The Mast Reviews: Thursday's Comics (17/12/09).

Welcome!

Only four comics today, unfortunately. Well, I BOUGHT five, but one of those is Daredevil #503, and to review that I will need to do a retrospective larger then Angelina Jolie's lipgloss bill. I'll probably just start reviewing them at #504, before which I'll have done a sort of "Story So Far..." on Daredevil right now (Speaking of which, if Andrew reads this, stick Daredevil onto my subscriptions, please!).

Also, in a rare occurance, I FORGOT to buy a Deadpool appearance! In my defence, I hadn't checked The Deadpool Bugle in ages, so I missed out. It's X-Factor #200, which I'll probably get next week and may not review unless it's worth it.

So, with that said, onto the reviews!


Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #6.

BADASS COVER! Can you say that? Say "BADASS COVER!". I'm just wondering how many more of my favourite movies they'll nail. I know they've done Jaws and Dawn of the Dead, with The Usual Suspects to be parodied next issue. Name the parody in THIS issue and get a free Deadpool comic for X-Mas!

So, after agreeing to take Headpool back to his own time by finding the portal he came from, Deadpool, Bill and Doctor Betty find themselves in, to the best I can figure, Louisiana. Wandering through the swamp they encounter Man-Thing and a bunch of Hydra agents.

A really badass looking Hydra agent says to Deadpool, basically: "We're taking the head and you're gonna die against me, one-on-one.". Deadpool swiftly hits him with a nuts shot and decapitates him. Do you see why this is my favourite Deadpool comic?

Priceless moment: Deadpool walking through the swamp and talking in the style of a Vietnam war veteran, telling the others to watch out for Charlie. I laughed, out loud.

I...love this series. I was so unsure and in fact, I was against it when I heard of a second Deadpool on-going. Now, it's my favourite of the series' that are being produced. It reads like a throwback, as I've said, to older action and exploitation movies. It's not in continuity, which is a damn shame because I want the MAIN series to rule. Regardless, I'll take what I can get.

If you can pick the first volume of this up when it gets release as a trade paperback, I HIGHLY recommend it.


Realm of Kings: Inhumans #2 of 6.

A bit of a slow issue, this one.

After The Mighty Avengers show up (One of two current good-guy Avengers groups, look it up) and help the Inhumans fight back the people trying to cause a ruckus, the Inhumans repay them with a less than thankful response.

Now that they have risen from being a rather hidden, reclusive race into beings that have taken control of their own destiny, they don't take kindly to help at all. AT ALL. The M.A. were there to allow Quicksilver to apologise for his identity being used to steal the terrigen crystals from them (His Skrull imposter during the Secret Invasion arc), but ended up helping in battle.

Queen Medusa thanks them, but tells them that if they want respect then they need to respect the work she is trying to do in running the Kree Empire now.

What she doesn't know is that there are Kree underworlders known plotting to remove them from power with a special device. This is where things start to heat up I suppose. Two major plot points begin to converge and it's going to get quite serious for the new Queen.

Besides the aforementioned plot point, we see an Inhuman space vessel venturing into The Fault (This IS a Realm of Kings tie-in, remember) in an attempt to figure out what's going on, and a revelation is made. They pick up a vocal signature on the scanner and when asked who it is, the conclusion is none other than Black Bolt! The presumed-dead King of the Inhumans and general cosmic badass powerhouse.

Is it the Black Bolt from the different timestream that we saw in Nova #31, or is it the REAL DEAL? TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT!

Nothing out of the ordinary here, standard Dan Abnett quality really. This IS a six issue mini-series so I won't hold it in a negative light that things haven't started up properly yet. This is looking good, though. I definitely recommend checking it out.


Captain America: Reborn #5 of 6.

Ater Civil War, Captain America (Who will be referred to as SteveCap) was assassinated, but he didn't die. Instead, the gun (Made by Dr. Doom) sent to freeze in space and time. Not all went as planned, however. The second shooter, Sharon Carter (Under the control of Red Skull) had a unexpected effect. The tachyon particles used in the gun reacted with her blood to unstick him in time, leaving him bouncing through reality and left to experience his past time and time again with no explanation or idea as to why.

Eventually, Sharon is captured by Doom and Skull who have captured SteveCap's body in connection with their original plan; to transplant the Red Skull into SteveCap's body. Eventually, SteveCap rises from the table and is revealed to be possessed by the Red Skull as planned.

If you want a more detailed synopsis, check either of the following links:

The Marvel Database's page on the series.

The Wikipedia page on the series.

This issue sees a couple of members from each Avengers team trying to take out the Red Skull as SteveCap watches from the period in time he is experiencing currently, which happens to be Nazi-fied New York City (Implying that the Nazi won the war and the Red Skull took over). After BuckyCap and Red Skull-in-SteveCap's-body fight in front of Abe Lincoln's statue, Red Skull severs BuckyCap's cybernetic hand and the last shot is of him about to decapitate BuckyCap with his own shield, all while SteveCap is screaming at him from inside his own body, unable to reach BuckyCap.

It's a VERY, VERY good...exciting series. The sad part is, it's ruined now. The series is SO late that all the other series in which the resurrected SteveCap was scheduled to appear in, have come out and spoiled it.

Again, this is a series I would highly suggest grabbing when it comes out in trade paperback form. Not least for Ed Brubaker's AMAZING writing. That guy is Marvel's best when he's on form, and he's on form here. He has transformed Captain America into a relevant icon and compelling character again. I salute him for it.


Dark Avengers #12.

This is and has always been one of my favourite on-goings, from the second it came out. This issue does nothing to dissuade this.

After surrendering to Molecule Man, Victoria Hand requests that he return everything back to how it was, restores the Dark Avengers and she won't tell anyone he is living here in secret.

This fails.

The surrender was a ruse and just as this angers Molecule Man, Sentry returns from the "dead", more powerful than ever and gets into a fight with him, telling him that he can now control ALL the molecules in his world (Whatever that means).He sends Molecule Man into throes of agony and forces him to do as he wishes before destroying him by exploding him on a molecular level. It's about time Sentry lived up to being as powerful as he's been hyped, and this was a good showing.

Osborn is slowly losing his grip and has been suffering side-effects as a result of Molecule Man poking around in his brain. He retreats to his chamber as Ms. Hand comes to check up on him, telling him and demanding him to go get his mental health checked out. He agrees, then goes back into his room. Upon the door closing, Osborn collapses to his knees and begs for someone to stop. We then see Loki appear rather viciously behind him, manipulating and torturing him somehow.

EVERYTHING is really starting to pick up right now and it's fucking AWESOME.

This is really making 2010 look SALIVATING for Marvel, it really does. Bendis doesn't have any stellar dialogue moments in this issue, but Deodato's art is some of the most solid in comics, and it's no exception here.

Additionally, keen-eyed obsessives will notice that the cover to this issue is a throwback to The Avengers #314, an old back issue. Props, Bendis.

There are still two Thursdays left in 2009, and I say roll on 2010.

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My massive Deadpool and Daredevil retrospectives will NOT be up until January at least. They're massive and I'll probably start out the year with them. Deadpool is my most favourite character ever and Daredevil is up there, so be sure to check those out.

Keep a look out for that and I'll catch you all soon. Before I go...

"I've successfully privatised world peace.".

BEAUTIFUL. I think trailers show too much nowadays, and the end scene should have been saved for the movie, but I'll avoid them from now on.

Thanks for reading, guys.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Looks Back: Vol. 2 (Clarity by Jimmy Eat World).

Welcome!

It's only been four days, but it feels longer. I haven't updated since Friday for two reasons:

1) I was trying to decide if I should give it a rest until the next edition of Thursday's Comics, and additionally I just wasn't sure what to review. I've got a few things planned that I didn't want to do yet, simply because they're big posts and I wanted a nice, compact post between now and Thursday.

2) Assassin's Creed 2 has been the fat, compulsive over-eating male to the cake that is my free time.

With that said, I was racking my brain trying to decide on an album to review when I finally decided on something, Clarity by Jimmy Eat World. It's an album that always tends to roll around in my listening habits during the end of the year, as well as holding a crapload of memories for me. So let me talk to you about it!


