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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 9/30/10
Wktf’s Reviews
Avengers Prime #3
Marvel Comics
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Alan Davis
Cover by: Alan Davis
Taking place in a time period that’s post-Siege but pre-Heroic Age (I’ve notice that this heading is beginning to fall off some of the Marvel covers now), this supposedly is the story of how Steve Rogers, Iron Man and Thor are able to reconcile their differences since Marvel’s Civil War and come together to be the nucleus of The Avengers we’ve always known this Big Three to be. While the bickering among them was found aplenty in the first issue, and the second issue told three separate tales after they’d become separated somewhere within the Nine Worlds, this issue brings our heroes back together at their moment of extreme crisis and need for fellowship and teamwork.
With Siege long behind us and Marvel’s characters moving forward, this series could lose its relevancy in a hurry. After all, the Big Three are back and doing their own things while also working pretty fluidly with their own respective Avengers teams. So, can the outcome of this series really be in any doubt? But, then, that’s not really the point. The point here is in the telling moreso than the tale. And, so far we’ve seen all three of our heroes alone, stranded and battling for their respective lives. Even some comedy relief with Tony Stark, something that with all the darkness surrounding this character these past few years (whether due to his controversial role in Civil War or the path to the living hell he was on during Dark Reign) comes as a bit of a surprise. Seeing Tony strapped down to a table, buck naked, and trading barbs with Fafnir the giant dragon, not to mention covering up his privates during a nick-in-time save by Captain America, really turns that surprise into a welcome surprise. Bendis’ verbal thrusts and parries between Stark and Rogers are a bit overplayed, almost like from a theater script, but if you track the underlying friction between the two as they resolve to focus first on finding their far more powerful Asgardian friend and solving their problem, their dialogue actually feels right (if not a bit affected).
And, given Thor’s prominence in this story, both in terms of the strength and power he wields and the location in which they find themselves, it’s an understandable shock they encounter once they do find the Thunder God. Having isolate the character who appears to be the primary enemy so bizarre things happen that draw the reader away from the story. First, Thor turns his back on the major and most powerful villain. Then, having been downed the Thunder God is left there unconscious. I don’t know, given the rage Thor’s enemy feels toward him wouldn’t this character, maybe, finish him off? And then Mjolnir is taken from him. I won’t even begin to guess how this is possible. So, the details of this story are a little troubling, especially since the state in which we find this villain does not at all synch with the state we know her to be around Siege-time. So, it appears there’s some editorial homework Bendis didn’t bother to research. Still, Alan Davis’ art work has been especially stellar throughout this series and this issue is not exception. And, by the issue’s end, our heroes have finally come together against a common problem. As an isolated point-out-of-time story, this one’s been really pretty engaging and fun, and should make an enjoyable bookend to Siege once the tale’s been fully told.
Captain America #610
Marvel Comics
Written by: Ed Brubacker
Drawn by: Butch Guice
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic
Bucky’s confrontation with Baron Zemo comes to a conclusion with this issue but, as we now know, this entire story arc has been one long setup for the upcoming “Trail of Captain America” where Bucky, having been outed in the press by Zemo, must be held accountable for his crimes as The Winter Soldier. Zemo has an ax to grind that, interestingly, really has little-to-nothing to do with his father, the original Zemo who sent Steve Rogers plummeting into the icy ocean and was responsible for Bucky’s “death.” This has all been one massive mind game that Zemo’s been playing with Buck and, whether Buck’s been so rattled by Zemo’s taunting of him or the villain really is just that good, one element that makes this storyline pretty unique among classic hero vs. villain stories is that Bucky never turns the table on him and Zemo maintains the upper hand right until the end. Even when Bucky appears to overpower Zemo it’s really just a ploy on the villain’s part to get the hero right where he wants him and, even if the hero is able to escape the villain’s death trap he still must face the music for his crimes when he returns home.
