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Age of Ultron #7 Review

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May 162013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Age of Ultron

Issue #7

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Bryan Peterson & Carlos Pacheco

Published: May 2013

When I first read Age of Ultron 7 and saw the aftermath of Wolverine traveling back in time and killing Hank Pym, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t realized what a terrible, terrible plan it was. I trusted Wolverine, and then after he and Sue wind up in an alternate future with a bizarro team of Avengers and an all-powerful Tony Stark, I realized how badly I had misplaced that trust.

Or had I?

Killing Henry Pym to prevent him from creating Ultron was never meant to be a good idea. In fact, that’s why everyone shot it down, leaving Wolverine to go rogue and do it himself. It’s not that I underestimated how terrible the plan was, but I had underestimated how desperate Wolverine and the group was. When you consider it that way, it really puts things into perspective. Wolverine didn’t think the plan of defeating Ultron in the future had any chance of succeeding, so he took it upon himself to do the only thing that was left to do. And for what it’s worth, he was absolutely right about the future plan.

If you were to read a good chunk of my Marvel reviews, you would notice a pattern: I don’t like when things are stirred up just for the sake of it. I hate seeing a bunch of weird alternate Marvel heroes that are part of some “wouldn’t it be crazy if” scenario. Fortunately, that’s not happening here. Sure, we have The Defenders, which is this alternative future’s version of The Avengers, but they didn’t just happen for laughs. They’re an integral part of the story, a sign that things have gone terribly wrong. Now that they’re existence is justified in my eyes, I can’t wait to see more of them and learn more about “Uncle Tony.”

Uncanny Avengers #7 Review

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May 122013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Uncanny Avengers

Issue #7

Written by Rick Remender, Art by Daniel Acuna

Published: June 2013

Rick Remender’s new Avengers title has been one of my favorite books in a long time, and though things are quite as exciting now that Red Skull isn’t inciting riots, Remender’s writing makes even the most mundane situations entertaining. The Avengers are picking up the pieces after what the Red Skull did and trying reassure the world that mutants aren’t all bloodthirsty killers. It’s a road we’ve been down several times with the X-Men, and while it may repetitive, it feels organic and natural. People can be extremely ignorant, even when the truth has slapped them in the face over and over again, and that’s what we’re witnessing here. People are hating and fearing what they think they don’t understand.

It feels like Uncanny Avengers is putting a lot of stock into Alex Summers and because of that Remender is really giving the character all he’s got. I love it. It’s hard not to think of Alex as Scott’s baby brother, but Havok is really portrayed as not only a powerful and wise man, but a leader. There’s a particular scene where he gives an order to Captain America, something that doesn’t happen often, and it really changes how the character is viewed.

The issue isn’t completely devoid of action. The Grim Reaper shows up at the end to interrupt a press conference and we get plenty of excitement out of that. It all culminates in a pretty shocking moment that’s just going to dig the Avengers into a deeper P.R. hole, and while that may not sound very entertaining, Remender knows what he’s doing. The Uncanny Avengers couldn’t be nonstop, jaw-dropping action. It had to slow down at one point, and I’m very happy to report that while the excitement has waned the entertainment hasn’t.

Incredible Hulks #620 Review

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May 122013
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulks

Issue #620

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Paul Pelletier

Published: January 2011

The power of love saving the day is a pretty tired cliché. So how is it that The Incredible Hulks #620 is actually good despite employing that cliché? Because it applies to the Hulk, and nobody in the Marvel Universe is deserving of a little bit of love more than this guy.

This issue features a showdown we’ve been waiting to see for a while – the Hulk versus his own abusive father. Since Brian Banner never had any superpowers, you’d think that this would end with a quick punch and a splat. Not so here – Brian is fueled by the Hulk’s hatred for him, which is as boundless as the Hulk’s own rage. This leads to the Hulk getting a rare beatdown of his own.

