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This is the second big week in a row! I don’t know how much longer I can do this! Last week as a record number of books and this week almost equaled that. 2 Wildstorm, 14 DC and 15 Marvel titles add up to 31 books altogether. Throw in a Wizard and that’s the damage for this week. Luckily, it is Thanksgiving weekend so I have some extra time off. I will be going upstate though so I don’t know how much I will get done by Tuesday. I foresee it being finished, though. Anyway, let’s see how the week went.
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-What If… Annihilation- I expected this to be good since Annihilation was an awesome mini-series but I was blown away by how awesome this way. The premise is that Drax saved Silver Surfer in the proper mini-series but in this one he decides to free Galactus first, causing something to explode and causing all their deaths (Galactus, Surfer and Drax). The Annihilation wave now seems unstoppable and heads for Earth, right as Captain America is over Iron Man, shield raised, right before he walked away from the Civil War. Nova tells them what happened and is stunned that they are fighting over something so stupid. The heroes and villains of Earth band together to stop an attack and after major casualties get some grim news, that was only a small percentage of the wave. There’s a bigger one coming. Seemingly doomed, The Watcher interferes and gives an anti-matter device that will destroy them but also Attilan. So the Inhumans must put aside their differences with the US and agree to help. They hatch a plan to bring Annihilus to Attilan and the bomb will destroy them. Unfortunately, some one will need to stay to stop Annihilus from getting to the machine before it blows. Nova stays behind and so do Iron Man and Captain America. Iron Man and Cap trade some final words on the Civil War (in jest of course) and fight beside each other as the Annihilation wave is stopped, the moon explodes, and Earth is saved. They managed to tell this in about 25 pages and it was just extraordinary. This may be the best What If title I’ve read and was just amazing from start to finish.
-Incredible Hulk #111- The World War Hulk saga is officially over with this one. We saw in the World War Hulk mini-series that Hulk fought a Doctor Strange empowered by a demon. This issue deals with Angel, Namora, Hercules and Cho teaming up with Wong to capture that demon. Cho ends up being possessed by it as part of his plan and the demon is gone. Cho still has undying faith in the Hulk but that ends when Hulk goes bezerk (at the end of WWH #5) and must be lasered down. Cho is upset he couldn’t save his friends. Angel and Namora leave, and Cho is with Hercules alone. This will make a title change next month (Incredible Herc) and I wonder how that will do. Can Hercules carry a title? Questions aside, this was a perfect compliment to the WWH mini-series. If you read only WWH you got the story but reading this just added to it. Great stuff here.
Marvel
-Avengers Classic #6- The reprint is of a story featuring the first appearance of Baron Zemo. It is a standard Silver Age Avengers tale where the Avengers must team up and stop Zemo and his band of goons (Melter, Black Knight and Radioactive Man). The back-up was one of the weakest ones so far, with a story about the Wasp thinking she is worthless, then having two criminals accost her and while she tries to save them, one of them ends up getting killed by the cops anyway. Way to go, Janet. Weak issue, overall.
-Captain America #32- Captain America is still dead. Bucky is still imprisoned by Faustus and Sharon and Falcon and Black Widow are on their trail. Faustus and Sharon find out they are being chased and so they take off in a plane with Bucky, their captive. Sharon starts going against her programming but is still obedient to Faustus. She kicks Bucky out of the plane in order to stop Sam from chasing them, which also saves Bucky. Faustus says they are both going to be dead for that and Black Widow says that Bucky is now under arrest. Another great issue from Brubaker and Epting. This story is still interesting even without the title character.
-Captain America: The Chosen #4- A dying Captain America speaks to Corporal James Newman, a soldier in the field in Iraq, and helps him a group of trapped soldiers in a cave. James finds water for them and then finds a way out, but must conquer his fear of claustrophobia. Still pretty interesting, but the comic is really short. I read this in no time and I want a little bit more for a $4.00 cover price.
-Daily Bugle: Ultimates 3- This includes a preview of Ultimates 3, a pretty crappy interview with Joe Mad and some other previews. They had some of the writers appear as Marvel Characters in a pseudonym which was funny. This was only a quarter and its nice to have a bunch of previews written like this.
-Heroes for Hire #15- And as quickly as it appeared, Heroes for Hire is over. It started off well but then got way too into the Civil War and World War Hulk tie-ins and just lost its way. We see the group slowly splinter apart. Humbug is convinced he will have a home with the Brood Queen. The H4H rescue Tarantula and Coleen, who are very badly messed up. Paladin only cares about his money, and in the end, Humbug was double-crossed. Shang goes to get revenge and actually kills Humbug and the group goes their separate ways, with Coleen saying they should’ve just been heroes. This is a title I am not sad to see go. The WWH stuff started off really strong but then just descended into madness. Really sad way to end what started off as a good series.