Clarity by Jimmy Eat World.

Jimmy Eat World happen to be a band that either people that know them love, or people that know them hate. Although, I've never met anyone who disliked then with any good reaso, it always seems to be that they "just don't". Regardless, they're not as dividing as some bands by virtue of the fact that they aren't really known on a major scale (At least not here).

I think the reason people dislike them is because they have a specific sound that's not easy to pin down with words. A lot of bands have, or had, adopted a similar kind of saccharine, uplifting musical aesthetic and it was received with backlash. I'm guessing this is what people can't get behind.

As of right now, J.E.W. (Not "Jew"!) have refined their sound and it definitely sounds more professionally produced and polished than their sound I'm going to be reviewing. They're still very much an amazingly capable band and one could argue that 2007's Chase This Light is their best - though, most recent - album, however, I don't think they've come quite close to topping this album in terms of its place in my heart.

Clarity has a very innocent sound to it. It's the sheer, unrefined dreamy and feathery sound that one expects from the band today. To my mind, I cannot easily recall another album that captures the spirit of just playing music for the love, as a young-ish band. Listening to this album, it really feels as though Jimmy Eat World have come of age in their later albums.

There are various lyrical themes on the album (One of the few albums where I sought out the lyrics), but to my general interpretation it seems to be a meditation of just what the title says; Clarity. Covering a broad spectrum of emotions, it sends the message that it doesn't matter what you feel or believe, so long as you believe it clearly.

This message, though stated in the lyrics (From what I personally interpret, feel free to see it another way), is most evident in the tone and sound of the music. The precise - if a little sparse - snare drum patterns that underpin each song provide a concise and steady bed for the interweaving and chimey guitars to dance over the top of it.

Songs like Lucky Denver Mint and Your New Aesthetic tend to follow the masterful pattern of having catchy and repetitive, yet memorable verses, only topped by the even more unforgetable nature of the choruses. Love or hate this band, even the most stern of critic can not deny that, if nothing else. Jimmy Eat World have mastered the memorable, sing-along chorus. There hasn't been a better band to do it since Weezer and The Beach Boys.

They have mastered it, like the two bands mentioned, in the best way possible. It's not trite or stale, it's the work of great musical craftsmen; men who are not afraid to gloss their rock-based music with the sheen of pop music and make it work. Pop is a dirty word to many, and it can indeed dirty a lot of good things. If used correctly, it unites people and becomes a language that we can all use. This is never more evident than on the epic and inspiring anthem, Believe in What You Want; to this day, one of my favourite songs of ALL time. I mean that and do not say it lightly.

Throughout this album you can expect to experience chimey guitars and echoey, understated keys, delicately wrapping a song at one moment, or exploding out of it at the next. The sound shifts from the magnificently uplifting call-and-response verses of Believe in What You Want and the pop sensibilities of Lucky Denver Mint, to the cheerfully-melancholic tones of A Sunday. The rampant, caution-to-the-wind happiness that exudes from Blister is second-to-none, but it's not in any of these areas that J.E.W. earn their greatest victories.

It's on minimal soundscape of the 12.23.95. as Jim Adkins' soft voice details regret at hurting a loved-one on Christmas, and the soaring masterpiece that is the 16 minute closer; Goodbye Sky Harbour. Sometimes there'll be nothing but a whispered vocal/backing vocal combo and wispy, echo-like guitar passages. Yet, it works like a dream.

Jimmy Eat World demonstrate a completeness and an understanding beyond almost ANY band doing the same thing, and yet they've always remained on the cusp of stardom.

Futures is probably their weakest album, yet it's still an album worth your money and time. Bleed American, Chase This Light and Static Prevails are all solid-to-amazing efforts in their own individual rights, to one degree or another. Clarity, though, has always been considered a high mark.

Overlooked upon it's release back in 1999, it was looked back on with a fondness that saw it become critically acclaimed and labelled as a masterpiece, landmark album of the '90s. Even the band themselves love this album so much that they played it in its entirity to commemorate the 10 year anniversary.

The production could be better, but I look at it like an old blanket. Sure, it has a hole in it, but would you REALLY ever want to change it?

I cannot recommend this album enough. It's truly a special piece of work.

Put it on, grab a warm drink when it's cold outside and just let yourself be taken to a place that not many albums will go. You won't be disappointed. Clarity by name, clarity by nature; there aren't many albums as clearly excellent as this.

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Coming up in the near future I plan to do a Deadpool 101, a guide to the great band known as Killing Joke and of course, my massive end of 2009 post.

Keep it fixed to this blog, ladies and gentlemen.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Reviews: Thursday's Comics (10/12/09).

Greetings, organisms!

Apologies for the late review, but what can you do? I'm here on my birthday writing a review of some comics for you shits, so deal with it. I'm joking, we're cool.

I only have a miniscule five comics to review today on account of Captain America: Reborn #5 being criminally late, as is that entire series. So, without further ado, review time!


Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #2 of 5.

With The Fault becoming an ever-increasing threat to pretty much anything that isn't inside it, Gladiator's Imperial Guard are forced to team with their long-time enemies - The Starjammers - in an attempt to find out what The Fault is and get more information on it.

Flying into The Fault together, their ship is plagued by energy draining organisms and eventually comes face to a face with an organic spaceship many...MANY times the size of their own. Upon entering it, they discover that it is basically a corpse being devoured from the inside and the creatures dwelling within it intend them to be next.

It's business as usual for Dan Abnett; an excellently paced issue that leaves me with the desired effect of wondering what the Hell is gonna happen next and wanting the next issue as soon as I'm finished. His dialogue is well balanced and he manages to give all the cosmic characters their own sense of character without it seeming muddled. I particularly like how he keeps returning to the theme of Gladiator not being best suited to Shi'ar politics, it's very good. I was overjoyed to see him become the big boss, but ultimately it's really not what he loves. As much as he loves the Shi'ar, he loves serving it; not controlling it.

He is like Captain America in the sense that he loves serving an ideal or collective for the greater good, but would never want to run the show.

I must admit that I am curious as to what is going to happen in this series, in general. I'm wondering just when The Fault is going to push everyone into dire peril and the action will pick up. After the Realm of Kings one-shot, Guardians and Nova's respective series, I'm wondering how it's all going to converge together and coalesce into a cosmic extravaganza. If it doesn't, I'll be relatively disappointed, as this definitely needs to affect everyone and involve everyone to keep up the momentum.

As it stands, everything seems to be heading in the right direction and I'm very pleased.


Deadpool #18.

I'm saving my history with Deadpool for a massive Deadpool 101 that I'm planning, so here's the story so far in a condensed form.

Deadpool wants to be a hero, so after being in somewhat of a purposeless limbo, he runs off to join the X-Men on Utopia. They reluctantly accept him, but soon live to regret this decision. Why? Because Mercury's - an inhabitant of Utopia - Father has begun a slander campaign in the media, causing everyone to believe the X-Men kidnapped her. Deadpool reckons that the best way to solve this is...? Yes, that's right; to commit murder on him...or so we thought.

After Cyclops, Surge, Domino and Colossus all show up to stop 'Pool, Wolverine realises nothing is as it seems. Upon seeing Deadpool shoot a sniper who was aiming for the Father, not the Father himself, he decides to stay out of the ensuing fight. It turns out that Deadpool's plan all along was to do this all on camera so that the public see the X-Men save the guy, re-affirming their faith against the slander. The Father - who was put up to the lies by Norman Osborn - reveals the truth to the news crews while Deadpool is helped to the Blackbird by Wolverine, ultimately being kicked off Utopia with somewhat of a reluctant "Thank you" from Cyclops.

This was a relatively fun issue. It was a definite increase in what Daniel Way had been putting out for the last five issues, that's for certain. It had a fight! Deadpool actually had a fight and forced Cyclops to admit that he DOES have amazing skills. It's a start, I guess. I'm just so sick of the fact that all he does now is act crazy, talk to the two voices in his head (LOSE THEM MARVEL, FOR SERIOUS) and get beat up while being "funny".

