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Columnist Thunder Mod
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Denver Area, between Asgard and Krypton
Posts: 21,364
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The Mighty Reviews 8/19/10
Wktf’s Reviews
Secret Avengers #4
Marvel Comics
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Drawn by: Mike Deodato
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
The first arc of this new series, titled “Secret Histories,” closes with this issue with a powerful mystery we readers have known nearly from the beginning finally exposed to Commander Steve Rogers, but not before we get to see, once again, why Wolverine isn’t the only one who’s the best there is at what he does. Those who’ve been following this fan-favorite breakout new (as opposed to New) Avengers book know that Steve assembled this team of Avengers for the kind of covert black ops the regular Avenger teams not only couldn’t really do but shouldn’t really do. The Avengers, after all, are a pretty high profile team and Rogers, after decades in the limelight as Captain America, now takes himself and his team into the shadows. And what a team: War Machine, Moon Knight, Beast, Ant-Man, Black Widow, Valkyrie and Nova. At first glance they make almost no sense together. But upon further review, and after four issues, Brubaker and Deodato seem to have found the right mix and groove that makes this team work.
While investigating an abandoned Roxxon mining base on Mars, Nova not only falls off the radar but has become possessed and superpowerfully augmented by a thornier version of The Serpent Crown and is a hair-breath away from opening a gateway to another reality and releasing a dark being destined to end our world. It’s when all truly appears to be lost, when even the most powerful Secret Avengers like Valkyrie are taken off the board, that Steve Rogers takes the desperate and seemingly suicidal tact advertised on the cover of this issue that, rather than proving his undoing, merely validates the sheer awesomeness of this character. Yet again, as we’ve been told over and over before, we see that it is not the super soldier serum that made Steve Rogers Captain America as much as Steve Rogers, the man himself. But, in the end, it’s team work from every quarter that wins the day here.
Brubaker had been firing on all cylinders since this book started. In a short time it’s established itself as the Avengers book to beat. And Deodato, fresh off his stellar run on Dark Avengers has delivered fantastic art, from the raging battle scenes to the quieter moments in this issue where Rich Ryder is sheepishly biting his lower lip (shades of Gene Colan in this panel, too) and Steve good naturedly is handing Rich his helmet back. Highly recommended.
Thunderbolts #147
Marvel Comics
Written by: Jeffrey Scott Parker
Drawn by: Kevin Walker
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
Okay, to sum this one up, if you’re looking for a book that just plain kicks butt, this is your book right here. The post-Siege Thunderbolts may well be the strangest and most dangerous collection of characters between two covers. Now led by Luke Cage, this team consists of Ghost (who last tried killing Tony Stark, remember?), Moonstone, Crossbones (who helped The Red Skull kill Captain America), Juggernaut, Songbird, Mach V, Fixer and the Man-Thing! And the Man-Thing has turned out to be an absolutely inspired choice just for the sheer weirdness factor if not for his teleportation abilities and his handiness in a fight and the newly impressed Moonstone learns here.
This issue is narrated by John Walker, now the Raft warden after becoming disfigured as part of Pym’s Mighty Avengers during the Siege. Returning from a mission that went a bit sour, though not unexpectedly even if it was a bit horrifyingly so, and saddled with the Avengers Academy kids who are at The Raft as part of a “scared straight” program, our team finds itself in the midst of a Raft-wide prison break. Mysteriously, the power grid goes down and, shades of New Avengers #1, all hell breaks loose. But this gives our resident heroes a chance to cut loose as well, and in the case of Walker (also referred to here as “Warden Cripple”) and Luke Cage this is a sight to behold. I loved when Luke responds a cry of “Get him! GET HIM!” with a “Yeah – get me. You got me? Come on! Who you Got? Say it! Say my name!” as he just pounds the living stuffing out of a whole mob of rushing prisoners. “I’m the Power Man! Luke. CAGE!” It’s beautiful. And, seriously, Killraven The Purple Man? Didn’t this psychopath learn his lesson after Cage nearly killed him in the premier “Breakout” New Avengers arc? His taunting Cage about Jessica Jones (their history goes back to Alias) just makes what comes next all the sweeter. And even Juggernaut gets to have his private laugh.
