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Welcome to TPL. It was another slow week as I only picked up 11 titles this week, with one being a Marvel Handbook comic, meaning only 10 comics I read this week. One title is missing this week, Wolverine: Origins. My LCS ordered it but it shipped to the wrong store, really. I won’t be back there until next Wednesday so if I have it for next week I will review it. There were some pretty good titles in this batch though, including the Planet Hulk series, Captain America, 52, Annihilation, and a Civil War Tie-in. This wee brought in 5 Marvels and 6 DC comics. Hopefully this week will be better than last week.
---Start Spoiler Warning---
We’ll start with the big one this week, Incredible Hulk #98. Planet Hulk has been one of the best arcs currently going on in Marvel and basically the Hulk goes to war in this issue. He and Miek fight a bit but its stopped and then Hulk goes one on one with Caiera, the Emperor’s best warrior. They battle but the Emperor has a different idea. He drops a bomb on the to containing “the spikes,” spores that take over people and will destroy the world. Does this scare the Hulk? Not at all. This was a bit of a slowdown from last issue as not too much happened and I thought the battle with Miek would be a little more extended, but it definitely sets Hulk up for the next few issues to come. Keeping in space, Marvel unleashed the second issue of Annihilation. Basically, Drax learns that his daughter (Moondragon) was kidnapped by Thanos. Drax is none to pleased. Things aren’t going well for the rebels as they discover the Super-Skrull is dead and Ravenous and his cronies arrive and it’s all out war. All seems lost for the rebels, especially when the Centurions arrive. That is just the tip of the iceberg for the Annihilation wave as Thanos and Annihilus are using Silver Surfer and Galactus to harness their energy. This issue was a big step up from the first issue as it was action packed, it brought together elements from the previous four mini-series and we finally see how hopeless things are. This is what I wanted from the first issue and this issue finally restores my faith in the mini-series.
We’ll stay with the Marvel Universe but instead of being out in space, we’ll stick to terra firma. Captain America #21 was the final issue of Twenty-First Century Blitz and what an end it was. Captain America, Bucky, Sharon Carter, Spitfire and Union Jack all need to team up and defeat the sleeper robot by using the Master Man as a missile. General Lukin/Red Skrull show what a threat he is by having the sleeper destroy his building and thus clearing him from being involved. He also then makes a statement that the costumed heroes should not be allowed to break the law and mentions the law in Congress that would become the Superhero Registration Act. There is also the mystery of what happened to Sharon. She fell into a building with Syn and Crossbones but someone prevented them from killing her. Bucky disappeared too and called Fury to get a new arm since his was blown off in the fight. What can I say? Another awesome issue and next week we have some Civil War madness. I would love to see Bru’s take on that but I really want to know more about Lukin and what’s to come. I mentioned the Civil War and there was one CW title this week, Ms. Marvel #7. Basically, Arana is brought in by Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man and she signs the registration act and her father now knows she is a super-hero. Arachne and The Shroud are still on the loose but Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man catch up with them. Shroud is captured but Julia Carpenter is still on the loose. Civil War has been kind to Ms. Marvel’s sales and I have enjoyed it a bit since the first 5 issues. I didn’t like how they drew Arana since I was such a fan of her original series and she just looked wrong. I didn’t like that she revealed her identity to her father in this title, too. Complaints aside, I do like Julia Carpenter (and she’s wearing a Dazzler shirt now) and I want to see how her saga ends up. There was a second CW title, Civil War Files #1. It has a great cover by McNiven and was a handbook style comic with the key characters involved in Civil War. Take it for what it is.
Well, I’m done with Marvel for the week which leaves us with DC. 52 Week Nineteen featured a stunning revelation; Skeets is evil. He uses Daniel Carter to gain access to Rip Hunters facility then traps him in time once he gets the information he needs. We also see the wild antics of Lobo and his church and Lobo reveals who put the bounty on Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange’s heads, but she isn’t what Lobo is running from. Also, Wonder Girl thinks Supernova is Kon-El. This was a very good issue penciled by one of my favorites (Pat Oliffe) and we have a whole different view on Skeets which could definitely have some repercussions. Another great issue from DC this week was Green Arrow #66. GA has been one of my favorite titles since OYL and we finally see what happened to Ollie right before we fast-forwarded a year. He had two arrows plunged into him and was on death’s doorstep. He woke up in a tropic island, very confused. It appears that Connor brought him and Mia to The Marshall Islands to heal in private and avoid the public eye of Star City. Connor was helped by Frederick Tuckman to pull all this together. Things seemed to go well until Ollie found out what happened in Star City. He was determined to go back but needed training. He, Mia and Connor hired everyone to train them but it wasn’t enough. As we close issue #66 Natas arrives. Natas was the same one who trained Deathstroke and I predict tough times ahead for Ollie. This was another stupendous issue as we were finally brought up to date with what happened to Ollie and how he got to be so good in hand to hand combat. I don’t know how long he was on the island (they mentioned Natas showed up three months in) and depending on how long he was there, it would give Ollie a small window to win the mayor position but I guess we’ll see.