I have said for a long time that I want the snarky, corrosive and lethal Deadpool back. The Deadpool circa-Sins of the Past or The Circle Chase, the Deadpool circa-Joe Kelly of the '90s. Hell, even Daniel Way of the first 12 issues! I just want...Deadpool's comics to feel like Deadpool comics again. He feels like a guest star and too much of his dialogue is cut back or not written well enough. There isn't much 4th wall-breaking, there are little to NO pop culture references. This is just not good enough for Deadpool.

Good issue? Fun issue, yes. Good Deadpool issue? Not in the slightest.

*Exasperated sigh*

Give me my boy back, Marvel.


Nation X #1 of 4.

This is going to be short because this comic was abysmal.

A few kids on Utopia claim that strange things are happening, involving ghosts, in underground tunnels on the island and Magneto goes to investigate. Simon Spurrier plays on the "Is he a bad guy or isn't he?!" thing a little too much; it was old already, but now it's just annoying. Eventually they find out that the "ghosts" were none other than Magneto's old, malfunctioning sentinels from his Asteroid M days.

Magneto finds an old message from himself and it's basically him ranting on about how there's no future for mutantkind in integration, that they must rule. Magneto returns and the kids ask him what it was, he said it was a sad ghost. They ask how he got rid of it and he says: "By giving it what it wanted.". I'm pretty sure this means he is implying that his goals are accomplished by some means, but I just...don't care.

Like I said, I'll ride this entire story out because it's only four parts, but I'm NOT impressed so far.


Dark X-Men #2 of 5.

Wow! Something with the X-Men in that doesn't have more sucking potential than Dyson vacuum blueprints!

This five part mini-series follows the re-shuffled team of Norman Osborn's Dark X-Men. Daken chose to concentrate on the Dark Avengers and anyone else who joined has left by now, leaving Mystique, Dark Beast, Mimic and Weapon Omega to masquerade as Osborn's public-pleasing mutant group.

In a nutshell, Osborn sends the three of them - with Mystique acting as Jean Grey - to investigate a number of cases in which people are being put into a trance-like state and referring to themselves as X-Men (Not really, but you'll see why this is quite clever). Upon meeting one particular case, Weapon Omega - powers of mutant energy absorption - is overwhelmed by mutant energy and goes nuts for a while, Mimic too. Eventually they burn out, and the patient rises up out of the bed.

Referring to Mystique as his Mother and saying that he's trying to get home, we see that it's none other than mutant shaman and near omnipotent psionic prodigy X-Man, otherwise known as Nate Grey. Nate Grey is the son of an alternate timeline's (The same one as Dark Beast) Cyclops and Jean Grey, for those watching at home, and is one of the most powerful mutants to ever exist. He's also someone I think is FUCKING AWESOME! So, YES?! Awesome.

This issue continues that immediately.

After almost killing Dark Beast with a glance, he burns out and the body reverts to the comatose patient it was before. Understandably, the Dark X-Men are a little perturbed and go to Osborn for ways to get around this. Osborn tells them to use his entire camp of psionic/psychic child recruits, under the leadership of Jarl. Mystique tells him she needs to tap into human consciousness itself - where Nate is residing/trapped - and find out what's going on and, perhaps more sinisterly, capture Nate!

Osborn wants Nate captured so that he can put him in a machine designed to harvest mutant powers from anyone, anywhere. Naturally, Osborn thinks Nate could be most useful if he became nothing more than a battery to power this thing. Frightening indeed.

No sooner has Jarl pooled the collective psychic minds into probing human consciousness when Nate physically grabs the manifestation of the psychic energy and drains them all. He drains literally every psychic of all their energy, which is a pretty fucking immense display of power.

Mystique runs off to find Dark Beast and discovers him experimenting on the brain of a psychic he just killed. His excuse was that they needed a psychic's brain to understand what Nate was up to, and that it makes for disturbing viewing; Nate hijacked and stole the energy so that he could get up to date on EVERYTHING that has happened recently. Upon discovering the Civil War, Secret Invasion and everything regarding Dark Reign...Nate becomes pissed. The last shot is of him looking at a vision of Osborn and screaming: "What have YOU done?!"

I LOVE Nate Grey. Let me state this right now. He's badass. He combines adolescent naivity with god-like shaman-esque wisdow, it's pretty cool (And so is he, google his picture).

I am thrilled that he is playing a part in this and I hope that his inclusion in Dark Reign isn't just a bit part cameo with no consequence. As Siege is coming up, they should be wrapping up certain plot points, not introducing more side-plots. We'll see how this unfolds, I'm certainly into it.

I recommend checking it out, I really do. It's only two issues in, so get on that.


The New Avengers Annual #3.

Oh man.

Clint Barton - formerly the Avenger known as Hawkeye, now Ronin - was captured whilst trying to assassinate Norman Osborn and this follows on from that event. What Dark Avengers Annual #1 did for Noh-Varr, this does for Ronin.

The story revolves around Osborn torturing Ronin for information on the hideout in which The New Avengers have made their headquarters. Ronin refused continually as, elsewhere, The N.A. make plans to rescue him. This is met with some reluctancy given the power that the Dark Avengers possess, but they eventually do so anyway.

As they do so, coincidentally enough, Osborn has Mesmero crack Ronin's mind through psychic torture. He goes to their hideout with the Dark Avengers and discovers they had moved on, aware that Ronin would crack under enough torture. Having left the tower unguarded, The N.A. bust in and save Ronin, bringing him back to yet ANOTHER hideout now that their old one is destroyed.

After Ronin makes his apologiees to the group and a newly recovered Luke Cage, Bucky - James Buchanan Barnes, current Captain America - says that he cannot believe he let this happen, that Steve Rogers is gonna kill him.

As soon as he says that, Steve appears off-panel and says: "Well, I'm ot thrilled, but I'm just happy that you're all ok. You're right, Hawkeye, the world HAS gone to Hell..." (Nice touch, referring to Ronin as Hawkeye again. At this point, everyone has a "What the fuck?!" look on their faces, and Steve Rogers is revealed in Captain America uniform, mask-less. He continues: "...but thank God The Avengers are here to do something about it, and we are. You ready?".

SO...EPIC. I probably will buy the remaining two issues of Captain America: Reborn, but it's so far behind schedule now that I pretty much know where it leads up to now that Rogers is back as Captain America.

I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but Bendis is the man right now. He has brushed up on his dialogue writing SO much that his comics are the most exciting ones I'm reading right now. Mayhew's art on this issue is patently gorgeous, with a real retro look about it. He draws Steve Rogers in a goofy, yet heroically-retro way. With his blonde-hair flowing and finger pointed while delivering such a rousing speech, you sort of think: "Ok, he has a total Mr. Incredible chin and he looks a bit ridiculous, but damn. Epic.".

Such a good issue and now, we can roll on with Siege. Excited? I am. 2010 is going to rule is this continues in the best way.

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That's all I have for now ladies and gents! Sorry for the delay, once again, and thank you SO much for reading.

I hope you enjoy these reviews as much as I enjoy writing them. It's unexpected how much I enjoy this, actually.

Take care, people.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Blogs: Delays! Delays! Delays!

Here is the NEWS!

Unfortunately there will be NO Thursday's Comics review until tomorrow. There reason for this is that whilst X-Mas shopping with my Sister, my weekly comic purchases were hijacked by her so that she could pay for them as a birthday gift for me.

Due to my birthday not being until 11th of Dec, I am not in possession of them until that day. Thankfully it's tomorrow and I only have five comics to review anyway.

I'm very much looking forward to it and hope you'll all enjoy it, too. Thank you for reading and SORRY for the delay. We at The Mast Foundation are sorry for any inconvenience this delay may have caused.

-The Mast

The Mast Meets: Fred Van Lente.

I told you I had big things coming!

It is my esteemed pleasure and privilege to present to you, the readers of Welcome to the Mast, my very first interview. Fred Van Lente is a writer - currently at Marvel - who is responsible for such comics as the amazing Action Philosophers, The Incredible Hercules on-going and X-Men Noir. To add to these, he has penned for Fantastic Four, Deadpool, Iron Man and Spider-Man!

I met Mr. Van Lente at a comic signing held at Gosh Comics, where he made me a very happy chap by signing my Deadpool #900 (He wrote one of the best stories contained therein). Time passed and to my shock, I'm interviewing the guy for my blog!