I’m loving this book, from John Walker’s dubious and eyebrow raising ending narration to the fast moving dialogue to the simply bizarre team chemistry going on here. But just for sheer superhero fun, this issue is my pick of the week.
Lone Ranger #23
Dynamite Comics
Written by: Brett Matthews
Drawn by: Sergio Cariello
Cover by: John Cassaday
After twenty-three issues we finally are going to see the confrontation this title’s been building to since the very beginning. Cavendish, the man responsible for the murders of the Texas Rangers that led to The Lone Ranger’s creation, now is consumed by his hatred for the masked man and is taking this hate out on everyone he can find who is close to this hero. Having set his men on Reid’s sister-in-law, Linda, where she barely escaped being brutally raped and killed through the help of her young son, Dan, Cavendish has now captured The Lone Ranger’s one friend outside of Tonto, Sherriff Loring. And the sheer brutality of Cavendish’s torturing poor Loring in this issue alone makes him the Hannibal Lecter of the Wild West. Matthews and Cariello really combine to show Cavendish’s pure, evil, unadulterated sadism. His use of humor, and then the visualization of that humor, make this version of Cavendish one of the most heinous comic book villains since the Joker or The Red Skull.
The Lone Ranger’s shock and horror over the fate of his poor friend only serves to strengthen his resolve. No wonder, actually, that this story arc is titled “Resolve.” Though The Ranger has sworn never to take a life, Cavendish’s crimes, his brutal ways, and Reid’s own anger now may make keeping this oath impossible. And next issue we’re promised “the beginning of the end” when The Lone Ranger and Cavendish finally will come face to face for this very first time since this series started. This issue has taken this title to a new level of tension and storytelling. With the delays this title’s been experiencing this particular cliffhanger may be a painful one.
Dawg’s Review
Wolverine: Weapon X #16
Marvel Comics
Written by: Jason Aaron
Drawn by: Davide Gianfelice
As this particular incarnation of a Wolverine comic book series comes to a close, this issue takes cares of two things. The first of these items is paving the way next month for a brand new title and volume of Wolverine comic. The second loose end that gets wrapped up is the far more important one. A couple of months ago now, in a battle for the very survival of mutant kind, Wolverine’s best friend and long time teammate in the X-Men was killed in action. While we all know that no death is ever permanent in comics, Kurt’s was certainly one of the better handled one in years.
This issue deals with Logan and his great sense of loss to not have Kurt in his life anymore. The pair could not have been more different, and yet somehow they became best friends. Some one like Logan, who has such an “all-out” persona is bound to not take this loss very well.
The issue starts off with Logan getting a visit from fellow X-Man Warren Worthington: AKA Angel. Angel tells Logan that Kurt left very specific instructions in his last will and testament to Logan. This triggers a series of events that lead Wolvie to look back into his memories of Kurt over time and see that Kurt always wanted him to believe that there was more out there for him than his claws and mistrust.
Wolverine slugs his way through a series of trials trying to deliver a package to a church nestled deep within the jungle and mountains. Once he delivers this item which was Kurt’s last wish, Logan in turn is given something from the priest.
Logan, broken and emotionally drained from 8 days of trudging through the jungle, instantly recognizes the item that he himself had given to Kurt years before. Wolverine immediately sees that Kurt’s final lesson for Logan was one that hits him the hardest. Kurt was right and Logan agrees to try it his way.
I must say this issue was one I was very much looking forward to. Sometimes I could care less about the next super villain that comes along to fight a hero. To me, what I like to read is about character relations. Especially as they pertain to the most savage little mutie there is. No one has touched Wolvie’s life like his drinking buddy Nightcrawler. Wolverine has tried to be a better man than he is for years, and Nightcrawler may be the only one who has ever believed in him enough to think that he was capable. Jason Aaron gives us a final eulogy to that friendship that other comics since Kurt’s death have spent far too little time on. This once agains proves to this fan that Aaron gets Wolvie like most writers haven’t in years. Even if you hate reading 8 Wolverine comics a month, I think this issue is one that stands alone and is worth it for any fan of the classic X-Men days.
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