Avengers: No Road Home #9 (of 10)

Writers: Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing

Artist:  Paco Medina

Cover Art:  Yasmine Putri

Wow.  What a fantastic issue.  The penultimate issue of this weekly Avengers series is just thrilling, unexpected and remarkably based in character.

This is why this series has been so brilliant.  They are not just going through action stories, but every moment is wrapped in character.  The several pages at the beginning of this book where the character named “Euphoria” asks the Avengers and Nyx, the Goddess of Night, why they want the final shard and the following conversations is amazing.  I just loved these pages and read them a couple of times.  How great!

Then, there is a moment with Rocket that is all kinds of awesomeness.  No spoilers, of course, but it is one of my favorite moments in the issue… and that is saying a ton.

And the ending… come on.  This sets up just the most epic final issue of any series in a long time.  This is easily the best Avengers based series going today and could be the best comic Marvel is putting out. I thought Marvel Knights 20th limited series was special last year, but I am telling you, that series had some down moments, but Avengers: No Road Home has not once been anything but compelling.

Not only do I want to know how the storyline with Nyx plays out, I want to know how the character arcs of Vision, Hercules, Hawkeye, Hulk, Voyager (who also gets a big moment here) play out.

I can’t imagine that the conclusion will be anything but astounding.  I have said it before, but I will say it once more…I can’t wait until next week for the final issue of Avengers: No Road Home.

The War of the Realms #1

“Chapter One: The Last Realm Standing”

Writer:  Jason Aaron

Artist:  Russell Dauterman

Cover Art:  Arthur Adams & Matthew Wilson

I have been wanting to read this all week since it is the major event of the Marvel Universe. The problem is that I have been pretty busy this week and I have been so far behind my Thor comics that I have been worried that I wouldn’t understand what was happening.  When I finally got to the issue, I did not have a problem understanding what was going on… but, unfortunately, it was underwhelming.

The war began as Malekith’s forces started the war on Midgard.  I’ve always liked Malekith, outside of the wasted use of him in the MCU in Thor: The Dark World,  and his forces are good.  I always love Spider-man and his annoying Freyja and the Asgardians was a nice touch.

The problem was that I just did not find myself too interested in what was happening.  Hopefully, this gets better because it is going to engulf the Marvel Comics for several months here.

I love Jason Aaron, but, honestly, there was some dialogue that was disappointing.  The art is pedestrian, especially the Spider-man parts.  The shocking twist with Loki at the end was unexpected.

Overall, I ended the first issue with a lot of doubt that this was going to come anywhere close to the great Avengers: No Road Home that is going on weekly right now.  I sure hope that this gets better.

Avengers: No Road Home #8 (of 10)

Writers:  Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing

Artist:  Carlo Barberi

Cover Art:  Jesus Aburtov

The eighth issue of the weekly saga that focuses on a group of Avengers squaring off against Nyx, Goddess of Night came out this week and it continued its amazing run of epicness.  This week we get Hulk one on one with Nyx as the remainder of the Avengers start to reconnect.

Hulk, Hawkeye and Rocket find themselves facing off with Nyx, while Hercules, Voyager, Scarlet Witch, Spectrum, Conan and Vision battle against Oizys, Goddess of Misery in the Hyborian Age.

The key to this entire series is how expertly these Avengers blend together.  An unlikely crew, they work surprisingly well together.  And now it appears as if the two groups are finally reuniting.  However, the end of the issue set up an even worse situation for these Avengers to face.

There are only two more issues to go and the anticipation level continues to rise.  I hope that the final two issues can maintain the excellence of the first 8 issues, and I have no reason to believe that they will not.

Marvel Team-Up #1

Writer:  Eve L. Ewing

Artist:  Joey Vazquez

Cover Art:  Felipe Sobreiro

I used to love Marvel Team-Up back in the 1980s.  I love Spider-man so seeing him team up with the greats (and some not so great) in the Marvel Universe was always epic.  So I was excited when I heard that Marvel Team-Up was coming back and that Spidey would team up with Ms. Marvel.  I love Kamala Khan and they make a fun pairing.

The story itself was well done, with some solid writing and the typical quick wit shown by these two characters.

However, there is a weird gimmick going on here.  The comic can be flipped upside down and read to the middle.  On way, we follow Peter Parker as he winds up facing off with the Jackal, and the other way, we see Kamala Khan’s day that leads up to when she meets up with everyone’s favorite web-head.

It feels very gimmicky.

My hope this is not a trend for this series, because I do not think they need to do this. They have Spidey and Ms. Marvel and that should be enough to carry a book.  I don’t know if they are going to switch characters as the series continues or if this is going to be another person (like Deadpool) that Spidey has to find reasons to team up with constantly.

I am looking forward to seeing the answers to those questions.

Major X #1

Writer & Artist:  Rob Liefeld

Cover Art:  Rob Liefeld & Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Now that Marvel Studios have the cinematic rights back to the X-Men, maybe we will see more new X-men characters created.  Rumors swirled that Marvel Comics had put the kibosh on any new characters who would be mutants because if they made a new mutant character, the rights would go to FOX.  Hence, all of the Inhumans that we got for several years.  Now, with the term mutant happily back under the umbrella of Marvel Studios, we can have new X-characters.

So they decided to start with this guy?

Major X, the new character created by Rob Liefeld, has his own book and it was not good.  The writing was so childish and downright weak.  The dialogue was immature and it felt as if it had been written by some of my 7th grade students.

The story dropped the new character into a time in the X-history, seemingly, when Cable was alive and the X-Force team was just forming.  Deadpool did not know people either.  Of course, the book never lets us into that timing, never telling us when this was happening.

The story, as it was, was basically Major X coming back in time to find Cable, I guess, and something something.  It was all just an excuse to have these heroes fight one another. In fact, I am literally looking at two pages of the comic where seven of the 11 panels are Cable, Deadpool, Wolverine or the new future Beast they were calling M’Koy, punching the others with a punch.  Terrible.

Then, Rob Liefeld made his name with his art during the hey days of the 1990s, but this art in Major X #1 is anything but good.  It looks like a considerably less talented artist trying to copy Liefeld’s work.  The fact that it is Liefeld is not a good sign.

I have been moving away from X-Men books over the last several years and this issue certainly will not stop that trend.  I have no intention of adding this to my pull list, even with the obviously cliched answer of who Major X really is.  No Spoilers, but it could not be more cliched.

Not a book I would recommend unless you want to sit down and riff it.

Avengers: No Road Home #7 (of 10)

Writer:  Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing

Artist:  Paco Medina

Cover Art: Yasmine Putri

Each week, Avengers: No Road Home just keeps getting better and better.  This issue was so good that I flew through the book.  This week, we had the point of view, heavily, of Monica Rambeau, Spectrum.  And her thoughts and concerns as the team reunited with Scarlet Witch (and Conan, by the way) to battle Nyx and try to keep her away from the shard that she had been searching for. This was the main thrust of the issue and it was completely exciting.

We only get a few pages of Hulk, Hawkeye and Rocket, and yet, it is clear that they are setting up something big with these three.  I can’t wait to see where they go with this.

Again, the reason Avengers: No Road Home is so great is that they are focusing on characters.  Even in a major battle between the Avengers and Nyx, they focus in on Monica and her doubts, and Wanda and her perceived weaknesses.  Even Conan is reacting because of grief and loss.  It is so well developed that it is a tremendously fun read.

What could be next?  We’ll see next week!

Cover Art: Jock, 2000s Variant cover

“Batman’s Longest Case”

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artist: Greg Capullo

“Manufacture For Use”

Writer: Kevin Smith

Artist:  Jim Lee

“The Legend of Knute Brody”

Writer:  Paul Dini

Artist:  Dustin Nguyen

“The Batman’s Design”

Writer:  Warren Ellis

Artist:  Beck Cloonan

“Return to Crime Alley”

Writer: Denny O’Neil

Artist: Steve Epting

“Heretic”

Writer:  Christopher Priest

Artist:  Neal Adams

“I Know”

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist:  Alex Maleev

“The Last Crime in Gotham”

Writer:  Geoff Johns

Artist:  Kelley Jones

“The Precedent”

Writer:  James Tynion IV

Artist:  Alvaro Martinez-Bueno

“Batman’s Greatest Case”

Writer: Tom King

Artist:  Tony S. Daniel & Joelle Jones

“Medieval”

Writer:  Peter J. Tomasi

Artist:  Doug Mahnke

Okay, I have  a lot of things to say about this.