Sticking with the Green theme, Green Lantern #13 burst onto the scene this week, only a few months late this time. The Green Lanterns are pissed at Hal Jordan since these are people he allegedly killed. He also has to battle Cyborg Superman who has Hal’s ex-girlfriend, Arisia. They fight and Hal, with Arisia’s help use one of the Highmaster’s to destroy the planet and possibly Cyborg Superman. So the battle is over and the Lantern’s have won. Guy get punished for giving the ok for Hal to enter the forbidden sector and he has Prime duty (watching Super-Boy Prime) for a month. Hal Jordan leaves as well. The grandmaster’s of Oa then mention that the need for the Corps is clear, and they all answer 52. Oooh, intrigue! This was actually a good run for Green Lantern. I wasn’t too familiar with it but I enjoyed it (even though it was heavily delayed). I want to know what this 52 business is too. I don’t know if I’ll stay on for the next arc but this issue will at least get me to check out #14. I head without a segue into Firestorm #29. Firestorm, Firehawk, and Pozhar take out the dollies and learn some clues into who the mastermind could be and leave a clue, two men into one. Jason remembers that and knows it is The Pionic Man and that a series of seeming accidents may not be so accidental afterall. Jason then goes back home and his dad is pissed that he missed dinner with his estranged mom. Jason finds out his dad lost the home which is why he’s back with her and Jason insults his dad saying he is not a man. They actually fight and Jason uses his power and punches his dad out. Jason leaves and heads to see the Pionic Man and we know that something is going down that involves Hewitt Industries. I have really enjoyed Firestorm since OYL as well and this and Green Arrow are probably the two most-improved titles due to the jump. Jason is having problems at home and heroes with personal problems are usually a good read. Plus the mystery of the person behind this all is enough to keep me on. This was a great issue.
There are just two titles left to look at, the first one being Martian Manhunter #2. MM finds out that there are others like him and he is able to infiltrate the facility where they are located. He frees them and there are 5 Martians there. They don’t know how long they have been there. They had unspeakable tests performed on them and when a troop tries to take them out, the Martians have their revenge. This was a good read (written both in the past and the present to fill us in) where we see Martian Manhunter being mean and evil for the first time. He is pissed and he wants revenge. When his buddies take out the humans and they die, he doesn’t seem upset about it at all. I wonder if this will turn Martian Manhunter into a villain or into a vigilante. Finally, we end with Aquaman #44. This book has been hampered by delays and its hurt the title. I enjoy Busiek’s work but this just hasn’t been doing anything for me. Aquaman and his friends find what’re known as Sea Devil’s using surviving Atlantean’s as slaves to harvest minerals used in industrialized technology. The Dweller of the Depths returns and says humans are the cause of this. It seems (after questioning a Sea Devil) that the humans did this and imprisoned Queen Mera as well. Aquaman and crew go and free her. Things go well until they run into Orm Marius. Orm and Aquaman battle and Orm calls Aquaman his brother. We close the issue with Orm plunging his talons into Aquaman’s chest. The book isn’t horrible but I just can’t get into it. One Year Later could’ve been a rebirth for Aquaman, to bring people into a new book and keep is interesting and exciting without knowing anything previously. Most of the OYL books have done that. This has been trucking along for many issues and it still seems nothing is going on. We’ll give it another issue or two to see if it improves and hopefully the next arc will improve.
---End Spoiler Warning---
Marvel had an impressive week with the 5 books I picked up. It finished with a 3.7 average which brought their total up to 3.28 and there wasn’t a bad book in the bunch. DC was close with a 3.58 average this week with an overall just under 3 (2.99). That speaks to how well this week went with some very good and interesting reads. I’d say both companies performed exceptionally well. I anticipate big things this Wednesday with Civil War #4 showing up on Diamond’s shipping list. Finally. Still I though this week was huge since the last two weeks were kind of dull overall. The Cover of the Week is awarded Captain America #21, though honestly it didn’t have much competition. It is a throwback to the history between Bucky and Cap and the red backgrounds give it a foreboding background in stark contrast with the dark colors in the foreground. The Book of the Week is won hands down by Captain America #21. Great book, great writing, great art and the last story of its kind pre-Civil War.
Quick Hits (in reading order):
Incredible Hulk #98: Hulk faces both his warbound and the Emperor’s warrior’s but the worst is yet to come. A slower issue than what we’ve seen before but still very good. 3.5.
Captain America #21: Captain America must stop the sleeper robot that is the culmination of the Red Skull’s plans. How will this affect his relationship with Bucky? Fantastic end to the four issue arc which ties up some loose ends but leaves just enough dangling to keep me coming back for more. 5.
52 Week Nineteen: Skeets and Daniel Carter head back to Rip Hunter’s lab as the trio lost in space witness Lobo’s crazy religion. Excellent issue that should generate some great issues in the future of this series. 4.
Green Arrow #66: We finally learn what happened to Ollie before One Year Later. Excellent issue as this continues to be on of the best DC titles. 4.5.
Annihilation #2: Things go from bad to worse for the rebels when Ravenous shows up and we see why Annihilus wants Galactus. Excellent issue that is just action-packed from start to finish. 4.5.
Ms. Marvel #7: Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man are after Arachne and the Shroud as another hero signs the act. Pretty decent issue that keeps the saga of Arachne alive and another female spider-character in the spotlight. 3.5.
Firestorm #29: Firestorm and friends battle the dollies as the mystery is deepened. Jason also has some problems at home. Very good issue that just moves the story along finely. 4.
Martian Manhunter #2: Martian Manhunter locates his fellow Martians and none of them are too happy about what has gone down. Martian Manhunter being evil has made this an enjoyably story. 3.5.
Green Lantern #13: Hal Jordan must save his friends from Cyborg Superman. Actually a very good conclusion to the oft-delayed book. 3.5.
Aquaman Sword of Atlantis #44: Aquaman finds his fellow Atlanteans slaved, but why? Slow pacing and dark art makes this hard to enjoy. 2.
Civil War Files: Handbook style book on the key people involved in both sides of the Civil War. 2.
Rating Scale:
5 – Must Read
4 – Recommended
3 – Mild Recommendation
2 – Wait for the Trade Paperback
1 – Avoid at all costs
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