Wolverine and the X-Men #5 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Nick Bradshaw (pencils and inks), Walden Wong (inks), Justin Ponsor (colors).

The Story: Beast loads the students onto the Magic School Bus!

-MILD SPOILER WARNING- I will be discussing a plot point from the middle of this issue, though rather obliquely. If you want the abridged version of my review, skip to the Conclusion.

What’s Good: You have to admire Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw. Wolverine and the X-Men is beautiful and rich, jolly and sentimental. It delivers high concept shenanigans and strong character development. And contains more plot in one issue than many 3-issue arcs in other books, without any plot threads feeling under-developed. In this issue alone, we watch Logan struggling to come up with the finances to fund the school, Angel as he loses control of his company, Kitty dealing with the ramifications of her apparent and sudden pregnancy, Quire getting sent into space, Doop acting as a substitute teacher, and the X-Kids taking a science class from Prof. Henry Philip McCoy.

I’ve been excited about seeing Beast in the classroom since the concept for this book was announced. And boy, is it awesome. The lesson plan for the day is a tour of the mutant body, courtesy of Pym shrinking technology. Nick Bradshaw renders the scene with an impeccable sense of wonder. Each panel is flooded with detail, and even on my third read-through I was noticing new antics in the background. (See if you can guess who is the ‘host’ for the students’ field trip before it’s revealed.) Justin Ponsor deserves praise as well for his bright, bubbly colors that match the energy of the script and artwork.

All of this would be enough to recommend this book, but Aaron and Bradshaw are also in lockstep with the characterization. When Angel re-discovers his position of privilege, he observes, “No one told me this. Otherwise, I could’ve been giving [all my wealth] away.” A few panels later, as the focus shifts to Wolverine and Iceman discussing the school’s financial woes, we see in the background that Angel has begun to remove all of this clothes; on-lookers chuckle and pull out camera phones. Little moments like this are all over the place in this issue, like Broo taking pictures of a uvula, Quire carving his name into capillaries, and a very pregnant-looking Kitty making a call to Colossus but hanging up before saying anything. The abundance of these moments gives the issue a palpable vitality that you simply will not find anywhere else on the stand.

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: The Initiative #20 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Dan Slott & Christos N. Gage (Writers), Steve Kurth (Pencils), Drew Hennessey (Inks), and Matt Milla (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Avengers: The Initiative #20 marks the end of Dan Slott’s run with the series. While it’s a bit sad to see him go considering how consistently entertaining the series has been since the very beginning, I have no doubt that Slott’s writing partner, Christos Gage, will effortlessly continue to carry the torch as The Initiative heads into Dark Reign. Time to find out if Slott leaves the series with a bang or a whimper.

The Story: The twentieth issue of Avengers: The Initiative is all about setting a course for the future while addressing a few things from the past. Translation? There is a hell of a lot going on at Camp Hammond. Here is just a taste of some of the plot points dealt with in the book: Hank Pym confronts the loss of his wife and his absence head on, the Shadow Initiative gets a new mission and a new leader as the identity of Mutant Zero is finally revealed, the Skrull Kill Krew deals with the consequences of its actions, and Ant-Man gets something of a promotion. There are a few more plot points as well, but I don’t want to mention everything in order to avoid spoilers.

What’s Good: As usual, Dan Slott and Christos Gage do a fantastic job juggling a cast of dozens without missing a beat. I could go on and on about the character work, but if you have been following the series (or have read another of my reviews for the series), you know how good the writers can be. And they are at the top of their game in this one. Couple all that good stuff with several intriguing plot developments and you have one heck of a good read.

What’s Not So Good: There are only two things about the issue that I consider to be a negative. The first is that the reveal of Mutant Zero’s identity is a bit of a letdown, especially considering that the character isn’t exactly a major player (or at least hasn’t been for a while). The second is that the artwork, while fine enough and totally serviceable, isn’t exactly noteworthy in any way, shape, or form.

Conclusion: Avengers: The Initiative #20 is a prime example of why I consider the series to be one of the best that Marvel puts out. If you haven’t checked it out already or bailed during Secret Invasion, now would be a great time to get on board. The character work is fantastic, the artwork is almost always strong, the storylines are compelling, and the impressive size of the rotating cast always keeps the series feeling incredibly fresh and unpredictable.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Mighty Avengers #15 (Secret Invasion) – Review

Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), John Romita Jr. (Breakdowns), and Klaus Janson & Tom Palmer (Finishes)

There’s a trope in bad movies and TV shows that’s almost as common as guy-being-tortured-spits-in-his-tormenter’s-face. In this scenario, a man and a woman are about to climb into bed together, when the woman pulls out a pair of handcuffs and smiles. The guy’s all like, oh yeah, do it to me, you naughty girl. And, of course, as soon as as he’s cuffed to the bed, she turns out to be working for the other side, and she pulls a gun on him, or calls the cops, or steals his money, or whatever. This scene always makes me want to shout at the screen, “You’re a secret agent, for God’s sake! How stupid do you have to be to let a strange woman tie you up?” Also, I doubt that many men really love being constrained during sex. I’ve always thought bondage was kind of, you know, kind of lame.

But all that’s changed now. In the latest issue of Mighty Avengers, Brian Michael Bendis once again refuses to advance the plot. Once again he gives us an issue-long flashback. This time it’s Henry Pym, Yellowjacket, who has moved to London with Janet after the whole Avengers:Disassembled fiasco. In one perfect little scene at the beginning, Bendis sums up their whole dysfunctional relationship: she’s been out drinking with fashionistas while he’s been in front of his computer all night. Finally she’s had enough and she takes off. Pym, in retaliation, shacks up with a beautiful little science-groupie who seems too good to be true, and is. We see her pumping him for information. We see her finally reveal herself and pound him into the floor. We see how a Skrull literally wraps herself in her new identity. We see that the whole Ultron Initiative was actually a ploy to get a handle on Stark’s new tech. And we see “Pym” give a very special gift to his ex-wife.

In other words, Bendis teases us the entire issue without ever getting back to the main storyline, giving us just enough to make us want more, to beg for more. He has us tied up, and I love it. I am now, officially, Brian Michael Bendis’ bitch.

The Secret Invasion is up there with the Kree-Skrull War, with the Mr. Mind saga, with Starlin’s Warlock, and this issue is another key piece in the whole grand puzzle. (Grade: A+)

– Andrew C. Murphy

A Second Opinion

For me, this the team that worked on this issue is a dream. It doesn’t get much better than this. And as enamored as I am with said creative team, I have to disagree with my comrade on his assessment of this issue. Sure, it’s a good issue – heck it’s a great issue, but I wouldn’t say it’s one of the best things I’ve read this year. The reason I say this is because I wouldn’t call this a true stand-alone story. Yes, it deals with just one character in particular, but overall, this is just another piece of the Secret Invasion puzzle.

What makes this book excellent is that it shows how clever Brian Bendis is. The seeds he’s planted over the past year are finally sprouting and as you can expect, there’s a reason for everything. Each plot, no matter how throw away they’ve been (like that female Ultron storyline), suddenly becomes legitimate. This is another “connecting the dots” issue that clearly shows how Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (and us readers) have been played for fools. It also finally answers the question if the real Ant-Man has always been the abusive husband or if his Skrull counterpart is. So is it worth picking up? Most definitely. The story is engaging and the art, pure Romita Jr. “goodness”. (Grade: A-)

– J. Montes