Book Of The Week - AVENGERS ACADEMY #25
The penultimate issue of Christos Gage's first major arc on his seminal run on this Avengers spin off title gets things off fast and furious after the conclusion of the prior issue (http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-4-12-one-more-reason-to-avoid-a-hybrid-review). Three to four issues (at least) of build up pays off as artist Tom Grummett (alongside colorist Chris Sotomayor and inker Cory Hamscher) get a chance to shine with an all out battle sequence. It is essentially the staff and instructors of Avengers Academy versus Hybrid, a discarded villain from ROM (and a spare issue of X-MAN from the 90's). Ironically, much like the battle against Korvac, it seems AVENGERS ACADEMY has a theme running of a major battle against a near omnipotent figure who is both naked and colored in pink, purple, and/or lavender. The mystery of "who killed Jocasta" as well as the morally ambiguous "Future Reptil" within the young/current Reptil's body all come to a head at once amidst the brawl. Grummett, much like many other 90's workhorse artists such as Mark Bagley, is at home with action sequences, and Gage is wise to allow Grummett a chance to shine here.
There still is plenty of character development here.Reptil's both present and future step up in a big way to resolve the crisis. The love triangle between Mettle, Hazmat, and X-23 gets some notice, and Reptil's relationship with Finesse also plays a major part in the story. New heroine White Tiger also gets a few key lines, and as usual, Hank Pym's mind, not his ability to grow or shrink, proves the most critical to an epic battle. The climax sets up the next issue very nicely as well as sees two cast members return to the panels for the first time in months. While the panels are packed with characters, from regular cast members to newer cast members like Lightspeed, Hawkeye, and Juston Seyfert (and his Sentinel), Gage has experience juggling an expended cast from his days helming AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE.
If there is one demerit, it is that the conflict against Hybrid may remind some of the battle against Korvac in more than color schemes and lack of clothing. Even an element of one of the cast's future selves is retained. While a reoccurring theme along the run of a series is fine, some may dismiss it as being a little predictable. Much like Korvac, Hybrid is a villain who seems to be omnipotent and can brush off any attack until the critical moment when he's instantly defeated, which to a degree is common in many superhero stories. While Korvac was well known to Avengers fans, he was obscure to most mainstream fans; Hybrid is even more so. It would be nice if the team were allowed to battle well known villains in battles that "count" more often, but due to shared continuity, this seems to not happen often. The team battled the Sinister Six a while back, and lost so they could remain part of Dan Slott's storyline in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. The Hood turned up, but as the second main nemesis in Brian Bendis' Avengers books (next to Norman Osborn), he also couldn't lose. The arrival of Absorbing Man and Titanian during FEAR ITSELF as "The Worthy" was a good touch as the former has appeared in an earlier issue, but none of "The Worthy" were "allowed" to be beaten in crossover tie-in's. One would think Ultron would be a perfect fit for an arc here given Pym and Jocasta's involvement, but Bendis' more important Avengers titles also have "claimed" him. Gage is performing yeoman work here with fleshing out both new characters as well as neglected older ones; it is simply a shame this title seems to ride out waves of crossovers with arcs revolving around obscure villains few fans know, and thus may not get much attention. In fairness, Marvel made some effort to promote the fact that X-23 was joining the cast, and the upcoming guest stint by cult characters THE RUNAWAYS has been treated in a similar fashion.
Readers along for the ride should be very pleased with this issue and eager for the next one. Sales on this series are not terribly high, but given that it is an AVENGERS title, it will be part of the AVENGERS VS. X-MEN crossover in the spring and thus has some extra rope; it will likely reach a 30th issue and could even seen a 35th, which was as long as Gage's previous Avengers series, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE finished its run. While some fans may dread crossovers, they can help boost otherwise neglected titles; X-FACTOR has often benefited from crossovers at times, in example. AVENGERS ACADEMY has been a truly great series since it debuted, and has seemed to only get better for much of its run; the fact that it has lasted so long despite the lack of a big name creative team or cast is testament to that. For as long as this series lasts, Marvel readers will be well served if they give it a chance.
