Saying Goodbye to One's Real-Life Heroes

Within the course of one week, two people who have made an impact in my life in completely different ways have passed away. One was the renowned comic-book creator Gerry Alanguilan and the other was the revered lawyer Sabino Padilla, Jr. Most of the people who read this blog will no doubt be familiar with the former, though not the latter, but even though this is my "pop culture" blog I thought it fitting to give an obituary for both of them here, because as different as they may have been, in one way they were strikingly similar people.

To get straight to the point, both Gerry and Atty. Bing, hugely successful in their own areas of professional expertise, devoted their lives to advocacy far bigger than themselves and their own personal advancement. Gerry, an incomparably talented illustrator, will just as likely be remembered for the fact that he championed the preservation of Filipino Komiks as an art form, and fought for the rights of creators to a just share of the money earned by their creations. Atty. Bing, for his part, shunned big corporate accounts and defended the interest of clients who, generally, couldn't fight for themselves.

Both these men, in short fought for causes bigger than themselves; they took a stand on issues, not always the most popular one, but always the most principled one. They were utterly inspiring to me, both for their consummate mastery of their craft and their I may have known Atty. Bing a lot better than Gerry, but I will remember them both fondly, always.

May you both find your eternal reward, gentlemen.

Still Going Strong: A Review of Runaways (2017 series) Vol. 4: "But You Can't Hide"

written by Rainbow Rowell
illustrated by Andres Genolet (with Niko Henrichon)
colored by Matt Wilson

As much as I had enjoyed this resurrection of the Runaways ongoing so far, with the departure of series "co-resuscitator" Kris Anka, I was quite saddened and not really looking forward to the next volume without him. I was pleasantly surprised, then to find that his replacement Andres Genolet (who gets an ever-so-slight helping hand from Niko Henrichon) did a more than adequate job filling in his shoes.

Following their nearly lethal encounter with the children of the Gibborim, the Runaways manage to return to a semblance of their normal lives. Molly chases after Alex, who leaves the group dejected after having briefly rejoined them to fight the Gibborim, Chase tries to figure out how to repair the Doombot that one of the Gibborim destroyed, unaware that Gert, his nominal girlfriend whom he rescued from dying in the past, has started a relationship with Victor. Victor still has nightmares about his past and potential future, and Karolina, whose misadventures have resulted in her dropping out of college, experiences an existential crisis and decides on a new path, one she hopes Nico will join her on. Meanwhile, the remaining child of the Gibborim remains with the team, unable to eat anything they try to feed him and yet suffering from hunger pangs that, apparently, only millions of sacrificed souls will satisfy.

The book is packed to the gills with story and character development, and Rowell keeps things both engaging and brisk. As in the previous volume, what really keeps things engrossing is how she plumbs the depths of the characters. In particular, Rowell takes us inside the heads of Chase, Victor, and to a lesser extent, Alex. This story arc marks the first time, since Chase rescued Gert from her death back in the very first incarnation of the series when Brian K. Vaughan was still writing it, that Rowell has finally given Chase a away out of the extremely awkward situation he's been in for the last two years, as a 20-year-old with a minor for a girlfriend. It's a nice little sequence involving a supermarket attendant that played out innocently enough, but when Chase dismissed the girl's advances with "I have a girlfriend" as a reader who knew what Chase didn't, I found myself wincing, almost out loud. There's always been something distinctly tragic about Chase not being able to act on his feelings for Gert despite having saved her from the dead and despite the fact that she still loves him, and Rowell finally has this come to its awkward head.

Speaking of which, Victor, having survived the Gibborim attack, nonetheless still has nightmares about it, and vague visions (or fears) of the future. As a character, he used to be defined by his fear of what he could be, and in a sense, he still is, but now he carries the guilt over what he's done, in particular to Vision's deceased son Vin. Fortunately, he rises above both fear and guilt to save the relationships he values, in this case his friendship with the Doombot. But the specter of what he's done, and what he may yet do, still loom over him.

Speaking of people who've done some pretty terrible things, Alex Wilder's appearance may be brief, especially when compared to the last story arc, but Rowell manages to leave an impression with it nonetheless.

As strange as this may sound, even though he is clearly the same kid who betrayed his friends back in the BKV days, Alex is as engaging a character as he has ever been. Having kept him around for the entirety of the last volume, Rowell only keeps him around for a single issue as a sort of epilogue to the last arc, but manages to drop a nice tease for the first time: apparently Alex, being sort of undead, now has a kind of super power. It's not quite as spectacular as the demonic powers he put on display in his brief, ill-advised (in my opinion) turn as a supervillain over in Heroes for Hire (which, it turned out, weren't even really his), but it could have interesting implications in the future. Also, because of what has happened to him, Alex doesn't have a grand plan, whether it's to be a superhero or restart the Pride (again) or anything like that. He basically just finds his parents' old home and kind of just settles in. He still has basic human decency, as he shows when he gets a sexual predator to leave Molly alone (not that she needed the help) with his macabre powers, but Alex is clearly neither hero nor villain at this point, but just someone living with the aftermath of some really bad decisions, a trait he actually shares with some of Marvel's most celebrated characters (and with much of humanity, for that matter). I honestly can't wait to see what Rowell has in store for him.

It helps quite considerably that, contrary to my expectations, the artist who succeeded Kris Anka on this title, Andres Genolet, is not only hugely talented, but by and large he also captures the youthful vibe that has made the runs of not only Anka but the likes of Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa and even Humberto Ramos memorable. Genolet had some fairly big shoes to fill, and with the exception of one of the later issues in which the quality drops ever so slightly, he does it in fine style.

I had thought my collecting this series would wind down with Anka's departure, even though I've enjoyed Rowell's writing, but it looks like with another talented artist on board, I'm staying around for quite a bit longer.

8.5/10

Making Amends: A Review of Ms. Marvel, Vol. 11, "Destined"

written by Saladin Ahmed
penciled by Minkyu Jung
inked by Juan Vlasco
colored by Ian Herring

It seems somehow wrong that I regularly review comic books as a hobby, and yet have neglected to review so much as single collected edition of the adventures of Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, the publisher's very popular Pakistani-American superhero, whose adventures I have been following quite diligently since 2015. However belatedly, I intend to right that particular wrong with this review. It's just a pity, though, that the volume I am finally reviewing happens to be the first one not written by Kamala Khan's co-creator G. Willow Wilson.

In essence, Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel and her family are kidnapped by aliens, who believe her to be a great being destined to free them from her oppressors. Of course, things are not quite what they seem and Kamala has to take a stand when she learns the truth. Also, one of her family members has a terrible secret which, when revealed, will shake Ms. Marvel to her very core.

