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We are back with another stress-filled edition of TPL. The actual TPL itself isn’t stressful, the reading or writing of it, I mean, but the week around it is. I still have three classes of SJU going on and the teachers never lack for work. Luckily the light is visible at the end of the tunnel and a couple of hours on the next few Sundays will see the end of all that work and stress. I have been slacking with the DVD reviews lately, too, because of it. Anyway, this week sees 12 DC comics, 2 Wildstorms, 1 Platinum Press and 11 Marvels end up in my pull box. For those math-impaired, that adds up to 26 comics this week. I just need to get this done before the new week starts, so let’s see how the issues read.
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-Annihilation Conquest #6- This is the way that a mini-series and epic event should end. No one can get through the forcefield around Hala until Nova and company show up. They break in and fly to Hala. Already on Hala is Star-Lord and his band of mates. Mantis mentions something that she knew that there would be three sacrifices though only two have been made. Mantis would be the last, taking a blow from Ultron who shows up to exact revenge. Ultron fights the roughed up gang until Nova, Warlock, and the rest show up. Quasar has an emotional talk with Moondragon in her mind about Adam Warlock being alive inside her bands. Ronin meanwhile is ready to destroy his homeworld with the sentries until one of his crew, Draxagora, is taken over by Ultron who diverts the robots then destroys the ship. Ronin, Super-Skrull and the others escape death and head to Hala as well. We have a final confrontation between a new monsterous Ultron and the heroes. Quasar finally unleashes her full powers and aided with a weakening blow to Ultron by Wraith, Quasar destroys the cyborg. The threat is over now, and now the rebuilding begins. Wraith and Warlock help with healing those infected as many recuperate. This was just a fantastic follow-up to the original Annihilation and may have actually been better than the original! This will spawn a spin-off named Guardians of the Galaxy with the heroes we have seen here and I can’t believe that this has been told so well over the last two years. 1/1.
-Superman #675- I thought this would be a really good issue seeing as it was Busiek’s last writing for the title and although it was good, I was kind of underwhelmed by it. Superman and Paragon team up to battle the Daxams. It is basically one big fight until Paragon shoots the Daxams (who have a serious invulnerability to lead) They flee from Superman, who was just offering help, and have a huge golem formed that will destroy the Earth. Again Superman and Paragon team up to stop the being but Paragon manages to get away from Superman’s capture. I hope that Busiek was saving himself for Trinity as his last two arcs on Superman were a little underwhelming. This was action-packed and it kept things moving for the double-sized issue so it earns a point. 1/1.
Marvel
-Amazing Spider-Man #557- So Spider-Man ends up face to face with the Mayan god, he goes to the priest who killed the mayans from last issue and must stop him before he kills his friend and takes over control of the being. This leads to a huge battle where Spidey tries to save his friend, the homeless dude from the first issue of this arc showing up, the god not doing anything since he has a beard and Spidey stopping the priest and ending the threat. This was probably the worst of the four arcs so far, as it was just too outlandish in my opinion for a Spidey story. It really didn’t tie-in in any way to the previous arcs of Spidey and it seemed that it was almost done without knowledge of what was going on. It was very disconnected and the first miss for Brand New Day. 1/2.
-Avengers Classic #11- This retells the classic Lee/Heck story where a fake Spider-Man is sent by Kang to the past to trick the Avengers and capture them in a South American ruin. The real Spider-Man shows up, despite him being a poor teenager with no transport, and stops his robotic doppelganger. Plot hole aside, it was an enjoyable Silver Age Avengers tale. The back-up features Cap (written out of character as a know-it-all soldier psychoanalyzing Spider-Man) talking to Spider-Man and basically telling him he’s alright. The back-up didn’t do it for me, it almost like Batman with all the silly techniques he was mentioning than Captain America. It wasn’t well-written in Cap’s voice and thus doesn’t get the point. 1/3.
