wktf and Sam Wilson's Comic Reviews 5/16/06

[Sam Wilson]

Sam Wilson’s Reviews


Special note, wktf is out of town this week on business, he left us with a tpb review, but no comics reviews. He may or may not post some later this week. Word.

There are a lot of good books going on sale this week, Robin, Manhunter and DMZ from DC comics and from Marvel we got Ms. Marvel, Captain America, Wolverine Origins and Ultimate X-men. I love that Steve Dillon, been a fan of his since his days on Hellblazer, so of course my pick of the week is Wolverine Origins, and that being said, on to the reviews…

Wolverine: Origins #2
Marvel Comics
Written by: Daniel Way
Drawn by: Steve Dillon
Awesome Alternate Cover by: Brian Hitch, regular cover by that a$# clown Joe Quesada

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, “Wolverine: Origins” stems from the events of the “House of M” crossover. During “House of M” all but 198 mutants lost their powers. Wolverine was one of the mutants who kept his powers, but he suddenly found himself with something else as well, all his memories from his entire life, restored (about 100 years worth, give or take). So yeah, all the “Wolverine man of mystery” stuff we’ve been fed since the early Byrne/Claremont days in “Uncanny X-men” is a mystery no more. Now that Wolverine has all of his memories back he is pissed off. Most of his life he has been screwed over by one government or another doing unspeakable, unforgivable things, and the only thing he has left is revenge, revenge against those who wronged him. So Wolverine starts out his journey by knocking on the Silver Samurai’s door, cutting his hand off and taking his Muramasa Blade for his own (this happened in “Wolverine” #40) For those of you who care, the Muramasa Blade is a legendary Japanese Kantana sword; once drawn it has to draw blood before it is returned to its scabbard and creates a bloodlust in those who wield it. Yeah, maybe not the best thing for a guy prone to berserker rages, but it sounds really awesome. Anyway, Muramasa Blade in hand and ‘80’s brown costume as the uniform of the day, at the onset of “Origins” our boy Logan seeks to kick some a$# and probably cut some mofo’s quite severely.

Issue one opens with a ruckus at the White House, and Wolverine threatening the Secretary of State with a simple message, “I remember everything and I’m coming for you”. Yeah. In issue two the President isn’t to happy about that, so he sends in the most serious covert weapon at his disposal to take care of Wolverine, and that weapon would be Nuke. For those of you who may not be familiar with the works of Frank Miller, specifically his famed second (albeit brief) run on Daredevil spanning from issues #226 to #232 (with David Mazuchelli of “Batman: Year One fame handling the art, the famous “Born Again” storyline) Nuke was the crazed government killing machine a desperate Kingpin sicked on Daredevil towards the end of the story. Other than being a pill-popping unstoppable killing machine, Nuke also had a telling tattoo of the American Flag on his face. C’mon now, how many of us old guys remember, “Gimmie a red…”. Okay then, moving right along it turns out Nuke didn’t die at the end of that “Daredevil” arc and he’s actually alive and better. He is no longer dependant on pills and has an extra heart that pumps control drugs throughout his system. We also find out Nuke and Logan have a history, which may or may not bode well for either of them.

This book is definitely a pleasant surprise; Daniel Way has proven himself to be white-hot with “Bullseye vs. Punisher” and the new “Planet Hulk” storyline. Steve Dillon of course is dependable as always, a truly underrated artist whose recent Marvel work in the “Ultimates Annual” and “Punisher” proves he still has it. For those of you fed up with the overabundance of mediocre mutant books, “Origins” is just the thing to put your faith back in the “X”, so check it out, you’ll be surprised.

Manhunter #22
DC Comics
Written by: Marc Andreyko
Drawn by: Javier Pina

I would just like to not after I started writing this review, I found out Manhunter was going to be cancelled. Much of the series is already collected in tpb form, so pick this book up knowing it won’t be around for much longer and most likely will be available in tpb form in the near future. Anyway…