I'll be honest; of the eleven volumes of Ms. Marvel that I've read over the years, I have to say this is among the weaker ones. Ahmed gets a lot of the core aspects of Kamala Khan right, like her kindness and brashness, but he does her no favors by dropping her into a story that can only be described as hackneyed, including the "twist" which is telegraphed from the word "go." I've seen very little of Ahmed's work, such as his Amazing Spider-Man annual from last year (which I quite liked) and his first volume of "Miles Morales" which I found to be just O.K. This ranks well below both of them in terms of creativity and storytelling craft, though I do think he has a gift for snappy dialogue. The art by Minkyu Jung is decent but a far cry from the renderings of the series' best, like co-creator Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa.

Still, Ahmed does pick up the various threads that Wilson left hanging and opens up one heck of a thread of his own, so it'll be interesting to see where he takes the character and her cast from here. Still, I had kind of hoped for a better first effort from this writer, whose work I genuinely liked.

6.5/10

Absolute Carnage Crossover: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #30 and 31

written by Nick Spencer
penciled by Ryan Ottley
inked by Cliff Rathburn
colored by Nathan Fairbairn

The line-wide Absolute Carnage crossover comes to the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, in which the mysterious new centipede-infested villain known only as Kindred makes a major move against Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, who, as a direct result, has to fight for his life, as well as those of Normie Osborn and Dylan Brock, against a symbiote-infused, possessed Norman Osborn.

Not being a fan of Carnage, I was grateful that Nick Spencer, apart from a page or two to provide exposition, provides very little connective tissue between this story and the main "saga," choosing instead to focus on Peter, and everything that he's lost to Norman Osborn, something that apparently he and his mysterious supernatural antagonist have in common.

These two issues, more than serving as a crossover for the Carnage event, serve a very specific purpose and that is to raise anticipation for Spencer's mystery villain to a fever pitch, and in this they are a rousing success. Spencer plays around with a non-linear storytelling format which is interesting but which doesn't quite click with me. It's been done better by other writers, in my opinion. Still, now I REALLY want to get my hands on the big story finally revealing who Kindred is. This character is apparently tied quite intimately into who Peter is. It irks me that Spencer will leave off his big reveal for another few months as the next couple of months will showcase a 2099 crossover, but I'm willing to wait. All I can say is that Spencer had better make the payoff worth the nearly two years we've waited to see who this character really is.

Also, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, I hold out hope that Spencer will finally take the opportunity retcon "Sins Past" out of existence once and for all.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Ryan Ottley's art, which is the strongest it's been in quite a while. I suppose it helps that Spencer gives Ottley the opportunity to draw the gratuitous bloodletting he was used to depicting over in Invincible, (and what better way to draw lots of red fluid without running afoul of the book's age rating than by depicting Carnage's red symbiote?), but Ottley effectively nails the action beats as well, which kind of makes me wistful for what could have been had Ottley illustrated "The Hunted" instead of Humberto Ramos. I don't know how much longer Ottley will stay on this title before moving on to other Marvel books, but I sure hope we get more issues like this before he finally goes his merry way.

8/10

Late Post: Spidey and MaryJane Sitting in a Tree...

written by Nick Spencer
drawn by Francesco Manna
colored by Carlos Lopez

Given that I'm posting this review at least a month late I was initially tempted to not post anything at all, but given the content of the story and what it may portend for Peter Parker and Mary Jane, I really couldn't help but drop a few lines to share my thoughts on this story.

Following the tumult of "The Hunted" and just before Nick Spencer finally starts to unravel the mystery of the walking centipede farm named Kindred, he and guest artist Francesco Manna tell a relatively quiet tale about Peter and MJ's relationship. MJ has just taken an acting job (for, unbeknownst to her, Mysterio) which will take her away from New York and out to the West Coast. Peter wants to see her off at the airport, but instead gets drafted by his long-lost sister, superspy Teresa Parker (who was introduced as a retcon in an original graphic novel over five years ago and who has periodically popped up since then) into a mission to save a fellow agent. Anyone familiar with Spidey's stories will know how this turns out.

On its face, this seems to be a pretty innocuous, throwaway story between big events, with decent art and some nice character moments, particularly a heartwarming couple of pages of dialogue between Peter and Aunt May, but thanks to the last-page revelation (which I won't spoil) I'd say there's a bit more to it than that. With the exception of "The Hunted" I've quite enjoyed Spencer's run so far, and I'm starting to understand why: like me, Spencer appears to have grown up on comics of the 80s, which would explain his misguided love letter to "Kraven's Last Hunt," and one of the seminal storylines of that era was--what else?--the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Is that where Spider-Man is headed? I sincerely doubt it; while Marvel endured far more grief for the infamous "One More Day" than they would have wanted, they did get to their end-goal of an unmarried Peter, and to be fair, in the eleven years that have passed since then, writers like Dan Slott have done a fairly respectable job of telling the kind of stories that Marvel had hoped to tell with a single Peter. Spencer may flirt with the idea of undoing "One More Day" and maybe one day he'll even pay off the last of the mysteries it teased, like the woman in red, but personally, I sincerely doubt Marvel will let him take the plunge.

It was fun to enjoy this little bit of nostalgia, though, which hearkened back a little bit to the David Michelinie/Todd McFarlane issues I enjoyed in elementary and high school. Next issue it's back to regular programming, with the Absolute Carnage crossover.

8/10

Stopped, For Now: Unstoppable Wasp Unlimited Vol. 2

written by Jeremy Whiteley
illustrated by Alti Firmansyah, Gurihiru

Jeremy Whiteley's second Unstoppable Wasp series comes to a close, this time with a compassionate look on the challenges of being a teenage girl, whether it's because you're struggling with bipolar disorder, having a hard time coming out as gay to your authoritarian parent, or being recruited by a supervillain organization to fight their battles for them.

Nadia still grapples with her bipolar disorder, but with the loving help of Jan, her therapist, and her friends, the indefatigable members of G.I.R.L., she comes to terms with her condition and realizes that she cannot simply "conquer" it like she does other challenges in her life. In the meantime, G.I.R.L. member Shay, who is now in a relationship with fellow G.I.R.L. member Ying, struggles to come out to her overbearing soap opera actress mom. Finally, the agents of A.I.M. strike again, but this time the agents of G.I.R.L. won't be such easy targets.

Whiteley's story is nicely compact and, like I said earlier, compassionate, but it's not terribly compelling stuff. For one thing, there's a rather anemic subplot involving Mockingbird and special guest star the Winter Soldier which feels like a half-hearted attempt to goose sales a bit (not that Bucky is much of a draw), and apart from Nadia's and Shay's plots, there isn't really all that much going on, which feels like a bit of a contrast to the first volume, which had a lot more going on.

