So, as promised, I have a rather chunkadelic announcement to make. Not only did I once again co-host Direct Edition this week, BUT I actually did a one-on-one mini-interview with Scott Pilgrim creator, Bryan Lee O'Malley!
Granted, the traffic was murderously loud and we snagged him on his way to a signing, but for an interview that lasted all of two or three questions, it was pretty good! Cutthroat reporting, yo.
He's a terribly nice guy and, whether the movie's good or not, you should buy the books. They're not Watchmen, but they're fun reads.
So, yes, don't forget to check out Direct Edition on YouTube. I know the review portion is up today, but the interview/Scott Pilgrim news special will be out on M-M-Monday.
Today's edition of Thursday's Comics is very Avenger-centric, so I am very sorry if you don't give a shit about them. Out of the nine comics I bought this week, I can honestly only say four were worth reviewing.
Thursday's Comics.
Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #1 of 3.
Here's my problem with how Shadowland is largely playing out, just to be clear.
Shadowland involves everyone, but the tie-ins are specific to certain other involved characters. That'd be totally cool with me if Daredevil's actual series was about Daredevil. My problem is that we're not seeing into his mind enough. It's why I'm not reviewing the Shadowland: Power Man or Shadowland: Blood on the Streets four-parters. I'll just fill in the gaps if anything big happens.
Aside from that, this first issue does appear to develop things a bit. Colleen Wing, former partner of Misty Knight, busts open this massage parlour to release the girls the hold there. She's taken away and the cops, presumably corrupt, tell her their hands are tied.
In her apartment, while she's sleeping, The Hand's ninjas leave her a message that counts as a veiled invitation to go to Shadowland. This is where the bulk of the interesting things happen.
I'm not the biggest fan of Colleen Wing, so this reveal was more exciting just because of how far Daredevil is going to secure the iron grip of The Hand. He reveals that her grandfather (The guy who raised/trained her in Japan) trained her mother, whom she knows next to nothing about. This backfired when her mother joined The Hand's elite group of female assassins, cheesily called The Nail.
He brings out a group of females and basically tells her that it's her destiny to be by his side and lead them like her mother did.
It's cool to see the corruption of New York, by The Hand, start to grow ever wider. I think it'd be quite a big deal for Matt to land a hero-for-hire and get her to work for him, but we'll see.
I can't recommend this to anybody who isn't already into either the arc, the characters or both. It's a tie-in in every sense of the word.
Secret Avengers #4.
This issue is one I have a problem with, as well as The New Avengers, but this one more so.
Nova is the fucking man. Let me start out by saying that. I love Nova, Nova is amazing. So, as excited as I was for him being on a team I loved, written and drawn by a writer/artist team I love, I was still a bit wary of how he'd be used. He's a powerhouse, way too powerful for this team or for Earth troubles.
I loved how this story kicked off, but I felt like Nova's role could've been anybody. Now, Brubaker has committed a crime that many can often fall for.
Captain Rogers is an out-and-out hero. He is to be respected above perhaps any other. However, his presense is no excuse to write him like that in the presense of someone way more powerful. Does Nova have the experience Rogers does? In a way, no, but in a way, kind of. Nova has been through two massive cosmic wars and is in the process of a third. Why is he being written like a starstruck kid while Rogers pulls rank on him?
What happens is this. Captain Rogers puts on Nova's helmet and Worldmind helps him defeat the evil, thorny-crowned Nova. I can swallow him being able to handle the Nova Force simply because he has handled the power of Thor before and not succumbed to warrior madness.
What I cannot swallow is Nova almost meekly asking Rogers for his helmet back afterward. What is this? Generally the dialogue is all pretty awesome and the art is bang on from Deodato, as always. Deodato has a great way, specifically, of lighting and darkening his characters.
Toward the end of the issue they're heading back to Earth and it's revealed to them that Nick Fury is a part of The Shadow Empire. What I gained from this is that Nova will no longer be a member. It's happening early on, but surely Brubaker realised that Nova had no place in this book to begin with.
I mean, they give the excuse of Nova having to fly off and deal with a cosmic emergency (The Fault War), thus them not being sure if he'll be available as a resource in future. I'm glad, but I think he could've just been left out.
Hopefully, now, we can get back to a more espionage-based feel like there was in the first two issues.
