Marvel What Now?

It would be nice to stop renumbering and revamping and re-branding , because the Marvel Now launched last year is already being re-branding with another Now label and new set of books, It's tiring really and the 2nd time around losses it's significance. They announced the return of Peter Parker which I commented on when the original Superior thing came about is that it would never stick when the movie came around and I was proved right.

Superior Spider-man was a great read,  the art was a little iffy at time and there is no way Thor should not have wiped the floor with him by himself, the ghost of Peter shows up and we see the beginning of the end for the Ock Spider.

Iron-man 20 proved to be a much improved read on every front. The art work was much better, the story less convoluted it felt like a classic comic, as they squared off against Red Peril, who is like th Chelsea Handler of super villains if she was a flaming ginger.

Thor 17 was an improvement from the blasted god-slayer arc, the art work is not as good as it was when the book was first called god of thunder and I would like to seem more action on Midgard or at least a balance.

Savage Wolverine, number one needed to be renumbered only because of the different the book has taken, which is under whelming though  I  can see where someone might like the art work but it really isn't my thing. Wolverine 13 was ok not great , it looks to be the last issue before the relaunch and the new Wolverine 1.


Leading the X-pack hands down is All New X-men, issue 21 keeps up the good work and works them into the bigger picture of the Marvel universe with out being too heavy handed.Otherwise As far as obtuse X-titles go Cable and the X-force was pretty decent. The Bishop/Hope fight was nothing special, but there's a better fight they followed it up with in the ever confusingly titled Uncanny X-force, yes there's two X-force titles now.

The words final issue on the cover of Fantastic Four only means the final issue of this numbering, or like on t.v, the final episode of this season, next season they will be back with a new number one. The mash up with the Doom, Kang Annihilus was a little silly ,as the merging of the Fantastic Fours, but the art was decent.  

Comics For Dummies?

Either you are part of the problem or part of the solution when it comes to comics these days. It's bad enough they have become marketing fodder for the movies they not promote or they are stories spread too thin by arcs like Infinity, which would have been wrapped up in a couple issue back in the glory days of comics in the 70's and 80's . But now you have idiots like blogger Doug Zawisza of Comic Book Resources who encourages the dummy down for the audience tact that Marvel has taken trying to lure in new readers by numbering comics with a one.

Here's the news... kids are introduced to comics though cartoons and mass media, then they buy the books, It does not matter what number is on the front. If you can not pick up a comic book and jump in at whatever point the story is at then you are either too dumb and need to go back to Curious George or it's bad writing.
When I was a kid, I grabbed whatever was on the spinning metal rack at the gas station and started reading from there. There were no special allowances made for children in the 80's and why should there be now.

A good story is going to be a good story no matter where it begins, Star Wars is a prime example, sure they gave you in the in a Galaxy Far Far Away in the opening sequence , but from there you jumped into the world and figured out who Darth Vader was and what the parameters for the Force were all without the benefit of a Wiki page. In fact that is what makes collecting comics so much fun is you get to dig back into the back issues and discover the history of canon all on your own. If that is not instant gratification for your tiny mind, you can go to the web and dive into a bottomless rabbit hole of links to catch up.

So to say a story needs to be more approachable to new comers means, dummy it down for stupid kids these day because they can't figure out a story as complex as the Avengers having a cook out on the top of the building. Sure it was not a big epic story, deptie catching a run away planet, but it was a lot of fun and if new readers could not catch on the problem is the lack of special education programs in American schools.

The best part of the story to me was the fact characters who should have never been Avengers in the first place like Wolverine and Spider-man are getting cut. Now if they can ditch Avengers A.I and get Pym and Vision back on board to replace the New Mutants and Hyperion we will be better off.    

The Week In Comics

I like X-23 on the All New X-men. In fact I like her more than Wolverine these days.

I am not sure why this Amazing Spider-man  point whatever is a thing. Where does this fall in cannon?

Avengers Assemble was fun up to a point, then the art work for the depiction of the Hulk was so bad it soured the book for me.

Daredevil 34 , was great , I liked the Dr Strange cameo...of course, Murdock, hasn't been a character I really care about but they continue to make this feel more and more like a super hero book.

Deadpool 21... There's a hit on Wade, the art was a little weak, but the story was fun, I might keep reading, the Deadpool fatigue has worn off.