I liked the art, even though Gurihiru took a break for the first two issues, as Indonesian artist Alti Firmansyah turns in work that is pretty consistent with the overall vibe of the book. I was glad to have Gurihiru back to close out the story, though. These two deserve some A-list work, in my opinion, especially since this book's come to an end.

6/10

Savoring Spencer's Superior Spidey Streak: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #28

written by Nick Spencer
art by Kevin Walker (pencils) and John Dell (inks)
colors by Laura Martin

Nick Spencer's three-and-bit issue story featuring the all-female "Syndicate" comes to a close with a number of humorous revelations for the characters involved, and yet another unexpected team-up for Spidey following his already cringe-inducing team-up with supervillain Boomerang.

I quite liked how this arc shaped up over the last few issues, and I'm happy to say that Spencer ends it on a high note, pretty much banishing the bad taste that "The Hunted" left lingering in my mouth. This was a story full of humor and heart, and even though Spidey took a bit of a backseat here to characters like the Beetle, her gang and Boomerang, I surprisingly didn't mind. I quite liked Boomerang's zingers, and I have to say my curiosity's been piqued by his killer revelation about why Kingpin has it in for him, one which Spencer is keeping from us readers for the time being.

It helps, again, that Kev Walker and John Dell deliver some really strong art to wrap the issue up. If these guys aren't going to be the regular artists on this book, I hope they at least rotate every now and again with whoever is coming on board.

I know we only have a few issues left before Spencer unleashes his next big story arc, and while I'm still a little nervous about it considering what a hash he made of his grand Kraven story arc, smaller arcs like this have me cautiously optimistic for what the future holds.

8.5/10

Celebrating 80 Marvelous Years: A Review of Marvel Comics #1000

written by Al Ewing and Various
art by Various

I'm not the biggest fan of anthology comics, or of "jam" comic books which feature the works of different writers and artists crammed into one massive volume. Sometimes they work for me, and other times they don't. This issue, which presents a multitude of different stories with one story threading through many of them, is a little bit of both and in my opinion, at least it does manage to work.

Marvel Comics #1000 is an unabashed celebration of 80 years of Marvel's existence as a comics publisher, which started way back in 1939 when they were still called Timely Comics, and as a result readers are treated to characters who have appeared in the publisher's books dating all the way back to the Golden Age, with one-page stories as envisioned by top-flight creators, some of whom have never actually worked on a Marvel Comic book before like the incomparable Brad Meltzer, who had previously only ever worked for one of the Big Two, namely Marvel's Distinguished Competition.

More than just an anniversary bash, though, main writer Al Ewing, who writes the most content of the army of writers, uses the occasion to launch a new story, specifically one dealing with the mystery of the black mask, one worn by the Enclave who created Adam Warlock, and which may hold the key to the future of the Marvel Universe. As cliche as that may sound, I have to say Ewing does a fairly good job of selling it, embedding his underlying narrative thread in a way that doesn't disrupt the festivities happening all around.

It's hard to rate an issue like this with so much disparate talent on display, but I was really thrilled to finally see Meltzer work on a Marvel comic book, and on my favorite character no less, Spider-Man. I was also thrilled to see a number of other Spidey one-page stories, including a cheeky little comment on his origins by Into The Spider-Verse architects Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, as well as a much-welcome sequel/epilogue of sorts to Spider-Man vs. Wolverine by the original creative team of Priest and Mark Bright! For me the cherry on top, though, was finally seeing Marvel acknowledge, in a way, how regrettable the execrable "Sins Past" storyline was in a one-pager by the author himself, J. Michael Straczynski.

There's way more to the book, of course, than three pages of Spider-Man stories. It was really quite an impressive feat to pull this all together, and to weave a coherent narrative throughout all of this. Apart from Ewing, credit, I think, must go to Marvel editor-in-chief, C.B. Cebulski, who reportedly conceived this project, and the editors who pulled everything together.

On the downside, though, it was quite pricey and I can't quite bring myself to scream "it was worth every penny" but I can honestly say I enjoyed it quite a bit.

7.5/10

Enjoying Marvel-Produced Spidey the Only Way I Can (For Now): A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #27

written by Nick Spencer
penciled by Kev Walker
inked by John Dell
colored by Laura Martin

It's been a painful last few days with the news that Walt Disney Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have failed to reach a new deal over the shared use of the Spider-Man character to replace the one reached in 2015 and that expired this year, as a result of which Spider-Man will no longer appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was in this context that I picked up the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #27 basically out of habit, having been disenchanted with the title since Nick Spencer's meandering mess The Hunted concluded a few months ago. The last two issues, including the oversized #25th issue, weren't quite able to snap me out of my indifference, but there's something about this one that has inspired me to write, even if it's just a brief little snippet.

This issue is basically part two of a new storyline featuring an all-female team of supervillains led by the Beetle, and they're out to get Fred Myers aka Boomerang aka Peter's roommate, because Kingpin has put a bounty on him, and the only person around to even help the former Superior Foe of Spider-Man is, well, Spider-Man himself.

With its humor and its interesting art style courtesy of Kev Walker, this issue has piqued my interest, even though it's already the second part. I didn't realize how much The Hunted, with its bloated story and awful Humberto Ramos art, had turned me off to this book until this issue finally snapped me out of my stupor; I couldn't even enjoy the extra-sized issue #25 properly.

Anyway, the last issue felt a little slow out of the gate, as did the disjointed issue #25 which mostly teased future storylines, but this one, with its banter and action, plus some refreshingly different art from Kev Walker, really clicked with me. I am really, really glad to be rid of Ramos and I look forward to more fresh faces like Walker and upcoming regular artist Patrick Gleason. I started on this book last year because Spencer and Ryan Ottley promised a fresh take on this character, and this is the first issue in some time that really feels true to the spirit of that endeavor.

There's one issue to go before Spencer begins his "Kindred" arc in earnest, and after enjoying this issue, I feel cautiously optimistic once more, and I will stay this way for so long as Marvel keeps Humberto Ramos far, far away from this book.

8/10

Breaking Sports Cliches: A Review of Fence Volume #3

written by C.S. Pacat
drawn by Johanna the Mad
colored by Joana LaFuente

And so, the first year of C.S. Pacat's and Johanna the Mad's manga-inspired sports saga Fence finally comes to a close, with the Kings Row Boys School fencing team tryouts finally coming to an end and the fates of all of the aspiring fencers, including series protagonist Nicholas Cox, finally being revealed.

It's been an interesting year following this series, and if I'm honest, this series really has provided me with a welcome break from my steady diet of superhero comics. Funny thing is, I was never really much into sports-related fiction, even through while I was growing up movies like the Rocky series and Hoosiers were all the rage, so it really was just C.S. Pacat's storytelling that drew me in, and the honesty with which she imbues her characters. There's something really engaging about how she eschews many sports-story cliches, like the stoical team captain, the hot shot who never loses a fight, or my personal pet peeve, the Rocky-style comeback. It was nice to see that the story not only played out differently, but also in a way that would tend to reflect how things happen more frequently in real life.