-Iron Man Annual #1- This is actually a fun Bond-like story where Tony Stark goes into Madripoor to dispose of Madame Hydra. She is currently in charge of Madripoor and her dealings with AIM pose a threat to SHIELD. They can’t just go in and wipe her out so Tony goes in by himself, sans armor and tries to turn Tyger Tiger (leader of the Madripoor Underworld) against her. This was a lengthy one but was really good in its execution and shows another side to Stark as leader of SHIELD. Great annual, much better than the core title now.
-Loners, The #5- This is the end of the Loner’s mini-series and I can’t say I am sad to see it go. This issue was better than the previous four, in my opinion, but overall I thought it was bit hard to follow. Here we have Urich fighting as Darkhawk until the real Darkhawk gets his powers back. Turbo puts on her costume again but Urich tells everyone she planned to sell them out. This causes a rift between the two. Penance (now named Hollow) and Urich leave, Mattie leaves, and only Darkhawk, Julie (who is still a closet lesbian), Turbo, Ricochet and the new character, an updated Red Ronin remain and continue their little meetings. Eh, better than the others, like I said, but when the first four weren’t great, a mediocre ending was suitable.
-Penance Relentless #3- Penance continues what seems like his mission to send nuclear weapons to Latveria. That is where he believes Nitro is hiding. Penance heads to a nuclear facility where he meets Wolverine. They fight a bit until Wolverine plays along when he finds out Penance’s true motives (I assume, unless Penance beat Wolverine). The Thunderbolts show up and attempt to stop the launch but it was all a ruse, Penance just wanted their ship. He’s gonna fly to Latveria to deal with Nitro himself. Still a very entertaining series.
-She-Hulk #23- She-Hulk continues fighting Absorbing Man and Titania. Titania has shrunk and is inside her ear drum causing havoc. Absorbing Man hits her so hard Titania falls out which leaves She-Hulk free to battle Absorbing Man all throughout the Mall of America. Jennifer Walters still has her perp and helps She-Hulk beat the husband/wife combo of Absorbing Man (who turns into water and is dispersed) and Titania (who is thrown into the mouth of a shark. She-Hulk/Walters have their man and we find out that Walters is really a Skrull! I wonder if that has to do with the Skrull invasion at all. This was a nice two-parter by Peter David to introduce us to the new bounty hunter She-Hulk and he skrull partner.
-Thunderbolts: Breaking Point #1- This is a solo story of Moonstone trying to push Songbird to her, get this, “Breaking Point.” Moonstone is jealous of Songbird’s popularity and wants her killed in the field of battle. However, everyone listens to Songbird and her battle tactics. So Moonstone finds Songbird’s mother, who hasn’t seen Songbird in years since she was incarcerated and all. They meet, fight, and then Songbird finds out her mother is dead. Songbird mourns for a bit but then sees through video it was Moonstone’s fault she died. So Songbird is okay now. This was a nice look at Songbird and her history, and they should do solo titles for each member, or at least have it in the regular title.
-Ultimate Vision #5- Ultimate Vision finally ends, some 8 months after number four was released. It’s quite a shame because this conclusion was actually pretty good. Sam Wilson (Falcon) shows up to help Vision stop the Gah Lak Tus module, which is quickly about to destroy the world. AIM agent Tarleton, still with Gah Lak Tus components assists in stopping the threat as well. They decide Vision will talk the module to death (no joke) but when Tarleton sees little progress he throws Dima in there, detonating her. Vision, who was attached to Dima, is a little pissed to say the least and rips Tarleton in half. She also stops Gah Lak Tus. Vision is in repair for a month and can’t leave and Wilson offers a place to stay. We then see Tarleton’s head eating a lizard. It appears a little big and could this be MODOK around the corner? The conclusion was actually well done. I expected very little from this but was pleasantly surprised.
-Ultimate Marvel Sampler- This is a sampler for all the Ultimate titles. They include a page of text on each describing what the title is about and random interviews from the people working on it. They show pages of art from the comic as well. This was free so I can’t bash it at all. It is what it is, a big advertisement.
-Wolverine Origins #19- Wolverine and Captain America find Bucky, who got himself captured on purpose to take out Baron Strucker. Of course, it wasn’t Strucker but a body double (a good idea according to Sgt. Fury). Bucky and Wolverine go off on their own to find the Baron where Wolverine learns about how Captain America came to be. Wolverine then knocks out Bucky to look for Strucker on his own. He finds him and Strucker was waiting for Wolverine, telling him that he has a job from his employer, to kill Captain America. Origins started off pretty badly but has quickly become the best Wolverine book out there.