-Captain America #37- Red Skull looks back on his past and how he has craved for the moment when he topples America. It wasn’t done in one fell-swoop, it was a well-planned long effort that is continuing with the election of a Senator who will turn the nation into a police state. Sharon has seen the Cap body and doesn’t know what is going on. Falcon is pissed there’s a new Cap and goes to Stark to air his grievances. Tony suggests they team up and Falcon agrees. Bucky has a run in with Clint Barton about wearing the uniform and Clint says he’ll be watching. Bucky has bad dreams about letting Cap down and then sees Falcon and agrees to team up with him to save Sharon. We end with Sharon seeing a Steve Rogers replica awaken and claim to be the Steve Rogers. This was just a great issue. The only mistep would be the chat between Bucky and Clint. It just seemed fake and forced. The rest was just nothing short of the awesomeness we expect from Bru’s Cap. 2/4.
-Captain Marvel #5- This is where the Secret Invasion big reveal comes in. Last issue Cap was sent to the Negative Zone and Iron Man and Sharon await his return but he doesn’t come. He walks through the portal and kills some Skrulls and finally he remembers. He is actually a Skrull programmed to be Captain Marvel! SHIELD agent Sante confronts Cap but Cap convinces her his motives are true and even though he is a Skrull, he is still Captain Marvel. Cap infiltrates the church of Hala and takes out the Skrull in its midst and drops him and some others from the sky to their deaths. Even though he is a Skrull, he so believes he is Cap that he will still protect the Earth. That was an interesting reveal. I have one question, though. When did Captain Marvel become a Skrull. Did it just appear now as a ruse by the Skrulls to throw off the Earth? I think so, as the cancer was replicated that Cap would have. This makes sense, as to why he would show up in the Civil War event as one of the first parts of the Secret Invasion. I liked this mini-series. 3/5.
-Ghost Rider #22- Ghost Rider continues fighting through the ghosts of last issue while he’s still being followed by the nurses of Zadkiel. The kid Rider has was kidnapped by a ghost on horseback but Ghost Rider eventually gets him back. It seems that all four forces are converging at the end of the issue. I thought it moved the story along, but not well enough for $3.00 It was just mediocre and mediocre doesn’t get a point. Next issue will be better though. They may have referenced Danny Ketch returning which will be exciting for all the old GR fans. 3/6.
-Incredible Hercules #116- Hercules, Athena and Cho head to San Francisco to meet with the Eternals. While they go Hercules remembers more of his past and other famous battles. So Hercules meets with the Eternals, specifically Ikaris and Thena. They manage to convince Hercules he is an Eternal after they have a bit of a fight. Athena and Cho convince Hercules he is really a god and the Eternals learn the error of their ways. Athena calls together a bunch of gods from other religions to discuss the Skrull threat. This was more used to reintroduce the Eternals to the MU and try and pump sales of the new mini-series and get Hercules involved in the Skrull business. It was a fun issue for what it was, though probably the worst of the Hercules ones so far. 4/7.
-Iron Man #28- Iron Man and SHIELD are in dire straits and they are about to be shut down due to detonating a nuclear device to stop the Mandarin. Tony, Dum Dum and Hill unlatch a plot that frees Stark for the time being so he can go to battle the Mandarin. Iron Man and Mandarin have a pretty severe fight and Iron Man uses his armor to rip the rings out of Mandarin’s back and stops the virus from being released. Iron Man saved the day and it seems that the Mandarin was frozen to death. Of course, when his frozen shell is opened, he’s gone. This was a really interesting Mandarin/Iron Man fight that is movie ready. Mandarin isn’t as mystical as he has been portrayed in the past and is more cunning here. 5/8.
-Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1- Tony Stark destroys some of his old armor and while doing that he goes through the memory banks. He finds a memory chip of an encounter with Doom that he has completely forgotten. After viewing some of it he finally remembers. Doom comes to ask for Tony’s help in saving millions and leads him to Hell to help him fight. It turns out that Doom was really setting up Stark who is handed over to Mephisto at the end of the issue with no way to escape. A very good opening issue. 6/9.