This is clearly Nicholas Cox's story above all the others, but without going into spoilers it pleases me to say that at all times Pacat is keen to remind both Nicholas and the readers that it's not only his aspirations that matter. We're all familiar with the adage that everyone is the hero of his own story, and it's refreshing to see a lead character being a hero in someone else's story as well. We've been riding with Nicholas all this time, getting familiar with his obsessions and insecurities, but as the hero reaches this crucial point in the overarching narrative Pacat really gets to the heart of the pain and sense of rejection that drives him, and it is utterly compelling to behold. Not only that, but Pacat lets us glimpse a bit the lives of a lot of the supporting characters, like Aidan Kane, Eugene Labao and, only very briefly Seiji Katayama, who flies into a rage at the thought of his defeat against Nicholas' half-brother Jesse Coste.

Unfortunately, even with a nicely-scripted third act for this year-long tale, Fence Vol. #3 falls short of the potential it promised because more than at any other point in this series, Johanna the Mad drops the ball on the art. Her covers remain drop-dead gorgeous, of course, but the ratio of her "super-deformed" manga-esque characters to the more traditional, "serious" rendering of the story's characters is notably lopsided here, and it's not fun to look at after a few pages. It's not too different from her previous work but there's just way too much of it here, and it feels distinctly like taking shortcuts with the art. There are some panels that utterly stand out, such as Nicholas' reaction to his coach's declaration that she is proud of him, but in previous volumes pieces of art like this used to be the rule and not the exception. This is somewhat disappointing, especially when her work is measured up against the more polished work of the Gurihiru tandem over at Marvel's now-defunct Unstoppable Wasp series.

From this point onwards--and things are just starting to get really interesting--the story's format will change from monthly issues to OGNs, and I'm kind of hoping this will give Johanna the Mad a little more breathing room to produce the best art she can offer because Pacat's pretty much firing on all cylinders these days and deserves the best her artist can offer.

6.5/10

Legends Reunited: A Review of The Incredible Hulk: The Last Call

written by Peter David
penciled by Dale Keown
inked by Mark Farmer, Marc Deering, Walden Wong and Scott Hanna
colored by Peter Stiegerwald and John Starr

Of all the creators that have worked on the character of the Incredible Hulk since the character's creation over fifty years ago, apart from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby there are two arguably two names that stand out more than others, and that's Peter David and Dale Keown, who are to the Hulk what Chris Claremont and John Byrne are to the X-Men, what Frank Miller was to Daredevil, and what Byrne was to the Fantastic Four. What all of these creators have in common is that following Lee and Kirby (and Bill Everett, in the case of Daredevil) it was their work that really helped define these characters. It really is a pleasure to see David and Keown working on a Hulk book again after all these years.

Rather than have these legendary creators catch up with Bruce Banner and his giant green alter ego in his current status quo, David and Keown go with the "untold story" route, revisiting a time in the character's life when Betty Ross Banner, his wife, had just died (she got better eventually) and he was yet again suicidal. He calls a suicide hotline (hence the title) and shares a bit of his history with the counselor Veronica, but even as we get a bit of retrospective about his history with Betty, a new threat is just around the corner.

What defined Peter David's run, which spanned over a decade and involved collaboration with at least five different artists, was how he plumbed the depths of Banner's and Hulk's shared mind, and this came to a head with his run with Keown, which saw the birth of the "Professor Hulk" persona, which was basically Banner's and Hulk's ids merged into one. It's fitting, then, that instead of going for a particularly bombastic story to mark this nostalgic one-shot, they go for a more subdued approach. David's gift for dialogue isn't quite as evident here as it is in his stronger work, especially since he sets the story at a time when Hulk was less articulate, and as a result, Hulk gets a lot less exposure than I would have preferred, which means that Keown doesn't quite get to shine as much as he could. Still, it's a reasonably satisfying, if kind of forgettable self-contained story. No status-quo shattering going on here, and for those of us who just stopped by to reminisce (like me) that's just fine.

I kind of wonder at the choice of villain in this particular story, but I do recall the one time that David wrote this character, Keown wasn't drawing him, so perhaps this informed the choice. I don't know. I also found the cameo of a certain fourth-wall breaking box-office superstar a tad gratuitous, but I won't begrudge the creators their fun.

7.5/10

A Lesser Sequel to "Kraven's Last Hunt": A Review of "The Hunted" (MAJOR SPOILERS)

written by Nick Spencer
art by Humberto Ramos and various

Thirty-two years ago, writer J.M. DeMatteis and artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod created a story pitting Spider-Man against one of the goofier villains in his rogue's gallery, the leopard-print-wearing Kraven the Hunter, whose weapons arsenal included a vest that shot electric blasts out of its nipples. Together, they accomplished the extraordinary; in six issues they turned Kraven from a chuckle-inducing, ballet-shoe wearing ball of camp into one of Spider-Man's most fearsome villains...and then they killed him. It was a harrowing story that has aged very, very well and stands out as one of the best Spider-Man stories ever to see print.

A little over twenty years later, though, a brain trust of writers working on The Amazing Spider-Man, shepherding the character through his post-supernatural divorce story arc called "Brand New Day" came up with the ill-advised idea of basically raising Kraven from the dead in a story called "Grim Hunt," and not only did they bring him back, but they then included an irritating "curse" that prevented him from ever going to his grave again unless "the Spider," meaning Spider-Man, killed him.

I could be wrong but when I read about stories like this I get the impression that one reason that characters rarely stay dead in Marvel, no matter how poignant and effective their "death" stories are, is that every few years after a major death, some writer or editor fueled by nostalgia and egomania pitches to Marvel the "best (insert-dead-character-here) story" and corporate Marvel, wanting to bring in the bucks regardless of artistic integrity, give it the go signal. Kraven's poorly conceived resurrection feels like just such a situation.

Anyway, fast forward another eleven years to find Nick Spencer, current writer of The Amazing Spider-Man, who attempts to do the impossible by putting things right with Kraven while at the same time leaving the door open for more Kraven stories for the next cocky egomaniac years down the line. The end result of this is "The Hunted," a meandering mess of a mega-arc spread over about a dozen or so issues.

The long and the short of it is that Sergei Kravinoff, aka Kraven the Hunter comes up with a grand scheme to trap all animal-themed supervillains in Central Park with a bunch of robotic drones made to look like Kraven himself, all of which are being controlled by affluent game hunters. The twist is that the game hunters, who control the drones from a hidden compound, aren't as safe from harm as they think. In the midst of all this, Spider-Man is captured, drugged and brought into the picture, for a grim purpose that is known only to Kraven and his games master, the villainous Arcade.