For those of you who don’t know, the DC Universe has been host to many individuals calling themselves “Manhunter” and the newest person to pick the mantle is Kate Spencer: Los Angeles ADA, divorced mother of one. Rounding out “Manhunter’s” cast are Dylan, a former gadget maker for supervillans whom Kate forces into helping her, and Chase Lawler. Yes, that Chase Lawler who briefly had her own DC series “Chase”; anyway she is still an agent of the DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations) and answers directly to a man who goes by the name Mister Bones (probably because his face looks like a freakin’ skull). Moving on, Kate was doing okay before “Infinite Crisis” hit; whupping on the criminals who escaped her in the courtroom, but then her bad guy father (who claims he is the son of the golden age Atom) ended up kidnapping her son and shooting her ex-husband. Yeah, that didn’t do much for her already strained relationship with her ex. She cleaned up that mess and soon found herself caught up in the Battle for Metropolis during the whole “Infinite Crisis” thing. Then thing flashed forward “One Year Later” (I’m real sick of saying that)…

“One Year Later” we find Kate Spencer working for Mister Bones as a defense attorney specializing in superhuman cases. Her latest case is defending Dr. Psycho, who she fought in metropolis. During the trial she meets Dr. Mid-Nite, who she asks to help her discover the truth about who her father really is and that brings us to the beginning of issue 22. Issue 22 has Kate receiving a strange bouquet of flowers that makes her hallucinate she is being submissive to Dr. Psycho, which, well, just isn’t cool. Meanwhile, Chase Lawler has been getting it on with Dylan, Kate’s gadget maker (it’s been happening since the whole “One Year Later” thing started), and we see her leave his house because she is called to investigate a strange metahuman murder. Dylan is soon visited by Kate looking to do some research on Dr. Psycho, but the two find themselves under attack from an old flash villains, and so it goes…

I really find myself at a loss for what to say next. Knowing this book is going to be cancelled, I just can’t say, “go and pick it up, it’s great”. I mean it is pretty cool, I like the way Kate has a human side, and I like the supporting cast, and the art is aiight, maybe not top notch, but it’s not bad. For the most part Manhunter has been an enjoyable book and I’m sorry to see it go. At the very least pick up the trades as they come out, or at least check out this current issue. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely entertaining.

DMZ #7
DC/Vertigo Comics
Written by: Brian Wood
Drawn by: Riccardo Burchelli

To catch up those who haven’t checked out this book yet: our story opens five years into the second American Civil War. The conflict is between the United States of America and the “Free States”. According to the White House, these “Free States” Soldiers are “thugs and murderers”, and they are indiscriminate and uncivilized when it comes to warfare in civilian areas. As far as New York City goes, the “Free States” control New Jersey and the inland, and they are amassing at the banks of the Hudson River. The United States of America has Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island and is well dug in on the coastline, with Manhattan Island caught in-between in the “DMZ”. The thing is, there are still people living on Manhattan Island, and even though there has been a formal ceasefire in effect from the last three days (when the story opens) the reality of life there consists of looters, gangs, local militias, insurgents and contract killers. All a day in the life in the DMZ.

Enter rich white-kid Matthew Rose, new intern to Nobel Prize winning journalist Viktor Ferguson. Rose gets a job as his intern on the day Ferguson is supposed to head into combat to do a story on the residents of the DMZ, a “day in the life” kind of thing. To say the least Matthew is caught a little off guard. He finds himself in charge of multi-million dollar equipment and placed in personal (unpaid mind you) servitude to a less than humble journalist who is about to make history with a story that takes them to the very heart of danger. Things soon go to sh$#, Ferguson and his military escort are taken out by enemy combatants, and Matthew finds himself alone, stranded in the DMZ with a crapload of news equipment he is technically responsible for. Soon enough though Matthew finds himself playing the role of an imbedded journalist, not really taking any sides, just trying to report what he sees in what’s becoming a fairly ugly 2nd American Civil War. Issue six is the starts of a new five-part storyline “Body of a Journalist” and opens with a brutal suicide bombing in the middle of a hot summer day in little Italy. Matthew does what he does and plays the unbiased reporter, but the stress of war is starting to get to him (and the New York summer isn’t helping). Things don’t get better for Matt when he has a run in with a group of soldiers he has crossed paths with before. It turns out Matthew’s old boss Viktor Ferguson wasn’t killed by the “enemy” and the resistance (the “free states”) are holding him captive. Why? In issue # seven Matt crosses the Manhattan bridge back into Brooklyn and is immediately taken in by the regular military. They want to send Matt back in to find out why Ferguson is being held captive, and since Matt has become a semi-celebrity with his frontline reports, they figure he is just they guy. The question though, is Matt being played by the army? Is he someone’s pawn, son of a rich man doing the right thing, or is he a man of the people? Has he learned anything in his time in the DMZ? The ending of issue seven gives us the answer…