-Wolverine Origins #24- Wolverine has a crazy vision at the start of the issue and finds himself trapped by Deadpool who wants to drown him in water and keep him there. Wolverine plays mind games with Deadpool who is hesitating pulling the trigger on drowning Logan. It is quite an interesting conversation that fits well with Deadpool’s psychoses. Finally, the one who hired Deadpool to kill Wolverine is revealed to be Logan’s lost son. He cuts of Deadpool’s hand then drops his dad into the pool. I didn’t have a problem with this, as it is just Logan and Deadpool jawing for 18 pages and all of it was good. 7/10.
-World War Hulk Aftersmash: Warbound #5- Waynesboro has seemingly dispatched the robots to take out Hiroim but that was after she thought he was powering the gamma field. The Warbound stop the robots then have to battle Leader. It is a huge battle, with all the monsters involved but Leader is taken down, but only after Hiroim sacrifices himself. Hiroim transfers his power to Waynesboro and she is with the Warbound now. It was a decent WWH tie-in but unfortunately probably has no lasting repurcussions. Like Suicide Squad I don’t know if this was a story that needed to be told. For what it was it was good, and it gets a point for that, but in the long run it is something that will be forgotten by the end of Secret Invasion. 8/11.
DC
-Bat Lash #5- Bat mourns the death of his family as Brubaker is turned on by the entire village for murdering the Lash’s. Dominique tries to escape from the ranch but is brought back and put in a different room. Bat and the Indians he has teamed with storm the ranch with Bat looking for Dominique. The ranch burns, Dom’s father chases after Bat and has him in is crosshairs when Dom kills her own father to save Bat! Bat and Dom are safe, but Bat has one other item on his agenda, Brubaker. He rides off to find the man who killed his family. Another western classic, as one threat is silenced and all that remains is the showdown between Bat and Bru. 2/2.
-Batman and the Outsiders #6- Metamorpho is still in space and he calls home to tell Batman and the Outsiders. So The Outsiders go to hijack a shuttle but are captured (except for Batgirl) by some Chinese super powered military. Batman has something up his sleeve but we’ll have to wait until next issue. Yeah, it is what it is, I wasn’t terribly impressed, especially upon rereading it for the review. It may just be my mood tonight but I think this is taking too long to get to where it needs to go and to what the space station is up in space. 2/3.
-Brave and the Bold #12- Superman, Ultraman, Green Lantern and the Challangers fly into the sun to tackle Megistus, who has Metamorpho captured. The team fights as best as they can against the deranged alchemist especially Superman and Ultraman battling the villain, as the Challengers try to destroy the artifacts that power Megistus. Ultraman ends up going back to his dimension and June, the female member of the Challangers who never cheated death makes the ultimate sacrifice to destroy the philosopher’s stone. Megistus is defeated but warns of some sort of crisis coming. The battle is over for now, and the Challangers with the book know that June is out there alive somewhere. An awesome conclusion to a story I wasn’t digging when it first started. I like how it ties in to the coming Final Crisis, too. 3/4.
-Catwoman #78- This features an odd cover of Catwoman biting Cheetah’s lips. Catwoman teams up with Hammer and Sickle for the time being to try and get back home. While they are watching Luthor and his group, Cheetah attacks Catwoman. They have a good ol’fashioned catfight (pun intended) which results in Catwoman defeating her foe. The Boom sounds signaling the Boom Tubes and another arrival is a need for concern. Meanwhile, on Earth, Slam Bradley investigates Catwoman’s disappearance by interrogating a multiplier. Slam is tricked into an ambush by the villains duplicates. The goofy cover belies what is really a good tale. 4/5.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #02- Another fine issue full of great characterization. Olsen and Darkseid appear on Metropolis in giant form and fight. A Boom Tube signals the arrival of someone we thought dead, Orion. Orion and Darkseid have a battle for the ages. Superman, watching his city being completely destroyed, elects to stay out of this fight noting that it is between two gods. Orion surprisingly kills his father and walks away, close to death himself. Again, Superman decides not to help him saying his day is done. The fight was cool between Orion and Darkseid, though I don’t know what they will do next issue. What is left? Besides Olsen having the New Gods powers whole worlds being decimated, Superman Prime and a whole cache of other things if I could think of them. The actions of Superman is not like anything he has stood for the past, oh I don’t know, 70 years, but that’s what we’ve been treated to the whole series. There were some good issues but this will be remembered in the future as a terrible disappointment and a bad sequel to 52. 4/6.