To be clear, I agree with Spencer that Kraven's death at the end of "Kraven's Last Hunt" definitely needed to be reinstated, and I applaud him for taking the initiative to do it (just as I hope he will one day undo the despicable retcon of Norman Osborn siring children by Gwen Stacy), but unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the story he wrote to do it.

For one thing, at over a dozen issues, the story is far too long and takes way too long to make its point. There's a continuing thread about how Kraven wants to punish weekend trophy hunters, who seem loosely based on the douchebags we see online posing with their safari kills. It's actually a worthwhile advocacy, one that could have been told without all of these hamhanded allusions to an older, and much better Spider-Man story. So Kraven's plan is basically to get Spider-Man to kill him, and in exchange he offers to spare all of the lives of people he holds in thrall. Now, why this took so many issues to tell is honestly beyond me, and the various subplots, such as Vulture assuming a leadership role of all the trapped villains, or the army of clones of Vermin, a crucial character from the original Kraven saga, don't really cut it. This arc was obviously intended as a big event in Spencer's tenure, but to my mind it falls far, far short of its intended impact, in no small part because it is much longer than it needs to be.

Another thing that unfortunately undercuts the story quite a bit is the lackluster art. I've already said many times how I feel about Humberto Ramos' art, and while he has his good days, apparently none of them were while he was drawing this story. When Nick Spencer came on board last year, I felt distinctly relieved that he was bringing in fresh blood in the form of Ryan Ottley, and groaned when he brought Humberto Ramos back after just five issues, and then had Ramos draw his single longest arc on this book yet, with an odd mishmash of other artists as well. Ottley shows up for the epilogue, but barely makes an impression. The original "Kraven's Last Hunt" worked as well as it did in no small part because of Mike Zeck's moody, wonderfully-rendered artwork, and Ramos and his gaggle of supporting artists don't even come close.

I didn't want to review the individual issues because I wanted to see where Spencer was taking this story, and considering how long he took to wrap things up and how much filler he jammed into it with all these ".HU" issues, I really feel that this could have, and SHOULD have been better given the story to which it was serving as a sequel. There is one individual issue that has genuine emotional resonance, and it's the death of Martin Blank, aka the Gibbon, but apart from that the rest of the story just feels so very hollow and a poor follow-up to the story to which it purports to pay homage.

That said, I like that Spencer finally seems ready to pay off the second thread he started with this new series, the one featuring the mystery villain with a penchant for centipedes. I quite enjoyed Spencer's first arc with Ottley, and even his issues with Ramos that featured Boomerang, so his goodwill isn't completely spent as far as I'm concerned, but it's definitely been diminished quite a bit, and I am hoping for a return to form.

5/10

Monkey Business: A Review of Avengers #19

written by Jason Aaron
penciled by Ed McGuinness
inked by Mark Morales
colored by Justin Ponsor and Erick Arciniega

For the second issue running, the title characters are conspicuously absent from their own monthly book, although this time writer Jason Aaron tells the story of one of the actual Avengers, albeit an extremely peripheral one, namely Kenneth Hale, aka Gorilla Man.

Life should be good for Ken Hale; having been tapped by no less than T'Challa, the Black Panther and current leader of the Avengers, to work as one of the Agents of Wakanda, he's basically in the big leagues. His duties include getting updates from T'Challa's vast network of spies, including those in the unlikeliest of places, and safeguarding Avengers Mountain, the current headquarters of the Avengers carved from the giant carcass of a Celestial. Today, though, his role as Chief of Security will be put to its greatest test yet as the forces of Malekith lay siege to the mountain, with the intent to slaughter the millions of New Yorkers taking refuge inside. People's lives are on the line, and while it's up to Ken to save them, what nobody but Ken knows is that, having lived with the curse of the immortal Gorilla Man for what feels like far too long, Ken is not only willing but is actually hoping to lay down his life for everyone else.

This is the second consecutive done-in-one Aaron and Ed McGuinness deliver and like last issue, it's a satisfying read, even as it teases at something bigger down the line. While I was still vaguely annoyed that, with the exception of Black Panther, most of the Avengers basically make cameo appearances in their own book, at least they actually show up, unlike last issue. Also, Gorilla Man's own story is a pretty involving one. The last time I saw McGuinness draw a gorilla was Gorilla Grodd for a three-issue Justice League arc many years ago, and it's a nice change that it's a sympathetic character he's drawing, for a change.

I have to say, though, I still have no intention of picking up the individual issues of "War of the Realms" so Aaron's sneaky trick of restricting the Avengers' presence to his event (which he's writing) isn't going to work. I'm glad he at least put some effort into writing some decent supporting stories like this one, and am interested to see how it pays off in the long run.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to colorist Justin Ponsor, who recently passed away from cancer, and to extend my condolences to his loved ones, if ever they should read this. You were one of the pillars of this industry with your amazing work, and you will be missed.



8.5/10

Daredevil...Retiring? Yeah, Sure: A Review of Daredevil #5 (SPOILERS)

written by Chip Zdarsky
drawn by Marco Checchetto
colored by Sunny Gho

Chip Zdarsky's inaugural arc on Daredevil reaches its conclusion, with a battered Matt Murdock making yet another ill-advised decision to take on Leland Owlsley's newly burgeoning operations. Owlsley's hired some cybernetically-enhanced muscle, which nearly overwhelms Matt until a few friends of his step in. Barely escaping with his life, Matt, a lifelong Catholic struggling to reconcile his faith with his violent vigilante lifestyle, finally comes to a momentous decision.

Really, Zdarsky's first five-issue storyline could not have ended any other way given the set-up he'd created. Matt, who essentially comes to terms with the fact that, however unintentionally, he has actually killed someone, finally starts to feel the weight of that death on his conscience, and this shapes the decision he makes at the end of the issue to hang up his mask. It's a logical conclusion to what Zdarsky started, and clearly he's far from done with this character, but I confess I was hoping for something a little more splashy. Still this issue is a decent recovery from the last one, which featured, for the umpteenth time, a confrontation between Daredevil and the Punisher, the only real innovation of which was that Daredevil ended up wearing Frank's shirt.

Checchetto's work is a bit better than it's been in the last couple of issues, though I still have an issue with the fact that Daredevil's pants are as baggy as they are. It's admittedly a more realistic take on the costume but it just looks weird, if I'm honest. I mean, he's done DD's tights thing just fine in his previous work on this book, and a brief appearance by no less than Spider-Man shows that Checchetto doesn't have any qualms about drawing tights in general, so I wonder what influenced his artistic decision this time around. I know Matt's lost quite a bit of weight with all his recent hospitalization, but is he really this scrawny? With Checchetto's tenure on the book apparently over (at least for the next few issues) I confess I'm a bit disappointed overall in the work he's turned in for this story.