DC
-Action Comics #859- Superman is in the future, with the Legion of Super-Heroes on an Earth with a red sun. It was a commonly held belief that Superman was in fact from Earth and was a true Earthling in every way imagineable. So the LSH show up, all of them aliens, and convince the world that Superman is an alien, and even bringing a Superman with them to try and convince them. This has caused the Earth heroes to go completely anti-alien and try to rid the world of all aliens, including the Legion. This is an interesting plot and with Superman powerless, they must go find Brainiac to try and stop the Earth Legion.
-Batman Confidential #11- We see Batman mourning over his very badly injured girlfriend while Joker goes on a wild killing spree, the likes of which Gotham has never seen before. Batman and Robin meet at the end of the issue on a rooftop. They show Harleen Quinzel as well. Interesting stuff here.
-Birds of Prey #112- This is a story showing how Lady Blackhawk mourns the death of Big Barda and even fighting off White Star and Falseface, who were hired by Calculator to take her out. Good issue but this needs a new arc to begin I think.
-Brave and the Bold #8- Flash and Doom Patrol appear in the issue, though not much teaming up is going on. Flash brings his kids over there, the kids fight the Doom Patrol, an experiment is tested with Metamorpho helping but when Metamorpho disappears the experiment goes awry. The kids are fine but Flash leaves with sour feelings. There was a strange word scratched into the ground. It is the same word the Challengers are seeing while reading the book. Each one who reads it gets drawn into it a bit too much and is thrown off kilter. I liked this issue. This is much better than the first arc but it was needed to keep the thread going of this mysterious book.
-Catwoman #73- Selina’s apartment is in flames and all of her belongings are gone. She goes to a safebox she had and is shocked to see that it has been emptied. She goes to Calculator for information and finds out a guy named Conrad Krupp (supervillain memorabilia collector), took her mask. She gets it back then gets more information from Calculator on who masterminded the whole thing. She goes to a bar and finds out that Calculator sent her right into a trap. Catwoman has continued to be awesome since I picked it up post OYL. I just find all these storylines fantastic.
-Checkmate #20- Without lying, this may be the best issue of Checkmate I have read. We see Waller make a play at Mr. Terrific, Sasha and Farraday’s job in order for her to have control of Checkmate. It shows what a bitch she is and you really see that coming off the pages. Luckily, the three other head members have some real dirt on Waller, namely, Salvation Run and her work with the Suicide Squad. They are able to quickly turn the tables on her, without her knowing it, and showing they set her up the whole time. In the end, Waller resigns from Checkmate to go on with whatever she is going to be doing. This was an issue full of twists and turns and great suspense and buildup. Great stuff here.
-Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham By Gaslight #1- The new Challengers show up in the Gotham by Gaslight age and meet up with Batman and a version of the Blue Beetle. They are battling some vampired creatures that are actually coming from Green Lantern due to the conflict from the Red Dawn issue. Blue Beetle manages to cure him though. Oh yeah, no Ray Palmer. This continues to be one big commercial for Elseworld titles out there and with all the 52 universes being filled by Elseworlds titles, they may be running out of universes in the multiverse.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #23- This focused mainly on an altercation between Superman Prime and Mr. Mxyztplk. There’s also another mystic there named Annataz Arataz. Superman Prime wants Mr. P’s help in accessing other universes Mr. P laughs him off since he’s just a trickster (he was Loki apparantally), and Superman Prime just leaves. The other mystic (read her name backwards) sends Mr. P back to his dimension and Superman Prime leaves on his own. Meanwhile, Mary Marvel talks to Eclipso until the asteroid they were on was destroyed by the Dominators who are then destroyed by Lord Havok. This was a waste of an issue, honestly. This didn’t do anything for me and I don’t know if anything was accomplished.
-Countdown to Mystery #3- Doctor Fate learns more about his helmet, winning some money at a casino, visiting a magic shop, visiting a strange universe, seeing a version of himself without a face and basically flies off at the end. In the other story, Eclipso can’t recruit the Creeper but has Plastic Man in her grasp. Plastic Man tries to rob a bank and Batman shows up. Believe it or not, Plastic Man is about to kill Batman when Crispus Allen interferes on his behalf. Eclipso takes Plastic Man away. End of issue. Decent stuff but I don’t feel like anything happened in these issues.