I met Brian Wood at the NYC comic con and asked him a few questions about DMZ, specifically if there were any personal political feelings that went into this book, and he said no, it was more or less a general dig at the current political climate we find ourselves in the middle of. After reading the first six issues of this book, I would have to say I agree with that statement, and I would also have to say I now would consider myself a fan of DMZ (earlier I had stated I was “on the fence”). If you have been staying away from this book out of fear of its political leanings, don’t, Wood isn’t really taking any sides (like his main protagonist Matthew Rose). If you are interested in seeing a different and chilling take on modern warfare, check this book out.

[Sam Wilson]

Trade Reviews

As much as we all love great story-telling (as with Brubaker’s Daredevil), intriguing plot development (as in Planet Hulk or Brubaker’s Captain America…hmmm, that Ed Brubaker’s a pretty good writer, isn’t he?), beautifully crafted mega-events (like Crisis on Infinite Earths), refreshing character development (as DC now is doing in their One Year Later books) and big, important comics whether they be Pulitzer Prize winners like Maus or grand operatic superhero tales like Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come and The New Frontier,
doesn’t the fanboy in all of us just love a good, plain old fashioned superhero slug-fest? I mean, to see Thor and the Absorbing Man pour their animosity toward each other into each bludgeoning blow, have The Hulk and The Thing throw down, or even have company cross-overs where questions like “what would happen if Batman fought Captain America?” might be answered…these make for just plain fun fanboy comics! So, here we are, with Round One of some superhero slug-fest trades for your consideration. We say “Round Two” as we’ve got plenty more titles we could review under this theme and likely will do so again!


Wktf’s Review


Avengers/Defenders War
Marvel Comics
Written by: Steve Englehart
Drawn by: Bob Brown and Sal Buscema

This trade collects Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #8-11, all of which were originally published in 1973. I remember, as a teen, being so frustrated I couldn’t get my hands on each of these issues when they came out (my small New England town’s lone newspaper store carried comic books only sporadically) and collecting all these issues prompted my first venture into the world of back-issues mail order. But finally, by the following year, collect them all I did! In 2002, Marvel packaged them in this trade book at the same time they had a second, rather forgettable, Avengers/Defenders series going. But this trade is the real deal.

A battle with The Mighty Thor from Thor #205 left Loki, Thor’s evil half-brother an arch nemesis, both blind and plummeting headlong off a cliff toward jagged rocks below. Just before impact Loki is spirited away by the Dread Dormammu, Lord of the Dark Dimension and mortal enemy of Dr. Strange. Dormammu is honor-bound not to attack Earth, thanks to a pledge he made when defeated by Dr. Strange way back in Strange Tales #141 (see my prior review of Stan Lee’s Marvel’s Greatest Superhero Battles); however, he has learned of a powerful weapon called The Evil Eye which could merge Dormammu’s dimension with Earth and, thereby, allow him a loop hole in his pledge never to conquer Earth as it would no longer be separate from his home land. The Evil Eye last was seen in Fantastic Four #54 where it was blasted into smaller, separate Eyes which, in turn, were shot out to various parts of the globe. In the mean time Dane Witman, The Black Knight and teammate of the Defenders, had his body turned to stone by the Enchantress and his soul sent to some dark void. Together, Dormammu and Loki intercept a mystic bolt through which Dr. Strange and The Black Knight are communicating and plant the suggestion to Strange that The Defenders must recombine The Evil Eye to free The Black Knight. Loki, though, realizes that Dormammu will not stop at Earth and will eventually try to conquer Asgard, and spirits himself to Avengers mansion to betray Dormammu by convincing The Avengers that The Defenders will use The Evil Eye for world domination. Sure, it’s all a bit convoluted and it hardly seems plausible that The Avengers, most especially Thor, should believe anything Loki says. But when you consider The Defenders are comprised of the Sub-Mariner who, in the past, has warred against the surface world, The Hulk who’s never been anything but a menacing engine of destruction, and Dr. Strange whose secretive practice in black magic makes him extremely suspicious, you almost can’t blame Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from jumping to conclusions.