Fortunately, not all is lost. Jarella steps up to give us a moment of awesome as she invokes her love for the Hulk against Brian. This is the part that would normally be a bit cheesy, but in this situation it works. Jarella is joined by Bruce Banner’s mother, his old allies, and the entire Hulk family. This turns the once-formidable Brian Banner into something that the Hulk can simply blow away. The reason this works is because we’ve been through half a century of the Hulk being tortured, hunted, and hounded. He’s always wanted to be left alone, and whenever he gets a friend it always ends in tragedy. However, he’s also accumulated quite a few allies and affected many lives in his time as the Hulk. This is him finally getting a chance to see that he’s not alone and that he is in fact well-loved by many. The scene could have been eye-rolling, but instead it’s a bit of a tear-jerker.

Our backup story deals with Korg and his relationship to the Hulk. The art in the backup is only so-so and the story itself is a bit of filler, but at least it provides some insight as to why Korg is with the Hulks and why the rest of the Warbound are not.

Overall, this issue is another top-notch story that wraps up the Hulks’ involvement with the Chaos War storyline (except in the Chaos War finale itself, where the Hulks play a role in the story’s resolution). The writing is grandiose when it needs to be and clever when it needs to be – it’s especially amusing to see the reaction of Bruce’s mother to his two former wives. She dislikes Betty, who is the red She-Hulk here, but is quite fond of Jarella. Too bad for her that Jarella is the one who will be returning to the land of the dead along with the Chaos King’s minions.

The art, as always is excellent. An extra kudos goes to Paul Pelletier this time around as he manages to render the monstrous version of Brian Banner very much as he appeared in the Hulk’s dreamscape way back in The Incredible Hulk #377, giving a long-term sense of continuity to the story that doesn’t make it inaccessible to younger fans.

As a whole, this story is a good example of how to do an event tie-in properly. While the final scene of the Hulks’ battle against the Chaos King takes place over in the Chaos War miniseries, you can read this book and get a very good feel for what’s going on without having to go out and buy another book as a road map. It’s also not just a cheap tie-in – the appearance of Bruce Banner’s parents make it significantly relevant to the book’s main character, which is something that a lot of event tie-ins lack. The bottom line is that these tie-in issues are done well and are must-haves for Hulk fans, even if you aren’t following the Chaos War event.

Avengers #10 Review

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May 102013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Avengers

Issue #10

Written by Jonathan Hickman, Art by Mike Deodato

Published: June 2013

I haven’t been following Hickman’s Avengers from the very beginning, but I have been following for a while now, and in that time I’ve pulled a complete one-eighty in my feelings towards it. When I first picked it up four or five issues ago, I almost couldn’t stand it. To be fair, I did jump into the middle of an arc, and that certainly didn’t help my understanding of it. However, even what I did understand I didn’t care for, as I found it too cosmic or spiritual to suit the Avengers.

Now, a handful of issues later, I can’t put the series down (figuratively speaking). The cosmic elements are still a large part of the plot, but they’re in the background; they’re on Mars, specifically. Meanwhile, the Avengers are on Earth dealing with extraterrestrial threats, which is very much in the Avengers’ wheelhouse. I don’t want to seem like I’m afraid to leave my comfort zone, but I think that certain heroes are best suited towards certain types of stories, and the story contained within issue #10 is phenomenal. There’s an alien threat and nobody on the planet knows how to deal with it. A superhero team has gone missing, nukes have been unsuccessfully deployed, the whole shebang. The situation is hopeless. There’s only one option left, and that’s to call the Avengers.

Just to prove that I’m willing to try new things, there’s a twist in the issue that’s unlike anything I’ve read in an Avengers comic and I absolutely love it. A large part of the issue saw the Avengers stomping around, trying to make sense of an alien menace, and that was all great; but it’s the twist – the crazy, inexplicable twist – that’s going to bring me back. I can like new things!

Star Wars: Legacy #1 Review

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May 082013
 

by Linsay Young, CMRO User

Star Wars: Legacy

Issue #1

Written by John Ostrander, Art by Jan Duursema

Published: June 2006

The cover for this one claims “125 years after Vader… new Sith!” Man, we just can’t get rid of these guys! This little burb effectively tells you everything you want to know about the plot—new, improved Sith going up against the weakened Jedi in all-new space battles. There’s quite a bit of history explained in the opening, but this is the essence of the conflict.