I'd still definitely recommend this series to anybody. Get on it while you can!
The New Avengers #3.
I liked this issue more than Secret Avengers #4, but I have major problems with this one too.
As most of you know, I had Bendis's back throughout Dark Reign. The way he carried that saga on his back and into Siege was amazing to me. Not only that, but he churned out multiple great titles.
Now, on both The Avengers and The New Avengers, I feel as if he's losing track of what he's doing. The way he writes Spider-Man is magical, it's so brilliant. The way he is writing everyone else, that being like Spider-Man, is not ok.
Packed with thrilling magical and practical in-your-face combat, sprawled across Central Park and New York City, this is a dangerously fun issue. Lots of characters have immense moments of badass showtime, and what can be said about Stuart Immonen that isn't being said by everyone with half a brain cell? The man's art is delicious.
I am torn between loving the banter and finding it to be over-egged. Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel and The Thing having a discussion about Ghostbusters, mid-demon battle, was hilarious. Seeing how riddled with disbelief they were at Ms. Marvel not having seen it was truly funny, especially with The Thing mentioning it again later. I just feel as though it was a bit much at times. Ms. Marvel serves as a good foil for the Spider-Man and The Thing. She's not above humour, but she IS seen to be taking care of business.
I love her and I'm glad she's in a main on-going.
My problem is that, again, I feel Wolverine and Spider-Man really need to be in one or the other, especially since Bendis is writing them both in The Avengers, too. The New Avengers spent 60+ issues being a really great series, building up certain characters. Now I feel like they're just kind of tossing that away in hopes it will sell mega issues.
I also have an issue with Bendis's grasp of magical rules, although I'll see how he plays this out.
Daimon Hellstrom is a much needed character in the midst of Dr. Strange and Dr. Voodoo (Is he even Dr. Voodoo anymore now that he lost The Aye of Agamotto?), simply because he's the non-straight man. That said, his constant bickering with Dr. Voodoo COULD get old fast.
My favourite scenes were the ones with Iron Fist. Trapped in some kind of magical limbo, he is being spoken to by the two unseen magical abstracts that are causing all this trouble. One recognises the symbol on his chest and realises he's protected. Though offering to let him go, Iron Fist pushes his luck and tries to keep the eye.
The reveal that none other than The Ancient One (Dr. Strange's former master) is partially behind all this is a very nice one, but therein lies my other issue. Surely there are so many more magical characters, with potential and underused, that they could've picked.
You can't argue that they'd be unknown, because who knows The Ancient One besides actual fans? I don't know.
The issue seems to be picking up and I enjoyed it greatly, I just have gripes about Bendis right now.
In many ways I can see this series as a good jump-on point, but in others I can't say. I guess pick the first three issues up if you want to and let me know where you stand.
Avengers Academy #3.
If you're not reading this, you're a terrible person.
The entire cast of new characters was a risk that Marvel were prepared to run. Why should we care about NEW characters? Christos Gage took this title and MADE me care. If the buzz is anything to go by, the same happened to many people. Gage does SO much right with this issue and I will tell you why.
This issue is half continuation, half origin story. To my delight, this issue is Hazmat's origin story. I've taken a liking to Hazmat, immensely so. She's such a confrontational bitch, but not in that mistaken way either. She's a genuine bitch in that she says things to hurt people. It's totally a defense mechanism, cliched, but workable.
Let me put on my movie trailer voice...
Jennifer Takeda was a normal teenager. She had everything she could want and her financially wealthy parents saw that this remained the case. At age 16, she had a platinum card with a four figure limit. A model student, she was seemingly breezing through life without a care in the world, accompanied by her boyfriend, Greg. Then, things...went...wrong!
In all seriousness, it is quite a tragic tale. Comparisons have been drawn to Rogue, being that Hazmat's powers manifested during a make-out session with her man, but I don't feel too bad about that. Mike McKone really draws this whole scene, and series, well. Greg falling to the floor and going white-eyed/foaming at the mouth is just very impactful.
Turns out that she visited various Roxxon plants/labs with her parents and was "exposed to something" that caused her powers. Again, very cliched, but she's so well developed even now that I really don't mind. This is where the tragedy gets greater for her than it did for Rogue. Jennifer gained the ability to radiate any and all kinds of radiation, but she does so constantly. Becoming Hazmat (HAZardous MATerial), she has to live the rest of her life inside a radiation suit, or others around her have to be wearing one for her to be out of hers.
