Avengers Academy #21 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Jeremy Cox & Veronica Gandini (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), John Denning & Jake Thomas (assistant editors) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: After the destruction of the Infinite Mansion during Fear Itself, the Avengers Academy needs a new home, and possibly a new direction.

Five Things: 

1. Mixing things up is good.  To me, comics are kinda like that old myth about sharks: “If they stop moving forward, they will die.”  The worst times in superhero comics are when the stories run in circles.  I know there are fans that enjoy having the same story reserved to them year after year, but it’s not for me.  So, the idea of moving the Avengers Academy to the old West Coast Avengers facility and bringing in some new faces (both teachers and students) is great.  Just keep mixing it up with these comics!  Sustain the things that work and trash the stuff that stinks, but don’t be afraid to fail and keep moving forward!

2. WONDERFUL twist ending! That was an awesome twist at the end where we see [SPOILER] the evil future selves of our young Academy heroes.  It plays on two big themes of the series.  One, that the reason these kids are getting training is that they are the most likely to go evil due to being fiddled with by Norman Osborn.  Two, we kinda saw these adult versions of the kids before during the Korvac story (around issue #12) when the kids were able to access their adult power levels to defeat Korvac.  But, that wasn’t really seeing their actual future selves, just their future power-sets and we didn’t know that they became villainous.  Nor did we know that they had kidnapped Reptil and sent back “future, evil Reptil”.  How very sneaky and villainous!  Love it!  However, that final splash page really should have had an editor’s note referring people to that back issue because if I look at that splash page with “new reader” eyes, I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on since the only visual cues are that Finesse has longer hair and the electric guy looks grown up (Veil, Hazmat & Mettle look the same).

3. Too much talking in the middle.  There a lot of hand-wringing in the middle of this issue – too much of the teachers and students talking about each other from across the room.  It seems like that could have been wrapped up in a page if the creators weren’t afraid of old-fashioned exposition.  Just have the verbal misunderstanding happen at the same time as the physical conflict.  I know it seems unrealistic to have these long speeches in the middle of the fisticuffs, but that is far preferable to having to waste several pages to get to the same end point.  This comic existed to get us to the money shot (the cool reveal on the final page), not to beat into our heads how much misunderstanding there is among these folks.

Avengers Academy #18 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Andrea Di Vito (artist), Jeromy Cox (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer), John Denning (assistant editor) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: The Avengers Academy kids are dealing with Fear Itself when the hammer-wielding Titania and Absorbing Man invade the Infinite Mansion.

The Review: This being a bit of a light week of comics for me, it made sense to review a comic that has stayed on my pull-list for awhile, but that I rarely review: Avengers Academy.  For the folks who complain that there “are no new characters in comics today”, this is a series that you should try.  Granted, it is 18 issues in, but (a) the trade paperbacks are readily available and (b) it really wouldn’t be that hard to just jump in with these characters.  After all, they’re new characters: They only have these 18 months of history.  So, it isn’t like wading into Captain America or the X-Men where there are references to stories that were told 30 years ago.  Just try it…

This particular issue ties into Fear Itself and shows the kids struggling with the powered up versions of Titania and Absorbing Man.  Not only do I enjoy the Academy kids and the central concept that the Avengers are training them because these kids are the most “at risk” for becoming future super-villains, but I also really enjoy Titania and Absorbing Man.  Secret Wars was my first comic event and these two baddies featured heavily in that story.  Heck, that’s the origin of Titania.

Like all good comic stories about super-powered teenagers, writer Christos Gage is gradually moving them up the scale of villains they can deal with.  We’ve seen that the Fear Itself guys are no joke, so the kids initially think they are in huge trouble before they start to come up with some very clever solutions to the problem.  A few of these solutions even deal with the kid’s possibly villainous nature.  All in all, it is a pretty solid superhero comic.  The only downside to this story is that this is the second issue of a 3-part Fear Itself tie-in.  Like many superhero comic stories these days, that’s too many issues.  The basic concept of this story arc should be a done-in-one.  Three issues just makes it feel drawn out; even if it is still “good”, I’d rather move on to whatever other stories Gage has to tell instead of seeing 3 issues of a story like this one.

All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1

By: Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Bill Rosemann & Alejandro Arbona (editors)

The Story: This story is split between the events of December 1944, in German territory, and modern-day USA. The characters in 1944 are a squad of superhero soldiers led by Captain America, and in the present, a 93-year-old man and his granddaughter.

The Review: Jenkins offered some fine writing in this first issue of an 8-issue limited series. I was dropped right into the confusion of a running WWII battle, nuanced with gritty, low-powered, wartime superheroing. I think Jenkins did a better-than-fair job of catching some of the peculiar word choices of the time, which helped the art create a feeling of authenticity. And while it would have made the read easier if he’d provided slightly more text on the dramatis personae, I accepted that if his goal was to create in the reader a sense of the chaos of a pitched urban battle, one way to contribute to that is to give the reader less information. I enjoyed the modern setting less, partly because we shift from action and a sequence of micro-cliff-hangers to a sedate character piece. Now, the change in focus isn’t a problem in, but that I felt Jenkins didn’t succeed so much in the establishment of authenticity. The focus on wartime comic books in the beginning seemed to be a bit too meta-fictional for me, and the dialogue felt less honest as the level of exposition-through-dialogue increased. That being said, I think the scenes were effective in connecting the WWII era to the present.

Avengers Academy #14 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Sean Chen (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), John Denning (assistant editor), Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Electro attacks France’s main science institute while most of the full-fledged Avengers are away. The kids need a chance to prove themselves and Electro isn’t the baddest guy in town. When they get there, though, it turns out he ain’t alone. The kids don’t do too bad, though, all things considered.

What’s Good: Gage did one thing every great writer must do. He made the heroes active. They wanted something. They wanted it bad, and we the reader can sympathize: they want to prove themselves. They’re not asking for a free lunch. Just put me in the game coach. I like them already. This situation also creates a lot of tension, because when has any battle plan survived contact with the enemy? I love how well the trainees do against the Sinister Six and I have to say, I really like the ending. For a while, when I saw how they got the bad press and all, I was thinking “Oh great. Another thin persecution story. Seen it.” But Gage tricked me. That wasn’t the end. The end was about stepping up to the plate morally that was the big climax of the book. The fight, for all that it was a great superhero donnybrook, was really just a plot device to get to the personal growth made by a surprising number of people at the end. What am I saying about the writing? Gage was right on target.

And, I have to say, after my first exposure to the Chen-Hanna-Cox team, I’m loving the art. The fine lines leave a lot of room to fill the panels with detail, which I love. The credit page is a pretty good example of this. From top to bottom, the big panel is brimming with the external accoutrements of the Avengers Mansion, the backgrounded and framing characters, the tight line of those arguing, with some intense Giant-Man action thrown in as background. That is visual storytelling! And Cox’ colors are beautiful and clear, with the bright spots attracting the eye to the important parts of the page. I also enjoyed Chen’s slanting camera angles and overlaid panels. His layouts and choices of borders (or not) kept the pages from ever feeling the same. Chen and team made it feel like there was so much action going on that it could only be layered. And a PS: I loved the texture of Reptile and Rhino when they slapped down.

Avengers Academy #13 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Jeromy Cox (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), John Denning (assistant editor) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: The Avengers Academy teachers throw a prom for the kids.

What’s Good: There’s a lot of good character development in this issue for the Academy kids and teachers and also a nice guest starring appearance by a bunch of other younger characters in the Marvel U.  Avengers Academy has been a really quality title and its kids have been through the wringer the last few issues, so it was fun to see the teachers (notably Hank Pym and Tigra) decide that a prom was a good idea. One nice thing about a prom issue is that it really nails down the age of these kids: They’re high schoolers.  That’s kinda important for the reader to realize because I’d imagine most readers are probably in their 30s and just perceived these kids as “young”, but we all know that there is a world of difference between 18 and 23 and that many of the experiences that normal people go through in that age range that help us mature (college, marriage, kids) will not be on the table for the Academy kids.

Of course, a prom issue is going to have lots of romance in the air.  If you read the quite good Giant Sized Avengers Academy (also released last week), you know that there are some residual issues with Reptile and Spider-Girl.  There’s a budding romance with Hazmat and Mettle.  Finesse has been had her eye on a few guys in her weird way.  Striker fancies himself quite the ladies man.  But, with all of this, it was kinda funny to see two of the teachers end up in bed together.  I also really like the Hazmat/Mettle relationship, as the two of them are both complete outcasts due to their powers.  We get the sense that a romance that seemed to begin as “any port in a storm” could become more.

It was also neat to see some of the Young Allies and Spider-Girl at the prom.  I’ll talk about this more below, but with those other series for young heroes never finding their footing from a sales standpoint, I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of them around the Academy.  I certainly wouldn’t mind it if Spider-Girl hung around.

Annihilators #3 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Tan Eng Huat (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), June Chung (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), John Denning (assistant editor) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

Rocket-Raccoon story by: Abnett & Lanning (writers), Timothy Green, II (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors), Clayton Cowles (letters) & Denning & Rosemann (editors)

The Story: We finally see the Dire Wraiths again as the Annihilators journey into Limbo itself.  Meanwhile, Rocket Raccoon is dealing with an odd conspiracy having to do with other intelligent animals and killer clowns.

What’s Good: The art is fairly good throughout.  The star is Green’s art in the Rocket Raccoon story which is very cartoony and where he is drawing all kinds of crazy stuff like killer clowns, a space walrus, a cyborg rabbit, a weasel who is Rocket’s old flame and even a raccoon skeleton (when Rocket goes through an X-Ray).  Green’s layouts are bold and imaginative and the coloring by Nathan Fairbairn pops off the page.  Definitely keep an eye out for Green in the future.

In the “main” Annihilators story, the art team of Tan Eng Huat and Victor Olazaba does a pretty nice job too.  It is a fairly hectic issue with the Annihilators battling the Wraith Queen before journeying into Limbo itself and they manage to keep the story very coherent.  This would have been a pretty easy issue for the artists to lose their handle on the story, but that never happened.

What’s Not So Good: I love me some 70’s and 80’s comics, so I don’t mind exposition, but this issue is very exposition heavy and it doesn’t help that it is double sized (20 pages for Annihilators & 22 pages for Rocket Raccoon).  Some people like to talk about how you “got your money’s worth” for the $4.99 price tag, but I’ve never considered the time required to read a comic to equal “value”; I’m more interested in whether I enjoyed the story and found it memorable.  Probably either one of these stories could have been exposition heavy, and it would have worked IF the other story was quick and jaunty.  But, with both are really drawn out and ponderous, it gets to be a little painful to read.  I tend to blame editorial for this, as I’m fairly sure the original plan was for these to both be separate miniseries before Marvel bolted them together into a single $4.99 miniseries.  It probably would have helped story pacing to lengthen/shorten one of these stories in previous issues such that ALL the exposition wasn’t in issue #3.

Avengers Academy #11 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Tom Raney (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Jeromy Cox (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), John Denning (assistant editor) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Veil makes a mistake that brings the Academy students into conflict with a Grade A bad dude.

What’s Good: Gage uses a very clever writing trick to show the great things that the Academy students are capable of in this issue.  There are some real challenges to developing young superheroes within the Marvel or DC universes.  Namely, you just can’t have the “kids” going toe-to-toe with Dr. Doom or saving the Earth from Skrulls in issue #5.  They’re the kids and it just isn’t believable that the kids would save the day where the A-List heroes have failed.  So, the formula is to show a bunch of training, let them clobber a B-list villain and maybe help out against an A-lister after ~15 issues or so.  And, that is where a lot of these kids’ titles run out of steam because if they can take on A-list villains, we wonder why they aren’t on the Avengers or JLA, and if they aren’t ready yet, we wonder why we should read stories of B-list heroes beating up B-list villains.

The cool things in this issue all require a SPOILER WARNING…     What Gage does in this issue is to very cleverly bring Korvac into play.  This is a complete, “Oh shit!” moment because while issue #10 ended on a cliffhanger, it wasn’t anything that foretold THIS.  So, suddenly you think, “What are these kids going to do against Korvac.”  After a long and well done fight scene, just when the heroes are on the ropes, Korvac’s girlfriend uses her powers to give the Academy kids access to the future, fully-developed power sets and this should allow them to better tackle Korvac.

This is a great writing choice by Gage for a couple of reasons.  One, it’ll allow the kids to beat Korvac (next issue) without the reader having to completely suspend disbelief that somehow the deadly duo of Veil and Reptil beat an A-list villain.   Two, it gives us a glimpse of why we should care about these kids going forward by teasing what they can become.  This glimpse of the future isn’t a new technique in comics, but it opens all sorts of great storytelling possibilities where one of the kids can get stuck with some residual memory of their future self OR we readers can have fun watching a character mature differently than we expected (cue Comic Book Guy voice, “As we could clearly see in issue #11, Finesse had adopted a messy hairstyle in the future so when she grows her hair out in issue #62, we know it must be before the future Finesses obtains her full powers.”)

The art is largely fine.  It isn’t art that I’d gush about, but I don’t hate it either.  From a story telling standpoint there is nothing you can fault with any of the layouts.  On the other hand, some of the characters are a little stiff which is something I think happens when the inks around the perimeter of the character are heavy.  But, you know what?  This book comes out on time and keeps the story of these plucky kids moving forward and there are certainly no ugly panels in this book.

Annihilators #1 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Tan Eng Huat (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), June Chung (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters), John Denning (assistant editor) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

Rocket Raccoon/Groot by: Abnett & Lanning (writers), Timothy Green, II (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors), Clayton Cowles (letters), Rachel Pinnelas & Denning (assistant editors) & Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Quasar, Ronan, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Silver Surfer & a Spaceknight (yes…a Spaceknight) team up to keep the Universe safe.  And….we catch up with everyone’s favorite spunky sentient Raccoon.

What’s Good: The mere premise of this book is kinda “Avengers in space”.  And it isn’t some weak team of heroes either.  Abnett & Lanning (DnA) have basically gathered together the most powerful cosmic beings in the Marvel U. on the premise that the Guardians of the Galaxy were a good concept, but simply not powerful enough to stop the truly massive threats.

There is a lot of “team’s first meeting” in this issue, but the real highlight for me is that one member of the Annihilators is an honest-to-goodness Galadorian Spaceknight.  Alas, it is not our favorite silvery Spaceknight hero from the early 1980’s: ROM.  ROM is still stuck in the trademark penalty box between Marvel and Parker Brothers, but the story of the Spaceknights and their mortal enemies, the Dire Wraiths, is a good one and worth exploring in the Marvel U.  Granted, Marvel has never completely abandoned the Spaceknight concept (there was a miniseries ~2000), but it is always good to have them back.

It was also a fun to catch up with Rocket Raccoon in a truly zany tale that shows Rocky in his post-Guardians phase pushing a mail-cart through a prairie dog warren of cubicles for some faceless cosmic corporation.  Sigh…he hates his job, it’s boring, his boss is a prick and then he get’s attacked by a very strange killer clown which causes him to want to track down his old buddy, Groot.  Fun abounds.

This is also a beefy issue.  So, we’re getting 38 pages of comics for your $4.99.

The art is very solid throughout.  Huat’s designs and layouts interpret the story very effectively and I really like Olazaba’s inks.  He shows a real commitment to shading with very fine lines and it gives the comics a very throwback feel.  Green’s art in the Rocket Raccoon story is much more comical and that not only fits the silly nature of the story, but it is usually a good choice with Rocky.  It is really hard to draw a “realistic” bipedal raccoon and not have it look like a monkey.

Thunderbolts #154 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (writer), Declan Shalvey (art), Frank Martin (colors), Albert Deschesne (letters), Rachel Pinnelas (assistant editor) & Tom Brennan & Bill Rosemann (editors)

The Story: A done-in-one story focusing on Man Thing.

What’s Good: When the “new” Thunderbolts were announced last summer, none of the members was a huge surprise except for Man-Thing.  Huh, wha?  How was that going to work?  Man-Thing isn’t really a villain who needs to work off his crimes by being a member of the Thunderbolts.  But, Jeff Parker has really made it work.  In just about every issue so far, Man-Thing has gotten involved in the action.  He doesn’t talk and doesn’t take direction. He’s just kinda there in the background, pitching in here and there without being instructed to.

But, all along the question has been: Why?  Why would Man-Thing want to work with the Thunderbolts?

This issue digs into Man-Thing’s origins and possible motivations by way of a stand-alone story that sees him whisked back to the swampy Everglades that birthed him in the first place.  By focusing on his magical nature, former life as a scientist and his relationships with sorceresses much is (kinda) explained: If the scientist is still lurking in there behind those big red eyes, wouldn’t he want to travel and learn and hang out with pretty ladies with magic based powers like Moonstone?    We even learn a little bit about the “zoo” under the raft where Man-Thing lives.

We should all be keeping an eye on Declan Shalvey who draws this issue.  I became a big fan of his on the Boom! series 28 Day Later (and have a piece of original art from the series) and he’s carried that tight linework over to his work at Marvel.  His characters are all lifelike and vital and he draws a mean giant lizard (what is it with Jeff Parker and the oversized monsters the last few months?), but he also puts in all the other little touches that sell a scene taking place in the Everglades by drawing craggy old trees with Spanish moss, boats, outboard motors, etc.  He also looks like he works really well with Frank Martin on colors.  They seem to have a good sense of who is going to shade what aspects of the art and the end product is really nice.

Avengers Academy #9 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Rebecca Buchman (inks), Jeromy Cox (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Are Finesse, Hazmat, Veil and Striker really getting kicked out of the Avengers Academy?  Also, Finesse goes to check out an old Taskmaster training facility to find out if he might be her daddy.

What’s Good: I LOVE these old fashioned “someone’s-getting-kicked-off-the-team” issues.  Even though you know that Finesse, Hazmat, Veil and Striker aren’t going anywhere, because they’re all the interesting characters, it is so much fun to hear all the sanctimony from Tigra about how “This is NOT how we do things as Avengers, dammit!  We don’t torture people!  That’s what makes us better than the bad guys and if we lose that– well, I don’t even want to think about it.”  And then some of the other characters remind her that none of them are in any position to throw stones; and then everyone’s happy again.  Yeah!  Good times!

The sneaky star of this mission is Finesse.  She’s kinda the breakout star of this series so far and in typical Finesse fashion, rather than stay behind to whine at the teachers about how she doesn’t want to get kicked out of school, she goes to check out an old Taskmaster training facility.  Of course, she runs into Taskmaster (who is a great kinda-villain), they fight with all their memorized moves, but end up with a conversation that is more heart-felt and moving than what you probably expected.  One of my biggest complaints with some comic writers it that they seem dimly aware of current continuity, but Gage has clearly read Fred Van Lente’s recent Taskmaster miniseries.  As a reader, you needn’t have read that mini to enjoy this issue, but it is so nice for us readers who have to see Gage make a couple of nods to that great miniseries (and make us feel like we didn’t waste $16 dollars on a miniseries that no one cares about).  My feeling with all the continuity is that if Marvel wants to publish 100 titles per month, they need to make sure that their writers are aware of 100 titles per month and Gage does that in this case.  Nice job!

Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #514 – Review

By: David Liss (writer), Francesco Francavilla (art/colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Black Panther continues to come up against eastern European gangsters as he tries to keep Hell’s Kitchen safe for working folk.

What’s Good: The best thing about this issue (for me) is Francesco Francavilla’s art.  The guy is really talented and has a look that is pretty unique in comics today.  His artwork just has a purity to it because he does it all: layouts, finishes AND colors.  With most comic art, those tasks are divided up and the resultant art can vary quite a bit depending on who is doing what tasks and you have to look at a variety of art to say, “This is what John Romita, Jr. looks like.” because he looks a little different depending on who is inking and coloring.  But, that isn’t the case here.  This art is pure Francavilla.

The thing that makes Francavilla so perfect for this Black Panther story is that he has a tremendous capacity to load his panels up with moody atmosphere.  You wouldn’t always want this look.  It would be out of place in She-Hulk or Teen Titans, but it is perfect for this type of story (or Daredevil).  Another thing that I love about Francavilla is that his Black Panther looks like a dude who is wearing clothing.  Most superhero comic art is basically just naked dudes who have been draw without genitalia and nipples who then have their costumes painted onto them.  We don’t get that here: Black Panther looks like he’s wearing clothes that even wrinkle and bunch in all the appropriate places.

The story is perfectly fine.  I have a few quibbles with it that I’ll get into below, but it is very serviceable and contains some interesting drama since Black Panther has lost his powers and wants to test himself as a man. But a special visitor to his diner reminds him that while he’s “testing himself”, that Hell’s Kitchen is tearing itself apart.  I also kinda like the big-bad villain eastern-European-crime-boss who seems to have Gambit like powers to charge up inanimate objects.

Heroes for Hire #1 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Jay David Ramos (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Bill Rosemann (Editor)

The Story: Marvel’s classic “Heroes for Hire” returns.  It’s a great place to see some of Marvel’s lesser-used NYC characters doing happy-mercenary missions.

What’s Good: Although there is a plot twist at the end that mixes things up a bit, the basic story for this issue (and perhaps series too) is that of Misty Knight playing Oracle.  If you’ve read Batman comics in the last 20 years, you should be familiar with the concept of someone sitting in a control room and calling in heroic assets to help as needed.  In some ways, the overall set-up reminded me even more of Warren Ellis’ Global Frequency than Oracle since the heroes are apparently always on call but used sparingly.

What’s fun is that this comic promises a way to see some of Marvel’s lesser-used NYC-based characters.  I’ve always loved Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Luke Cage and the whole Kung-Fu/blaxploitation vibe that those characters captured back in the early 1980’s.  The characters have changed over the years, but I still think “fun” when I see Misty Knight.  Also co-starring in this comic are Falcon, Black Widow, Moon Knight and Elektra.  Although the cover also promises Ghost Rider, Iron Fist & Punisher, they don’t show up in this issue.  These characters are the epitome of Marvel’s B-list.  Sometimes they show up on an Avengers team, but usually don’t get used too much.  Sometimes they have an ongoing series, but it won’t sell well and will get canceled.  After the great job that Abnett and Lanning did with Marvel’s B-list cosmic heroes, I can’t wait to see what they do with these NYC street-level folks.

I tended to really like Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey’s art.  I don’t have a huge amount of exposure to Walker, but I remember him mostly as the “good” artist who did about half of the Marvel cosmic issues recently, so he has experience interpreting Abnett & Lanning’s scripts.  That experience shows because the storytelling is very solid.  The style is very crisp and realistic with their characters striving to look like real people instead of some cartoonized version of a person.  And they draw full backgrounds in just about every panel and backgrounds really add to my enjoyment of a comic.

The Thanos Imperative #1 – Review

By: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Miguel Sepulveda (artist), Jay David Ramos (color artist)

Canadian comic book reviewers maintain bold opinions, despite Memorial Day in the US! News at 11.

The Story: The forces of the Cancerverse (the universe where Death was defeated and life reigns uninterrupted) spew through the rift, into our universe, ripping through the strongest Kree defenses. At the same time, Thanos, a psycho so dangerous that sometimes Death throws him back, seems to be the key to facing the invasion. And, it only gets worse….

What’s Good: Sepulveda’s art, paired with Ramos’ color work, is awesome. Marvel has lined up a great art team that has delivered the goods. Rocket Raccoon looks positively feral as he stares down Thanos (with a threat to keep him alive!), while the space battle around the extrusion at the Fault is worth poring over for a good few minutes. My reading experience slowed even more to watch Gladiator fight one of the invaders head on. The villains are creepy and disturbing, and the Silver Surfer is distant and regal while staring at the same thing I was: the streamers of power spilling through the Fault like prominences on a star. Brilliant, brilliant work (no pun intended). I could go on about the art, but I don’t want to short-change the writing in the review.

Abnett and Lanning are quickly becoming two of my favorite writers. They have been delivering solid, surprising, cosmic-scale adventures in the Marvel U for years. They juggle tension, humor, death, epic invasions and personal losses in as deft a manner as any of the best writers of comics today. I’m not a huge Inhumans fan, but watching Medusa and her entourage react to the invasion had me fascinated. I loved the character moments between Richard and Robbie (and Namorita). I was riveted by all of the Thanos moments, and how different Guardians managed him, or filled their pants with bricks. The panel devoted to Thanos and Drax deserves a bit of a writing award for the freshness of the scene and the desperate, paradoxical longing that Abentt and Lanning have managed to soak into both characters. And I can’t miss mentioning the nods that Abnett and Lanning always seem to give to past classics, like the last-minute arrival of the Cancerverse Defenders.