Avengers

Secret Avengers #18

/ / Comics

secret-avengers-18-coverThis month’s issue is a fair bit better than last month’s disappointment as Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter and Shang-Chi travel into a Bad Continuum (a malformed dimension of a Multiverse) trying to stop agents of the Shadow Council from removing transmatter from the dimension which could be used as a terrible weapon in the Marvel Universe by transforming the Earth into a sun.

Aside from feeling far more like an Authority story than an Avenger story, the comic is pretty good including a well-designed M.S. Escher like world for our heroes to battle the members of the Shadow Council.

Writer Warren Ellis even gives us an appearance by Arnim Zola (a perfect villain for this type of story), the return of the Beast (who is given most the of monologue necessary to explain the situation), and a fun cameo by Reed Richards which allows the comic to end with Steve Rogers delivering a joke. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

Secret Avengers #18 Read More »

Annihilators: Earthfall #1

/ / Comics

annihilators-earthfall-1-coverAfter a successful first mini-series the Annihilators (minus the Silver Surfer) earn their second mini-series revolving around the cosmic bad asses taking on The Universal Church of Truth.

A discovery in deep space leads the team to learn the Church has a secret base on Earth, and unless they are stopped, the entire galaxy could be at risk. And that’s how Gladiator, Quasar, Ronan the Accuser, Beta Ray Bill and Ikon the Space Knight find themselves destroying what appears to be a legitimate business in the middle of Colorado.

In the comic’s final panels the Church’s agents re-activivate their holo-displays to make them appear as innocent victims of an attack from a group of insane aliens just as the Avengers arrive on the scene. Next issue should give us a super-sized throwdown we won’t want to miss.

Although we do get a Rocket Raccoon/Groot back-up story it’s far shorter than what was included in the first Annihilators mini-series. And that’s really too bad because less Rocket Raccoon is never a good thing. Best of the week.

[Marvel, $3.99]

Annihilators: Earthfall #1 Read More »

Secret Avengers #17

/ / Comics

secret-avengers-17-coverAlthough I liked the makeup of the team I had given up on Secret Avengers as a regular monthly title during their John Steele story arc. Over the first dozen issue the comic was very hit-and-miss for me and appeared to be still struggling to find itself. And I was pretty sure three straight months of Fear Itself tie-ins wasn’t going to help.

However, last month writer Warren Ellis took over the title and I decided to give it another shot. I so impressed I picked this issue up without even reading it before I got home. That was a big, big mistake.

The storyline is the kind of odd story Ellis is known for that could (and probably was) a Authority tale he never got to tell. Steve Rogers, Agent 13, War Machine (but can we really still call him that without the shoulder cannon?), and Valkyrie head off to Eastern Europe where entire villages are disappearing. What they discover is a giant demon truck traveling across the landscape with a zombie cyborg at the wheel. Sadly, it’s not as good as it sounds.

…

Secret Avengers #17Read More »

Secret Avengers #17 Read More »

Avengers #14

/ / Comics

avengers-14-coverThis Fear Itself tie-in has quite a bit going for it, but in the end doesn’t quite work when it asks the reader to care about a character that’s only slightly less ridiculous than Rocket Racer. The entire issues centers around the retelling of the Red Hulk‘s battle with Hammertime Ben Grimm outside of Avengers Tower.

The fight itself works well, as does the opening capturing the uncertainty of the other members of the team at Steve Rogers‘ choice to make Red Hulk an Avenger. What doesn’t quite work is the apparent (i.e. not really) end of the Red Hulk at the hands of the possessed Thing.

I don’t mind the elevated nature as the heroes say kind words about the Red Hulk for apparently (but not really) giving his life in a futile cause, but given the level of reference displayed here you’d think they were talking about someone on the level of Captain America (all the more empty given the absence of any body foreshadowing that this isn’t the end of the character). Good idea. Bad execution. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel, $3.99]

Avengers #14 Read More »