Avengers 1959 #4 – Are we there yet? I don’t know, I have nothing to really say. Story’s boring. Not really sure what is even supposed to going on. Just seems like Nick Fury and his cohorts are just running around aimlessly in the world chasing god knows what. Love Namora, that’s about all I have for you guys on this issue.
Avengers: X-Sanction #1 – Yeah! This issue could EASILY have been terrible. They took a big risk bringing Cable back so soon (he’s really only been gone for like a year and a half) but thanks to the geius of Jeph Loeb it was a huge success! I love that they did as little ret-conning with his “death” as possible. They stuck to what we saw back in Second Coming. The T-O virus took over his whole body, big damage to his metal parts, and sucked into a portal. That all still happened, they’re even telling us that he is still going to die from the T-O virus…they just put it off an extra 24 hours. When I first heard about this series, I thought they were gonna do something stupid like pluck a past version of Cable from the time-stream, one that doesn’t know Hope (possibly even a pre-New Mutants version), but nope! Hope is still all that he thinks about, like any other loving parent would do. I was also skeptical that this was an Avengers story rather than an X-men story but now that I’ve read I totally see what they’re going for and applaud their creativity (much better then when they decided to do a Dark Phoenix storyline and make it all Iron Man-centric).
Battle Scars #2 – Eh…there’s still time to save this one I think but they need to get a move on. Supposedly this (along with the finale of Children’s Crusade) are going to kick off the next big Marvel events going on, but they need to give us something. We’ve now had two issues of Marcus Johnson running around and escaping people and we are still no closer to knowing anything about him or why people are after him. All we learned in this issue is that Captain America is a terrible liar and S.H.E.I.L.D. doesn’t know how to hold on to captives, EVER. Although I do love seeing Taskmaster, they need to kick this Fear Itself epilogue into high gear because much like the Fearless, it is beginning to flounder a bit.
Buffy: Season 9 #4 – Great wrap up to the opening arc of this new series. I think the writers really set us up with a great new status quo (which is strikingly like the old status quo that worked so well for the show). I loved the choice of villain also. I always saw Glory (big bad season 5) as “Buffy if she never stopped being a shallow valley girl” so it was like she was fighting herself. Well I sorta view this guy Siphon as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer if she was a guy”. When you look at it that way, it made this battle a perfect opening for the new season. Also lets marvel at the fact that police are upset about someone killing hundreds of vampires…thanks Harmony! Oh and Spike was there too!
Carnage USA #1 – I LOVE CARNAGE. I have always loved Carnage. Forget Spider-man, and screw Venom, Carnage is totally where I have always gotten my Spider fix. Even when I didn’t collect Spider-man at all, I still made it a point to collect Carnage appearances. So when I read last year’s Carnage series, I was enthralled. Seeing Carnage and Shriek in action together again was just awesome. But this? An entire town infected, for lack of a better word, by the Carnage symbiote is possibly the creepiest thing that Marvel has done since the Brood. And he may not like the Avengers very much but it’s clear he’s still holding some heavy vendetta against Spidey. Watching him take down a team of pretty heavy hitting Avengers almost makes you say “Venom who?” I can wait for next issue, which I fear probably be for another TWO months. Why does Marvel only release their GREAT books every two months now? Like Children’s Crusade and the last Carnage series.
Ghost Rider #7 – Now this is what I’m talking about! This flailing series pulled out all the stops for this issue in an effort to bring this title back up to where it should/could be…it’s like they were reading my mind I swear. First of all, Steel Wind and Steel Vengeance?! One of the biggest shocks of the week in any title. And not just back…but all updated and gruesome too. And thank the lord in heaven, Johnny Blaze is finally back! This book just isn’t the same without him in it, and they really shouldn’t even try to. Even if they don’t make him Ghost Rider again they should never get rid of him. And just to shake things up a bit, they added Hawkeye, the Hothead Avenger, to the mix. Now it’s issues like this that make a series successful!
Journey Into Mystery #632 – The Misadventures of Young Loki continue… This time? Hell hound puppies in desperate need of a home. Watching Loki try his very best to do good but using his bad ways is hilarious, and of course in the end he just can’t quite give up the last puppy and so he adds it to his Cave of Misfits along with little Leah. Every conversation with these two is hysterical and now having a nasty little pup in the background muttering meanness will just add to the humor. Fun guest appearances by Shaman and Warlock just keep the book’s light tone going throughout. Who needs Thor or Tanarus when we’ve got Loki?
Magneto: Not a Hero #2 – Alright, Joseph is back! And he’s bad… You gotta hand it to that skank Astra, she sucks but she really knows how to shake things up. Joseph’s resurrection was one of the more sensible and plausible ones I’ve seen (based, of course, on Marvel U physics). I already love the dynamic between him and the real Magneto, quite different from their past interactions. My only regret is that we didn’t get to see more of (or really any) of Joseph’s deformed Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but it looks like that’ll be the first thing we see next issue so I’ll deal.
New Avengers #19 – A bit slow, but lot of set up for what looks like an epic battle between the New Avengers and the new H.A.M.M.E.R. A few noteworthy points did happen though in this mostly uneventful issue. Daredevil returns and he’s thinking the same thing we are “You ask me to join and then I never hear from you?” Is Victoria Hand really playing for Osborn’s side or will we find out that Cage and/or Cap were in on it? And Osborn debuts his new Avengers to the public. Some big things brewing in this title I think…
Uncanny X-Force #19 – It was good. It really was…but it wasn’t great. This was a great storyline and this conclusion really felt like not just a wrap-up to the Archangel storyline but also to the entire Age of Apocalypse a whole. With a few of the remaining characters dying and a few staying here in Earth-616, it just feels like that entire story has finally just ended. I’m somewhat disappointed on how they handled Angel and his almost death. I spent the last few issues preparing myself for Angel to die and then watching his and Besty’s life play out (with her psychic push of course) was just wonderful. A great death and maybe something they could take back in a few years if they wanted…but not the same issue! I almost never approve of killing long time characters but to fake a death like that and then go with amnesia instead just seems a bit cheap to me. Overall a great ending to the story though and now we get to see how ReGenesis and Schism affect the covert X-squad next issue.
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