Asgard and Earth...wait...WHAT?  Who the junk is Tanarus?!?  He's Odin's son, Asgard's Champion, and founding member of the Avengers of course!  Confused?  So was I.  It turns out that Agard's enemies used Thor's death as an opening and replaced him in the hearts and minds of the world with an imposter, Tanarus.  No one even remembered Thor.  Everything they knew about Thor got transferred to Tanarus, who didn't even look like Thor or carry a hammer.  In fact, Tanarus ends up being the Thor villain, Ulik the Troll in disguise!  Back to the story...the only one who seems weirded out is Loki who can't remember Thor but knows that something is up.  With the help of the now-grounded Silver Surfer they go about trying to bring Thor back.  In the meantime the soul of Thor finds himself on a floating viking ship in limbo with other dead gods awaiting their turn to be eaten by Demigorge the god eater.  He's weak and doesn't remember who he is until Loki manages to turn Dr. Blake's stick into Mjolnir.  When that happens Thor regains his memory and power (and hammer) and leads the dead gods into a battle with the Demigorge.  Both stories came to a head at the same time.  Evil Tanarus betrays Asgard and attempts to kill the All Mother as his troll army attacks the city.  Meanwhile, Thor destroys the Demigorge and returns to Asgard just in time to turn Tanarus into a smear on the pavement and save the day.

This brings us to issue 13.  Thor's a little mopey about having died and been resurrected (again) but gets over it when he's asked to open up a part of Asgard that Odin sealed eons ago.  Thor says that Odin's gone so who cares and busts in.  He finds a ruined tunnel and follows it to a hord of awakening stone monsters.  He tears through them with ease, but eventually gets overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.  Back at the entrance, the Asgardia architect who asked Thor to clear the area enters the room to find Thor laying on the ground muttering with a weird tentacle monster/dog thing sitting on his chest and exclaims, "We've freed the Mares!"  Turns out all that fighting was done in Thor's head, instigated by this weird monster thing.  I'm curious to see where this goes.

Back in Broxton, Oklahoma, Don Blake is whining to some blond lady about how he has no memories before med school and how he was just an empty shell for Thor to inhabit.  In the end he says he's sick of this weird half-life and if he can't have his own memories he wants to be Thor again.  The blond lady is revealed to be the Enchantress and Blake is offering her his soul to become a God again.  Wow...this could get interesting.

Decent story with plenty of promise, topped of by some very nice artwork.

Extra Review

Saga #1 & 2
This book by Brian K. Vaughan came out since I've been away from reviewing, but it's worth mentioning here because I will be raving about it in upcoming reviews.

Quick backstory:
This story is Romeo & Juliet in outer space.  There are two rival species who have been warring for centuries across the cosmos.  Unfortunately for our two main characters, they are in love and on opposite sides of the battle.  These two former soldiers have rejected the war of their forefathers and in the first issue welcome a baby girl, Hazel, into the world.  No sooner has the mother (Alana) given birth than they are on the run from soldiers who would kill them both for treason.  The father (Marko) has renounced violence so they run.

In issue 2 they are lost in a supposedly haunted forest trying to get away from their pursuers.  Both sides of the war have sent bounty hunters out after the couple, afraid that their story would demoralize the other soldiers and inspire more rebellion.  One of the most feared bounty hunters in the galazy, "The Stalk" finds them first.  She's a creepy half woman/half spider and she takes out Marko before he even knows what's going on (stabs him through the shoulder with her tongue!).  As Alana, Hazel, and The Stalk have a showdown, red eyes appear all around them and the bounty hunter runs away.  Alana turns around to see the ghosts of murdered children asking if she needs a hand.

One of the best parts though? The book is narrated by a now grown-up Hazel.  She's telling the story of her birth and the trials her parents went through to protect her.  Very nice, unique point of view.

Let me just say, this book is fantastic.  It's not for all ages though. There's boobs.  There's robot sex.  There's rough language.  That doesn't change the fact that this book is great.  It's fresh.  It's original.  The artwork is great.  I can't wait to follow this book!  Plus, it's nice to read something outside the superhero genre every now and then.  I can't recommend this book enough (to those mature enough to handle it).

 - Book of the Year!