This is a somewhat low-key end to what's been a pretty tumultuous story so far, which has featured Daredevil even getting into a fistfight with a cop, of all people, but Zdarsky has definitely founded it on an interesting idea, and while this mini arc didn't quite take off (for me at least), I remain interested to see where he plans to take DD from here. After all, this is the guy who made Marvel Two-In-One such a pure pleasure to read. I'm sure he's got something good up his sleeve.



7.5/10

Noble Intentions, Simplistic Presentation: A Review of Agents of Atlas #1

written by Greg Pak
drawn by Gang Hyuk Lim
colored by Federico Blee

As an Asian, and more specifically a Filipino, who has been reading comic books, most of them published by Marvel Comics, for three-fourths of my worldly existence, it was a treat for me to finally see Marvel debut a Filipino superhero, an aquatic superheroine named Pearl Pangan and codenamed Wave...or at least, a Filipino superhero who gets to actually do something other than get blown up in less than two pages (more on that in a minute). Designed by Filipino artist Leinil Yu, Wave opens this issue in a brief, and less-than-congenial encounter with an also-debuting Chinese superhero named Aero before both of them get taken out by demons of Muspelheim. This is, after all a "War of the Realms" crossover.

Meanwhile, the main story of the issue sees longtime Agents of Atlas leader Jimmy Woo assemble a new lineup of Asian heroes who include Shang-Chi, Amadeus Cho or the hero-formerly-known-as-Hulk-now-named-Brawn, and Cindy Moon aka Silk to deal with the threat of Muspelheim which has emerged in South Korea. As it turns out, however, a team of Korean superheroes is already on the scene, though even their combined strength may not be enough to push back against the threat of Queen Sindr.

Rather than simply present a straight-up action story, writer Greg Pak (who wrote the cliche-ridden but entertaining Planet Hulk, and the equally cliche-ridden, not-so-entertaining World War Hulk), gets right up on a soapbox and starts preaching about "unity," first by having a Chinese and Filipino hero clash in the sea and fall prey to a common enemy, and then by having Jimmy Woo pose a question to his team members of various nationalities that starts an argument about a pear.

While I often enjoy socially-conscious comic books, or at least, stories that attempt to do more than just deliver the punch-up of the week, it really annoys me when the stories are this heavy-handed, or border on being on the nose. Not only that, but writer Pak's "take" on the tensions between China and the Philippines is either utterly insensitive or a ridiculously simplistic way of describing a neo-imperialistic superpower's ambitions which have placed it at odds not only with the Philippines, but with Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Resolving this issue isn't just about "putting aside our differences" because that's just a cop-out from addressing the fact that someone is right and someone is wrong.

I know Pak isn't going for some deep commentary here, but I definitely feel he hasn't given this issue the gravitas it deserves, and his cornball "united we stand, divided we fall" theme is, of course full of noble intentions, but just feels so clunkily executed that I could never really get into it. Also, Brawn's bickering with Ms. Marvel early in the issue feels a little off-putting; essentially, it seems to suggest that he's on the Agents of Atlas because he was kicked, albeit temporarily, off the Champions, and given that Brawn was a founding member of that group it seems like a badly-conceived excuse for Woo to draft him. Pak can be a decent writer when he's on his game, so the lack of quality of his work here is somewhat regrettable.

Fortunately for Pak, artist Gang Hyuk Lim saves the day with some really, really strong artwork. He pretty much ticks all the boxes, from clean linework, to storytelling ability, to a nice eye for detail. Federico Blee contributes some nicely vibrant colors as well. I confess I was a little disappointed to learn that variant cover artist Mico Suayan didn't contribute any interiors, but seeing Lim's work pretty much banished any misgivings I may have had over the art.

Pak's missteps notwithstanding, the issue is a decent setup for the inevitable team-up of this ragtag new team that will follow, and while this infusion of Asians into Marvel's still mostly Caucasian-populated universe is still most welcome, Pak will definitely have to raise his game as this series goes on because we need good stories, not just hamhanded displays of tokenism. Diversity is a very good thing, but for it to be more than just a slogan, it should be married to the engaging storytelling that has made Marvel one of the most beloved pop-culture properties in the world.


6.5/10


As a post-script, I'd like to add that whatever my feelings about this issue, I remain extremely glad and grateful for the introduction of Wave. I still remember with some bitterness how Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca introduced the Triumph Division, a whole team of Filipino superheroes, back when they were doing Invincible Iron Man, only to literally blow them up on the first page of their appearance, and worse still, how that was basically the last time we even saw a Filipino superhero up until this issue. I hope Wave carves a position of prominence for herself in the months to come.

Her Father's Daughter: Unstoppable Wasp Unlimited Vol. I: Girl Power

written by Jeremy Whitley
art by Gurihiru

The adventures of the late Hank Pym's daughter Nadia continue as she, her adoptive mother Janet Van Dyne, and her friends and colleagues, the agents of the Genius In action Research Labs (G.I.R.L.) find themselves facing off against longtime Marvel bad guys Advanced Idea Mechanics or (A.I.M.), who also happen to be in league with some mysterious, and distressingly powerful young women as well. Will Nadia's smarts and skills as a Red Room alumna be enough to counter this threat? Also, given Nadia's obsessive as possibly destructive behavior, which may even be the same bipolar disorder that afflicted her father, is she even really ready to take the fight to A.I.M.?

I encountered this character a few years back when creator Mark Waid introduced her in the pages of the All New Avengers, which he was writing at the time, and while I found her likable, she honestly didn't connect with me the way Ms. Marvel or Spider-Gwen did, and as a result I didn't make it a point to pick up her series, which launched a year later.

In fact, I would have overlooked this series altogether if it weren't for the fact that my daughter was captivated by Gurihiru's vibrant art on the cover of the first issue. I ended up getting the first two issues, but gave up with the floppies after they sold out far faster than I could get my hands on them.

For the most part, I enjoyed the book; Whitley writes engaging characters, each with her own voice, whether it's the main character Nadia or her cohorts from G.I.R.L., and he's also got a good grasp on classic characters like Janet Van Dyne and Bobbi Morse a.k.a. Mockingbird. Unfortunately, like many collected editions these days, this story ends on a distinctly anticlimactic note, as it is basically part of a larger, mega arc. Still a lot of writers are able to write a mini-arc with finesse even as they leave the bigger conflict unresolved for the next few issues. Whitley simply doesn't pull it off here, and while I appreciate the efforts of the smaller arc to deal with a serious mental illness, the entire five-issue structure simply doesn't hold up that well and the story feels like a distinct cliffhanger, which in this case doesn't really feel like a good thing.