Brubaker has done something truly clever here. Bucky’s been back long enough, and even been in the role of Captain America long enough, it’s been easy for the reader to discount or even dismiss his Winter Soldier crimes as acts he committed, as Buck himself screams at Zemo, when someone else was controlling him. Still, The Winter Soldier is how we first were re-introduced to Bucky and so, after all this time, taking us back to the character’s roots, once again gives us a fresh and even ugly look at the new Captain America even as he’s begun to settle into his role as mainstream hero and member of The Avengers. And bringing Steve Rogers, The Black Widow and The Falcon into this story really reinforces Buck’s loner nature. Though they all are a team with strong connections to each other, Natasha is his lover as well, Bucky still left them in the dust as he went to pursue Zemo on his own. They all admonish him for doing this but also don’t seem the least bit surprised by this tact.
Ultimately, this issue was an action packed high wire act where, as mentioned, the hero was constantly on the defensive and, for the most part, under attack. Butch Guice really delivered a strong Jack Kirby feel to this story, especially in his depiction of Steve, and gave this a historic Marvel feel but with enough dark tones and undertones to make it feel like a modern comic book story. I’d never been a really big fan of Guice’s art but this arc really impressed me and made me a fan. It appears problems are really going to heat up in the next arc for our new Captain America but this story has been a telling turning point, and an excellently rendered one at that, for this new Marvel character.
Action Comics #893
DC Comics
Written by: Paul Cornell & Nick Spencer
Drawn by: Sean Chen & R.B. Silva
Cover by: David Finch
The premise of Cornell’s Luthor series is pretty clear now that we’re three issues into it. Lex is the same power hungry megalomaniac he’s always been but, now that he’s gotten a taste of the Orange Power Ring during Blackest Night his greed for power has him pursuing what he believes is an elusive and constantly shifting power source for the Black Rings. Each issue’s quest has him facing another powerful antagonist from the DCU, such as Mr. Mind in Lex’s first issue and Deathstroke in the second. And, haven journeyed to the tundra last issue with Deathstroke we now find him hacking his way through an African jungle where the truly villainous team from the animated JLU series come back together in the comics, Luthor and Gorilla Grodd! These two make such a fun team. Both powerful intellects. Both planners and schemers. Both incredibly cerebral but also savage in their own unique (and, in Grodd’s case, slightly more stomach turning) ways.
Cornell and Spencer, taking over for Pete Woods this issue, have a lot of fun with this issue. Even having Grodd attack Lex with a giant spoon is a shocking bit of comic book telling genius. And while the wits matching and one-upsmanship between Grodd an Luthor is entertaining and even surprising, it’s really the fun both creators have with Grodd, both his facial expressions and his banter as he plies his various senses through this story. Of course, the rather shocking ending is the set up to the much publicized meeting between Lex and his next guest star which should be a highlight of next month’s comic book reading experience. After all, this is one character Lex cannot simply manipulate. For me, this series has been the one of the surprise series coming out of Blackest Night and Siege (on the Marvel side, the pleasant surprise has been Thunderbolts). So far Cornell, who’s work on Marvle’s Captain Britain and the MI13 was just first rate, has really delivered the goods.
Also in this issue, Nick Spencer and R.B. Silva introduce a bowtie-less Jimmy Olsen back up series. The big event here is the introduction of the Chloe Sullivan character from The CW’s “Smallville” to comics. Not the first time a DC element has made it from another medium into comics. Kryptonite was originated in the 1940s Superman radio program and Harley Quinn jumped from the Batman Animated Series over to the comics a few years back. Like on the show, Chloe and Jimmy are dating. Or, maybe, were dating. Superman’s current walkabout across the country has left young Olsen seemingly directionless and the thrust of this story seems to be the impact his current couch potato status has on Chloe and the pseudo love triangle that ensues. At this point, this first installment doesn’t really offer anything new or interesting but at least its diverting as a backup story and I read it through in its entirety, which is more than I can say for any of Marvel’s or DC’s current line of backup stories. The story and art combine for a mildly fun experience and one for which I don’t mind tagging along for at least one more installment to see where it’s going.
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