Avengers Assemble #17 – Review

By: Kelly Sue DeConnick (story), Matteo Buffagni/Pepe Larraz (art), Nolen Woodard (colors)

The Story: The enemy within is revealed and the Avengers battle him/her on several fronts.

The Review: It can be frustrating and inconvenient to follow multi-part crossovers, particularly when chapters of the story appear in a title that you don’t normally read.  Despite my affection for the character, I dropped Captain Marvel almost a year ago because the time-traveling Thelma and Louise storyline just didn’t hold my interest.  It hasn’t helped that the Captain Marvel title in which this story would have started disappeared from the shelves for 2 issues, then was resurrected for an issue and will have the concluding chapter of this story. Between this nonsense and the ridiculous “death” of Peter Parker, Marvel is doing everything is can to drive fans nuts. I understand the effort is to sell comic books, but it seems disrespectful.

Despite being one of the most three dimensional heroines in the Marvel universe, the current Avengers Assemble doesn’t carve out any new character edges for Carol Danvers. As Ms. Marvel, Carol was an enormously powerful, capable and at times ferocious fighter as well as a charismatic and effective tactician and team leader. In this story arc her powers are seriously curtailed, yet she remains a tough and resilient warrior. An ancient enemy that Carol believes dead has returned to use her in order to conquer earth and destroy her in the process. The Avengers meet the global threat, but this is Carol’s story.

The penultimate chapter of the story arc is all action. Each member of the Avengers is dispatched to suppress the rise of an untold number of sleeper Kree robot soldiers and despite each hero’s best efforts, the odds are just too great and the enemy within completes his ultimate weapon, crippling and disabling Captain Marvel in the process. Things look extremely bleak for our heroes virtually guaranteeing my purchase of the Captain Marvel title that will wrap up the story.

Ultimate Comics Iron Man #2 Review

By: Nathan Edmondson (Writer), Matteo Buffagni (Artist), Andy Troy (Colorist), Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

The Review: I get the impression that the Ultimate Comics editorial team is fairly flexible with their corner of canon, happy to let new creators come on board and add to their characters’ mythologies with a decent degree of autonomy. If they hit Gold the plot can perhaps be worked into the relevant ongoing title and if it’s bad it can always be glossed over – anything in the middle is just a neat story, a satisfying extension of the universe. In the case of Ultimate Comics Iron Man I’ve little doubt that this will turn out to be an enjoyable standalone tale, but I also have modest hopes that it could be something more. Edmondson seems to be aiming high, attempting to expand upon the hero’s more permanent roster of confidants and rogues, and to delve into some of the more divisive moments in the character’s formative years. Not a bad idea at all, especially considering that Tony Stark is perhaps one of the more overlooked characters in the Ultimate line.

After surviving the Mandarin’s tech-orientated attack on his company and armour last month, this issue picks up with Tony taking stock of the fallout and setting out a plan to get to the bottom of who or what exactly the Mandarin is. He’s soon joined by the President’s Chief of Staff, Carol Danvers, who’s keen to do the same, even if she has to dodge some of that famous Stark ‘charm’ to do so – Tony’s all over her like an Extremis cocoon but is swiftly put in his place. A little bit of probing and discussion prompts a quick trip across the Pacific to Hong Kong and the source of the cyber-attack, an investigation that goes awry with the interjection of yet more troublesome attack drones and a further breach of Tony’s now drastically compromised armour.

Daken: Dark Wolverine #21

Written by Rob Williams, Art by Matteo Buffagni, Andrea Mutti, & Riley Rossmo

The Cancellation: First, poor Rob Williams. Two titles canceled that were far better than most of the garbage that comes out every month. And with the plot lines he lay out, it’s a shame Daken got the axe. Hopefully Brubaker will pick up the dangling Daken/Winter Soldier fight that has been left in the air. Also, with Moon Knight ending, is the Count Nefaria plot going nowhere? I’ve been enjoying Daken’s schemes. It’s like he filled the void of manipulation that (adult) Loki left behind.

The Writing: At this point, Williams knows his series is ending, and it’s not for creative reasons. Some writers handle this by phoning it in and giving garbage because…why should they care? Williams doesn’t do that. He seems to be the other kind of writer–if you’re going to go out, go out in a blaze of glory. He digs all the way back to the first arc of Daken, back when it was still a Wolverine title with issue 75, and Daken manipulated the Fantastic Four into supporting him. Turns out, he still has them under his thumb and Johnny still thinks he and Daken are best friends. It was an odd scene, but rewarding to those who have followed Daken since he got his own series way back during Dark Reign. The scene also sets up some exposition nicely. Daken has really messed up his healing factor using the Heat drug, and now it’s attacking his body. What was supposed to be a story about a man building something becomes a story about a man facing his own demise. And he handles this exactly as you’d expect Wolverine’s psychopath son to handle it…but I won’t spoil that here. But this is very much a final stand kind of story, and I’m interested in seeing how Williams concludes his run.