First of all… yes, I know I rarely review a DC book.  I did the one Superman book, as the only other one, but this is Detective Comics#1000. That is quite an accomplishment.

I was not going to purchase this comic.  I heard the fact that DC was releasing like 5 million variant covers (okay, that might be a bit of hyperbole, but they were having a ton of variant covers for this issue) and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was intrigued.  However, I did not have my comic shop pull the issue for me.  I resisted.

I was going to my shop on Thursday, a day after the book came out.  I had seen a posting on Facebook of the ten variant covers that the shop had, but I thought that they may be sold out before I came.  That would have been fine with me.  As I was on the way to Comic World, I told myself that if they still had a copy of Detective Comics #1000, I would consider buying it.

They had like 5.

I chose the cover that I liked the best of the remaining issues, and I figured, if nothing else, this would make a good review.  And I have always liked Batman, despite not reading any of his books currently.  I have always enjoyed the DC characters, but prefer the stories told at Marvel.

Then I found out that the book was actually a bunch of short stories instead of one main one.  I have never liked that as an anniversary issue.  It always feels like it is packed together.  And Detectives Comics #1000 felt just like that.  I thought that a lot of these stories felt rushed and relied too much on the twist because of it.  I would even go as far as to say that I disliked a bunch of these Batman stories.

For example, I really disliked “Return to Crime Alley.”  What was the purpose of that?  This one felt so very judgmental.  “Medievel” felt like an excuse to show some full page art.  The art was great, mind you, but there was not much to the story.  It did seem to set up for future Detective Comics issues, so maybe there is that, but I do not intend on buying any more post 1000.  “The Legend of Knute Brody” seemed out of character for everyone involved and did not fit with the tone of most of this book.  “The Last Crime in Gotham” was my least favorite one here.

However, there were some strengths as well.  Brian Michael Bendis’ “I Know” with an aged Penguin was a cool story even though I am typically not a fan of future stories.  “The Precedent” filled in an important scene in the history between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.  “Batman’s Longest Case” was odd, but had some cool guest stars.  “Batman’s Greatest Case” was a little confusing, but it brought all of the Batman family together, which was nice for the occasion.

And easily the best story was Kevin Smith’s story, “Manufacture for Use.”  This was short and quick, but it also had heart and worked as a short story.  Where as many of these stories felt rushed, this was just the right amount of pages and featured an important piece of Bat-history.  Kevin Smith certainly understands the character of Batman and he provided the best emotional punch to the book.  He also had Jim Lee providing some beautiful art.

If you are a Batman fan, you’ll probably get more out of this than I did.  The Kevin Smith story is worth it alone.  Though I do not know if this book is worth all the money that someone would have to spend to collect all of the variant covers, I am glad that I bought the book.

Avengers #6 (of 10)

Writer:  Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing

Artist:  Sean Izaakse

Cover Art:  Yasmine Putri

I never knew how much I needed Conan the Barbarian and Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch together until I got it.

I had made a joke a while ago after Marvel regained the rights to publish Conan the Barbarian comics about how long it would be before Conan was in the Avengers.  The answer was …not too long.

However, as everything else has been in this weekly event called No Road Home, the issue featuring Conan and Wanda (almost exclusively) was just fantastic.

There was a little bit of the Hulk and Hawkeye (oh, and by the way, the Hulk is just creepy as all get out.  The Hulk has become a real monster…not just a mindless one smashing things.  This Hulk has an air of wickedness, if not evil, about him), but the bulk of the issue was Conan and Wanda heading after the shard.

And, once again, the final page of this issue is jaw dropping.  I love this book after six issues.  It has taken a non-typical Avengers threat and weaved a amazing story with some exceptional character moments.  This blows the current Avengers main title out of the water.  Both books have been doing unconventional stories (this one involving Greek Gods and now barbarians and the other book involving vampires), but this book has not yet failed to deliver something extra special.

The fact that there are only four more issues before this story ends is a true sadness to me.   It is as good as Old Man Hawkeye and as Marvel Knights 20th.  Shortened series with a determined story focusing on more than just fighting… perhaps this is the real way to move Marvel Comics forward.