Thanks to Mr. Van Lente for giving his time to a fan and for contributing to my blog. Here's the interview, enjoy!

The Mast: At what age did you start reading comics, what comics were you really into growing up and what exactly attracted you to the medium of comics above all else?

F.V.L: Comics were a part of my earliest reading memories. My mother tells me I taught myself to read around the age four because she got sick of me asking her to read the same comics over and over again, so I just sat there and matched words to pictures until I could figure the stories out on my own.

I think it was superheroes that attracted me more than anything else to comics when I was a kid. I liked horror, and spies, and anything that merged fantasy with the real world. I had a brief interest in sword and science/science fiction when I was in junior high, but for the most part - and particularly now that I'm an adult - I vastly prefer my imagining a bit closer to home than alien worlds or Middle Earth.

The Mast: I'm curious, as someone who writes myself, what moment caused you to think to yourself: "That's what I want to do, I want to write comics.", and how did you go about becoming a writer?

F.V.L: I knew from an early age I wanted to write. In high school I wrote prose, then I went to film school to study screenwriting. At Syracuse University, I fell in with the local comics club, which was comprised of a bunch of guys who were studying illustration and wanted to become comics artists. I started writing stuff for them, and two of them, Steve Ellis and Ryan Dunlavey, became two of the most important collaborators in my career. After school, I ended up moving out with them in New York City. So really it was the friends I was with that made me gravitate toward comics more than anything else - I had an obvious in.

The Mast: I've written quite a few short or full-length stories featuring Marvel characters; it sort of reminds me of the childhood concept of when you'd play with toys and play out stories, but on a more imaginative scale. It seems to give you a platform unlike any other. Anything you want to exist can inarguably exist on those pages. I first felt the overwhelming joy of it when I finished a Deadpool story I had been writing. My next question is: Did you ever have a particular story, short or full-length, that gave you that same sense of true joy when you finished it? Is there one or a couple that stand out above all else?

F.V.L: When I first started at Marvel, I was put on the All-Ages Marvel Adventures books, which all have to be self-contained, 22-page "done-in-ones"; and that's a great proving ground to hone your craft. They're just a good way to combine humor, pathos, and nice character bits. Some of my favorite stories from that era are The Unnatural from M.A. Spider-Man; that was about Peter Parker using his Spidey powers to excel on his high school baseball team, and his guilt about that. In M.A. Iron Man we did a story called The Bunker, about Tony's relationship about his father; I was very proud of that.

The first kids story I ever did was called King of the Monsters in M.A. Fantastic Four, about the Thing. Who, in one of his woe-is-me moods, takes over from the Mole Man in running Monster Island. I really was happy with how that turned out, and in San Diego at the Marvel booth, a mom and a four year old girl told me it was her favorite story ever, and kept asking for it to be read to her. So considering that's how I started out in comics - annoying my mother - it was a nice feeling to have come full circle.

The Mast: Obviously, in comics now, there are many kinds of characters across many different companies; multi-faceted, multi-layered characters that have seen different treatment at the hands of many different writers. Alan Moore once said that he feels his influence with Watchmen has worked to hurt the comic industry creatively, simply because now everyone tries to make their characters somewhat dark and layered. Thus forgetting the need for silly fantasy sometimes. Do you agree/disagree with this to any degree, and is that what draws you to such things as Action Philosophers and characters like Hercules? I say that due to the fact that Hercules is always ranked as someone who is remarkably enjoyable, funny and entertaining, carrying with him a slight air of ridiculousness, whilst still being a badass who can be used in serious storylines.

F.V.L: With all due respect to Mr. Moore, I think he may be overstating his influence. The history of the superhero genre is it aging along with its audience. The Silver Age heroes had slightly more plausible origins than the Golden Age heroes, and the post-Fantastic Four Marvel comics were huge on college campuses because their angst and self-deprecating humor let them appeal to an older mentality. Not to take away from Moore's genius or the genius of Watchmen, but I'd say it was a mid-1980s manifestation of an on-going historical trend rather than the event that caused the historical trend to happen in the first place.

With Hercules and such, that had more to do with me and Greg Pak thinking that was central to who the character was, rather than as any kind of political stance against the rest of the genre. That said, as a writer I do find the power/revenge fantasies of some of the more popular superhero comics kind of tiresome. That may be because I'm now nowhere near as angry as I was when I was a picked-on nerdy kid.

The Mast: I personally LOVE how everything ties into one another in comics; the whole idea of comic universes is amazing to me and it's Marvel's realistically grounded heroes that appeal to me more than DC's traditionally over-powered ones. This brings me to my next question regarding big events (Civil War, Dark Reign etc). I found it a bit odd that The Mighty Avengers were in Realm of Kings while Hercules (Also in that issue) is off doing the New Olympus thing. Do you feel that sometimes things can be too tied together that they begin to slip out of continuity a bit, or is that something that you just have to turn a blind eye to wherever possible?

F.V.L: Those kinds of things are just an unavoidable result of creative teams working at different paces than each other and, for that matter, storylines moving at completely different paces within different books.

For example; Assault on New Olympus - which encompasses five issues and four months of the Incredible Hercules title - takes place, in storytime, at best, over maybe a twenty-four hour period. That's a third of a year in publishing time! So it could have easily happened before or after The M.A. went into space.

Frankly, if creative teams were forced to coordinate more precisely with each other, you'd see a lot of people quitting comics out of frustration - it just requires individual books to twist into too many narrative pretzels.

The Mast: Continuing with the idea of events; what's your opinion of event fatigue? I personally found the prospect of Dark Reign a bit daunting so soon after Civil War/The Initiative/Secret Invasion. Is it something that can't be helped, does there always need to be an event going on, or should they be kept relatively exclusive?

F.V.L: Events will end when people stop buying them; they boost the sales of every book that tie into them. When that stops happening, you'll know we've hit event fatigue.

The Mast: Who is your absolute favourite character to write for, who haven't you written for that you would like to, and what has been your favourite story that you've worked on? Regardless of company or whatever. Personally, I thought Action Philosophers was just beyond genius. I recommended it to my cousin's boyfriend and he said his philosophy teacher is a big fan!

F.V.L: Thanks! Honestly? My favorite book tends to be the one I'm working on now. That's not always the case, unfortunaely - sometimes you accept projects that end up not working out because of personnel, or the schedule, or turn out to be not great ideas in the first place - but I've learned to really love the act of writing. Going back and looking at the stuff later, however wonderful I may find it, never quite equals what was in my head. That's just the difference between the potential and the actual. My joy lies in the creation of the thing.

The Mast: As a fan, because I assume we're all fans at the end of the day, what comic series or storyline (Again, from any series) truly blew you away and really stuck to your memory?

F.V.L: I've always thought the last issue of Morrison and Case's Doom Patrol was the best final issue of any series I'd ever read. I think it was #60.

The Mast:I personally always thought that Mr. Sinister had the potential to be part of an amazing storyline, but he never seems to be used in any great capacity since Mutant Massacre. Is there any character that you really wish would get more play from the company they're at?

F.V.L: Sure, but I'm not telling the Internet...I don't need the competition because if I think that I'm going to pitch for it pretty soon...

So...uh, I'll say, Mr. Sinister! Yeah, that's it! He's great!

The Mast: Every time I see an Adi Granov cover, I'm floored by how amazing of an artist he is. Who is your favourite artist either to work with, or as a fan? I personally wish Granov did more regular work, but it seems like it takes a long time to make a just so much as a cover as detailed as he does (I LOVED his cover for Assault on New Olympus to the point that I am printing it out and putting it on my wall soon).

F.V.L: Well, again, this is a "Don't Tell the Internet" question because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not naming them. I love them all! Yes, Adi's cover for the first two issues of New Olympus were da bomb.

The Mast: I suppose this question is inevitable, as it's regarding Disney's acquisition of Marvel. Personally, I found the sheer knee-jerk reaction of people to be astounding. Marvel have always sold things like Spider-Man plushies, bed-sheets etc. They even have a division called Marvel Kids, so it makes no sense to worry that anything'll change. What do you think of it?

