Ragnarök #1 – Review

By: Walter Simonson (writer & artist), Laura Martin (colorist)

The Story: “Would you know yet more?”

The Review: Full of strange ideas and epic dramas, Walter Simonson’s Thor remains one of the go-to answers when someone asks what they should read to get into Marvel’s god of thunder. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to hear that Simonson’s return to the realm of Norse Mythology has been hotly anticipated. But despite the undoubted similarity between the forms, Ragnarök #1 resembles traditional sword and sorcery more than the traditional fare of the Norse gods, Marvel-style or otherwise.

In fact, in keeping with the name, there are no gods in this issue, save for what appears to be a corpse in a couple of panels. Instead we explore the post-twilight world through the eyes of Brynja, a svartálfr or black elf. Brynja is an interesting protagonist for this story. While she’s certainly not busting down stereotypes of women or black elves, Simonson does a fine job of representing her complexity and competency. Despite holding the questionable position of assassin, Brynja shows remarkable compassion for her family and has a rather charming relationship with her husband and former sword master, Regn. All of this is expressed in a matter of pages and done in a way that, while it doesn’t sneak information to the reader, is integrated into the story well enough that readers won’t ever feel spoken down to.

Ragnarök obviously rewards those who have some familiarity with Norse mythology but, like many comics, it will likely be the expectation of not understanding that proves the greater barrier than Simonson’s writing. Indeed, much of the content is original and the Thor movies should provide enough background knowledge for most topics raised. As long as you come in with a basic understanding that the Norse gods were prophesized to die and that this was called Ragnarök, you should be able to get your feet, if not understand every nuance.

Dark Avengers #190 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Neil Edwards (Artist), Sotocolor (Colorist)

The Story: The Dark Avengers discover the secret of this bizarre future and manages to save themselves and the world from what would destroy it.

The Review: Jeff Parker is capable of many things. He is a talented writer that seems to have a gift for characterization and development. Give him a character that is in sore need of definition and love and he’ll make wonders. He did this with the Red Hulk, the multiple villains from Thunderbolts, the golden age characters from Agent of Atlas among other characters. He can create depth and new angle to old tired character which makes him very enjoyable to read or pick new characters that seems to be set in a boring direction and set them up for much more enjoyable adventures.

Believe it or not, while he seemed to have trouble sometimes in this current arc in this strange new world of his, he succeeds in giving us a potable story thanks to a satisfying conclusion. In short, what he gives us is an explanation that is genuinely new and interesting on just how this world came to be and how twisted the reasons for its existence. When the whole reasoning is given, it does manage to bring out some theory and makes the whole story stronger for it.

Dark Avengers #185 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer) Neil Edwards (Artist), Chris Sotomayor (Colorist)

The Story: June Covington discovers more about the strange world she is in while this world’s version of Doctor Strange uses Moonstone and Skaar for his devious plans.

The Review: If there is one thing that Jeff Parker excels at, it’s writing smaller and lesser-known character, some of them unpopular and making them great. He’s done so during his run on Thunderbolts with various characters, but most prominently with General Thunderbolt Ross in Hulk. He can create wholly original stories set to those characters, making us root for them although there are several reasons why we shouldn’t in the first place. It is a pity however that he cannot seem to do the same with the Dark Avengers so far, as there is most assuredly potential here for him to work with. A bunch of unknown, almost blank slates characters just there for the grab, ready to be developed by someone with the talent and attitude to do so. The problem here, I do believe, lies in the pacing.

Dark Avengers #182 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Neil Edwards (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Chris Sotomayor (colors)

The Story: Thunderbolts versus the Dark Avengers = Michael Jackson versus Justin Bieber.

The Review: Much as we claim to prefer surprises and spontaneity in our lives, I’m guessing that in reality, we’d hate it if the real world was that unpredictable.  The random weekend trip or birthday party at work aside, I think most of us would be perfectly content if more things went the way we expect them to.  The one place where we will never enjoy predictability is in our fiction.  Lord forgive the story where you can guess what’ll happen next, without much effort.

Unfortunately, Dark Avengers doesn’t have a prayer left.  Last month, probably like most of you, I saw Boss Cage’s turnaround coming from a mile away, and once that happened, I knew the Thunderbolts coming back to the present day to kick their replacements’ butts and save the world from a semi-hypothetical dystopian future was guaranteed.  It’s one of those situations where I’m actually a little sad to be proven correct (and believe me, I love being right).