Part of the reason the original trilogy was so much fun was because you were off saving the galaxy with a bunch of characters you genuinely liked. Here, we have Cade, a descendant of Luke Skywalker. The issue works really hard to get you into Cade right away—he goes back and forth between joining battle and following his father’s orders to flee (TWICE), unleashes massive power in his angst after witnessing his father’s murder, and has ‘too much anger’ in him. We’ve seen this kind of setup before (most notably in the prequels) and as a result, Cade falls fairly flat as a protagonist. He’s boring. We’ve seen a hundred heroes like him before—the hot-headed, supremely powerful kid with a prestigious lineage and angst over a murdered parent. He’s rebellious… until his father tells him to stop being a selfish idiot, and he follows orders sulkily. There’s just not a lot to him that feels new or engaging.

Not liking the protagonist really kills the appeal of this book. If you can get into Cade, or if you’re just a big Star Wars fan, you might be able to get into this issue as well, but overall I found it a bit of a snoozefest. Legacy recycles old tropes without bringing anything much new to the table, which is a shame when you have the expansive Star Wars universe at your disposal.

Scarlet Spider #16 Review

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May 072013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Scarlet Spider

Issue #16

Written by Christopher Yost, Art by Khoi Pham

Published: June 2013

I may be talking out of my butt, but in a lot of ways Scarlet Spider feels like the opposite of Spider-Man. Peter Parker is a relatively goofy guy trying to cope with a harsh, merciless world. Kaine, on the other hand, doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, but the world he lives in makes up for that. In Scarlet Spider 16, Kaine’s friends talk him into attending a rodeo, where he whines and complains and sulks, all while wearing a shockingly out-of-character cowboy hat. When it looks like things couldn’t be going less his way, a villain named Armadillo crashes the rodeo, in an effort to win back his ex-girlfriend. Scarlet Spider may not find any of this funny, but I certainly do.

Issue #16 seems to be more of a standalone issue rather than part of an arc, though current events are touched on and the last few pages certainly tie in to something larger. I’m usually not a fan of standalone issues as I see them as lacking in substance, and while I wouldn’t call this issue substantial, it’s definitely a lot of fun. It’s good to see Kaine spending some time with his friends. He character isn’t necessarily making great strides, as he spends most of the time standing around and being a hardass, but it helps to humanize the character. The character is just a grump.

I’m glad Kaine got the girl. We don’t know where it’s going to lead (though we’re given an unpleasant idea), but I’ve read more than enough superhero comics to know that superheroes and regular humans can co-exist romantically. While I’m sad that this isn’t going to be a Peter Parker/Mary Jane-caliber romance, I’m interested to see how it’s going to play out after what we learn at the end of the issue.

Captain America #6 Review

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May 062013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Captain America

Issue #6

Written by Rick Remender, Art by John Romita Jr.

Published: June 2013

“What madness inspires a man to hold power and not use it?”

That line from Captain America #6 is a beautifully-worded reminder of why I love Captain America. To be fair, he is far from the only superhero to withstand corruption; but he’s more than a superhero. He’s a symbol. He’s the symbol of hope in the Marvel universe. That’s what makes his apparently meltdown in Age of Ultron so powerful. And that’s what makes what he possibly does in this issue truly break my heart.

Armin Zola has kidnapped Captain America’s son. Technically it’s Zola’s son that Cap kidnapped over a decade ago and raised as he own blah blah blah. Ian is Cap’s son and he will stop at nothing to get Ian back. This is a Captain America that we’re not used to seeing. He’s broken and desperate, and in a confrontation with Zola’s young daughter, he apparently murders her in cold blood. Out of spite. Out of revenge.

