Comics

Daredevil #29

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Daredevil #29With his childhood bully shot in front of him in the middle of a courtroom full of witnesses (by the judge no less!) Daredevil leaps into action. However, locked inside the Federal Building unable to tell friend from foe (as the Sons of the Serpent seem to have agents everywhere) the man without fear tries to keep everyone alive and sort out the situation before it escalates even further.

I found last issue’s late twist a little hard to swallow, but writer Mark Waid uses the set-up to put our hero in a situation where he doesn’t know who he can trust as even some of the police, those just trying to do their jobs, become obstacles as well after seeing the vigilante pummeling another cop.

Even if Daredevil gets out of the situation a little too cleanly (you’d think there would be a mountain of red tape to cut through after things died down) Waid delivers a tense issue that also foreshadows Murdock’s new temporary partner. I know I have my guess as to her identity. What’s yours? Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

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Guardians of the Galaxy #5

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Guardians of the Galaxy #5While the rest of the team relaxes and recuperates from their latest adventures in their own way, including Iron Man trying to get over the awkwardness of his failed night of passion with Gamora, Star-Lord takes the opportunity to seek out a former member of the team in hopes that Mantis can offer some explanation to his recent vision.

It’s good to see Mantis’ return, if only for a few panels, and I would really like to know what happened to Cosmo as well. Mantis isn’t the only familiar face to make an appearance, however, as Quill’s search for answers take lead him to an old enemy.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5 also introduces the Spawn character of Angela into the Marvel Universe (which is bizarre on so many levels) and suggests the cause of her arrival may lay on Earth. We get the beginnings of a throwdown between Gamora and Angela, but as to what the true intentions are for the hunter of Hell Spawns could be in a universe without them we’ll just have to wait and see. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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The Flash Annual #2

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The Flash Annual #2The second Flash Annual gives a look back at the first meeting between the Flash and Green Lantern, their first mission together to Arena World, and the pair’s return a couple of year’s later to make due on the promise Hal Jordan made to save the two heroes and the dozens of Earth’s children kidnapped to be turned into future gladiators.

Although the annual is missing the ongoing series’ artist and co-writer Francis Manapul (who does give us the issue’s cover), writer Brian Buccellato and Sami Basri offer up a strong Flash/GL team-up longtime fans of both characters should enjoy complete with their trademark banter.

The aliens return to hold GL to their deal and the pair of heroes are stuck fighting in a gladiatorial combat. When the Flash’s speed slowly begins to wane and Green Lantern gets taken down, Hal offers Barry the use of the ring. Although his super-sped-up brain allows him to master it relatively quickly (which is pretty cool), he’s unprepared for how much a single will-power-induced construct can take out of a guy (by targeting the enemy’s crotch).

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Morning Glories #29

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Morning Glories #29Reset. Early in Season Two the events begun in Season One come to a tipping point as Irina‘s coup, Hunter‘s time travel, and Casey‘s past adventures all bring the Morning Glories students to a single event and sacrifice. This really, really isn’t a good issue to jump in on for new readers, but this issue closes the door on several ongoing arcs allowing for a fresh start, and the fallout of the events covered in the last few issues, to begin next month.

Even as the issue wraps up Casey’s story, and steals her memories of her life in the past, we get a few more glimpses of that lost life including the comic’s ominous theme written out by our protagonist and a revelation of who David really is (although we don’t know how he became the academy’s weird ghostly figure).

Although Irina is stopped, Jun (really Hisao) much deal with the death of his brother, Jade is no mood to forgive Ike for threatening her life, and Hunter’s weird time reset (and meeting the future Jade) leaves him with several questions, none of which have easy answers. Worth a look.

[Image, $3.50]

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Uncanny X-Men #9

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Uncanny X-Men #9As a covert operative the Dazzler kinda sucks. Hand-picked by Maria Hill to learn more about Cyclops and his team, Dazzler knocks Fabio‘s family unconscious (but not before they recognize her), kidnaps the young man, leads the X-Men straight to S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s secret detention facility, and then uses her close personal relationship with her fellow mutants to insult Scott Summers and make a new enemy. Oh, and then she gets poisoned and replaced by Mystique. That’s not a great first day.

Aside from the intrinsic humor of S.H.I.E.L.D. recruiting a former disco star, Dazzler is largely wasted here. Since her relationships with her fellow mutants are not really capitalized on any number of characters could have performed her role. I’m also a bit disappointed that we get the suggestion of Hijack did to the Helicarrier (the only real action of the entire comic) but it takes place all off-panel.

Those complaints aside, Brian Michael Bendis provides another solid issue. I’m happy to seen Gold Balls sticking around and I’ll be curious to see just what role Mystique has to play in the larger picture (and whose side she’s really on). Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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