F.V.L: Well, the head of Disney flew to New York and told the staff nothing was going to change, and Marvel will still be run how it was always run; and I don't see any reason not to believe him.

The Mast: For myself and everyone reading, what can we expect from the House of Van Lente in the near future? I pray it's not retirement.

F.V.L: Hell no! If I retire it will be to the cemetery.

Well, big, big announcements are coming for Hercules, which will be obvious by next month's solicits. The Awesome begins in the Spring.

Halo: Blood Line begins at the end of the month. It's been great working with those characters and the creative team at Microsoft.

My next storyline in The Amazing Spider-Man begins in the middle of December with the Sandman, and the origins of the villains featured in the mega-arc The Gauntlet, by me and a host of wonderful artists are on-going in Web of Spider-Man.

The Mast: Last, but by NO means least; I'm a Deadpool fan of around 16 years and an owner of ALL his appearances ever. WHEN are you going to write for him again?

F.V.L: I just finished proofing my next D.P. story before finishing this interview - look for it online by Christmas!

---

That's all!

I want to, again, give a massive and immense "Thank You" to Mr. Fred Van Lente; what a genuinely terrific and inspiring worker. It was truly an honour speaking to him, meeting him previously and having him take time out to do this interview with me. He didn't have to, but he did, and I appreciate that immensely.

If you're curious about his work, go check out the following:

• Action Philosophers
• The Incredible Hercules on-going
• The Amazing Spider-Man & The Incredible Hercules: Assault on New Olympus
• X-Men Noir
• ANY of the upcoming releases mentioned in this interview!

Thank you all so, so much for reading and until next time, peace!

-The Mast

The Mast Reviews: Thursday's Comics (3/12/2009, Pt. 2).

Kapow!

Welcome to a review I've waited to do for a LONG time, of a comic I've wanted for a LONG time.

Not so much the first one, but the second. Regardless, thanks for sticking with the blog and I hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed reading the comics.

Let's do this.


Dark Avengers Annual #1.

I'm pretty into ANYTHING Dark Reign right now, and as Siege approaches, I'm grabbing up anything that may be necessary.

Dark Avengers Annual #1 tells the tale of Noh-Varr's desertion. Noh-Varr was the Dark Avengers' Captain Marvel to coincide with his former identity as Marvel Boy. Upon realising that they were not the true roster of The Avengers, he fled, angry at Norman Osborn for having manipulated him. This occured back in Dark Avengers #6 and he hasn't been seen since.

This issue fills us in on what he has been up to during and after Utopia, right up until now. It doesn't seem to be going anywhere, though it's a nice issue...and then the last page happens.

Noh-Varr has spent his absense trying to contact his Kree homeworld in an attempt to find out his purpose on Earth. Frustrated by the lack of response, he takes a walk and begins monologuing etc. He has a chat with a girl at N.Y.U. one day while he is walking around, asking her about a fight she just had with her boyfriend. Before they can finish talking, Sentry shows up and tells Noh-Varr that Osborn requests his presense.

A fight breaks out in which Sentry naturally holds back, but the young Noh-Varr doesn't shy away. It's at this point that Bendis makes his goals for Noh-Varr much clearer; he is entering a stage in his life not unlike Spider-Man. Noh-Varr had been warned before that if he didn't grow up, bad things would happen and he seems to be heeding those words in this issue.

During the fight, the girl Noh-Varr was speaking to manages to reach into one of the bags he dropped. She pulls out a blaster and nails Sentry with it (Bit of a ridiculous excuse to push the plot along, but whatever). Fed up, Sentry flies off while Noh-Varr heads back to his own place where he finally receives contact from the Kree Empire. They inform him that his new purpose is to be protector of Earth and to understand humanity by studying under its great, most learned people.

He receives a more advanced version of Mar-Vell's nega bands (Former Captain Marvel) and transforms into a suited protector of Earth, complete with new uniform. Despite this uniform making him look like an idiot, it's nice to have another power player in this saga.

The Dark Avengers arrive at the scene of the fight and express disappointment of having lost Noh-Varr, who reappears in an alleyway not far from where they are. He meets the MacGuffin N.Y.U. girl again and tells her not to worry; they cannot trace him now that he is "changed". He thanks her for her help and she says that he should return sometime for companionship. This didn't need to be in the comic, it was pointless and a bit dumb; c'est la vie.

The next shot is of Noh-Varr being watched through goggles in a first-person view as he disappears. A voice says something about him being different or more powerful than intel suggested. This is when the big reveal happens, so SPOILER ALERT IF YOU WISH TO NOT READ THIS.

We see Captain America and a blond guy standing atop a roof. Captain America refers to the blonde guy as STEVE. This is Steve Rogers, the original Captain America...and he's NOT in uniform; Bucky is...still. Despite the fact that I am very puzzled by Marvel's decision to bring Steve Rogers back from the dead before Captain America: Reborn is finished, I am THRILLED at the hint that Bucky will remain as Captain America; at least I hope he will. All signs suggest that, in or after Siege, Steve will become Cap again and Bucky will be out on his ear. I really hope they just give Steve a place at S.H.I.E.L.D. and let Bucky stay as Cap though. It's time for a change, it really is.

It's been revealed in solicits - ones I accidentally read because forum idiots don't know how to use spoiler tags - that Steve DOES become Cap at some point during Siege, but whether he remains as Cap or not will have to be seen.

It's an ok issue; pretty middle-of-the-park Bendis fare. Not his best work, but again, I suppose it does what it needs to. I really do feel Dark Reign would have sucked and Siege wouldn't be as awaited as it is if he were not writing. This all depends on your perspective of Dark Reign ANYWAY. If you think it sucks then feel free to post a comment telling me why. It's all relative.

This brings me...pleasurably...to my final review of the weekend:


Siege: The Cabal.

Here it is! The first part of the Siege arc. The prologue that is Siege: The Cabal (Are you finding yourself asking what The Cabal is? See my Dark Reign Retrospective).

Man, oh man. When an issue opens with Osborn talking to someone who is convincing him to kick the Asgardians off Earth now that he's in power, and it's NOT Loki, you know something is off. When you see that it's him talking to himself, whilst looking at the Green Goblin mask...well, you start thinking: "Bendis may pull this shit off.".

The next scene does NO harm to the hype. Osborn gathers what's left of The Cabal and The Hood insists they press on with business instead of waiting for an apparantly late guest; this guest is Dr. Doom. Immediately he seethes that Osborn has bothered him again, and asks who the fiend is at the table. Already they're at each others' throats, it's so epic; you can just sense such a meltdown. Osborn tells him that it's Taskmaster (Deadpool villains represent!), a man in charge of one of his H.A.M.M.E.R. training camps, and that he is to replace Namor and Emma Frost due to their betrayals.

Doom snaps back and accuses Osborn of removing people that simply won't bend to his wishes, and replacing them with those that will. As soon as he said that, I was ready for shit to go down; Bendis is mouth-wateringly on-point with his dialogue here. After Doom accuses Osborn of holding them close just to pick them off, he says he is doing the opposite. While Osborn speaks his piece he reminds Doom that he helped him get Latveria back, and now wishes to do the same for Loki (Also attending, a member of The Cabal). He wishes to overthrow Asgard for Loki so that it can be removed from Earth. Feeling the hype yet, folks?

Doom says, in no uncertain terms, that he wants Namor brought to him alive and that Osborn must cease his pursuit of him (He and Namor made a deal in Dark Reign: The Cabal), to which Osborn denies. Doom says that he wasn't asking, he was telling. Osborn threatens Doom and Doom does likewise, telling him: "Bring Namor to me and I WON'T kill you.". At this point Osborn says to "bring him in", but it's not Namor, it's a silhouetted figure. He offers Doom once last chance, who says that he'd rather die than give in. Osborn gives the order to kill Doom and he is promptly blasted through a wall. Upon returning fire, he is blasted again by this mystery assailant before Osborn orders him to stop.

During this skirmish, Loki tells The Hood to get out of the building and that it's not his time yet; The Hood obliges and says that he's only doing so because Loki asked. I was wondering when they'd touch on the Loki/The Hood dynamic. A few issues ago in The New Avengers, Loki gives The Hood - a.k.a. Parker Robbins - some Asgardian runes in an attempt to help him get away from Dormammu (The evil entity who powered him/used him as an avatar before). At least that's what it seemed to be. I don't think it has been explained just what consequences this has had yet, but I'm betting it's going to be revealed here.