We don’t actually see her get shot. The impact happens off-panel. However, what we see is very damning. We see the shot, we see the blood, and Cap remarks that if he lost his son, Zola loses his daughter. We’re obviously to meant to believe that Cap actually did it. The comic geek in me is telling me that I’m being gullible, that Marvel wouldn’t actually give Remender the go-ahead on something like this, but then I’m reminded of all of the crazy stuff Marvel has approved in the past.

When this arc began, I really didn’t like it. I feel like Captain America isn’t a good fit in this kind of environment. I still believe that to generally be true, but I’ve come to really enjoy what’s turned out to be a really solid arc. Issue #6 is a fantastic issue that’s building up to what should be an awesome conclusion, I just hope that we haven’t lost the Captain America that we know and love in the process.

Incredible Hulks #619 Review

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May 042013
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulks

Issue #619

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Paul Pelletier

Published: December 2010

Let’s be clear about one thing in The Incredible Hulks #619: the art is FANTASTIC. Aside from Paul Pelletier’s usual strong work, the layouts here are terrific and aid the storytelling tremendously. I’ll get to the example that stands out most to me in a little bit.

This issue continues the Chaos War tie-in, again doing it in a way that makes it feel like this is a legitimate part of the Hulk’s story and not just a money grab by Marvel. It helps that the Hulk’s supporting cast, especially his ex-girlfriend/Rick Jones’ wife Marlo, is pretty well tied-in to the character of Death, who in turn is central to the Chaos War storyline.

This time around, the Hulk and his family not only have to take on the Abomination, but also Zom, who has now fully taken over Dr. Strange’s body. The good news is that with Zom in control he doesn’t have Strange’s full magical capabilities. This means that the Hulks manage to track down Marlo first. During the chaos, we also get to see an interesting confrontation between Betty as the red She-Hulk and the Abomination, who had killed her previously. Sadly, this meeting is not the meat of the issue and is too short for my liking.

The place where the art really shines is where Marlo, empowered by the piece of Death within her, summons up some deceased allies to help the Hulks. This includes Jarella, the Hulk’s green-skinned bride, Glen Talbot, Betty’s first husband, and Hiroim, the beloved of Korg. Each reunion gets its own panel, and Pelletier deftly moves from one group to the next while another is in the background. The result is the feeling that all these conversations are happening at the same time, despite the fact that we’re reading them sequentially.

Speaking of excellent work, the issue’s climax delivers the Hulk’s own greatest enemy. No, not the Maestro, the Madman, or any other gamma villain, but rather Brian Banner, Bruce’s abusive father. The confrontation between the two should be quite explosive.

The backup story has Banner evaluating Lyra for his team. Lyra, who grew up in a world without men, doesn’t really feel like she needs a father. It doesn’t help that Banner is terrible with human relationships – in order to talk with Lyra he has to do an Internet search on fatherhood. This is a decent enough backstory, but it really might as well have been called, “The Reason We Won’t be Using Lyra in Any Future Issues,” since it concludes with Banner deciding that Jen Walters is the best guardian for her. It would have been nice to see Banner try to interact with a daughter as well as a son, but oh well…see you when they decide to have another short-lived She-Hulk series, Lyra.

This issue is strong from a writing perspective, but the art really steals the story. Pelletier, who has steadily improved since coming onto this title, is nothing short of terrific here. The art hasn’t helped to improve a Hulk story this much since Planet Hulk. Whether you want a compelling story or just pretty pictures, The Incredible Hulks #619 is a terrific choice.

Incredible Hulks #618 Review

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Apr 302013
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulks

Issue #618

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Paul Pelletier

Published: December 2010

The Incredible Hulks #618 kicks off this title’s crossover with the Chaos War event. Since Greg Pak is the writer of Chaos War and of this title, it’s not surprising that there is a crossover. It is surprising, however, that Pak does a remarkable job of keeping the stories somewhat separate, which means that if you don’t want to read Chaos War, you don’t have to.

The Hulk is fresh off the tragic ending of the Dark Son storyline and in space when the Chaos War starts, which means that when Doctor Strange reaches out to him for help he’s sort of thrust right in the middle of things. This is a good way to introduce readers who haven’t really been following the goings-on of Hercules and company that led up to this event – like the Hulk himself, we’re thrown into the center of chaos.

