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Luckily there are five Wednesdays in April, which means that the 100 books I pick up a month will average around 20 a week instead of 25. It may not seem like much but it does ease the strain on the wallet and my reading requirements for a week. This week I have 9 Marvels, 9 DC’s and 1 Dynamite for a total of 19 books. The one I am really looking forward to is Secret Invasion #1. I can’t wait, let’s just get to it!
Spoilers Ahead
The Main Event:
-Secret Invasion #1- I guess this is what we’ve all been waiting for. We start with a brief scene on a Skrull world talking about a prophecy. Our next stop is Tony telling Reed and Hank about the Elektra Skrull and the two of them get to work finding out why they are undetectable. Meanwhile, the SWORD space station spies a Skrull ship crash landing in the Savage Land. Iron Man calls the Avengers, Spider-Woman calls the New Avengers who hijack a Quinjet and head over there. They New Avengers show up there (near where their first mission was at in NA #1) and the Mighty Avengers show up as well. They are about to fight when it all goes down. Dum Dum gets the glazed eyes, whispers He Loves You and there goes the SWORD space ship. Jarvis repeats the same thing and Tony’s armor goes bezerk. All of Stark Enterprises goes down, SHIELD goes down, the Raft goes down, Thunderbolts Mountain goes down and Capt. Marvel appears there, a Skrull impersonates Invisible Woman and heads to the Baxter and opens the Negative Zone portal, causing an explosion there. Tony is in bad shape but the two teams get the shock of their lives when vinatge 70’s era heroes walk out making reference they are back on Earth. Everyone’s there, the old blue Beast, first appearance Wolverine, Ms. Marvel before Rogue swiped her powers, Luke Cage in his old tiara, and Captain America. We then see a huge Skrull fleet approaching Earth. We end with Reed figuring out how the Skrulls were hidden and Hank says he always knew as he blows Reed apart with a Skrull gun. Ladies and gentelman, the first big reveal of the issue, Hank Pym is a Skrull. This is an introductory issue that lived up to its hype. There were some huge reveals (who had Jarvis, I mean really?) and just so much going on that you absorb every page. They throw in a little history lesson of the event from Joe Quesada and an interview with Stan Lee about the Skrulls and you have a comic worth far more than the $4.00 price tag. This is the book of the week. 1/1.
-The Twelve #4- The Twelve continues to kick-ass in a way no other mini-series has done since Agents of Atlas (what is it about these 50’s heroes?). Phantom Reporter is still lost but finds he has an attraction to the mysterious Black Widow. Laughing Mask heads out to stop crime and has his guns confiscated by the police the next day. The cops also tell Reporter about a gruesome crime. Rockman is still looking for his family and he tells Blue Blade about his wife and kid and Blue Blade really doesn’t care (no wonder he will get shot). The gang has a going away party for Excello, who has to leave due to the noise. Fiery Man and Phantom Reporter get into a bit of an argument and Fiery Man leaves. Reporter ends the issue with a well-written article for the Bugle (or DB! Now). Another solid and well-written and drawn issue.
Marvel
-Amazing Spider-Man #555- A snowstorm hits New York and Spider-Man (hanging out at Strange’s place with Wolverine) finds out it may not be all that it seems. Spidey goes out and plans to meet Wolverine to take out a strange foe Strange made mention of. So Wolverine and Spider-Man battle some white-clad snow-ninjas and defeat them. Spidey is out in the snow and ends still there. This was really a set-up issue more than anything and the first time in the current Brand New Day didn’t have a first issue that was a blowaway but instead set things up. I don’t know if Wolverine or the other New Avengers will appear (I’d imagine they are busy in SI) but this was fun issue. I love Bachalo’s take on Spider-Man. It just seemed to fit. 3/3.
-Clandestine #3- Dominic awakes from being thrown from Ethera and has a confrontation with the original Excalibur. They fight for a little but then realize Dom is not an enemy. Excalibur are currently looking for home. This tied into a long-arc when the title first started which I sadly never read. Rory and Pandora go looking for someone to help them. We see Adam awake in his son’s care. His son is now an old man. In Griffin’s Lair (the baddies for the title) we see them recover after their device exploded finding Adam. Rory and Pandora end up at the party Sam and Kay are at and look for them. They don’t find them but instead find vampires. That’s not good, especially with their powers being a bit wonky lately. Vintage Excalibur? This is an easy point. 4/4.
-Darktower: The Long Road Home #2- We see Sheemie getting attacked by the robot and at the end of the issue we see how he is changed. He may be an instrument of its destruction? Roland is still in the Maerlyn’s Grapefruit and has a meeting with Marten, though nothing really becomes of it this issue. Roland’s ka-tet makes it way across a bridge but one of the horses doesn’t make it and is shot and falls to its death. They cut the bridge so the Coffin Hunters can’t follow. They let them go, losing the battle, but not the war. Another brilliantly drawn and scripted story. This just keeps getting better. The back-up story features more on Dogan and the ghost of the king killing people. Two of his followers follow him and find the depot with all the robots. They also include an interview with Peter David, Robin Furth and a page on the midnight premiere of the title. Another winner. 5/5.