Anyway, on close examination of the robotic corpse it's revealed that it was not Doom, but a Doombot sent in his stead. The bot explodes and sheds millions of mechanical bugs that begin trying to wipe out the tower. Osborn's shields (He is in his Iron Patriot armour by the way) begin to fail as the tower is evacuated, but Sentry destroys the Doombot completely, rendering the bugs useless. Grabbing a mic-fitted bug off the floor, Osborn states that he knows Doom can hear him, scalding him for making such an arrogant and dumb mistake. He tells Doom that he has just declared war on a country many times the size of his, and that he'll regret it.

Ever the assured and captivating tyrant, Doom asks Osborn how many unwinnable wars he thinks he can win at once. In what was such a great piece of dialogue, Doom follows up and ends with: "You learned a lesson today; you do not lay hands on Victor von Doom. Next time you do I will not be so forgiving, to you OR your son.".

"...or your son."?! Whoa. If that's what I think it means, whoa.

In the next scene Osborn is seen trying to get permission to invade Asgard from the President, but he is denied. Failing this he asks Loki for permission, only to be countered with a proposition that sets Siege up in even more of an awaited, anticipated manner than before:

Loki: The superhuman civil war; do you know how it started?
Osborn: The registration bill passed through congress, lines were drawn...
Loki: No. No, there was an incident; an inciting incident. It could have happened anywhere to anyone, but it happened at a school. Children died, THEN lines were drawn.
Osborn: So, we need an incident. An Asgardian incident...
Loki: ...and THAT could be arranged.

All I'm going to say is that if you're even remotely interested in what I've been posting lately regarding Dark Reign...then you have ONE MONTH to catch up before what could be Marvel's best event in a long, long, LONG time.

If they fuck Siege up, it will be a monumental failure. If they succeed? Well, guess.

---

Seriously, get on that shit.

The next post should be after Monday sometime; definitely not until Monday at the earliest. Though I am considering writing out a massive Dark Reign checklist for people who want to acquire all the necessary reading material in time for Siege, it won't be a review.

Again, much love to you all for following my blog and thank you for reading about this passion of mine.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Reviews: Thursday's Comics (3/12/2009, Pt. 1).

Woop!

I bought a grand total of eight comics today. It's highly likely that I will choose to finish the reviews tomorrow, but if I don't then pay no attention to ANYTHING I've just said. I may indeed finish it all tonight, though.

The Mast's Post-Post Writing Note: I did finish ALL eight reviews, but such is my excitement about the final two that I decided to post them tomorrow. If you're gonna read either of these, I'd rather it be that one. I don't want my reviews of those two particular issues getting lost in the mix. This post is awesome too, though. So, ya know, read on.

Without further ado, prepare for me to take your face off...or just be ready to read a lot. Your choice. Personally? I'd go with the face thing, that way you will be relieved if the most unpleasant thing you have to endure is lots of reading. Who wants their face taken off? Nobody...but I'm doing it anyway.


Haunt #3.

Let's take a moment to appreciate how gruesomely attractive that cover is and thank Todd McFarlane for such visual delicacies.

Haunt is three issues in now, so let me give you the very quick low-down here. Kurt Kilgore is a mercenary who is sent on a mission to capture a man named Dr. Shillinger and his notes; simple, right? EEEH! Wrong, McFly! Upon discovering how sinister and downright sick this guy is, Mr. I-Kill-for-Money-with-No-Questions-Asked suddenly has an attack of the moral flu. He kills the doctor and makes off with the notes, freeing and rescuing all the disfigured test subjects that he finds.

As he is leaving, he witnesses someone else leaving with the notes. Kurt is drugged and subsequently kidnapped soon after. Growing increasingly angry by the loss of the notes, and Kurt's betrayal, he is beaten severely while interrogated. This fails, Kurt doesn't talk and he is killed. At his funeral, his ghost appears to his brother, Daniel Kilgore; Daniel is a gritty, cynical priest with nothing left in his life. He tells his rather distraught and shocked brother to go to his grieving, still-living girlfriend's house. Daniel is understandably reluctant but eventually goes ahead with what Kurt asks.

He spends the night on the couch after consoling Amanda (Kurt's girlfriend) and is awoken by Kurt's ghost. Kurt tells Daniel that he must leave with Amanda, urgently. Before they can do so, two agents burst in and fire at Daniel. Kurt leaps in front of the bullets and, in bonding with Daniel's body, absorbs the bullets. They first stand together as Haunt and swiftly decapitate the two agents in quite a brutal first display.

Throughout this issue and up through issue #2 we discover more about the relationship of the brothers and Haunt's abilities. Let me interject here and pay special mention to the frankly astounding artwork. It truly is an amazing, nasty slice of '90s-esque McFarlane on top of Ryan Ottley's pencilling.

Haunt dispatches a few more agents and eventually fights what appears to be their first major villain, an assassin named Cobra. Cobra proves capable of holding his own, but only because Daniel and Kurt find it hard to work as two minds in one body. Kurt orders Daniel to go limp (Like most male priests; oh snap, religious satire) and not fight his control. Cobra escapes unharmed after the fight. Kurt tells Daniel to follow him to a house nearby, and the bewildered Daniel follows along. This house, occupied in disguise by two unwitting stoners, is a secret entrance to Kurt's ex-agency. As Daniel enters, he finds guns pointed at him, as the agents cannot see Kurt's ghost accompanying him.

Haunt #3 starts here. Kurt tells Dan not to make any sudden moves, which he ignores, swiftly receiving a tranq dart in the head for his trouble. While locked up with two of the lesser mutated survivors from Shillinger's complex, a women - strangely resembling Tia Dalma from the Pirates of the Caribbean series - confronts them both. Yes, both. She can see Kurt's ghost and informs Dan that they are tied together by being relatives by blood, preventing Kurt from passing on. She refers to them as Haunt for the first time and that's pretty much all we get on the subject.

It's a pretty slow issue (Bound to happen sooner or later and I'd rather it happen just after an exciting start), but it picks up again with the action when the guy who killed Kurt somehow appears in their cell. Kurt tries to wake Dan, but he is too late as Dan is stabbed with a sedative. They transform into Haunt and a fight ensues. It's a fairly brutal fight, as to be expected, but there's something additionally smart about it.

During the fight, the would-be assassin scores a massive knife wound to Haunt, still trying to fight off the sedative). It's a small, but important detail that really grounds the character and puts across the point that these two are very, very new to this. As terrifyingly intimidating as Haunt looks, and is, Kirkman is not prepared to let him swagger invincibly about, decapitating all in his path. At least not all the time. He CAN be harmed and it instils a sense of curiosity as to whether or not he's going to make it out of ANY fight unscathed.

Haunt eventually overpowers the man, cutting off his arm and, in a SWEEEEEET move, impaling his head. He does this by curb-stomping the guy with his morphable sharp tendrils a-la Carnage. It really was an "Oooh!" moment. So delicious. People have said it's excessively violent, this comic, but it needs to be. I am primarily a Marvel head, but think of it like movies. You can conceivably make mainstream horror, but Takeshi Miike will always have the edge because he's independent and has a flair for violence.

The issue continues with Dan being interrogated by Kurt's former agency. Previously they did not accept his answers and even in light of seeing Haunt, Beth (One of the agency members) is still skeptical. She says she needs proof that Kurt is really there, she needs to be told something that only Kurt knows. Whispering in Dan's ear, Kurt advises him to say the words "Autumn Leaves". Upon saying this, Beth leaves the room in tears, revealing that she finally believes Dan. It's at this point that Dan finally breaks down.

Dan angrily accuses Kurt of having slept with Beth. Why? In a rather cheerless and depressing twist, it is revealed that Dan and Amanda were together before she left him for his brother. Even despite this, Kurt cheated on her with Beth. Dan is distraught that he went through what he did, even accepting it because he thought they were happy, only for Kurt to disrespect the woman he gave up to him by cheating on her. It really is a madly evocative scene. I was surprised at how much I felt for this guy having known him for three issues. It really did justify what was becoming the rather cliche grizzled-and-jaded-man-of-the-cloth thing.