Regardless, what results is The Defenders’ splitting up to retrieve the pieces of The Evil Eye and The Avengers splitting up to stop them, not knowing which Defender will be where. And what results from THAT…well, you know…is a whole series of superhero throw downs. The Vision and Scarlet Witch take on the Silver Surfer in a tropical volcano, Iron Man faces Hawkeye who’s recently joined The Defenders, Dr. Strange squares off against The Black Panther and Mantis, The Swordsman duels with The Valkrie, and Captain America must battle his former WWII ally The Sub-Mariner. The fights are all a bit brief but fun and, surprisingly, one-sided. There’s not much opportunity for either side to try to reason with each other as both go at each other pretty much from the start. It’s actually through Captain America’s battle with the normally hot-headed Sub-Mariner that the heroes start to reason with each other and the plot starts to turn in our collective heroes’ favor. But as both sides come together and begin to realize, as inevitably the must, that they’re being played by their respective foils they also realize in a moment of near fear that each team has left a player in the field: The Mighty Thor and The Incredible Hulk! This is one of the first times these two faced each other since their inaugural meeting in Journey Into Mystery #112 and, once the fists start flying, all of Los Angeles, where their battle takes place, begins to shake and shudder. This is the big one, the one to which all the others fights had been leading up and, unlike the other confrontations, this match up is NOT one-sided at all, and is a raging street clearing brawl that is worth the price of the trade all by itself.

Of course, the two groups ultimately combine forces and mount an offensive against Dormammu and Loki and, as with any battle with Ultron, the Scarlet Witch’s hex power becomes a key force for their survival. But the final resolution of this battle as well as that of The Black Knight’s fate, while satisfying, is a bit anti-climactic after all these big cross-team fights which were the whole point of this big cross-title mega-event anyway. I mean, in 1973 this may well have been the biggest slug fest in Marvel history before Jim Shooter’s Secret Wars. Fortunately, Steve Englehart supplies the script and keeps the continuity going across both titles. Bob Brown, known for his earlier work on Daredevil, covers the drawing on Avengers but his art is a step behind Sal Buscema’s whose dynamic pencils grace the Defenders issues. This trade also sports a pretty cool cover by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino that shows, somewhat inaccurately, the Big Three from each team charging each other, with split images of Loki and Dormammu glaring down at them from above. Avengers/Defenders War is still in print and, at $14.95, this 128 page trade should be a must-have for anyone who loves big, fun superhero battles and wants to have one of Marvel’s earliest mega-brawls in his or her trade collection.


Sam Wilson’s Review

Avengers Assemble! Vol. 2
Marvel Comics
Written by: Kurt Busiek
Drawn by: George Perez, Jerry Ordway, Stuart Immonen and Leonardo Manco

Avengers Assemble vol. 2 is the second oversized hardcover that collects the Kurt Busiek and George Perez “Heroes Return” run on the Avengers, this volume contains issues 0, 12-22 and annual ’99. There are several storylines contained in this volume, but for the sake of this review we will be focusing on one storyline in particular, a story that features one of the greatest foes the Avengers have ever faced, a tale titled “Ultron Unlimited”.

To understand the story “Ultron Unlimited” one needs to delve in to the history of Ultron and therefore the history of the Avengers as well. Ultron first appeared way back in issue 54 of the Avengers during the Roy Thomas/John Buscema era. He was originally an artificial intelligence created by Henry Pym to assist him in the lab, but Ultron became sentient and brainwashed Pym into forgetting he was ever created. He then went on to cause all kinds of trouble for the Avengers; he was responsible for the creation of the original Masters of Evil (under his “Crimson Cowl” guise), he fought the Fantastic Four and fought in the Secret Wars, and each time he was destroyed he always managed to rebuild himself (new Ultrons were numbered in sequence, for example, the Ultron that fought the FF was “Ultron 7”). Ultron was also responsible for the creation of longtime Avengers member the android Vision (whose mind was based on Simon Williams aka Wonder Man’s brain Patterns), one time Avengers member Jocasta (another android whose mind was based on Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasps brain patterns) and the evil Alkhema (whose brain was based on Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird). Throughout all of his battles with the Avengers, Ultron held a particular, Oedipal even, hatred for Henry Pym, his creator and the man he considered his “father”. Eventually all of his hatred and scheming led to Ultron’s greatest offensive against humanity (and the Avengers in particular), the “Ultron Unlimited” story arc.