FF 15 Continues the goofiness the book seems to use as it's calling card. Doom isn't even taken seriously , and the Baxter Building's day care center fighting the battle a s a video game , works in theory. I still hate the art this one was no exception.

Fantastic Four 15- There was still a mess of time traveling dimensional shifting jumble going on, with too many character from too many dimension, the book felt crowded ,but things came together. I liked the Doom/Kang/Annihilus combination. The art redeemed the books weak spots.

Indestructible Hulk 17 was a well written thrill ride. Banner at odds with Toney Stark never gets old. It looks like in the next issues it will be less of what McCoy called a hot potato game and more of a throw down. Curious as to what beasts current strength level is these days. Though Pym, Stark and Beast vs the Hulk, will still be a major beatdown  as the Hulk has taken on much more capable teams of Avengers.

Scarlet Spider-man 25 - They are really trying to make more distinction between Kaine and Parker, aside from clones  and things. The spider -monster freak out Kaine does is interesting , and I suppose turning into a big monster is not just a Banner thing.

Secret Avengers...is well, better written than in the past, Not sure what purpose Banner has on the team, think they should use another Hulk, why not A-Bomb or Skaar?  Betty Ross? Taskmaster takes a bullet to the head , how will they write themselves out of that corner.

Superior Spider-man 24- This book was getting good and now its getting better despite the very spider-man three dark turn. I look forward to the throw down with the Avenger in issue 25...Thor's on the team so it should be a quick fight even with Ock in the Venom suit. Superior Spider Man team up 8 which features Namor's war with the Black Panther spilling over into it's pages was an enjoyable read.

Thor - God of  Thunder- 16 The book was a much better read now they have gotten out of that cursed god-killer arc, it read more like a dungeons and dragons game.I think the book has wandered around of world for too long and think writers avoid being able to write a good Thor story on Earth, hel the last one was the Doom story leading into Siege. Thor drunk talking to his hammer was good stuff so it shows the most potential of getting better than it has in some time.

Thunderbolts Annual - I don't like getting ripped off when it comes to comics billed as a good old versus. In this case Dr.Strange vs the Thunderbolt, but it turned out to be a Cthulhu lite who took Dr. Strange's form. The first half ot the book is the team collecting majick weapons to fight strange with and it's more fun than the actual fight which is not much of a fight when it goes down.

Uncanny Avengers 15 continues to prove why this book is always duking it out with All New X-men and Superior Spider-man to best the cream of Marvel's crop. This book beats those tow. Sentry fights both Wasp and Thor. The verdict against Thor is still out as his power set has shifted here, but it looks like he can hand Thor a beating here. The Cap does his best against the Apocalypse kids.

Uncanny X-force - was just o.k good to see Puck around. X-men is not much better. I could have told you the all Female team would be boring as shit. Enchantress showing up is at least something to look forward to. The only reason I read Young Avengers, which I am writing about after these X-books is it feels like New Mutants to me, is for Skaar, and its a shame to see him wasted in a book about teen drama.  .  

Was Infinity Worth it ?

While the final issue was a lot of fun. Hulk did some smashing and Thor got have at them, was it worth all the tie-ins and the six issues it took to get there? If the big take away from this, that was the ramifications this was hyped to have in the Marvel Universe,  is now In-humans are going to pop up on earth.I think that was a pretty overblown lead in. If you look at the golden age of comic or even the best decade for comics the 8o's we would have gotten a lot more in a lot less time.

It all came down to a show down with the Avengers vs Thanos. One of the classic comic book writers could have pulled this together in three issues at most, two would have been pretty concise. So every thing else was long winded marketing.

This was no Secret Wars, which as simplistic as the off world Contest of Champions was, still was better written than this year's supposedly big event. With secret wars we got the symbiotic suit, Hulk going mindless, Thing staying on another planet and She-Hulk going the Fantastic Four, a new Spider-Woman, Titania and Wasp beating the X-men all by herself.

One thing it did accomplish taking Marvels end game in mind is it set the stage for the inter galactic universe and put it the spotlight, so they can continue to set up Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket Raccoon and friends did appear but did not have as major of a role as you would think they would.But of all the big events this one has to be the most disappointing and was not as much fun as Avengers vs X-men, Siege or WWH.    