-Logan #2- Logan is knocked out and wakes to the woman that helped him last issue. Logan is touched that a woman like that would give up the goods to him. Of course, the guy from last issue comes back, kills her, then fights Logan. Logan learns that this man has a healing factor of sorts, too. He can’t be killed. Of course, as they fight, the atom bomb is dropped and the place it blown to bits. Logan’s carcass emerges from the rubble with some healin to do. I wonder what the point of this is so far. So Logan was part of the bomb and now, so what? I liked the pacing of the issue. It has been a bit predictable but is acceptable storytelling. It wasn’t worth the four dollars so I won’t give it the point. 5/6.
-Moon Knight #17- Moon Knight has been framed for murders and Stark isn’t too happy. This issue sees Spector going mad, another murder being attributed to MK thanks to Carson Knowles, an old villain to MK. The doctor who gave MK his psyche evaluation kills himself, too. So MK is pissed at what is going on and takes it out on his pilot when Stark bursts through the door. I kind of skimmed through this one due to the Ranger game being on at the time but I liked what I read so it gets a point. I really want to see the Stark/MK fight next issue. 6/7.
-Punisher War Journal #18- Okay, so there are two cops, both dirty and a brother in law. They sell stolen guns with the serial numbers wiped clean. These guns were used to kill Frank’s family, which created the Punisher, which in turn created our antagonist for this issue, Jigsaw. He kills the pawnshop owner and the two cops, and blames it on the Punisher. I really liked the start to this. Punisher wasn’t in the issue at all but it gave a look at the sick twisted mind of Jigsaw and set up a confrontation between the two. 7/8.
-Young Avengers Presents: #3- This issue focuses on Wiccan and Speed, who if memory serves, are the two sons of Scarlet Witch who were willed into existence. I don’t remember how they are around now but it was explained in YA some time ago. Anyway, the two go off in search of their mother and run into Master Pandemonium. Luckily I read Avengers West Coast: Darker Than Scarlet just two weeks ago, otherwise I would have no idea what is going on. They go to hell for a few moments where Master P tells them that there past is full of darkness and chaos and they should embrace what they have now. They return hom and Wiccan isn’t as upset about not knowing where their mother is. Honestly, if you don’t remember the Darker Than Scarlet AWC arc, this will be completely useless to you. However, having read it, it makes perfect sense and shows that writer Aguirre-Sacasa had a firm knowledge of what went before and tied it in seemlessly to this story. Easily gets a point. Oh, the art is pretty, too. 8/9.
DC
-Action Comics #863- This is the conclusion to the Legion of Super-Heroes story and it was a doozy. Superman is powerless (except for the flight ring) and fighting a super powerful Earth-Man. Earth-Man drops Superman from the skies to have his body splat on the ground but he fails when Sun Boy is finally freed and the red sun turns back to a yellow sun. Superman hovers just short of hitting the ground. Rejuvenated he takes the fight to Earth-Man and with the combined help of the Legion they defeat the anti-alien villain. Superman returns home to the present and remembers his first meeting with the Legion. This was an awesome issue and to make it even awesomer, there is an ad for the Final Crisis tie-in to the LSH with Prime leading villains against Superman and the LSH. Sign me up for that RIGHT AWAY. 1/1.
-Countdown Special: Kamandi #1- This reprints three vintage Kamandi tales, Kamandi #’s 1, 10 and 29. Number 1 is just a great origin story, #10 gives a brief history on the Morticoccus virus and #29 is an interesting look at some apes worshipping Superman. It is hard to believe how many of Kirby’s ideas were used in Countdown and I am really glad I read this to see where it all started. 2/2.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #04- The Heroes arrive on Earth. Red Robin goes away in a hiss but later meets up with Holly and Harley to head to Gotham. Mary Marvel goes home and finds Darkseid waiting for her. He offers her her evil power back and she takes it. Solomon wants to go to Earth as we find out that the Great Disaster wiped out Earth-51, the same Earth-51 that was decimated by Monarch. That is a major plothole. The heroes show up at the league and are attacked by a new evil Mary Marvel. She takes Jimmy and flies away as Donna wonders why the JLA didn’t assist. This title suffers from some major gaping holes that didn’t plague 52 and it has hurt the enjoyment of the title a bit. With four issues left there shouldn’t be so many things left unexplained. Countdown, though earning a point in every TPL so far, is a shadow of the original DC weekly title. This doesn’t earn a point this week. 2/3.
-DC Special: Raven #2- Raven is still being acclimated to High School. She has a group of friends who go out. Raven still remembers her nightmares of a girl being killed, a group of scientists are experimenting with Psycho Pirates mask which is causing repurcussions for Raven and her powers and it ends at the bowling alley with a girl dead and Raven saying it is her fault. I just didn’t get it. I read it, I know I’m an intelligent guy, but this was just a mess to me. I hope it gets clearer later on, both the story and the art. 2/4.