“Ultron Unlimited” introduces to the Marvel U a brand new Ultron (his number isn’t really ever mentioned, at this point there have been hundreds of “Ultron” bodies used and destroyed and reused again) made from solid adamantium. Yes, the new Ultron is now completely physically indestructible (well, for the most part). He also has an army of previous Ultrons to do his bidding, and the evil Alkhema at his side to help carry out his evil plan. The plan? Simple, wipe out humanity, replace everyone with machines and live happily ever after. How does he plan on doing that? Well first he kidnaps Henry Pym, the Vision, Wonder Man, the Scarlet Witch, the Grim Reaper (?) and The Wasp, and then with the aid of his mechanical army he storms the country of Slorniea obliterating every man, woman and child residing there, then claims the remains of the now vacant nation for himself. Ultron hopes to use his kidnapped Avengers brain patterns to mix and match a brand new race of “sentient machines” and repopulate the entire world in his image. To sweeten the deal, Ultron's actions have called out the rest of the Avengers, and well, given the fact he is newly indestructible (supposedly) Ultron welcomes the chance to obliterate his long-term foes and to rule the world.

This storyline was a war from start to finish, at no point was I ever so wowed and awed by an Avengers storyline since “Avengers Under Siege”. I mean damn, Ultron kills every man, woman and child in an ENITRE FREAKIN’ COUNTRY. The Avengers are still a new team, newbies Firestar and Marvel boy are in the mix, Cap is without his shield (he has that blasted “energy shield” thingy from Tony Stark), half the team is being held captive and well, like stated before Ultron is damn near invulnerable. On the plus side we have assistance from the Black Panther (word yo), most of the Avenger’s heavy hitters (Thor, Iron Man) and even a surprise or two from the new kids. Damn if every current Avenger doesn’t have a moment or two in this story; the Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, Wonder Man, the Vision, all of them have their day. Since Ultron currently ties into the new Marvel series “Runaways”, fans of that book may want to check this story out for a little bit of Ultron history. Avengers Assemble vol 2 hardcover is readily in print and available for $29.99, the “Ultron Unlimited” story was reprinted in a tpb a few years ago, but it is long out of print. So pick up this book already, George Perez, Ultron, battles galore, you will definitely get your moneys worth.

[bat_collector]

dang it I haven't even gotten home from work yet sam, much less read em!

[Bullseye]

Great work as always guys.

[Sam Wilson]

Thanks bulls, how'z that steve dillon page you bought? Love that steve dillon guy...

[Jesse321]

Sam ... you GOTTA pick up this weeks Green Arrow!

[Sam Wilson]

Originally Posted by Jesse321

Sam ... you GOTTA pick up this weeks Green Arrow!

word, can you give me a hint as to why though? You read manhunter?

[JDH]

Sam, I found Wolverine: Origins #1 completely underwhelming, and can't really work up the interest in finding out his once-secret past. I think I only find Logan engaging when he's interacting with the Marvel heroes set, particularly Spidey - outside of that context he's a character I just find tedious. Even Dillon seems a bit flat on this - and Wolverine with eyeballs just looks wrong after so many years...

But that run of Avengers is the high-point of Busiek's run, no doubt. As a huge Avengers fan (it's probably my favourite book of all) I generally found his run to be average, and a lot of it (cough... Kang War... cough) to actually be disappointing, but that story and Avengers Forever both rank among the Mightiest Avengers tales of all.

Bring back Firestar to her rightful place in the team, I say. Especially now she's ditched that deadweight Justice.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by Sam Wilson

Thanks bulls, how'z that steve dillon page you bought? Love that steve dillon guy...

Getting framed at the moment Sam. I hope to have it back in a couple of weeks. I have left about 7 pieces in for framing.

[thecallahan]

Originally Posted by jdh.goodgrief

But that run of Avengers is the high-point of Busiek's run, no doubt. As a huge Avengers fan (it's probably my favourite book of all) I generally found his run to be average, and a lot of it (cough... Kang War... cough) to actually be disappointing, but that story and Avengers Forever both rank among the Mightiest Avengers tales of all.

Bring back Firestar to her rightful place in the team, I say. Especially now she's ditched that deadweight Justice.

I'm not a big fan of Avengers in general but I gotta agree, I absolutely loved Avengers Forever, one of the best stories I've ever read!