The issue ends with a woman, apparantly a double-agent, entering the hidden base by request of the agency. She's on the phone to a rather large, intimidating man who has ties to Cobra and seems to be the big boss of whoever the bad guys are. She assures him that her identity is secure and he suggests she better be right.

I REALLY wish this could have been a shorter review, but again, whenever I dip into a series that I've not reviewed yet, I have to give a retrospective or a run-down on it. Forgive me for that, but hey, it was for your benefit.

I am typically a Marvel head, but I had heard of this upcoming series from a friend. I was reminded of it by Andrew - a friend at Gosh! Comics (The ONLY place in London to get new comics) - while in there picking up my weekly subscriptions some time ago. I figured that it was the first issue so where would the harm be in trying?

I really, really enjoy this series so far. It's SO cliche, but I get the feeling it's stepping away from that a bit. Kirkman is a talented writer and McFarlane is a legend with a taste for the profane and nasty; there's no reason why this cannot develop into a must-read series. The art, again, is absolutely gorgeous. Some have said Ottley is better than he shows on this comic; I'd agree, but he's still doing some stellar work.

Pick up the trade paperback if you're interested. I doubt it'll be until there are five or six issues out. Keep your eyes open or keep checking back here. Leave me a comment if you're interested and I'll keep you updated (You CAN feel free to leave comments by the way, guys! It's what they're there for).

I look forward to the next issue. It'll be entering a crossroads soon; let's hope it goes the right way.


Uncanny X-Men #518.

I'm not too sure if this title came out early or if #517 came out late; I'm inclined to think the latter. Regardless, this continues on with the Nation X storyline. I didn't forsee much happening in this issue, considering that the actual Nation X five-parter begins next week, but this is still quite a weak issue.

Quite literally all that happens is that Cyclops psychically goes into Emma Frost's mind to try freeing her from The Void (A dark entity that formerly/possibly currently possessed/possesses Sentry). She has a tiny sliver of The Void inside her due to having gone into Sentry's mind to help him before. Fearing what it may mean if it gains control, she stays in her diamond form to combat this.

Cyclops, using Professor X as a psychic link, goes inside her mind and is confronted with many mental sides to Emma Frost's persona. Eventually, Emma wakes up in her normal form and appears to be cured. She informs us, however, that The Void stopped pursuing her and has now transferred to Cyclops; it wanted him all along.

I am so sorry, but I really am starting to not give a fuck. If this Nation X story is going to be Cyclops' version of  The Dark Phoenix saga then, quite honestly, I'm out. I had enough of that when it happened; it doesn't need to be revisited. Truly.

A sub-plot is emerging also; Beast is still bitter about being tortured while Cyclops waited for the right time to rescue him. Not to mention that Magneto being on the island/Utopia is not sitting well with him either. The preview art for #519 has Beast carrying a bag, so presumably he's leaving. Oh, and the island is in dire straits as there seems to be too many people and too much weight for it to keep afloat.

Again, I'm sorry, but *YAWN*. I only started reading this comic because it seemed to tie into Dark Reign (See the part regarding Utopia in my Dark Reign retrospective). Once this is all over, I'm out. That's if I'm not done before then.

Unless this gets better or Deadpool makes an appearance, I shan't be buying anymore. I'll give it until Nation X #2 to decide.


Nova #32.

This is a Realm of Kings tie-in. Please read previous Realm of Kings reviews to keep-up.

After doing a patrol near the planet Shard - perilously close to falling into The Fault - Nova met up with Darkhawk. Despite being a fugitive for being accused of murdering former Shi'ar Empress Lilandra, Nova decides he is innocent (He is, so that works out nicely) and follows him to reconcile. Before they can do so, they are sucked into The Fault.

Nova and Darkhawk spend their time in what appears to be ancient Egypt. Confronted by the god-like cosmic despot - Sphinx - Nova is informed that he was selected because he is a fearsome warrior and that a battle against the Djinns will occur momentarily. Confused, Nova asks what he means, but is interrupted by gigantic models of deities made from sand. As Sphinx fights them, Nova is hesitant and Sphinx leaves, disappointed.

As Darkhawk and Nova wander the desert, they discover Reed Richards. Reed reveals he too has been abducted by Sphinx, but from MANY years prior to 2010. This past version of Reed Richards attempts to share information with Nova to figure out what's going on. Nova and Darkhawk try to fly off and escape, but Nova smacks into some kind of invisible wall whilst Darkhawk continues. His path eventually blocked by more sand monsters. Awakening at dawn, Nova is again met with Reed Richards who begs him to rest, but Nova insists he leave to find Darkhawk and discover what the stirring commotion is outside.

Someone emerges from the distance, at first thought to be Darkhawk, but revealed as Black Bolt! Naturally, since he is currently dead, Nova deduces that this is another past version of Black Bolt, akin to Reed Richards. In his arms he carries a mummified figure, but before Nova can help, a gigantic (And I do mean gigantic; amazing artistic moment) lizard creature emerges from the ground. Nova swiftly dispatches it and heads to the mummified body. Unwrapping it, he discovers that it's none other than Namorita, the cousin of Prince Namor who dies in the events that caused the Civil War.

The issue ends here and it left me with one lingering thought; damn you Dan Abnett.

I swear this guy is making me spend more money. Everything he touches turns to cosmic gold this year. War of Kings, Guardians (From what I've read), the Realm of Kings one-shot, both Realm of Kings mini-series' and Nova. I love Nova, but I've only been sporadically keeping up with his latest series due to all the other stuff I buy. Now I have to add the trade paperbacks to my wish-list this Christmas.

I'm assuming Namorita isn't the one that is currently dead, but a past version like Reed and Black Bolt. Even still, it's a mighty cliff-hanger and I'm very curious how all of these on-goings start tying into Realm of Kings. I hope it's somewhat significant and not something I could have easily gone without buying, but we'll see. Regardless, these issues are not just good tie-ins, they're legitimately solid comics. Impactful tie-ins or not, I really don't feel bad about purchasing these.

The art is very good, not the best, but good, with moments of outstanding brilliance. The dialogue is a right balance of personal characterisation and above all else, Abnett knows how to get shit done. Whether it's one comic or five, he never makes you feel like nothing has been achieved in an issue (Hey, Daniel Way. Sup?).

This man knows how to write cosmic and political action fantasy. That's for damn sure.

Dan Abnett, I salute you sir.


Thor #604.

As this is currently one of the series' I'm enjoying most leading up to Siege, I was very much looking forward to this issue.

After ripping out Queen/Goddess Kelda's heart in the previous issue, Doom has grown more and more attached to the idea of cutting up Asgardians in pursuit of eternal life. Bill's death at the hands of Loki's warriors spurred the other Asgardians into action. Well, not so much action as it was a gathering to say "We've had quite enough of this, thank you.".The Asgardians finally decide, in this issue, that war is the answer. They agree to declare war on Doom and Loki, but are indecisive as to whether or not to include Thor, due to his exile from Asgard.

Loki is brought (Brought or comes of his own accord, not sure) before the Asgardians, with King Balder telling him in no uncertain terms that his punishment will be death. Loki begins lying through his teeth, claiming to not have known what Doom was planning and asks for forgiveness. These efforts are rebuffed, but they are unable to kill Loki without trial, due to him being an adopted son of Odin.

Trying to summon Thor and failing leads to some of the Asgardians feeling as if he has disrespected them, whilst others surmise that he simply isn't receiving the message. Elsewhere, an injured Donald Blake is on the phone to Jane Foster who is pleading to him to reconsider any rash actions he may take. She reminds him that he is not Thor, just his mortal host and that he can be killed. Blake reassures her that he has an idea, and she does the same.

This is where things get rrrather exciting. Blake contacts Reed Richards and asks for his findings after studying parts of the altered Doombot that attacked them in the last issue. Richards says that he cannot directly trace it due to the genius with which the tracks were covered, but only a shortlist of people would be capable. Can you tell where this is going? Oh, so exciting.