Scarlet Witch Found Dead

Scarlet Witch was found dead in the pages of Uncanny Avengers issue 14.While tragic and raising many questions this also might be one of my favorite books of the year. Also among the casualties were Rogue and possibly Daken, though no word yet on if the healing factors of either will counter act this dramatic turn of the murderous writer Rick Remender. The where abouts of Wonder-Man are also unknown as it appeared his ionic form dissipated , when Wanda finished a spell to raise mutants before she died.

The issue which was penciled by one of Marvels best artists Steve Mcniven, was full of action and blood shed, with a really cool plot development of Kang going into future time-lines to build a team of future Villains to take on the Avengers , the team looks to include Iron-Man of 2020, Venom-girl, and future Doom.

The deaths that dominated the violence, even after Wolverine said no one dies, occurred in the books second act, Wanda and Simon, engaged in a ritual to raise mutants , but Rogue thought it was another no more mutants thing, so she kills Wanda, using claws she borrowed from Logan. Rogue was then killed by Grim Reaper shortly after wolverine went berserk and killed his son.

So much like the Peter Parker less Spider-man , does anyone think that Scarlet Witch is going to stay dead when she is being introduced in the Avengers 2 ? Of course if Rogue had absorbed Logan's claws then she had his healing ability. Daken was a Horseman of Apocalypse so he had his healing amped up if not immortalized. So what does this death filled issue really mean? It was entertaining, and I don't like knowing I am going to say good by to Wanda even if it just for a year as she is one of my favorite Marvel characters, but hasn't she already died before, is Marvel giving all heroes a Buffy " I've Died Twice" cards?

In other news Paul Rudd is days away from signing the paper work on becoming Ant-man, leaving Gordon Joesph Levitt in the Dr. Strange slot and Rashida Jones remains the contender for the part of Wasp.
             

The New Wave of Marvel Now

With a new wave of Marvel Now titles coming out lets take a look at what the future holds. Aside from a new Daredevil and Miracle Man look for the titles below.

All-New Ghost Rider	March 2014	Writer Felipe Smith Artist Tradd Moore	There is a new Ghost Rider- who is not Blaze , and he  might even be hispanic, since his name is Robbie Reyes. Expect this to be in the same vein as what they have done with Nova, since he is a high school kid becoming a super-hero, in Marvels attempt to bring in a younger audience.
All-New Invaders	January 2014	Writer James Robinson Artist Steve Pugh	the original Invaders (Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Namor, and the original Human Torch)   battle against the Kree in modern times, how many titles does Cap need?
All-New X-Factor	January 2014	Writer Peter David Artist Carmine Di Giandomenico	A SH.I.E.L.D approved mutant team, with Polaris, Quicksilver and Gambit.  If Peter David is still behind the wheel then , if you like X-books this will be worth reading.
Avengers Undercover	March 2014	Writer Dennis Hopeless Artist Kev Walker	The Avengers arena kids try to pull a Thunderbolts on the Masters of Evil.  This really depends on who comes over. X-23 hopefully makes the cut.
Avengers World	January 2014	Writer Nick Spencer Jonathan Hickman Artist Stefano Caselli	It's being called the global Avengers but which is what is being established in Infinity, how many Avengers books do we need and are the Avengers not already protecting the world in Earth's Mightiest Heroes?
Black Widow	January 2014	Writer Nathan Edmondson Artist Phil Noto	So it's take Hawkeye and add more James Bond elements,  I don't see this book lasting very long.
Captain Marvel	March 2014	Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick Artist David Lopez	This is going to take her off Earth and meet up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, the mistakes being made here could be taking away the more human elements of the character.
Elektra	March 2014	Writer Zeb Wells Artist Mike Del Mundo	Elektra becomes a hunter of assassins has a list of targets to hunt that are even deadlier than her. Hopefully this means she is taken off Thunderbolts.
Fantastic Four	February 2014	Writer James Robinson Artist Leonard Kirk	Johnny Storm is going to take center stage and see the team dealing with a more dramatic scope of problems.
Inhuman	January 2014	Writer Matt Fraction Artist Joe Maduiera	The Inhuman's are forced out of the closet as they begin springing up on earth in the wake of Infinity. I thought the point of Inhumans is its like Game of Thrones on the moon, so whats the point of this.
Iron Patriot	March 2014	Writer Ales Kot Artist Garry Brown	In taking from the movieverse James Rhodes is the Iron Patriot, not Norman Osborne, which makes for a much less interesting character, because wasn't he a cyborg now at this point.
Loki: Agent of Asgard	February 2014	Writer Al Ewing Artist Lee Garbett	Loki, grows up into a version shockingly or not much more like the popular screen depiction of the character. How much of a villain will be he ?
Ms. Marvel	February 2014	Writer G. Willow Wilson Artist Adrian Alphona	We know about the shape shifting  Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old American Muslim girl. Expect this to fizzle out after the novelty and hyper wears off.
New Warriors	February 2014	Writer Christopher Yost Artist Marcus To	The new team  has the old favorites Speedball, Justice, and  Nova plus a host new characters    a human, an Inhuman, a Demigod an Atlantean And a Clone by the name of Scarlet Spider. Seems likea they are trying to hard to push the Inhumans thing.
The Punisher	February 2014	Writer Nathan Edmonson Artist Mitch Gerads	Frank Castle,  moves to Hollywood, so expect it to be more like Ray Donovon.
Secret Avengers	March 2014	Writer Ales Kot Artist Michael Walsh	Spider-Woman is now on the team, this book really need to regain some focus.
She-Hulk	February 2014	Writer Charles Soule Artist Javier Pulido	For course I am looking for to this book hopefully it doesn't go too Sex in the City.
Silver Surfer	March 2014	Writer Dan Slott Artist Mike Allred	Once again Norrin Rad  has severed  his ties to Galactus , I'd say the Spider-man writer has the best shot at doing something interesting here, this will be a book to watch.
X-Force	February 2014	Writer Simon Spurrier Artist Rock-he Kim	Cable leads this team don't really see it doing much differently than the books current state,

