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It’s comic book armageddon this week. All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #5 AND Ultimates 2 #13 came out today. This is unbelievable. Both are a year late and that they came out on the same week is just incredible. What’s next, Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine next week? It was a light week for me this week, as only 13 books (and one TPB) landed in my pull box, 8 DC and 5 Marvel. For those wondering, the TPB was Batman Chronicles 3. Onto the comics.
Spoiler Warning
-All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #5- Wonder Woman appears and she hates men. She argues with the Justice League (Green Lantern, Superman and Plastic Man) and says they are weak. She’s off to stop the Bat-Man. The goddamned Bat-Man is on the streets beating up people, Alfred works out, and young Dick Grayson picks up an axe so huge that Rob Liefeld would be jealous. Ummm, I waited a year for this? Nothing has gone on in the 5 issues and is completely underwhelming.
-Ultimates 2 #13- Thor kicks Loki’s ass, then kills him as Asgard destroys the trolls and giants Loki unleashed. The Ultimates win. Hawkeye gets revenge on Natasha by killing her and the Ultimates are now breaking away from SHIELD to work independently to save the whole world. They will be funded by Tony Stark. The final page shows a nice dedication to Stan and Jack. Now this, with the monstrous 8 page fold-out, was worth waiting for. Ultimates is wrapped up nicely.
TPL Quickies
Marvel
-Fallen Son: Captain America – Clint Barton runs into Tony Stark (who acts like an asshole and knocks him out) and Tony tries to convince Tony to don the shield and uniform of Captain America. They go out on patrol and see Patriot and Hawkeye of the Young Avengers take out Firebrand. Clint is shocked to learn there is a new Hawkeye but after talking to them (in an awesome scene) tells Tony to screw himself and heads off to the New Avengers.
-Mighty Avengers #3- The Mighty Avengers retreat from Ultron leaving just Sentry there. Ultron stops him by dropping the Helicarrier over Manhattan after hacking their systems. So the Avengers stop the ship as Ultron escapes. Then an original Iron Man robot shows up saying Tony Stark is dead. So we are three issues in, a new Ultron has been introduced and that’s about it. I don’t know where this is headed. There was a funny scene with Tigra and Pym and agents getting Pym saying his ex-wife needed him.
-Moon Knight #10– Moon Knight has a little talk with the Punisher about the Civil War and other things. Moon Knight then talks to some dude to get information as two villains (I guess) watch him from a sewer. I have no clue what is going on. The first arc was pretty amazing but I am just lost here.
-Ultimate Spider-Man #109 – Ultimate Spider-Man is held captive by Kingpin, who tells Spidey that he owns the right to him and won’t kill him for that. He beats up Ronin/Moon Knight then lets Spidey go. Spidey thinks Daredevil sold him out so he confronts him but it turns out Iron Fist may be the traitor. The story isn’t really doing it for me as I don’t care for Ultimate Ronin or any of the Knights.
DC
-Action Comics #849 – Superman battles Redemption and finds the source of his powers, the local pastor. Turns out the pastor massacred thousands of people in Vietnam and wanted redemption. Superman actually beats him without throwing a punch. The whole thing came off as a bit too preachy for me and too smart for its own good.
-Catwoman #67– Selina battles Sickle and Hammer and takes round one. She passes out but the evil Russians recover first. Sickle attacks Catwoman while Hammer goes after Selina’s kid. This had me waiting for the next issue to see what happens. Selina having a kid adds a whole new dimension to the character.
-Checkmate #14 – Checkmate and Outsiders team up at Oolong Island to rescue someone, Boomerang lets slip about a secret mission Waller had him on which will cause trouble in the future I bet. Not too much went on at all, actually.
-Flash, The Fastest Man Alive #12 – Inertia tricks the Rogues into thinking he has built a time that can stop time but in actuality it steals the speedforce from Flash. Flash is screwed but so is the world since if Inertia tries to harvest the speed force he will explode with the power of 10 Atom bombs. This title has been consistently mediocre since its launch and I’m just waiting for the arc that will turn it around.
-Countdown #50– Jimmy interviews Red Hood about Deula’s death, then the Joker, who tells him he doesn’t have a kid. He leaves and the Killer Croc is ominously behind him. Karate Kid fights Batman (as seen in JSA) and the Rogues gather (as seen in Flash). Mary Marvel talks to a psychic, too. Not as good as the first one and I don’t know if I like seeing references to other books that I’ve already read. I want them to just focus on the main characters. Some things didn’t make sense (Superman heating a door from outer space, Olsen knowing everyone’s name) so I hope things tighten up in future issues.
-Justice League of America #9– The JSA/JLA find Timber Wolf and bring him back home with no altercation. Red Arrow, Powergirl and the Hawks are on Thanagar looking for Dawnstar but she’s not there. Seems that Red Arrow has a thing for Hawkgirl while Power Girl got it on with Hawkman while in Thanagar. It seems the LSH are in the present on a suicide mission and are armed with Lightning Rods.
-Supergirl #17- In this convoluted tale, Supergirl arrives on Earth where the sun is red and her friends are possessed. She has to find Superman to stop the “Curse of El,” which has to do with phantoms and the Phantom Zone. She finds him in a suit, tells him he’s the curse of El and he needs to die, which he agrees to, until another Supergirl shows up at the end. Really bad, confusing story. Read Supergirl in LSH instead.
The Awards
-Book of the Week- Some may not like it, but Ultimates 2 #13 gets the award. I feel that through all the delays and controversy at least the issue delivered. The art was very nice and the fold-out 8-page spread was simply breathtaking. The attention to detail was great (Quicksilver was on every page!). I found myself rooting for the Ultimates and the smackdown Thor gave Loki was impressive. It took its time getting to the shelves but it was worth it.
-Disappointment of the Week- All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder, continues the precedent of the first 4 issues with not advancing the story at all. The art by Jim Lee is nice but the script of Frank Miller is all over the place. First, how corny is this, “God-Damned Batman” stuff. It’s used yet again this issue. The 5 issues (if you can remember them) don’t even flow together well. This book is just an absolute mess.
-Best Cover- This was a tough one, props go to Jim Lee for ASBR #5 with an awesome Batman cover but the winner features Batman’s number one enemy, Joker on Countdown #50. It’s just a stark red background with a menacing Joker holding Jim Olsen’s Daily Planet Press Pass. Just a great cover.
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