-Detective Comics #838- Robin and Damian are actually playing possum and attack the ninjas there. Damian escapes but Robin is captured by Ra’s. Ra’s tells Robin that Batman will choose Damian over him and eventually he will be tossed on the wayside. Robin doesn’t believe it but its put to the test when Batman meets with Ra’s and Ra’s tells him that Batman must choose which host he will take, either Robin or Damian. Uh-oh, looks like a tough choice for Batman. I didn’t dig the art, and the story was alright, but I can’t wait for Morrison’s issue of Batman as the next part of the issue.
-Flash #234- Flash’s kids start developing strange new powers. They both can basically attach themselve to Flash (on speed force leashes) and his son is starting to morph into strange things. Basically that’s it. Superman then calls Flash and tells him they have tracked the origin of where the strange water beings are. Flash plans on going after them. There is a back-up tale that is a lot more interesting than the main story where the different Flashes are going to a world in another dimension. Last issue it was Jay Garrick and this issue you see Wally show up. It is their personal world almost, and the beings there love them. It’s really good so far.
-Metamorpho Year One #4- Metamorpho is given a mask to wear so he can leave freely but it was all a ploy to reveal Rex for who he is in the public and drive his daughter into the arms of another man. Metamorpho escapes into the helicoptor of a man named Doc Dread. Doc Dread is going to use fear and Metamorpho to make billions. Metamorpho goes and stops a dirty bomb from exploding in the airport and performs his first heroic act. Still some good stuff here. Metamorpho fans should be picking this up.
-Shadowpact #19- The Warlock’s daughter sends a message back to Enchantress, Detective Chimp, the dude on the horse and Zauriel and they know it is a trap sprung by Doctor Gotham. They show up anyway and try their best to defeat him. Things don’t go well but the tables are turned when Gotham’s kid betrays him. Gotham destroys him then leaves, allowing Warlock’s Daughter to break her mind control. We go back to the Nightshade dimension where the trio goes towards a city they see. I’m happy the stuff with Gotham is over and I would rather them focus on the Blue Devil story since that had a lot of potential. It seems he’s on the cover of the next issue so I hope they are going in that direction.
-Spirit #11- The Spirit faces El Morte in a final confrontation. Spirit seems to be getting the raw end of the deal until his current love interest finds an old friend who is now gay to stop El Morte’s mother, the one keeping the dead raised. Cooke keeps the stories fresh here and I love his run on Spirit so far.
Wildstorm
-The Programme #5- The Programme continues to add intrique. Korovin gets the other two Russian superhumans and after he does, he kills the man who freed him. The US superhumans continue to act a little weird as Max seems to have been reprogrammed to think like a hippie and the US wants him to think like an American and stop the Russian villains. This was a pretty decent issue.
-Wetworks: Armageddon #1- Void takes Dane from Wetworks to the future. He learns of an event called Armageddon that has wiped out most of the people on Earth. Wetworks is in constant battle with demons that have taken over Budapest. The future version of Dane is helping build an underground tunnel to the Vatican, the only place where there is sunlight and where its demon-free. Dane thinks it’s the demons but Void, who seems to be captured, tells herself (and us) he’s off the mark as to the reason Armageddon happened. She’s off the Gen13 and I like how we are learning little by little what Armageddon was and how it happened.
Awards
-Book of the Week- What If Annihilation was simply a breathtaking book. This may be one of the best What If’s I have read in a very long time. Everything made sense, from Captain America and Iron Man working together, dying together at the end and Cap’s last jab at Iron Man to the emotion the book made you feel. I think if they ended the Civil War this way it would’ve been much better, but that’s just me. Excellent stuff here.
-Disappointment of the Week- The Loners #5 just didn’t do it for me. The whole mini-series was just a big confusing mess that didn’t accomplish anything. These characters are where they were when they started and I don’t know what they were trying to do with this. The art wasn’t great, the script was mediocre at best and this whole series was a disappointment.
-Cover of the Week- She-Hulk #23 wins this week, with an awesome cover of She-Hulk emerging from the water. It just has a great dark feel to it and captures the mood inside the pages perfectly. Mike Deodato wins for the second week in a row and the third time in 5 weeks, the best streak ever seen on the TPL.
-The Bottom Line- This was a very good week. Given that I read 31 books I was hard pressed to find 2 or 3 books that were just bad. The Loners was an easy loser and What If Annihilation was an easy winner but there was so much good stuff going on this week that made it another great one. Maybe I am just a positive person and can’t stomach the fact I spend all this money for something I don’t enjoy but I don’t think that’s completely it. These books have just been very enjoyable lately. Chalk up another great week I don’t know which company did better this week. I think I’d give the award to Marvel though for all the awesome stuff (Hulk, Annihilation, and Captain America). See ya next week.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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