Honorable Mentions:
INVINCIBLE #88 - Co-creator Robert Kirkman and longtime regular artist Ryan Ottley continue their long form superhero opus at Image Comics, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Image founder Erik Larson, to summarize an interview from WIZARD magazine, claimed that the benefit of creator owned comics is that a writer can never fall into a rut, because they are under no editorial obligation to maintain a status quo. Bored? Blow everything up! It was a credo Larson did, and has, lived by with his long run writing and drawing SAVAGE DRAGON (now reaching almost 180 issues and counting). The fact that INVINCIBLE is both a superhero book in terms of execution and tropes, as well as a creator owned book in terms of direction, has often been an allure to the series. If anything could define this series after the 80th issue, it is the idea that Kirkman has refused to adhere to a status quo. This suddenly makes the book a divisive one; some will enjoy the series' boldness, while others will feel it has "jumped the shark" and Kirkman is doing anything to hide the fact he's out of material. To be honest, I am somewhere in the middle at the conclusion of this issue. The cliffhanger of this issue (picking up from the last: http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-11-12-clones-fly-south-for-the-winter-review) sets up a potential change in starring character which would have gotten a lot of attention; had Marvel not achieved something similar with ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN lately. Ironically, Atom Eve is on the cover of this issue at her new weight, despite not actually appearing in the pages within. The positives remain Ottley's artwork, alongside terrific new regular colorist John Rauch. Considering the notion of a change in lead character, it is perhaps refreshing that this is being done in a story which isn't a mega crossover, and isn't full of over the top violence. The dialogue among the characters is very strong, and it is easy to see where each character is coming from in the moral dilemma. Is it worth risking the population of the earth to save the universe? Can Allen take the word of the former tyrant Thragg at his word? How well do Invincible and his brother Oliver agree on morals? What Kirkman has attained with this story in a scene in which it is difficult to pick out a definite "good guy" or a "bad guy", at least aside for Thragg, who does surprisingly little fighting. This is perhaps closer to real life than some readers would imagine. The bottom line is this is a series which refuses to play things safe and often remains unpredictable; for better or worse. The stability of "safe" and less surprising superhero series may no longer be something some fans of INVINCIBLE should expect.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #679 - Solo writer Dan Slott and regular artist Humberto Ramos, alongside Victor Olazaba's inks and Edgar Delgado's equally amazing colors, wrap up their two part "I KILLED TOMORROW" story (part one reviewed here: http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-18-12-a-thief-and-a-lawyer-walk-into-a-lab-review). With the next epic arc - focused on the Sinister Six and titled THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - not due until March, some might accuse this series of "filling pages" with these last few issues. Mark Waid filled in on issue #677 to do a crossover with DAREDEVIL, and these issues feature a very brief story which features no big name villain. However, gone in the current trend of writing monthly comics for eventual sale as trade paperbacks is the notion of telling solid "done in one" or even "done in two" stories such as these, which can still be very charming and entertaining. Look through those ESSENTIALS volumes and the classic era of Spider-Man is FULL of stories like these - which advance certain character subplots for long time readers, but don't always have to be four to eight issues long. In fact, the critical strength of this story is it has fleshed out one of Peter Parker's co-workers at Horizon Labs, Grady Scraps. Scraps has built a "doorway to tomorrow" which has led both to believe that all of Manhattan will be blown up by 3:10; while the difference between a.m. and p.m. buys them some time, their work is cut out for them. Highlights include a team-up with Silver Sable against Flag-Smasher and ULTIMATUM to save a Symkarian parade (and Mayor Jameson's ungrateful hide). Sable started out as a Spider-Man character before spinning off into her own franchise in the 90's, and Slott returns to that here. It is a shame that Marvel has an editorial policy of not "allowing" Spidey to date super-heroines, as he and Sable could potentially have a dynamic similar to any hero who dates Black Widow (such as Bucky Barnes or Daredevil). The solution to the time dilemma is simpler than it seemed, and the idea that Mary Jane STILL fills the purposes of a wife (emotional support, providing the key clue for a mystery, reliability in a crisis) without actually being a wife anymore may irritate some people. Overall, this has been a simple and solid, and brief, tale. Julia Carpenter is still attempting to be the most annoying and least helpful psychic in comics these days, but at least the scenes with her daughter help humanize her. Having a breather story between epics is not always a bad thing, and this story has served that role well.