There’s a bit of family conflict here, particularly between the Hulk and the red She-Hulk, who wants him to just get over the loss of a son in the last issue, but for the most part the character conflict is pushed to the sideline so we can get into the fighting. There are a lot of balls in the air in this one, and the nature of the current Hulk title as a team book is emphasized. With the dead walking the world, the Hulk has to face off against a new and powered up Abomination. At the same time, Rick finds out that his wife Marlo is the key to solving the current problem, since way back when Marlo became linked to Death.

In our backup story, we have more of Banner reflecting on his team-building process, this time regarding Rick. You’ve got to wonder where Banner found the time for all this stuff, since the comics have been going at a breakneck pace and he’s also been busy over in the pages of Hulk. That point aside, this is a nice little vignette that really emphasizes an important part of Rick’s character – he may act like a goofball, but when the chips are down he’ll put his own life at risk to save others.

Overall, this story makes for some good action, but it lacks the character pathos that the Dark Son storyline had. Things might be a little too busy here – the return of the Abomination alone could make for a big issue, but because there is just so much going on it almost gets lost in the shuffle. For what it is, though, this story is strong on the writing side. The art is nothing short of remarkable, with Paul Pelletier knocking it out of the park despite having to deal with a lot of business on page after page. As a whole, the first part of the Chaos War doesn’t come across as quite as personal and interesting as Dark Son, but it does jump right into the action quickly and gives us some Hulk family-centric storytelling despite the issue being a crossover with a larger event.

Iron Man #8 Review

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Apr 292013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Iron Man

Issue #8

Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Greg Land

Published: June 2013

I really don’t care for the new Iron Man design. I love the artwork. Land, Leisten, and Guru eFX, be that a person or a robot, produce a gorgeous title. I just don’t like the design of the new Iron Man suit. There’s too much red and not enough gold. The balance is off.

The Godkiller arc has been fantastic and I couldn’t have asked for a better ending than what Kieron Gillen has cooked up. It’s one of those stories that has grand, epic things happening, but they don’t really matter to the actual story. You can’t get any more epic than the Celestials showing up and destroying an entire society, but that really doesn’t matter.

What matters is that Tony Stark was used. He was tricked, and because he fell for that trick, an entire population was wiped out. Tony Stark is a brilliant man, but he’s also arrogant and self-centered, and that got the best of him. 451 used him as a distraction as he (it?) took what he wanted and because of that the Voldi are no more.

I’m a sucker for tragedy. I hope that doesn’t make me a psychopath What Gillen has created here is a wonderful tragedy. It’s something Stark has to live with. He’ll be out for retribution because revenge is very much in Tony Stark’s wheelhouse, but the tragedy will always be there. Like 451 says, you can’t rightfully blame the weapon, but I doubt that provides Tony with any comfort at all.

I’m very much looking forward to the revenge. I don’t think it’s going to happen right away. In fact I know it’s not, because the next issue goes into Tony Stark’s origin, but the revenge is coming and it will be glorious.

Astonishing X-Men #61 Review

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Apr 282013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Astonishing X-Men

Issue #61

Written by Marjorie Liu, Art by Matteo Buffagni & Renato Arlem

Published: June 2013

I’m not even going to pretend to understand what’s going on with the X-Termination chronology. This labyrinth-esque reading order is why sites like the Complete Marvel Reading Order exist. Astonishing X-Men issue 60 was part 2 of the X-Termination arc. Astonishing X-Men 61 is part 5. Then the story is concluded in X-Termination issue 2, which is its own title. Marvel, this is why everyone gets mad at you. Hell, this is why people get frustrated at comics in general.

Thank god for Marjorie Liu. At least she knows what she’s doing. She’s writing her book, Astonishing X-Men, and she’s doing a damn fine job. I would be so frustrated if X-Termination wasn’t such a cool arc. It’s one of those rare instances where going absolutely insane actually works. I complain about the convolution of the X-mythos like no other, but stories like X-Termination – where three dimensions of X-Men are all involved in one big story – are undeniably fun to witness. Sometimes this stuff works.

This is X-Termination, so death is kind of the name of the game. Sabertooth is dead, as is Hercules, Charles Xavier, and young Kurt Waggoner, who gave his life saving everybody else. The majority of the group is now in the Age of Apocalypse world, where the monsters are threatening to destroy the multiverse.

As someone who actually followed Age of Apocalypse for a while, the ending to this issue – and the proposed ending to the storyline – is something of a punch in the gut. That isn’t a criticism, however. It’s a hell of tragic ending and a glorious to write off that title and storyline.

Issue 61 gets a little insane, but I don’t blame Liu. She has a lot on her plate and I can’t help but think it gets just as stressful for those writing the titles as it is frustrating to those of us reading them.

Age of Ultron #6 Review

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Apr 262013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Age of Ultron

Issue #6

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Bryan Peterson & Carlos Pacheco

Published: June 2013

I just finished Age of Ultron 6 – literally less than a minute ago – and I’m absolutely speechless. Not one, but two Marvel heavyweights bite the dust in this sixth issue. Needless to say, heavy spoilers ahead.

I don’t know what I thought was going to happen when Wolverine went back in time to kill Henry Pym. Kudos to Brian Michael Bendis for really knowing Wolverine, knowing that he’s a man of his word. When Wolverine decided that he was on a mission, there was nothing that could stop him. I think part of me believed that Sue Storm would talk him out of it, but even if she tried – and in the end, she didn’t – she couldn’t have stopped him. Wolverine is stubborn in the best way possible.

Well, mission accomplished, but it isn’t a happy ending. Even Wolverine doesn’t know what future he just created, but like he says, it has to be better than the one they had.

On the other side of the timeline, Fury and his band of heroes are in the future – Ultron’s future – to unplug the AI once and for all. This side of things isn’t any less bleak. The entire Eastern seaboard is one big technological cluster, and while Tony Stark is nerdy enough to marvel at the sight of it, everyone else – myself included – is horrified. Ultron’s army has been streamlined into simple Ultron heads, and their extremely low profile makes them terrifying. The group struggles to survive, but as Michael Cole of the WWE says, the “numbers game” eventually caught up to them. That’s the terror of Ultron and his technology. He doesn’t possess a decent-sized army of various powered beings, he simply generates an infinite number of lifeless, robotic death machines.

Captain America is dead. All of them might be, but Captain America is Captain America. Things have never looked more bleak and the heroes still in the present – Peter Parker, Moon Knight, to name a few – have no idea what’s going on.

Age of Ultron #5 Review

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Apr 252013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Age of Ultron

Issue #5

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Bryan Hitch

Published: June 2013

We’re at the halfway point in the latest Marvel saga, Age of Ultron, and if the stuff wasn’t hitting the fan before, it definitely is now.

The opening flashback scene in issue 5 is nothing short of brilliant. We see Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and Henry Pym all gathered around the Vision, trying to bring him out of whatever unresponsive state that he’s in. They discuss how Pym created Ultron, and Pym corrects them, saying that Ultron more or less created himself. The conversation is important, as it gives new insight to Ultron’s origin. However, the conversation is only part of it. Bendis puts these three men, possibly the three smartest men in the Marvel universe, in a room together to show us that even with their intellect combine, there are still things that are out of their intellectual reach. That’s a truly terrifying notion. And with Pym and Richards not being present in the future, during the Age of Ultron storyline, it becomes an even scarier prospect.

I’ll always love Bendis’s humor. With all of this going down, he knows better than to make any characters crack wise like normal. The situation is too scary and bleak for that. What we get instead is Tony Stark’s failing mental state and Peter Parker’s nervous humor, and just the slightest amount of levity in a dark time can be hilarious, and when Peter asks Captain America how his spider-sense is, I laughed out loud.