Avengers #17

“The Kingdom of the Vampires”

Writer:  Jason Aaron

Artist:  David Marquez

Cover Art:  David Marquez & Matthew Wilson

I have to say… I have not been a huge fan of this vampire arc in the Avengers book.  The addition of Blade to the roster was interesting at first, and I did like how they have taken the group to a new location with the Agents of Wakanda becoming a thing, but, if I am being honest, I just did not care much for the Dracula arc.  It did not raise to a level that I had hoped it would, and that it tough, especially when Avengers: No Road Home is killing it every week.

So this “finale” of this story (though not that much has been wrapped up) remained as a weaker issue of the series.  I felt very unconnected to most of the characters and, even with a neat last page, I just did not find much engagement with it.

Not only was I fairly disappointed with the Dracula aspect of the story, I an finding, more and more, that I really do not like the current form of Jennifer Walters, aka Hulk (don’t call me She-Hulk).  As one of the best female Marvel characters for years, Jenn is simply nowhere near as interesting in this form as she should be.

With the War of the Realms coming next month, this arc certainly takes a back seat to what is coming, but it feels underwhelming and unfinished.  I’m not sure Blade or Ghost rider fit in the Avengers and I actually had a bit of a negative reaction to Blade yelling “Avengers Assemble.”  I do like the attempt to re-brand the Russian team, the Winter Guard and their budding rivalry could go somewhere.  However, this story arc will be forgotten before that comes to pass.

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1

Writer: Saladin Ahmed

Artist:  Minkyu Jung

Cover Art:  Eduard Petrovich

Kamala Khan has become one of Marvel Comics new superstars and she has received her brand new comic, The Magnificent Ms. Marvel.

Writer Saladin Ahmed takes over for G. Willow Wilson, who had written Ms. Marvel from her beginning.  While it is a new voice, the series maintained the special trait that made it different than other Marvel series.  The Muslim background of Kamala Khan is still a major part of the series as is the relationships of Kamala and her family and friends.  A major reveal takes place here and it will shape the series for the foreseeable future.

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1 is a perfect jumping on point if you are interested in  Kamala Khan.  The issue had a fresh feel to it and it did not feel weighed down with the baggage of years of issues.  However, the character of Kamala Khan still feels like one of the most original characters in the Marvel Universe.

Avengers: No Road Home #5 (of 10)

Writers: Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing

Artist:  Sean Izaakse

Cover Art:  Yasmine Putri

This continues to be one of the best series in comics.  Marvel has been doing the weekly series recently with the X-Men and now Spider-man, but none of those have been as consistently exciting, dramatic and full of outstanding action as the Avengers: No Road Home.

We continue with the battle on Mount Olympus with the Avengers gaining a bit of an upper hand by focusing on the children of Nyx, the Goddess of Night.  The Immortal Hulk’s arrival tilts the scale even more, but Nyx showed that she was more than a typical threat.

A plan from Wanda, aka Scarlet Witch, leads to her escaping with the crystal shard that Nyx wanted so desperately.  And where Wanda winds up, thanks to Voyager is a huge spoiler for next issue.  So hide your eyes if you do not want to know.

SPOILER

Yes, Wanda winds up with the one and only Conan the Barbarian.

This series is just great and I cannot wait for the next issue to see where this goes from here. It is the highest level I can rate it here…

Amazing Spider-Man #17

“Hunted Part 1”

Writer:  Nick Spencer

Artist:  Humberto Ramos

Cover Art:  Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado

The ten-issue arc contained inside the pages of the Amazing Spider-man called Hunted started last week in an introduction to the story and part one happens this week.

I am a huge Spider-man fan.  I love Peter Parker and if this ten issue weekly arc is as fantastic as the Avengers: No Road Home has been, then I am going to be one happy Spidey fan.

The Amazing Spider-Man has been building to this story for several issues now as Kraven the Hunter and his “son” have been abducting animal themed super-villains for some mysterious intentions.  We start to see the thoughts behind the events this issue.

Of course, Kraven was the villain behind one of the most praised Spidey stories of all time, Kraven’s Last Stand.  This has the same feel to it.  There are some dark implications in the story as well, things that do not make me feel good.  Something particularly directed toward Mary Jane Watson.