They even have to train with wooden swords so that her suit can't be cut. I do think this part would be remedied by someone like Reed Richards making her a suit, though. They can't send her into battle with a tearable suit.
I wish we'd gotten a bit more of Hazmat's origins, but I liked it very much and it really whet my appetite for more development to come.
The issue itself revolves around what you should expect at this stage; various training sessions occur, with varying results and guest instructors. Iron Fist faces off against the supremely arrogant Finesse, and it ends with her in a demonstrated chokehold. I loved that.
The interaction between all of these characters really works well. If you've been through school, you'll find the humour and dynamics both relatable and funny. Mettle is establishing himself as a fan favourite due to his combination of humility and shyness, despite being a gigantic, red, skeletal looking superhero-in-training. Others like Striker and Reptil are less developed, but I guess they will come into their own.
Another great facet of this series is how the humour is placed. Seeing Valkyrie talk to Hazmat, Veil and Finesse about feminism...IN A KITCHEN...when she's meant to be teaching them combat was just brilliantly timed. It highlighted both the need for females to feel independent, and the inherent ridiculousness that comes with blind feminism. The speech itself consisted of Valk telling them than society is "phallocentric" and dominated by men, men that will let them down sexually and intellectually. She's even goes so far as telling them not to worry about the former due to "inventions" that mortals have created.
In case you're that dense, she means vibrators.
It's really just a terrifically well done scene that could've made Valkyrie look stupid, but it didn't.
The main aim of this issue is two things, which I'll break down.
The first was the students going on a field trip to The Raft (This being maximum security super-prison that The Thunderbolts operate out of) and Hazmat's desire to pay a visit to Norman Osborn (For those reading at home, he's the guy who made a lot of these kids worse) while there. Reluctantly, she seems to have dragged Mettle and Veil along for the ride.
Luke Cage shows them around and it's all very stark. Such a contrast between dark and light tones doesn't disrupt the series, it enhances it. Seeing Crossbones muzzled so that, as Cage says, "he can't use his teeth as projectiles", really does hit home what The Raft is. The teeth thing would've been nice if Bullseye hadn't done it first, but it's good.
There's a few funny parts (Reptil asking Juggernaut to say his catchphrase is a good one), but it ends with Hazmat knocking the power out, showing she can use electrical impulses, and escaping to Osborn's cell. Once there, she states her intent to kill him.
Whilst that scene brings the issue to a close, I want to draw attention to the second plot thread. Despite the constant bickering of the instructors on how to deal with the students, one such instructor is still seen as a liability. Robbie Baldwin, formerly known as Speedball and the man who became Penance during Civil War, is Speedball again.
Praiseworthy, sure, but the other teachers really aren't sure that he has any place teaching people. Some think he's perfectly placed, conversely. I'd agree with both, to be fair. He's been through shit, but he also knows, better than anyone, what it's like to have your powers misused or go out of control. His powers as Penance stemmed from his own physical pain, and he took to wearing a sado-masochistic suit that hurt him in repentance for the death of all those in Stamford (See: Civil War #1/Trade).
It's revealed in this issue that he is a cutter, not so much out of cliched angst, but because he is secretly Penance, still. This isn't entirely clear in the comic, and it does come off as angsty, but Christos Gage apologised for this on C.B.R. Forums and cleared up why he's doing it.
It's all brought out in the open by Moonstone during the visit to The Raft. She asks why he's threatening her with the blue kinetic energy he used as Penance, and I suppose that'll be dealt with next issue.
Seriously, guys, this shit is fucking amazing. It's really such a good issue, way better than Avengers: The Initiative (Which was decent). I do miss the way Dan Slott characterised Hank Pym in The Mighty Avengers, and I'm not terribly fond of how Gage writes him, but it's a small price to pay for what is CLEAAARLY the best Avengers-centric title on the market.
Join The Academy and get your education, people.
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That's about all I've got time for right now, I'm afraid.
I'll be back again later with today's installment of The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom, or I may save it for tomorrow, just to prevent overload and so this doesn't get pushed down the page. Actually, I'll probably do just that.
So, on that note, I'll see you tomorrow! Keep the comments coming and keep advertising my blog or shouting it out where you can.
Until next time, peace.
-The Mast