Thor 2 the Dark World

There's good news and there is bad news to this one. First off , its better than first movie, if for no other reason than the fact , Thor has his powers the entire time. The movie is much more action, based it goes into at least three of the 9 realms , not all of them like the promo interviews claimed and if a fun watch. 

Hemworth is starting to get the character and fill out into his role, though often rather than being a quiet stoic of few words, he offers up his little inspirational good guy speeches. Granted the character has been written a few different ways in the past, but a love for Jane Foster as his motivation for not ruling up in Asgard, isn't cutting it. 

The big elephant in the room is the lack of god, power and the cinematic version not , following the mythos or mythology close enough. At one point Odin tells Loki, they are not gods, to they live and die, Loki retorts by saying they do live give or take 5000 years more than humans. So Asgardians are in aliens who live 5000 years longer than humans, are good with majick , but no different other wise. Wrong, this is not how they are depicted in the comic book. 

There are 750000, pagans in the U.S alone, so you are telling all of us , that our gods are not gods , I find this offensive, it nagged at me through out the entire movie, so the sequences that jolted me out of this resentment were obviously good enough to do that. If Disney is the reason behind this you would think, they would be o.k with having Hercules be related to gods as he was depicted  in the cartoon version, then Thor would be no different, why the change of heart? 

It effects the movie as a whole because Asgard then becomes this science fiction planet like Krypton was depicted in Man of Steel , and we have laser cannons and rocket boat, not to mention elves in space ships which is like something from Santa Claus vs the Aliens. Another big no no, is Freya dies and gets sent off on the funeral pyre, and no Valkyries swoop down to take her to Valhalla. There goes a missed opportunity to introduce that character, so don't expect her to show up in Neflix's Defenders show, and of course Dr. Strange is going to need some alien technology to explain his majick. 

Kurse's original helmet worn ,when the character first appears was more like his comic appearance, than the Predator he would turn into. The big showdown fights were all well done and the action paid off in a big way. 

So while a fun action jammed film, that offers a more balanced use to Earth and Asgard, it's more a problem of tone.Loki almost stole the show, and Sif was not as developed as it was claimed she would be. The little mocking blip of Captain America showing up, was funny and cool, The sneak peak into Guardians of the Galaxy with the Collector popping up was pretty cool, not sure if the Captain America end scene will link into that as well or set up Avengers 2. 

Overall as superhero movies go they are becoming overblown attempts to be bigger than the next, but anyone afraid how Thor 2 stacks up against the Avengers , well it holds its own and I would say it's better than any of the Iron-Man sequels.  Iron-man and Iron-man 3 are both better than the first Thor, sayings a lot considering how Thor is one of my favorite characters, alongside the Hulk and Dr. Strange .  Its worth seeing on the big screen and you will get  your  money's worth of spectacle out of it.