-Flash #239- The public is still pissed at Flash’s statements and the old Flash goes on TV and says as much. Eventually he gets so angry he goes after Flash. Wally gets a job going through a collector’s video collection at super speed when Jay bursts in after using Flash’s kids to find him. Red Arrow shows up and a blinding light arrow takes JayFlash out of his trance. It seems that something is causing this anger, something at the TV studio, something being controlled by some masked maniac. He promises to destroy Flash when another person shows up. We don’t see him but judging by next months solicit, it is Gorilla Grodd. I didn’t have any problems with this. The Flash is in a different place than any other hero I have read. He is a hero but the public doesn’t know what to think since his recent money comments. It has led to a good story so far. 5/7.
-Gotham Underground #7- Riddler questions Nightwing, in the hospital without his costume. Riddler knows who he is, but not his real name and identity. Riddler goes to question Penguin whose troops are battling Whale’s troops. Huntress and Batgirl interrupt and they are joined by Wildcat and Robin. Don’t know how Wildcat is involved in all this. So Riddler is roughed up by some of Penguin’s ladies, Whale agrees to work with Penguin to battle Intergang, Vigilante kills some of Penguins powered goons and Batman shows up to confront him. This is Batman’s first appearance in this title? He may have been in number one. This was decent issue but I still can’t get into Calafiore’s art. Don’t get me wrong, he’s much better than me but all the faces look the same and it can get a bit annoying since you don’t know who is who without their costumes. This will get a point for the interesting story. 6/8.
-Robin #173- Spoiler stops some criminals and Penguin is informed of this. Robin, as Tim Drake, meets with a school friend then gets a tip from his two insider cop friends. Robin ends up meeting with the criminal Penguin was talking to and he’s already been attacked by Violet. They both converge on a site of money, which Violet wants to use and which Robin knows is fake. They tussle over what to do when Spoiler, to Robin’s shock, shows up. Spoiler knows this was all a trap and tries to warn Robin but he is too shocked and upset that someone has taken the old Spoiler’s place that he doesn’t listen. Too bad for Robin since Sin Fang of the North Korean mafia shows up ready to blow him away. Robin has gotten back on track after a three issue slide a few months ago. This was a very fun and entertaining issue that is really starting to sizzle, especially with the mystery identity of Spoiler. 7/9.
-Salvation Run #6- This is what everyone was waiting for, a brawl between Joker and Lex. Martian Manhunter is still captured and is kept alive by Lex as a negotiation piece. Lex and Joker meet and they just can’t take it anymore. Lex loses his temper and their bloody brawl starts. It seems that Joker has the upper hand until the Boooom of the Boom Tube breaks the silence. Parademons from the New Gods descend upon the planet and the villains must band together to stop the threat. This was just a very fun issue, with Lex and Joker finally fighting and a new threat being unveiled. This is probably the best mini-series from DC right now. 8/10.
-Suicide Squad #8- The series has ended. Let’s see, General Walling has revealed his plot, is attacked as Boomerang and the rest of the gang try to stop the board of directors they were originally sent to kill. Deathstroke has no vision but kills them all anyway, then is saved from Marauder by Boomerang. General Walling learns that Waller is still alive and jumps away to confront her. He uses his buzz word to take control of Flag and makes her press the button on his pen to blow up Waller’s brain but it is revealed that Flag had in earplugs and didn’t hear the brute. He was playing along and blows out Walling’s brains! He is still alive but double-cross is over and Flag accepts his life as a member of the Suicide Squad. I am waffling a bit on this series. It was pretty interesting, but it doesn’t seem to have any lasting effects. Usually you can tell what does or doesn’t and this one seems to just be there. It wasn’t something that warranted its own mini-series on its own accord and without its lasting effects it may be forgotten. It was a decent espionage tale and the conclusion works with how it started. 9/11.