Luckily for Whitley, though, he's got the ultra-talented duo of Chifuyu Sasaki and Naoko Kawano, collectively known as Gurihiru illustrating his story. In general (with some exceptions), and my fondness for Boom! Studios' Fence notwithstanding, I'm not a huge fan of manga or manga-style illustration, especially when used to render non-Japanese stories like this one, but these two have completely won me over. Their linework and color palette (the team divide the work along those lines) really just pop, and they rely more on actually rendering their characters' expressions than resorting to cheap manga tropes like "deformed" or "chibi" characters. It really is such a pleasure to turn the pages with art this nice. It's just a pity the story it's propping up is as anticlimactic as it is.

There's one more volume left before Whitley's story wraps up, and fortunately, his compelling characterization of Nadia, as well as Gurihiru's stunning art, will definitely have me come back to see how this all ends.

7/10

Punished: A Review of Daredevil #4

written by Chip Zdarsky
drawn by Marco Checchetto
colored by Sunny Gho

After having been rescued from the police by Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil now has to disabuse Frank of the notion that he has finally taken to killing criminals as well, and he has to do it while Frank has yet another captive criminal tied up and held at gunpoint. As has almost always happened in their past encounters, their ideological differences flare up and they come to blows yet again. Meanwhile, Detective North's fistfight with Daredevil in the last issue has not gone unnoticed; he gets grief from his immediate superiors, but has found in ally in Daredevil's longtime nemesis Wilson Fisk. Whether or not Matt can survive his latest bout with the Punisher, his problems are far from over.

A clash between Matt Murdock and Frank Castle is nothing new; they're basically fighting the same war but using methods that are basically as different as night and day, so it is basically incumbent on any writer who takes this on to give us something we haven't seen before, and to be honest, Zdarsky...doesn't. I mean, he articulates the difference between them well enough, and he reminds us readers of why Matt is a good guy and Frank basically isn't, but considering how frequently this has played out I sincerely wanted Zdarsky, who spent an entire issue on this, to give us something we haven't seen before, and with the exception of the shirt Matt wears at the end of the issue, he hasn't, and it's frustrating.

Checchetto's art basically holds steady; he's no better or worse than he was in the last issue, but I really, really have to say that I'm disappointed as I was genuinely expecting a bit of an uptick in form from either Zdarsky or him, especially considering how thoroughly I enjoyed Zdarsky's run on Marvel Two-In-One, how intriguing I found the premise of this story, and how I've enjoyed his occasional flashes of brilliance in terms of dialogue which, even here, is actually pretty strong. The thing is, as I've said, we readers have seen this many times before, and in a day and age in which comic books have the potential to captivate a whole new generation of readers weaned on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, middle-of-the-road stories like this feel more and more like a wasted opportunity.

6/10

Some Good-Natured Ribbing of the Distinguished Competition: A Review of Avengers #18 (War of the Realms)

written by Jason Aaron
penciled by Ed McGuinness
inked by Mark Morales
colored by Justin Ponsor

Apparently Earth's Mightiest Heroes are too busy conquering the cinemas this weekend and fighting Malekith's forces over in War of the Realms to put in an appearance in their own monthly title. In their stead, an oddly familiar group of heroes based in Washington, D.C. set out to fight the Frost Giants from Jotunheim, who have laid siege to America's Capital. They are Mark Milton, aka Hyperion, Kyle Richmond, aka Nighthawk, Princess Zarda, aka Warrior Woman, Joe Ledger, aka Doctor Spectrum and Jeff Walters, aka Blur. Together they are the Squadron Supreme of America, America's premier protectors ready to both kill and die for America, working under the watchful eye of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson.

After an engaging four-issue run with David Marquez, writer Jason Aaron re-teams with the artist with whom he launched this title, Ed McGuinness, and I gotta say I'm really quite happy to welcome Ed back, especially for this issue in which his protracted stint as a DC artist back in the noughties serves him well as he renders the Squadron Supreme, long acknowledged to be parodies/analogues of the Justice League, in action for the first time since Coulson "debuted" them a few issues ago. It's pretty much a done-in-one tie-in to War of the Realms, but it drops quite a few juicy tidbits as to what's to come as the issue showcases the Squadron Supreme's brutality in dealing with the Frost Giants, their strangely insular mindset, and their apparent state of mind. It's also particularly interesting to see who Coulson is having dinner with at the end of the issue. Given that this team has been around for some time, and that at least one version of Hyperion has even been one of the Avengers at one point, it'll be interesting to find out exactly what the deal is with this new team, and with Coulson for that matter, who seems to have gone from being a sympathetic character to a villainous one.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a good one-shot that knows how to tease what's coming, and it seems clear to me that, after this War of the Realms brouhaha has run its course, the Avengers will have their hands full with the Squadron Supreme. Aaron did a good job with the vampire saga he teased a few issues back, delivering a solid, satisfying story while leaving the door open for much, much more, and while this issue seems a little too vague for its own good at some points, I still find myself looking forward to the eventual resolution of this ongoing Squadron Supreme storyline, and the unraveling of the many mysteries involved.

8.5/10

The Return of Alex Wilder: A Review of Runaways (2017) Vol. 3: "That Was Yesterday"

written by Rainbow Rowell
drawn by Kris Anka
colored by Matthew Wilson

It's been a while since I've been able to review a collected edition of any Marvel title, but given that I was able to get Runaways (2017) volume three more or less on time, and given that I found myself especially riveted by this story, I felt compelled to give my two cents' worth, even though the book's been out for more than a week by now.

After a brush with death and some years away, Alex Wilder, the Runaways' former leader who once tried to sell them out to their evil parents' masters, the Gibborim, is back, and hot on his tail are the three children of the Gibborim, named, conveniently enough, Gib, Bo and Rim. The Runaways are none too thrilled about either Alex's return or the new guests he has brought with him, but they soon realize they may have to work with him just to stay alive. Also, it is Christmas, so perhaps it's time to let bygones be bygones...or is it?

More than just a gift for snappy dialogue, one thing that has really defined Rainbow Rowell's run on this book more than anything else is her fantastic grasp on what makes every single one of the Runaways tick. For one thing, she's gotten Nico Minoru's fear of being alone down pat, which ironically is one of the reasons why her decision to pair her off with Karolina is such a bad one, she's gotten Chase's sense of responsibility to the group, as the oldest, down to a "t," and most impressively, she's also written Gert Yorkes almost as well as her creator Brian K. Vaughan himself. It shouldn't have come as any surprise, then, that she would crank out an absolutely killer Alex Wilder, but I find myself blown away nonetheless.