Dark Avengers #181 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Neil Edwards (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Chris Sotomayor (colors)

The Story: We solved all our energy problems and the world’s still ending anyway.  Figures.

The Review: I just caught wind of the upcoming, new Thunderbolts series, which will feature an entirely different cast and set of creators.  While I certainly understand the promise of putting a major badass in charge of some of the most recognizable Marvel antiheroes, I simply think the idea has been tried and tested in Uncanny X-Force.  Besides, I seriously doubt the replacements will be nearly as much fun as the current crew.

Maybe I should amend that last bit and say, “nearly as much fun as the current crew used to be.”  Once upon a time, I looked forward to this series each month because I could depend on it to provide a solid, entertaining read.  Ever since it got rebranded, the energy and personality of the series has steadily declined until it has now become this bloated, overdone mass of inert chaos.

Dark Avengers #180 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Neil Edwards (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Chris Sotomayor (colors)

The Story: Boss Cage better hope there’s a generous retirement package waiting for him.

The Review: I’ve made it kind of a maxim here that it doesn’t matter so much what the story is; it’s all about the execution.  I guess I neglected to mention that the story still matters; if you’re working off of weak material, the execution will suffer proportionately.  Parker’s work ever since this title became Dark Avengers must be the first time I’m experiencing a case where his execution is solid, but he’s just not telling a story worth hearing.

Even looking just at the Thunderbolts issues I reviewed, you felt a stronger investment there than here.  Part of the reason was at the time, Parker only had to write these time-traveling two-issue arcs, so he didn’t really have any loftier aim than to have fun and entertain.  Then, too, we had a tighter cast to focus on, so we had more time to listen to them argue and banter, again all for the sake of fun and entertainment.

Dark Avengers #179 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Gabriel Hernandez Walta & Kev Walker (art), Frank Martin Jr. (colors)

The Story: The Thunderbolts find a future not worth fighting for.

The Review: Lately, I’ve started to notice that this title is getting to be one of the harder ones to review week after week.  On the one hand, Parker always manages to deliver a technically solid issue with plenty of stuff going on, and he never writes anything that’s outright bad.  On the other hand, he doesn’t write anything all that remarkable either.  Sometimes I’ll read an entire issue of Dark Avengers (formerly Thunderbolts) and enjoy it, but forget all about it afterwards.

Maybe it has something to do with the cast of mostly C-listers, but I tend not to think so.  After all, Secret Six was composed entirely on nobodies, yet I followed their adventures with total devotion every month, while I sort of just breeze through this series.  No, I think what’s really missing from the book is a total dearth of character arcs.  To date, I still haven’t gotten a sense of change or growth from any of the Thunderbolts.  They proceed through all their adventures with a lot of enthusiasm, but they don’t come out of them any different than they started.

Dark Avengers #178 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Kev Walker & Declan Shalvey (art), Frank Martin Jr. (colors)

The Story: Invasion of the Dark Avengers!  The Future of the Thunderbolts!

The Review: You have to wonder why, of all the titles Marvel puts out, Dark Avengers now gets a twice monthly release.  It may be a solid series, but it’s not as if there was a huge demographic of readers demanding a double dose of it.  More likely than not, this schedule will keep on so long as the team itself continues to be split in two, requiring two issues to give a month’s worth of sufficient coverage to their exploits.

And while I don’t have any problem with that as a rule, it does feel a bit irritating having to divide your attention between two completely separate plotlines that have seemingly nothing to do with each other.  You really come away from the issue feeling like you’re reading two different titles in one—namely, a respectable Thunderbolts adventure and a just-slightly-north-of-dull Dark Avengers mission.

Dark Avengers #177 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Kev Walker & Declan Shalvey (art), Frank Martin Jr. & Antonia Fabela (colors)

The Story: Doctor Doom learns that when you want something done right…

The Review: If you hang out with me long enough, you’ll learn that I am a horrible creature of habit.  Once I get used to a certain routine, it takes a near miracle for me to break out of it, even when I really want to change.  On that note, I completely missed seeing this title on the stands last week because, I can only suppose, that the subconscious part of my brain that recognizes comics for pick up still had Thunderbolts inscribed on it.