MJ’s return to Peter is one of the best things that has happened in years.  I love Peter and MJ together and I want more.

This issue does what all Spider-man books should do… show how much of a hero Spider-man truly is.  Despite being sick as a dog, Peter heads out to search for the missing child of Dr. Curt Conners, and his former girlfriend, Felicia Hardy aka The Black Cat.  However, it is a trap.

Peter is once again placed in a situation where the odds are completely against him and looks to be hopeless.  Yet, we know that Spider-man will find a way… or at least, we hope he will.

Old Man Quill #2 (of 12)

“In the Court of the Crimson King”

Writer:  Ethan Sacks

Artist:  Robert Gill

Cover Art:  John Tyler Christopher

Okay, I had no intentions of buying the Old Man Quill series.  I mean, Old Man Logan came out during a period I was not reading comics so I basically missed it, though I knew of the character and enjoyed the take on him in the current X-Men continuity.  I absolutely loved Old Man Hawkeye, but I always had more of a connection to the character of Clint Barton than I did for Peter Quill.

Plus, I have never been much of a fan of the alternate futures or timelines that are not part of the real Marvel Universe.  Those types of stories never appealed to me.  They weren’t my thing.

Of course, I get Marvel #1s in my pull list so I gave Old Man Quill #1 a read and …dang it… this was way better than I had thought it would be.  Enough so that I got number two, and… it was better than number one.

Looks like I am reading another old man story.

With the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy arriving on an earth that Quill can barely recognize, Quill, Drax, Rocket, Gamora and Mantis make their way across earth in an attempt to stop the Universal Church of Truth, who were the group to destroy Spartax.

The down-trodden Peter interacting with his “family” in the Guardians really makes this series special and watching these hardened and bittern Guardians deal out justice in a brutal and violent manner is something awesome.

We get Dr. Doom in the series as well, as Doom has stepped up and spread his dominant hand across the planet.

Great writing so far and the art is solid for the story being told.  I did not want to be buying Old Man Quill, but I am, and I am enjoying it!

Avengers: No Road Home #4

Writer:  Al Ewing, Jim Zub and Mark Waid

Artist:  Sean Izaakse

Cover Art:  Yasmine Putri

This is the fourth week of the Avengers event called No Road Home.  It has been the best Avengers story arc in a long time.

This week’s issue gives the background of the series main villain, Nyx, which means we get some Greek mythology in the works.  And Hercules has his mind clouded by the children of Nyx and he attacks his friends in the Avengers.

And above all else, there is such an epic final page of the issue.

This issue has some amazing pages of art work from Sean Izaakse.  There are some beautifully rendered pages, featuring the contrast between the colors of the world of Mount Olympus to the shade/darkness of the arrival of the Goddess of the Night and her children.  The art stood out to me more this week than it had yet in this exceptional run of Avengers comics.

It makes me excited to see next week’s issue even more than I already am.

Meet the Skrulls #1 (of 5)

“Family Unit”

Writer:  Robbie Thompson

Artist:  Niko Henrichon

Cover Art:  Marcos Martin

With the Skrulls playing a big role in the new Marvel Studios film Captain Marvel out this week, it makes sense that Marvel Comics has jumped in with a new limited series based on the green-faced, shape-shifters called Meet the Skrulls.

The story starts off introducing us to the family of Skrulls who have a mission from the Skrull Empire and have been undercover on earth for years.

With a discussion around the dinner table, we are introduced to all the members of this family, the Warners.  We see not only the problems that come from a secret spy family infesting the world at large, but we also see the problems within a small family that everybody can relate to.  Everything from sibling rivalry to bullying in touched on in the first issue and it is great.

I get a definite vibe from this issue as I did with the Tom King Vision series which was such a tremendous limited series.  If Meet the Skrulls is anywhere near that wondrous series, then we are in line for some really enjoyable comics.

We also have what the issue is dubbing “Project Blossom” which appears to be a plan to suss out the Skrulls in hiding and kill them.  We see this in the first few pages as an agent from Project Blossom attacked and killed a seemingly innocuous Skrull family and it worked so well to set this antagonist as a danger to our main cast of apparently villainous family members.

There was lots of interest here and I am excited to see where it goes next.