-Infinity Inc. #8- The title brags it is the group’s first mission. It only took 8 issues. So the gang gets new uniforms, Mercy joins the team, Gerome is having problems with his duplicates arguing and deciding which one has to go and the gang goes to Montana to battle a villain named the Bogeyman. The Bogeyman may be a former Infinity Inc member and he looks formidable. Their first mission led to no fighting, though. This was ho-hum issue, but based on the other DC stuff I have read so far, it wasn’t too bad. I can’t give it a point, though. 2/5.
-Metal Men. #7- The Metal Men sacrifice themselve in the present to stop some huge robots from Magna Tech from taking over the world. In the past Magnus is a bit pissed his brother is making time with the object of his affection and the Metal Men try to help him. They fail and they leave, walking past one T.O. Morrow. Magnus then calls Morrow. We return to the present and the Metal Men are held captive by a hulking man called the Manhunter with talks of the Nameless. I don’t know if these are old Metal Men villains. If they are then I don’t know who they are and if I should be afraid. Still, when you get used to the format the story is told, it isn’t half-bad. It isn’t a great story, since it is too fragmented, but this will get a point for the interesting story being told thus far. 3/6.
-Nightwing #143- Nightwing and Robin head to Talia’s island but find that she isn’t there! A man named Doctor Kendall is the one running these experiments. Robin gets captured, Nightwing shows up for the save, they fight some vulture creatures, they turn the vulture creatures on their creator, and the island is blown up with Robin and Nightwing looking for the batsub. Kendall manages to escape so I don’t think we’ll see the end of him. This was just a really fun story to read. The dialogue between Nightwing and Robin, and Red Arrow for the few panels he is there, was very real. They were just talking like friends would. The actual action of the book was well-done and for all the bitching I have done about this title last year, this has been on a string of three really good, fun, issues in a row. 4/7.
-Supergirl #28- Supergirl tells her friends she wants to cure cancer and they think she is mad. Supergirl runs into Resurrection Man. She asks for his help but he says no. He does point her in the direction of a doctor who gave him his powers and she breaks him out of prison. Superman may have something to say about that. Interesting things are happening in this title and even though I haven’t heard of Resurrection Man, he sounds like a decent hero, or villain, or whatever he is. 5/8.
-Trials of Shazam #12- Shazam and the JLA have their final confrontation with Sabina and her gang of monsters. There is an epic battle between the two armies Eventually it gets to the point where Shazam opens a portal to send Sabina away, ending both of their lives. Zareb sees this and shows his true identity, that of Zeus. Zeus grants Freddy the power and Shazam is reborn. The Sabina threat is ended and Shazam is back! The book took a while to finish but the conclusion was satisfying and enough to earn a point. 6/9.
Dynamite
-Project Superpowers #2- The title is easing into a nice little niche, as we see our heroes defeat the Dynamic Forces robots then return to Green Lama’s home. Black Terror just wants to find his old protégé, Tim. We see other heroes popping up, like the Devil, The Flame, and Samson. The Dynamic Forces group wants revenge on their recent defeat and speak of deploying something against our heroes. This will read a lot better in the trades, as it lacked the punch of the first issue. It was still a great read. 1/1.
The Awards
-Book of the Week- Secret Invasion #1 was the last book I read this week and was easily the best. It had everything you would want in a comic book, from huge explosions, to twists and turns every panel, to a couple of, “oh shit,” moments and just a wonderful pleasure to read. This would be Brian Michael Bendis’ fourth victory for BOTW while Leinil Yu makes his first appearance in the big column.
-Disappointment of the Week- DC had a rough week and the weakest of the bunch was DC Special: Raven #2. It was just a mess to me. The plot wasn’t cohesive, the art was way too frantic and there seemed to be too much happening for me to just be able to sit down and enjoy what I was reading. I liked the first issue but the second featured a huge drop in quality and clarity and when you don’t have that, you really have a waste of paper.
-Cover of the Week- No cover really blew me away but the best one I saw this week was Trial of Shazam #12. The beautiful cover, by Mauro Cascioli, is just a great shot of Shazam with the JLA in the back. I love the backlight and it is just visually stunning. Mauro picks up his first COTW win with the cover.
-The Bottom Line- DC had a really rough week, going 6 out of 9, or 67%. They just didn’t have a strong book released this week. Their big event, Countdown, is fizzling while Marvel’s event that started this week propelled them into an easy victory over their crosstown opponents. Secret Invasion ruled the roost this week and is deserved of any and all praise it gets. The only book I read by Marvel this week that wasn’t great was the Logan mini-series and that just missed not getting a point. Marvel was the big winner this week. Next week looks to be light on comics but I am looking forward to Criminal 2 the most I’d say. Until next Tuesday, make mine TPL!
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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