I’ve never been a huge Nick Fury fan, but when they discover him in an underground bunker, I was elated. It’s not just because of Fury himself, but because he’s another non-superpowered being that survived. He’s Nick’s Fury, surviving is what he does. Let’s just hope the rest of them survive as well as Age of Ultron charges ahead at full speed, both into the future and the past.

All New X-Men #10 Review

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Apr 242013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

All New X-Men

Issue #10

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Stuart Immonen

Published: June 2013

Bendis, you tease! I love your writing and your bald head and your razor-sharp wit, but you are such a tease!

Let’s back up and talk about the good stuff of All New X-Men 10, because there is a lot of it. The ending of issue 9 had me writhing in anticipation. Cyclops, along with Magneto, Emma Frost, and a young mutant whose name escapes me shows up on the lawn of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning and utters Charles Xavier’s famous line: “To me, my X-Men.”

As issue 10 kicks off, the entire school marches out to confront Scott Summers, including the Scott Summers that Beast brought into the future (along with the rest of the original X-Men). Here’s where it gets brilliant: there’s no fight. There’s no violent confrontation or action of any kind. Well, that’s not entirely true, as one young mutant assaults Cyclops and his allies in a hilarious moment. Other than that, though, it’s nothing but dialogue. That’s alright. This is Bendis. His dialogue is gold and I was glued to the page for the entirety of the confrontation.

Before I forget, there’s a plot developing with Mystique, Sabertooth, and Lady Mastermind. The seeds were planted last issue when Mastermind was busted out of the raft and now the trio are robbing banks and accumulating money towards some dastardly purpose. It’s interesting, and of course I’m curious to see where it’s going, but it’s being overshadowed by the Grade A drama that’s unfolding with the X-Men.

The best part about this confrontation between the X-Teams? There’s no clear line between good and bad. Sure, Wolverine’s X-Men would seem like the safe pick for the good guys, but Cyclops and his crew aren’t “bad” by any stretch. The biggest condemnation is Cyclops’s murdering of Charles Xavier, but he pleads his case about it being out of his control and it’s a damn compelling case. It’s all compelling, every panel of every page.

Then there’s the tease. Cyclops has come to the school to recruit. The Cuckoo triplets go with their mentor, Emma Frost. And then there’s one more convert, one so utterly shocking that it can’t be revealed this issue. As far as cliffhangers go, this sure is a frustrating one.

Winter Soldier #17 Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  No Responses »
Apr 232013
 

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Winter Soldier

Issue #17

Written by Jason LaTour, Art by Nic Klein

Published: April 2013

“Mother Russia is dying – only the thorns in her withered paw remain of any use.”

Jason Latour’s Winter Soldier is a good read because Latour’s got a good grip on his characters and their various paranoia – some that survived the Cold War and some that have developed since. He’s also obviously well-read in spy fiction as well as comic books and he knows what makes both work; he weaves them together to make Winter Soldier a compelling spy comic.

Then every now and again he’ll drop a line of dialogue like the one above that just sounds really damn cool.

Winter Soldier is knee deep in his past sins, facing down an Electric Ghost that he left behind long ago. Nick Fury may or may not be lying to him and using him. He’s also protecting an old S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who may or may not be in on Fury’s scheme, if such a scheme exists.

It took a while, but I almost forgot that Bucky Barnes was at one time a Russian operative who considered America to be a foreign menace. If the Winter Soldier hasn’t yet atoned for his sins, he’s certainly been making an effort. Arcs like this are violent reminders of who he once was and what he’s coming back from, and none of it is pretty.

In the present, the Electric Ghost – the surviving child of a Russian defector that Winter Soldier killed years ago – is a very real threat to S.H.I.E.L.D., sinking a helicarrier and killing thousands of operatives without breaking a sweat. The weakness that Fury found in her plan, her having to refuel her stolen satellite with the cosmic rays that turned the Richards into the Fantastic Four, is a nice little nod to the first family of Marvel Comics, and a tribute to the Winter Soldier’s comic origins. Latour is a pro.

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