Simply Terrific
Earth 2 #7
You can go ahead and ignore that cover. Hawkgirl and Green Lantern don't fight in this issue, they just have a conversation, Hawkgirl does something that pisses off GL, and leaves. Really, this issue is a "dust settling" issue, which are actually my favorite kinds; these decompressing one-shot stories that occur after a big event where there's not much action and it's mostly characters reflecting on what just happened.
The meat of this story concerns the leader of the World Army, Commander Amar Khan (Yay diversity in comics!), in the aftermath of Solomon Grundy's attack, wherein genius and sociopath Terry Sloan was brought in to discretely consult the W.A. despite being one of the most wanted men on Earth. Commander Khan is displeased by this turn of events, but can't do anything about as the higher-ups want Sloan and his tremendous intelligence on board. Khan, naturally, takes matters into his own hands and gets his covert Canadian strike force team the Sandmen (led by Wesley Dodds, of course) to canvas all of Sloan's secret bases and seize any world-destroying assets he might have. And what do they find in Sloan's super-secret Paris hideout? Mr. Terrific!
Yes, Michael Holt, the third smartest man in the world and regular Justice Society of America member (before the reboot) is finally joining the plot, which makes me very happy. I think he's a cool character and while it's a bit disappointing that his solo book failed, I love that writer James Robinson and editor Pat McCallum were able to pick up the pieces and integrate him into their fancy new JSA book. I'm looking forward to seeing him join this "new age of heroes", as well as the spy vs. spy, cloak and dagger story of Khan vs. Sloan. Earth 2 isn't classic JSA, but it's a pretty damn decent substitute.
Ooooh...pretty...
All-New X-Men #3
I honestly don't have much to say on this issue. It's neat, gives some characterization to Cyclops, Magneto, and Emma Frost and how their brush with the Phoenix in Avengers vs. X-Men has affected their powers (although curiously Magik, another member of the Phoenix Force Five, has greater control over her mystical abilities while Emma and Cyclops have less). However, the real draw here is Stuart Immonen on artwork. The dude should be locked up for homicide because he is KILLING IT in this book. I mean, look at that cover! That thing makes me want to cry, it's so beautiful! Fantastic looking book, and once the decompressed storyline gets to the big action setpieces, it'll read fantastic too.
Assemble at Dawn
Avengers vol. 5 #1
The more I think about, the more I like Jonathan Hickman's first issue of Avengers. It missteps in some ways, but it's a strong outing and gets you excited about what's to come from Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
The books starts out by reminding us of Hickman's mission statement for his Avengers run: "We need to get bigger". And after flashes of things yet-to-come (par for the course for Hickman), we get our initial fight. New supervillain Ex Nihilo has already terraformed Mars, and wishes to turn Earth into a new Garden of Eden. This is actually interesting because it raises questions of where he came from; this technology seems like it's beyond Earth's reach but he's using biblical references and speaking English. I'd be interested in seeing his origins in later issues.
Without any discussion shown, the Avengers set off for the red (now green) planet; specifically, the movie Avengers (Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow). It's a smart move on Hickman's part, showing a team that new readers will be familiar with in action, right before they're kicked to the curb by Nihilo and his entourage. Nihilo send Cap back to Earth, hoping that seeing the world's greatest hero defeated will break the spirits of the people. Instead, Cap calls an all-new Avengers team made up of classic members (old and new), plus some completely unheard-of heroes joining the ranks. Why is an obscure character like Smasher or an anti-hero like Hyperion rubbing elbows with Spider-Man and Captain Marvel? Who is the new woman who wields the power of Captain Universe? Why is Wolverine still running with the Avengers if he has a school to run? How cool is it that one of my favorite characters from Hickman's Secret Warriors (teleporter, mathematician, and reality-bender in training Eden Fesi) is going A-List? All these questions and more answered, next month!
Marvel NOW! is, surprisingly, shaping up to be pretty good. Here's hoping that upcoming series like Young Avengers, New Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy can live up to the example Uncanny Avengers and Thor: God of Thunder have set. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment