Indestructible Hulk #17 – Review

by Mark Waid (Writer), Clay Mann, Seth Mann, Miguel Sepulveda (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: The top scientists of the world are trying to solve the terrigenesis problem. It’s a pity that Bruce Banner does not want to play ball…

The Review: I have a lot of respect for Mark Waid. As a writer, he has done and participated in many books I have enjoyed, some that I even love. Kingdom Come, Superman: Birthright, 52 and many other of his work are stuff I re-read even to this day and his modern stuff, like his Daredevil run, are definitely very enjoyable. However, his run on Indestructible Hulk has been somewhat inconsistent. Very enjoyable at times and merely decent at times, it seems that this title fits the titular character quite well in term of mood swings. However, with the new arc dealing with Inhumanity properly starting, does Mark Waid provide readers with an issue more associated with quality than missed opportunities?

It’s a mixed result, for the most part, as some of the very best elements of the book are showcased, while some of the weaker one are present as well. Mark Waid has a particular style that can adapt itself to many heroes and concepts, but it does seem like he is struggling a bit on this particular title.

Gambit # 15 – Review

By: James Asmus (writer), Clay Man (pencils and inks), Seth Mann (Inks), Rachelle Rosenberg (colors)

The Story: Gambit has concocted his perfect heist, the one that makes his name forever, too bad it was stolen.

The Review: If you’ve been wondering why you haven’t seen Remy LeBeau hanging around the halls of the Jean Grey School lately, it’s because he’s been in this title, stealing as he pleases, charming a monarch or two, and looking good doing it.

This issue is actually a lot like Gambit himself. It’s clever, enjoys the sound of its own voice, can’t resist a bit of fan-service, and is a little too self-aware for its own good. Though they get some use this issue, we don’t see much of Gambit’s mutant powers. It seems that James Asmus believes (correctly, in my opinion) that Gambit’s status as a mutant isn’t nearly as essential to his character as his dual roles as thief and hero.

Despite the conflict between these two halves of his life, Gambit ends up playing detective in this issue, which ends up letting us spend a lot of time with Gambit, his thoughts, and a couple of friends he might not take back to the school.

Part of Gambit’s appeals is that, though his subtleties run deep, at the core he’s a character you know before you read the first page. Asmus does an excellent job of playing to that archetype while guiding readers to the specific iteration that is Remy LeBeau. Just as nice, he has a great feel for Remy’s voice, accent and all.

We also get a look at a world that a normal X-Men book simply wouldn’t show us, whether that’s investigating a simple crime, elaborate as it may be, or dealing in the in the seedy business of sneaking illegal aliens into New York. Asmus paces each of these scenes expertly, making this feel like a longer comic than it is and allowing Gambit to have a couple of small-scale adventures on the way to his larger goal and a, slightly predictable, twist ending.

X-Men Legacy #247 – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Clay Mann (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Cory Petit (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor), Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: In this penultimate chapter of Age of X, we learn the answer to the question, “What’s going on?”

What’s Good: Well, from a story-pacing standpoint, we do learn the nature of the crisis facing the X-Men.  It is not a terribly satisfying resolution to the mystery (as we get into below), but it does show compelling structure for the overall story and set the Age of X crossover up for a strong finish.  One of the best things about this crossover is how long Mike Carey kept the mystery in place.  For those keeping score at home, this was the fifth issue of Age of X (not including the Prelude and Age of X Universe issues), so Carey really just condensed Act II into a singular part of this issue.  We only have one issue of the main crossover and one Age of X Universe issue to go, so the ingredients are in place for a slam-bang finish.

Another thing that I’ve enjoyed about this story is how it isn’t all about Wolverine.  Now, that may change (more on this below), but given how 90% of X-stories revolve around or feature the hairy little bugger, it is really refreshing to see a story that focuses on Rogue and Professor X.  Granted, this isn’t a surprise for anyone who has followed Carey’s lengthy run on this title because he has featured Rogue and the Professor a lot, but it is still nice to see for fans who have had a little too much adamantium in their breakfast cereal.

The art is effective.  I don’t think it’s super-awesome or anything like that, but it very clearly tells what could be a confusing story with all these alternate versions of our favorite mutants.

X-Men Legacy #246 – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Clay Mann (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Cory Petit (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: The plot of Age of X thickens as Legacy/Reaper (our Rogue) tries to escape from the mutant’s stronghold and determine what is going on outside of the Force Barrier.

What’s Good: This is shaping up to be a fun little X-Men crossover story and I really enjoy the way it has been crafted.  The events in this issue flow directly from New Mutants #22 and so far the first three issues of the series have a lot of cohesion.  It is also great that Mike Carey has pulled some of the Act I elements of the story (the mysteries of what the heck is going on with our favorite mutants) into what would traditionally be Act II of the story.  “Act II” is just a waste of time with properties like the X-Men who have appeared in ~1000 comic books over 5 decades.  Too many comic stories are told in these 6-issue arcs where we have two issues of exposition that reveal 95% of the mystery, two crap issues in the middle of characters standing around and talking to each other than accomplishes very little and then two pretty cool issues that wrap up the story.  Act II can do well, but the best Act IIs (Empire Strikes Back) are great because they maintain some Act I-flavored mystery (“Luke, I am your father!”).

This issue focuses heavily on Reaper/Legacy (who is this alternate reality’s version of Rogue).  Through the actions in the first two chapters of this story, she has gotten too close to some uncomfortable truths held by the General (our Magneto) and he releases the alt-version of the New Mutants to hunt her down.  There is some decent action, but the real highlight is seeing Legacy start to recruit a gang of potential allies.

But, the best thing is that we still don’t really know what is going on.  What is the General hiding?  Who is this mysterious X character who seems to be running the show?  Which of these characters remember our “normal” X-universe and what do they know?  Is Jimmy (our Wolverine) really completely without powers?  With all of these mysteries up in the air, it means that we’re probably not going to have any boring Act II issues, so this should be a pretty hot crossover when all is said and done.  I love it when comic stories are told in such a way that you have confidence that the ending will be good!

The art is pretty strong and Mann has nice layouts through and he draws his characters well.  In fact, his layouts are really strong and my only wish is that he’d break away from rectangular panels sometimes because with his sense of how to compose a scene, I’m sure he could do some very cool things with oddly shaped panels to enhance the readers’ emotions in certain parts of the story.

X-Men Legacy #245 (Age of X: Chapter 1) – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Clay Mann (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Cory Petit (letters), Jake Thomas & Sebastian Girner (assistant editors) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: Weird things are afoot as we see our favorite mutants in some kinda of alternate reality where mutants are being oppressed.

What’s Good: The X-Men have always been a story about racism and intolerance.  One of the problems the franchise has suffered from over the last few decades is that as a society, the United States has become MUCH more multicultural and accepting of differences.  In the late 1970’s, a lot of young white boys still had an uncle or two who used horrid racial slurs, interracial couples were unusual and it would stop traffic if two men held hands on the sidewalk.  Now, in 2011, a lot of those nasty old bigots are dead, it seems like half of the high school kids I know either are multi-ethnic or are involved in a multi-ethnic relationship and outside of certain religious groups, homosexuality has become a non-issue.  This has made our world a better place, but it has taken that cultural relevance away from the X-Men.  Nowadays, I just don’t buy the average Joe in an X-Men comic yelling, “Them muties gotta die!”

So, how do you tell a mutant persecution story in 2011?  Well, you tell a story of an alternate reality, that’s how!  After months of ads, it appears that Age of X is a story of the “alternate present” variety rather than a “possible future”.  This makes a lot of sense for the reasons above and mysteries abound in this first chapter.  Even if you read Age of X Alpha a few weeks ago, you’re going to be tossed right into the deep end (in a good way).

Part of the fun of this type of story is picking out the slightly different versions of familiar characters.  Who has a different name in this reality?  Whose powers manifest differently?  Who has a different role on the team?  And look at those weird romantic pairings?  Some of these things are pretty cool.  Cyclops has been morphed into a character called Basilisk who had his eyelids removed by the “bad guys” and was used to kill mutants in a kinda optical firing squad.  Needless to say, he’s a little eff-ed up by the experience.  So, who leads the team?  Well, that would be Cannonball!  And, that’s neat because Sam has been groomed as a leader since he first appeared in the early 1980’s.  But, the coolest transformation is Rogue.  She has been Mike Carey’s central character since he started his run on this title 4-5 years ago, so it’s nice to see her continue a central role in this story.  In a very interesting manifestation of her powers, Rogue is now “Legacy” and she is used to absorb the essence of dying mutants to preserve their memory.

Of course, a lot is still mysterious at the end of this issue.  Why are the humans attacking the mutants?  What is going on in the larger world beyond this Fortress X?  We’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

X-Men Legacy #239 – Review

by Mike Carey (writer), Clay Mann (artist)

The Story: After a battle with some Sentinels, Rogue and Magneto continue to attempt to figure out the source of the strange weather storms occurring in Mumbai while Child of the Vault runaway Luz causes discord amongst Paras’ household.

What’s Good: It’s always nice to read the X-titles these days and see how embraced the new, younger mutants are by the creators.  Originally the stars of such titles as New and Young X-Men, as well as the second volume of New Mutants, many fans of those casts ( myself included) worried that wonderful new creations such as Anole, X-23, Elixir and Prodigy would be forgotten in favor of returning the focus to tried and true X-Men like Wolverine and Cyclops.  Carey has managed to find a pleasant middle ground in his approach to the cast of this title by mixing and matching stalwarts such as Magneto, Colossus, Husk and Gambit with the students like Trance, Indra, and Bling.  Acting as an anchor to bring them all together is Rogue, now tasked with mentoring the next generation of mutantkind.  The writer seems to genuinely enjoy scripting our favorite Southern Belle, and it’s a joy to not only see where he takes her in the Marvel Universe, but also to watch as he adds some much needed updates to her status quo.  Magneto also benefits from Carey’s pen.  The former villain’s new role in the X-Men has been an intriguing one and I’m happy that this story has taken advantage of not only that role, but Magneto’s past romantic dalliance with Rogue.  It adds a nice variety to her love life, giving the readers a break from the never-ending “Will they or won’t they” relationship she has with Gambit. Oh, and that is a beautifully awesome cover by Leinil Yu.

X-Necrosha (Hardcover) – Review

writers: Mike Carey, Craig Kyle, Zeb Wells, Christopher Yost

pencils: Kalman Andrasofszky, Carlo Barberi, Clayton Crain, Leonardo Manco, Clay Mann, Diogenes Neves, Mike Norton, Ibraim Roberson, Mateus Santolouco, Alina Urusov

Necrosha, an X-Force story that affected both New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy as well, was criticized for being the Blackest Night of the Marvel Universe—an unfair criticism if anyone cares to follow the plot threads that started far back in New X-Men, or even just from the first issue of X-Force. But whether or not this mini-event was a rip off of Blackest Night or not, Necrosha still needs to be able to stand on its own. So, as a story, does it hold up well or was it pumped up for no reason? The answer to that is a little confusing. As the single issues were being released, Necrosha was not getting the best of reviews. It was condemned for being too long, for having too much filler, for needless tie-ins, and sub par art. I’ll admit that for all but that last point, I was feeling the same way until the last two issues of the main event where the X-Force finally did something. Those were my initial feelings. The hardcover collection of X Necrosha changed a lot of my animosities towards the event.

There’s a lot to cover in this. And before I get into any of the stories, the first thing I want to point out is the price of the set—$39.99 might seem like a lot, but you’re actually getting about fifty dollars of comics (a little over, actually). When the trade paperback of this comes out at 34.99, it’ll be even more of a deal, but for five dollars more the hardcover is definitely worth it. What’s included in this is the Necrosha one-shot that starts all three stories, Necrosha: The Gathering one shot, introducing the merry band of murdering mutants, X-Force 11, 21-25, X-Men: Legacy 231-234, New Mutants 6-8, New X-Men 32 and “UnDeadpool” from X-Force Annual 1. That’s a pretty good listing. And like I said, it gives quite a lot to cover.

Let’s start with the main event, taking place in X-Force. This received the most criticism by far, but looking back it’s a lot stronger than I remember it to be. The story is…actually not that simple. Selene, former Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, wants to make herself a goddess by absorbing the souls of dead mutants. To do this, she has to resurrect them first and do some kind of ancient spell. Unfortunately for her, Warpath is holding one of the key ingredients to this—a dagger carved from the bones of her mother. So Selene sends her army of undead mutants to Utopia to basically piss everyone off and torment Emma Frost with her dead Hellions. The X-Force must band together to stop her. Meanwhile, Elixir is still recovering from the events of Messiah War and Rhane Sinclair is dying after getting knocked up by Asgardian Wolf Prince Hrimhari (even if they are of Norse legend, you still gotta use a condom people). Hrimhari, or as Warpath calls him, Wolf-guy, calls upon Hela to save Rhane and the child, but is forced to choose one in return for his own soul. He pulls a fastball and chooses Elixir, waking our favorite golden healer from his coma, who then saves Rhane and unborn child. Fast-thinking, Wolf-Guy. Or course, Vanisher makes his return to X-Force only to find out that Elixir already took a tumor out of him, but sticks around anyway.

Thor: Man of War #1 – Review

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Clay Mann (Pt. 1 Pencils), Victor Olazaba (Pt. 1 Inks), Paul Mounts (Pt 1. Colors), Patrick Zircher (Pt. 2 Art), and June Chung (Pt. 2 Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: For as much as I enjoy the more personal, down-to-earth Thor series, I find that the epic Matt Fraction one-shots better fit the bill for what I’m looking for in a Thor story. And why is that? Simply because the brutal action and sense of scale provide the perfect fix for a casual fan of the character like myself. Time to find out if Thor: Man of War lives up to the bar set by Ages of Thunder and Reign of Blood.

The Story: The destruction caused by Thor’s anger-fueled rampage catches the eye of his father, Odin. Feeling that he must respond in some way, Odin summons the Valkyrior warrior Brunnhilda to get Thor under control. Battling as adversaries but soon united by the need to survive a Storm Giant attack, Thor and Brunnhilda give Odin a reason to take matters into his own hands.

What’s Good: Everything that made Ages of Thunder and Reign of Blood creative successes is present in Man of War. If you liked the first two Fraction-helmed one-shots, then I am sure you will enjoy the latest one as well. Both parts of the story feature fantastic, action-driven artwork and fun, yet weighty, narration.

What’s Not So Good: The only thing negative I can say about Man of War is that it doesn’t feel like it holds quite as much substance as the chapters that preceded it. A lot of that has to do with the action-heavy storyline, but it is still worth mentioning. That said, the artwork during the action scenes mostly make up for any complaint about substance.

Conclusion: Fans of a more legendary take on the classic character will find something to like in the final chapter of Fraction’s epic. I highly recommend it, but be sure to track down the other two parts first.

Grade: A-

-Kyle Posluszny

Daredevil #111 – Review

By Ed Brubaker (Writer), Clay Mann (Penciler), Stefano Gaudiano (Inker), and Matt Hollingsworth (Colorist)

Sigh… I was that close.

I figured this was the perfect issue to stop buying Daredevil. A mediocre storyline had just wrapped up, there were no big subplots boiling, and Matt Murdock’s wife was catatonic… and only slightly less dynamic because of it. On top off all that, this issue’s villain bears the godawful name of “Lady Bullseye”.

Sadly for me, this issue is actually pretty good. Mann’s art is perfect for the book, clean yet full, like David Mazzucchelli’s work on Miller’s “Born Again” storyline. And Brubaker doesn’t feel like he’s phoning it in anymore. There’s some great dialogue at the beginning over whether Feng Shui is real or not, between Iron Fist and Dakota North. Remember when Dakota had her own series, back in the ’80’s? Nah, me neither. But I like the chemistry between her and Danny, her and Matt, her and… well, anybody. She’s a nice change of pace from the trainwrecks Matt usually dates. That’s right, folks; there’s a new complication in Daredevil’s love life. It’s not a spoiler if it’s the best reason to buy the book.

And what of Lady Eyesore herself? I guess no one will be surprised to learn she’s a psychotic ninja assassin with a Miller-esque interior monologue. Frankly, I’m not sure if Brubaker intended to create a new character, or wanted to use Bullseye and found he was tied up with the Thunderbolts. Anyway, she’s part of a larger scheme by the Hand to bring down Iron Fist, Black Tarantula, Wolverine, and “the Old Man”, (Stick, maybe? Last time I heard, he was dead, but that doesn’t mean much these days.)

To be honest, I’ll probably wait to see what the next issue looks like before I pick this one up, but this new storyline might actually be a good one. (Grade: B)

– Andrew C. Murphy

Immortal Iron Fist #14 – Review

Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker (writers) Tonci Zonjic, Clay Mann (pencilers, Stefano Gaudiano (inks), Kano (artist), Matt Hollingsworth (colors)

My interest in this series has waned in recent months. The absence of David Aja’s art, the drawn out storyline, and the lack of any sort of tournament (and fighting), has disappointed me immensely. There’s no denying that the plot we started off with was excellent, but it seems almost as if the writers had lost their way. With a double-sized finale, Immortal Iron Fist #14 marks one last attempt to right the ship and close out this storyline in a respectable manner.

The first thing I noticed was the complete absence of David Aja from the credits. Immediately, dread began to set in – especially upon noticing three artists dividing up the workload again. Last issue delivered mixed results with this team and this issue is no different. Much of the issue (drawn by Tonci Zonjic), is stiff and rigid. But once the battle reaches its peak, we are treated to some explosive, mind-numbing scenes by Clay Mann that rival David Aja’s best work on the series. Marvel would be wise to make Mann the succeeding penciler to this book.

As for the story, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction find a way to work the story out while giving us tons of fighting (that never gets boring), and adding a twist or two. The plot involving Davos has been an interesting one since the beginning and the way they resolve his character is worth applauding. I loved it. There’s some minor nitpicks here and there – most revolving around Nick Cage and his gang having their way a little too easy and the quick resolution to the Orson and Wendell plot thread – but otherwise, issue #14 is a strong effort and for one last time we get some of that Iron Fist magic from the original writing team. With Brubaker now gone from this title, it’ll be interesting to see how Matt Fraction carries on. Had the art been more consistent and good, I’d be giving this issue would be “A” material. (Grade: B+)

– J. Montes

A Second Opinion

I was never a big Iron Fist fan. Martial arts guys in the comics just weren’t my cup of tea. Recently a colleague at work insisted that I give the current Iron Fist series a try, loaning me a trade and a bunch of single issues, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Issue #14 is the conclusion of the “Seven Capital Cities of Heaven” story line and if you’ve been following it then there’s no way you’ll miss this one. Throughout the series, Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker have been flipping back and forth between the past and the present, creating a grand sweeping epic that’s definitely worth checking out. Don’t let the fact that this is the conclusion of a series turn you away if you’re a prospective new reader. You may find yourself intrigued enough to go back and fill in the story.

There’s enough good action here to satisfy any reader. We get a big revelation about an 8^th City of Heaven which most likely insures a return in the future. This issue nicely ties up various loose ends from the story while pointing the way to the immediate future for Danny Rand and associates. If the next story line is anything like this last one, then it should be a blast. (Grade: A)

– Arthur Cooke