Let’s see what the comic book man brought us this week! (Mild spoilers may ensue)
Uncanny Avengers #2 (Marvel)
To be honest this book was not at the top of my to-read list since I was a bit underwhelmed by the first book. But that may have been a product of reading too many preview pages so that basically the only surprise I got was the shock ending of what Red Skull was doing to Xavier’s corpse. The second issue felt a lot better though, there were some scenes that I felt were quite well-written - Havok receiving the old man’s thanks, the scenes with the mutants while watching Honest John’s broadcasts, how Rogue manages to escape her captors, etc. Also, how great of a villain name is “Honest John the Living Propaganda?” Heh. (I think he’s a new guy introduced by Remender, I can’t find any info from before this issue). I’m not a big fan of Cassaday’s artwork (which contributed to my being underwhelmed by the first issue) - it feels like he’s a bit hit or miss. There are some great panels here, but there are also some that are drawn strangely (Lilandra looks bald in one of the panels - that may have been a colorist problem though). Still, Remender’s writing more than makes up for the art, though I do hope Cassaday can keep to schedule so that the book doesn’t slip schedules too much (see: Astonishing X-Men), I’m looking forward to where the Red Skull is taking is!
All-New X-Men #2 (Marvel)
I was quite excited for the second issue of Bendis’ X-Men and I wasn’t disappointed. The art team was great on this book, on par with the first. Immonen’s pencils look better with the coloring in ANXM compared to his New Avengers run (though that was great too!). Bendis is known for being a great dialogue writer and he doesn’t disappoint. There are some great scenes here with Hank trying to convince the young ones to go along with him, Wolverine’s reaction to Jean, Iceman’s reaction to himself, and that ending - well, you bring five teenagers who are used to saving the world into a situation like that, what did you think they were going to do?
Quick Hits - Other Marvel
A+X #2 is a book I read simply because Chris Bachalo was drawing the Rogue/Black Widow story, I’m kind of excited to be having Bachalo and Immonen be the regular X-men artists once the new Uncanny X-Men launches, I really enjoy their work. The other story in this issue is Kitty Pride visiting Stark Resilient with a cold (the cold is relevant to the story!) Thor - God of Thunder #2 shifts the focus back to young viking Thor with only glimpses of what’s happening to his future selves. The book is still great and the art is spectacular. FF #1 was okay, though I must admit to not being a big fan of Mike Allred’s art even though some people on the internet swear by it. Not really my Thing I guess. Heh. Still looking forward to where Fraction takes this book. New Avengers #34 is the end of Bendis’ 232-issue run of Avengers books, and the ending kind of undoes some of the changes he’s made during that run. Which is fine, I guess it gives Hickman more space for his upcoming Avengers run. X-Men Legacy #2 felt like it had just a bit too much of traipsing inside Legion’s mindscape, but at least we finally get to see some of the other X-Men (it’s not a solo book, right?) X-Treme X-Men #7 is still a terribly named book, and the art in this issue was a bit off for me. The writing is great though and it looks like we’ll be meeting more alternate universe mutants/heroes in the next few issues.
Superman #14 (DC)
When the New 52 started out, Action Comics was the better Superman title, but with the new creative team of Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort, this book has started to pick up. The main draw for me is the artwork headlined by Rocafort; this issue’s pencils and coloring are great, especially with the level of detail. This issue gives us a bit more insight into Clark’s current status, especially vis-a-vis his pre-New 52 love Lois Lane. The rest of the book involve Clark and Kara getting beat up by a strange new visitor from their home planet, and it looks like Clark and Kara’s relationship isn’t going to get better anytime soon. This may be Kara’s new status quo for the New 52, maybe they want her be more stand alone from her famous cousin this time around. The issue doesn’t resolve the H’el on Earth storyline just yet, looks like we’re getting another round of this mini-event in the #15 issues of the “super” books.
Aquaman #14 (DC)
This is a prelude to the Aquaman/Justice League crossover Throne of Atlantis that starts next month (DC has quite a few of these mini-crossovers going on, maybe in preparation for next year’s Trinity War?) and gives us more information about Arthur’s New 52 origins. There’s even a scene where Black Manta is explaining how strong Arthur is even outside of the seas. Too bad he didn’t accept Waller’s invite, I think he’d be a good addition to Suicide Squad! I was a bit annoyed by the scenes with Arthur’s brother always being drawn as a shadowy figure; if it was just in side scenes that take place outside of the main story that’s fine but they did it even in the main scenes with Arthur. Anyway, it looks like Throne of Atlantis is going to involve even those trench creatures from the first story arc, looks like writer Geoff Johns has something big planned for this one!
Quick Hits - Other DC
Batman Incorporated #5 brings us another view of a future where Damian has taken over as Batman and all hell was broken loose. This future was last seen in Batman #666 (pre-New 52, also written by Morrison). Talon #2 was okay, though the art wasn’t very good for me. I like that the book basically giving DC a way to flesh out the Court of Owls after Snyder introduced them in Batman, but aside from that they’re going to have to grow Calvin Rose into his own character. Savage Hawkman #14 wraps up his crossovers with Green Arrow and Deathstroke, although everything is told in an unusual chronological order. They probably just put GA and Hawkman together as a prelude to their teaming up in the upcoming JLA book. From this issue it looks like there are more Thanagarians on Earth than we expected - they were a pretty big deal pre-New 52 so who knows what they have planned for Thanagar these days. Teen Titans #14 wraps up the Cassie origin story but to be honest it didn’t feel like it resolved very much. The other half of the issue felt like filler until they could lead up into next month’s Death of the Family tie-in. And…that’s it for DC this month, I should probably catch up on the other series.
Masks #1 (Dynamite)
This week’s non-big two pick is the first issue of Masks from Dynamite Entertainment. It’s a crossover of several pulp heroes/vigilantes - The Shadow, The Green Hornet and his faithful assistant Kato, the Spider and…is that Zorro on the cover?!? - coming together to oppose a corrupt government that’s imposing injustice on the citizenry. The corrupt bureaucracy leads even law-abiding heroes like the Hornet to question their “lawful good” stance because this time, the law is on the side of the bad guys! The creative team is science fiction writer Chris Roberson and renowned comic book painter Alex Ross, which means we’re in for an interesting and pretty good-looking series.
Panel of the Week - All-New X-Men #2
My favorite panel this week is when Iceman meets Iceman in All-New X-Men #2:
See Also