WINTER SOLDIER #1 - Marvel's newest ongoing series launch of the month, as well as, technically, the third "CAPTAIN AMERICA book". It is also the third which is written by long time franchise helmer Ed Brubaker, although he is being phased out of CAPTAIN AMERICA & BUCKY (which is ultimately becoming CAPTAIN AMERICA TEAM-UP in all but name). This is a rare #1 issue from Marvel which is priced at $2.99 instead of the price gouging $3.99; an Internet rumor is that Brubaker took a pay cut to make this so, but this remains unconfirmed. The policy of making debut issues more costly than regular issues has long been foolish for the long term, and it is good to see Marvel give it a rest. Brubaker has invested most of his work on CAPTAIN AMERICA on James "Bucky" Barnes; he revived him as the Winter Soldier to critical acclaim at the start of his run on CAPTAIN AMERICA, ultimately redeeming him and even having him fill the mantle when Rogers took a dirt nap for a couple of years. Once Rogers returned and became Cap again in time for his film last year, the place for Bucky was always a concern. Seemingly killed off in FEAR ITSELF #3, Brubaker revived the hero in FEAR ITSELF #7.1 and this issue picks up from that, as well as the conclusion of the last issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA before the relaunch (the "GULAG" arc). The set up is thatBucky is capitalizing on him being considered dead to dig up more secret Soviet era plots and weapons alongside his lover, Black Widow. While he doesn't actually call himself Winter Soldier and takes his intel from SHIELD directly, he wears the costume from that era and is considered this for trademark purposes. The art is from Butch Guice and the colors are by Bettie Breitweiser, longtime collaborators with Brubaker, and it is simply stunning. If there is one quibble, it is that Brubaker's predictable plot with Bucky is "yet another secret Commie plot from the 50's layered with angst ridden narration", which this issue (and arc) has in spades. However, Brubaker is able to execute his story well enough that this flaw is hardly noticeable; and some clever use of some obscure villains at the end is the icing on the cake. The dialogue between Bucky and Natasha is quite solid and cements their relationship as lovers and as products of the Cold War themselves, and gets back to Brubaker's roots in black ops superheroism. Is Brubaker's heart more into this as opposed to CAPTAIN AMERICA? It is unknown, but this debut issue has had more life and vigor than quite a few of Brubaker's recent CAPTAIN AMERICA series lately, AND better than Brubaker's run on SECRET AVENGERS. With fans not being gouged at the wallet for trying out something new, it will be interesting to see if Bucky can sell for long without being Captain America (in CAPTAIN AMERICA). For the moment, WINTER SOLDIER is off to a good start.
SEMI-OBLIGATORY REVIEW: AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 - "IT'S COMING! 2 MONTHS UNTIL A VS. X!" proclaims the banner running across the tops of all of Marvel's comics lately, including this one. However, this statement is a bit erroneous. AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0, the official prelude, starts in March and is written by approximately a third of the committee of writers who will helm the project. Marvel has also sold this mini series by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness as a prequel series, which began in December (http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-4-12-one-more-reason-to-avoid-a-hybrid-review). Alongside inker Dexter Vines and colorist Morry Hollowell collaborate on what Loeb and McGuinness do best - create stories high on combat and low on sense. To this end, this issue has Red Hulk fight Cable and features sudden guest appearances by Blaquesmith, Cyclops, and Hope herself - the adopted daughter Cable has returned from the future (and death) to save. While Blaquesmith has been featured in flashback sequences, his appearance here seems sudden, as are the other characters here. Loeb continues to tell a story more like a child, in which things appear made up as they go along and exist as a train of moments; aside for some tender flashbacks and lines from Cable about being a father, the script could be summarized as, "and then this happens and that happens and those happen and this happens and.." on and on. This is par for the course for a child, but for a long time professional writer like Loeb who has written for TV, it often appears crude. However, why is this still "semi-obligatory"? It is better than some of Loeb's prior recent work; the artwork is fine, and it is a better read than FEAR ITSELF or AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE. It may boil down to it being "less bad" than expected, but it is what it is. The biggest challenge is readers accepting that the Red Hulk - a character Loeb has written as being able to easily punch out Thor, the Watcher, and Galactus - losing against Cable due to an utterly ridiculous fashion. It proves that Loeb's method of writing is just to have a lot of crude moments and have characters "job" to each other - suddenly Mark "Hollywood" Millar is looking nuanced. The irony is the Avengers probably barely knew Hope existed until Cable brought her up and was willing to kill them all to save her without notice, which may in fact be what endangers her. This series is important to continuity and the near future of Marvel's line, and is at heart a crude action story with a punch-drunk script, but, it could have been worse.
Also Good Reads: Action Comics #6 & Justice League International #6 (DC Comics); Defenders #3, The Twelve #9, Venom #13 & Villains For Hire #3 (Marvel Comics)
Latest Sign The Mayans Were Right About 2012: THE TWELVE #9 shipped, a mere 38 months behind schedule. Coincidence?
Last Week's Comic Book Reviews - http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-25-12-building-a-better-mouser-review
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