-Tangent: Superman’s Reign #2- Flash and Green Lantern end up in the Tangent world and learn about its history based on a dead Joker telling them. It seems that Superman showed up as a hero shortly after Atom did, made the world into a police state with him in charge and destroyed all who tried to oppose him, including some familiar heroes. Even now rebel forces try to stop him. A back-up shows Guy Gardner, a tech wizard, talking to Detective Chimp, an attractive woman going against Supes. This was just sort of there. I guess it is just building up but right now it is a bit too slow for my liking and if I am going to commit to a 12-issue series, I expect the first two issues to be pretty damn good. This wasn’t. 9/12.
Wildstorm
-The Programme #10- The Programme is an interesting series for me. There is so much going on that it can get wildly confusing if you don’t pay attention. Sometimes I can read comics and just sort of read some of the panels and get the idea of the story but not for this. There is so much going on, from the two American heroes, the race war brewing, the Russians, and the ancilliary characters who were never given a voice or an origin. This is another one of those confusing issues if you don’t pay attention. The Russians end up Kansas then leave. Joe meets with Max, Stella is appearing and disappearing, making her a great super agent and she tells the president of a plot on Max to reprogram him but the president knew all along. Max can’t convince Joe to help and the government decides to give Max some R&R, thanks to a woman to sleep with him. The Russians end up in Arlington ready to attack. There is just so much going on here that it can be overwhelming but Milligan has done a very good job keeping things in line. Not too much happened in this issue, but it has set up all the things that need to be done for the final two issues. 1/1.
-World of Warcraft #6- Lo’Gosh and Broll leave the idol with Fandral, a superior to Broll who Lo doesn’t trust. Lo’Gosh meets with a mystic who helps return his memories. Apparantly, he is a king! His wife is dead but is son is alive and he now has a mission to get him. Broll and Lo’Gosh fly off unaware of an assassin behind them, and further unaware that Valeera has escaped and is tracking this assassin. Valeera eventually kills the assassin and meets up with her two friends as they go off to find Lo’Gosh’s enemies! This was good enough. 2/2.
Platinum Studio Comics
-Hero By Night #3- The prologue sees the original HBN remembering all his forgotten memories of being a hero. So HBN comes home and his fiancee is pissed. HBN leaves and sees his friend, who gives him information on Saul Simian, including notes from the old HBN on how to defeat him. So HBN confronts Saul. Saul just wants the ring and he will leave but our hero doesn’t oblige. They have a fight, HBN manages to capture Saul and Saul tells HBN why he is after him. He is being used by whoever he is working for to get the ring and to get the serum that will save him and his brother. Saul has paid his soul for this and this is the last piece. Saul wants to no more of this and breaks free, and leaves. HBN returns home to find a letter from his fiancee, she has left her. We meet the man behind it all, Iron Talon, and his islant of power. This is really cool. There aren’t a ton of characters or continuity issues to drag this down. We have an old hero who is going to return, a conflicted “villain” in Saul Simian and a hero trying to juggle his life. This has been a fantastic series thus far. 1/1.
Awards
-Book of the Week- Annihilation Conquest #6 was clearly the best title. It was the perfect event comic. Everything major was resolved at the end with a possibility for another start in Guardians of the Galaxy. Annihilation has just reigned supreme the last two years. Abnett and Lanning both earn their fourth BOTW award.
-Disappointment of the Week- I think Countdown #2 will have to pick up the dubious distinction. It has completely killed the momentum of the DC weekly series and possibly shows it cannot be done. The story has just been all over the place and hasn’t delivered the way 52 has. I don’t even look forward to next issue.
-Cover of the Week- Superman 675 with the great Alex Ross image stands above the rest this week. Alex has won the COTW award three times now.
-The Bottom Line- This was an off week for DC and Marvel, as the big two managed a meager 17 out of 23. You know what, whatever. I was having an off week and maybe I took it out on the comics but I think being more critical of what I spend my money on isn’t a bad thing. Instead of focusing on the bad, let’s look at the good. Annihilation and Hero By Night were just awesome and reading those two reminds me why I read comics.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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