The Asgardians arrive at Castle Doom and request that Doom step down and turn over whatever remains he has of their Asgardian bretheren. Doom cockily (God, I love Dr. Doom) dismisses the first request, but sarcastically suggests he can help with the latter. At this moment, the previously vivisected Endrik comes froth, brimming with horrifying cybernetic implants and hailing Doom as his new master. Many other altered Asgardians also pour forth from the castle, and the Asgardians reluctantly engage them in battle.

Everything is looking remarkably bleak until a voice from above Doom says: "A friend of mine was struck by machines of destruction. Its maker managed to conceal - from all genius - whose hand wrought them. Who but Doom could have achieved such a task? He may be one of the most learned mortals of Midgard; yet today he has a hard lesson to learn.".

As the last line is said, Doom casts his glance upward and sees Thor, backed by the night sky filled with lightning, about to strike down on him with Mjolnir.

Thor is not as powerful as he once was, but he's still one of the most powerful beings in existence. This must mean that Dr. Doom has a mighty trick up his sleeve - ever the sly genius - with which to combat a god.

This was the first issue written by Kieran Gillen, and I have to say that I see no decline in quality. He still needs to get to grips with Thor's archaic dialogue, but besides that he seems very competent at writing all players involved.

Do I really have another title to add to my subscription?


Deadpool Team-Up #898.

Looking forward to an issue of Deadpool, or an issue he's in, is a rare thing for me nowadays.

I will always buy them, but ever since issue #13 of his main series, I've been madly disappointed in it. I love Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, as you can read in a previous post, but it's not ideal Deadpool. Fred van Lente's take on Deadpool in Deadpool #900 (A mock number, obviously) was suitably ballsy considering he didn't speak for most of it (Van Lente pulled it off, could you? Yeah, exactly). He also produced a really enjoyable slice of Deadpool comedy in Deadpool Team-Up #899 - the third Deadpool series that's following on and counting down from #900 - which was quite funny.

Deadpool Team-Up is a series that does what it says on the cover. It's not in continuity, so I doubt it's canon, but we will see Deadpool team up with a different guest star or guest stars each month.

Issue #898 had me way more excited than I expected. Why? Because Mike Benson was writing it. Mike Benson would be a candidate to write Deadpool's main series; he was my top candidate until recently (See X-Force Annual review further down). Not only did he write an overlooked gem of a five-parter (Deadpool: Suicide Kings), but he also wrote a story in Deadpool #900. It was my favourite story out of the book, simply because it was dark. Real dark. It captured the troubled side of Deadpool that nobody had captured since Joe Kelly's '90s run.

Enter Deadpool #898, written by Mike Benson.

I can't really say much about this story. A mob boss named Pablo Espinosa has ordered that the head of a dude he dislikes be brought to him and we see the head being brought to him at the beginning. A flashback occurs and the story begins. It opens with Deadpool digging for the head while singing Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC; I knew this issue would be, at least, good when I saw this.

He is knocked unconscious by two large men, later revealed as the tech-savvy Zapata Brothers. When he confronts them at a bar, asking why they took the head, they apologise profusely and say they didn't know it was him. It turns out that they are huge fans of Deadpool and decide to aid him in getting the money for the head.

We return to the present and The Zapata Brothers are presenting the head to Espinosa. He refuses to pay them, telling them to leave the coffin - they brought the whole body as an extra - and walk away with their lives. Outside, they ask what's taking "him" so long. At that moment we cut inside to find Deadpool in the coffin. He jumps out, decapitates one man and kills the rest.

The issue ends with him and The Zapata Brothers playing cards as they tell him about another million dollar bounty that needs collecting. Deadpool says that this could be the start of a beautiful friendship and the issue ends.

All in all, it was fun; a fun and enjoyable issue. It's still not good enough for Deadpool; he's still being used as a comedy vehicle, but it was nice. I am pleased that I got to see him decapitate someone and he even roundhouse kicks some guy in front of a train after promising not to kill him. It's not the ideal level of lethality I'd like to see Deadpool display, but I'll take what I can get.

It's just very sad when the best Deadpool writers are the ones NOT working on his main series.


X-Force Annual #1.

I am not actually going to be reviewing this comic as such; I do not read X-Force currently.

The only reason I bought this was because it has a Deadpool mini-story entitled Un-Deadpool. Robert Kirkman (Haunt, Marvel Zombies) wrote the issue, and I was quite excited to see another person take a crack at my boy. I was surprised to see regular X-Force writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost take a back seat, because they were the ones writing the mini-story.

I really went into this expecting nothing. Nothing at all.

What I got was the most enjoyable, grin-inducing slice of Deadpool I had read since the early 2000s. These guys GET Deadpool. For one thing, they didn't use the RIDICULOUS plot-point of him having two independent voices in his head (Drop it, Marvel. It doesn't work. I know you're trying, but stop that). They made him lethal, they made him bad ass and they made him corrosively hilarious! Not as corrosive or snarky as The Circle Chase or early X-Force-era Deadpool, but amazing nonetheless.

I realised that this is why I hate the two-voices-in-the-head thing; it's like when someone is having a really entertaining conversation with you and someone keeps chiming in. They did away with that in this story and it was better for it.

Deadpool is on Utopia and we first hear him speaking from an outside view. After zooming in, Deadpool is seen playing with two Fantastic Four action figures with himself as the hero. It's just so typical of Deadpool; I cannot explain how well these guys get Deadpool's psyche. The very fact that even in make-believe, he's the main hero and providing commentary on the cliches of heroes is just Wade Wilson to a T. When speaking as the Sue Storm-Richards action figure, he says: "Why would you save me; a flexible gymnast-slash-flight attendant, but still only human woman?". That kind of self-aware commentary on cliche is just...it warmed my heart to see Deadpool get that back.

He hears screaming outside, so he pokes his head out the door and says something like: "Was that a happy scream, or an 'Oh God! Please help me!' scream? Because I'd like to be involved either way...". It's this kind of Deadpool writing that reminds me of years passed; I used to laugh my head off on the bus ride home whilst reading Joe Kelly's comics. The only other comic that really came close to being as funny, unexpectedly, was Van Lente's EXCELLENT run on The Incredible Hercules.

The story is entertaining enough; The Acolytes attacked the girl, despite being undead - though not zombies - and say they're there to kill Magneto. Deadpool agrees to "go get that bastard" and is informed by Loa - the girl he saved - that he's joined the X-Men. This causes Deadpool to call Cyclops' cell phone during this massive attack (I'm guessing the Predator X attack, though it's never stated) and asks him if it's true.

A fight breaks out between The Acolytes and Deadpool, with Deadpool kicking a majority of ass. It was SO cool to finally see Deadpool have a fight in which he wasn't the punching bag; he was one of the most feared assassins and mercs in Marvel, then he slowly became a mere annoyance. He actually slices an arm off, graphically. SO good.

He runs off, leaving the girl to The Acolytes only to return armed to the teeth. The sheer amount of excessive weaponry he has is another Deadpool trait that Kyle and Yost seem to use to full effect. He utters the line: "To me, my guns!" and another fight breaks out. Obviously he does get beat up on, but that wouldn't be a Deadpool fight if he didn't. I'm just happy he paraphrased Surfer. Big fanboy moment for me.

Eventually he uses Loa's phasing ability to re-kill The Acolytes due to promising Cyclops HE wouldn't kill. Naturally, he blames it all on her and the story ends.

AMAZING.

I am both happy and sad in equal measure. Happy because there are writers capable of writing Deadpool right, sad because the odds of these guys writing Deadpool on a continual basis is slim to none. I just realised that they also wrote Deadpool when they did Messiah War in the current X-Force comics. He was awesome in that, too. I wonder why I didn't remember that right away.

Hmm. I haven't read the main story yet, but I don't even know if I will. I bought it for Deadpool and it was more than I hoped for. If you're a Deadpool fan as frustrated with his current treatment as I am, this comic is for YOU.

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Thank you again for reading my blog; I truly appreciate it. I know it's a lot to take in at once, especially if you're not into comics, but I thank you for sticking with me and supporting the blog.

By the way, feel free to comment on these posts, that's what the comment links are for!

Until tomorrow, peace.

-The Mast