(As further evidence of my habit-forming ways, I’ll add that this week I bought an issue of Supergirl even though I Dropped the series last month.  For what it’s worth: repetitive, doesn’t play into its potential, forced romantic overtones, and okay art.  Snap judgment grade: C.)

Dark Avengers #175 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Declan Shalvey (art), Frank Martin Jr. (colors)

The Story: I can’t believe it’s not the Avengers!

The Review: Title changes do absolutely nothing for me, good or bad, unless they come with creative changes—or unless the new title is just plain heinous.  Dark Avengers may strike you as no less silly than Justice League Dark, but it’s no more silly either (and actually, it’s quite a bit less).  And since we have the exact same creative team as when the series was still Thunderbolts, what do I care if they change their name to Dark Avengers or The Kinda Evil, Kinda Not Squad?

Yes, that last one is a joke, but it does get to the essence of the team, no?  Only originally, it referred to the general, moral character of the members.  With the exception of Luke Cage, Songbird, and Mach-V (the fully reformed), the rest of the T-bolts all come with a funky mix of criminal tendencies and heroic aspirations.  This issue introduces a new set of ‘Bolts—and they are still called as such, so you have to question the point of renaming the book at all—and it turns out most of them are just plain villains.

Valkyrie #1 – Review

By: Bryan J.L. Glass (writer), Phil Winslade (artist), Veronica Gandini (colorist), Dave Lanphear (letterer)

The Story: Taking place between Avengers Disassembled and Secret Invasion, this story is about a woman called Valerie, who was murdered and resurrected minutes later as a confused Valkyrie. Then she fights Pile Driver.

What’s Good: I liked the lettering for Val’s inner monologue and… Well, that’s it. I’d really like my money and time back.

What’s Not So Good: This is the most disappointing comic book I’ve picked up since those Green Arrow issues around #21 and the Titans cross-over with Jericho. Cover to cover. I have more than a passing familiarity with Valkyrie, but even the first page synopsis (…the story so far…) confused me with not only obtuse sentences, but with grammatically poor and ambiguous writing. It got no better as the plot started moving. So Pile Driver tries to rape a girl, who throws herself off a balcony. She is resurrected as Valkyie by those paddles they use for heart attack guys. OK. I’ll spend my suspension of disbelief to buy that Val’s got some grudge against Pile Driver and that she’ll pick a suitable host to come back in. Thereafter, her memory problems, confused and cliché internal monologue, and reactions are all tepid and uninteresting. I’ve already seen it in other comics where the story was phoned in. Didn’t like it there either. I thought for a minute the story would pick up with Janet Van Dyne acting as some sort of symbolic fairy godmother, but her superficiality and faux-deep platitudes (and apparently quick mood changes) made her a detractor in a story that already wasn’t doing well. The ending, where Val catches up with Pile Driver, seems to make no sense from Pile Driver’s motivation, nor the coincidences that gave Val the info as to where he might be. Val’s character arc in all this (ie: what is she struggling with?) was muddy, unconvincing and poorly shown in the writing.

Thor #610 – Review

by Kieron Gillen (writer), Doug Braithwaite (art), Andy Troy, Doug Braithwaite, & Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: The heroes of Asgard come to grips with Siege’s aftermath, while Thor concludes his unfinished business with his clone.

What’s Good: This issue of Thor does what needs to be done in positioning the series, and the Asgardian status quo, moving into the Heroic Age as a time of rebuilding.   I like where this series is going.  Partly, it’s because not everything is being reversed; for instance, I like the fact that Balder is going to remain king.

Then there’s Kelda, who’s left in a very interesting position after this month’s issue.  This is most particularly due to the painfully “sort of, but not quite” return of a much beloved character.  Just seeing this character in an issue of Thor that isn’t a flashback was a heartwarming moment that’ll fill any reader with a desperate kind of hope.

I’m also pleased that Thor’s clone is dealt with.  This is a piece of history that needs dealing with and this resolution is perfectly timed by Gillen.  The character is a clear representation of Civil War and the past and thus, having this character dealt with is a symbolic step forward, away from the past and into a fresher, brighter new era.