Alex Wilder is, for me, the most compelling character that has ever been featured in Runaways, and the first eighteen issues of the book way back in 2003 are notable for being his tragic story of betrayal. Rowell clearly has a great affection for the character; she doesn't do him a disservice by trying to do something as prosaic as "redeem" him or give him a good-guy makeover, but she makes it pretty darned hard to fully hate him as she clearly depicts him as something none of the other Runaways really is: a capable leader. He's less a "bad guy" than he is a Machiavellian character, and while the line between the two may be too fine to distinguish one from the other at times, Rowell toes it expertly. Alex is never quite sympathetic (except maybe, just maybe, towards the end of the book), but a lot of the things he says make perfect sense, and as ridiculous as this sounds, even after the events of the story, a part of me wanted them all to make amends and for him to rejoin the group, even if it meant the rest of the Runaways could never fully trust him. At the very, very least, I hope Rowell keeps Alex around for a good, long time, especially since she's made an extremely compelling argument for it.

When I read Volume II of this new series, which featured Karolina's then-girlfriend Julie Power of the Power Pack (which I didn't bother to review since I got it quite late), I found it amusing when she pointed out how disorganized the group was. While the fact that the Runaways essentially aren't a "superhero team" in the traditional sense has always been one of the group's unique and sometimes endearing facets, in the world they inhabit, in which they purport to act like superheroes, it is a legitimate criticism. While it's a pity Rowell broke Karolina up with Julie (and the resulting rebound-relationship between Karolina and Nico has been somewhat cringe-inducing) I completely understand the story imperatives here, and a part of that is to establish how badly this team needs a leader. It is a hell of a conundrum that the person best qualified for the job is also possibly the worst one for the job.

I came on board this book because I was a fan of Kris Anka's work, and to my utter shock, in the last eighteen issues he's managed to get even better with each passing story arc. "That was Yesterday" marks his last work as the series artist, and henceforth he'll only be doing covers, but I consider myself fortunate to have been witness to an already amazing artist growing leaps and bounds in such as short period of time.

Runaways has never really been a book to set the sales charts on fire, so it's hard to say how long this iteration of the title will last, but in my opinion at least, these past three volumes or eighteen issues, which pay due reverence to the characters while taking them in new directions, will be remembered as among the title's finest, as will the rest of Rowell's run if she can maintain this standard of quality.

9/10

A Bloody Good Time: A Review of Avengers #14 to #17, "The War of the Vampires"

written by Jason Aaron
drawn by David Marquez
colored by Justin Ponsor and Erick Arciniega

In the run-up to Marvel's next big event, War of the Realms, incumbent Avengers writer Jason Aaron delivers a mini-event of sorts, a four-issue story arc pitting the Avengers against a group of vampires who murder vampires, and who apparently have their sights set on killing the biggest one of them all, Dracula himself. To win the day, the Avengers will need the help of a renowned vampire slayer, none other than Blade. But, will even the help of Blade be enough to help them against the Colonel and his powerful allies, who even have the power to commandeer even the mighty Ghost Rider? Also, when the fleeing Dracula seeks refuge in nearby Russia and comes begging to the Winter Guard, how will they respond? The answers may shock! One thing's for sure, though; the Avengers are in for a hell of a fight.

After feeling disappointed with Jason Aaron's inaugural story arc on this book, I felt he'd recovered pretty well with his next few issues, specifically the ones in which occasional Avenger Namor returned to his roots as an antagonistic character, and it was gratifying to see David Marquez take over the art duties. These issues still weren't quite as satisfying as they could have been on the whole, though, because the Namor storyline ended on what felt like a distinctly anti-climactic note, and the story itself only lasted three issues in all, even as it teased the story I'm about to review now.

This story marks the first arc since this run began to run four straight issues with only one artist, the ultra-talented Marquez. He and Aaron manage to deliver an engaging, if occasionally flawed story from start to finish.

I've never been much one for vampire-related stories, and this particular one doesn't really change that, but there was something satisfying about having the Avengers fight a more down-and-dirty set of foes than the gigantic Dark Celestials from the first six issues, and foes who were pretty formidable at that. If I had any objections I guess it was that the heroes never felt like they were in any status-quo-upsetting peril, and that the vampire-on-vampire violence was so rampant throughout the series that after awhile I felt a bit desensitized to it, taking a bit of the edge off the ultimate stakes (pardon the pun). Still, Aaron does managed to impress upon me an overall sense of the threat, not necessarily to the Avengers themselves, but in terms of the people who may be endangered should they fail to contain them. And I liked how Aaron, if only briefly, hints at the peril that awaits the team if Robbie Reyes, a.k.a. Ghost Rider, ever loses control, setting up possible future stories. The story leads to a fairly predictable conclusion; suffice it to say, the door remains wide open for more vampire stories.

The star of this particular story, though is definitely David Marquez, who gets to illustrate a full four issues for his arc as opposed to the two and a half that he drew for the Namor story.

With War of the Realms hitting stores, the events of this story seem pretty trivial in comparison, but it was still a worthwhile read overall.

8.5/10

Catch-Up Reading: A Review of Daredevil #3

written by Chip Zdarsky
art by Marco Checchetto
colored by Sunny Gho

Last issue, Matt Murdock was trying to escape the police and ended up getting shot. This issue, cornered and wounded, he makes another bid to escape, but ends up having to try to fight for his freedom in the most literal way possible. Things do not go well for him, and for not the first time in his career, he needs a helping hand to get him through. Unfortunately, this particular hand is not one from which he might have expected, or even wanted assistance.

As strong as the last two issues may have been, with the dialogue from issue #2 in particular being rather outstanding, writer Chip Zdarsky kind of drops the ball here with a prolonged chase and fight scene and, if I may be perfectly honest, a fairly predictable cliffhanger. About the only thing about this issue that feels vaguely interesting, plot-wise, is how Zdarsky really doubles down on the fact that Kingpin had nothing to do with the death of the thug, whom Matt apparently inadvertently killed in issue #1. Zdarsky appears fully committed to his Matt-as-a-perpetrator-of-manslaughter with this issue, and that's pretty much the only thing that really keeps driving the plot forward and, for that matter the only thing that feels fresh, because having Matt get shot and then beaten to within an inch of his life is something that far too many writers and artists, including ones who very recently worked on this title, have already done for it to have any real emotional impact at this point. This issue feels a bit too much like extender, something to fatten the eventual hardcover or trade paperback, which is a shame since Zdarsky has demonstrated, time and time again, that he knows how to pack a lot of story into just twenty or twenty-one pages.

Checchetto, again, disappoints here, relative to what I know he's capable of, and in truth I often find myself looking back at his work during the Mark Waid days, especially since one of the characters he also drew in that run shows up here.

Charles Soule and his rotating crew of artists did a pretty decent job of putting Matt through the wringer, but what made their approach enjoyable was how they tried to put their own stamp on his various tribulations. This run, so far, has the one interesting hypothetical question, but little else going for it. I like Zdarsky's work and my affection for this character is definitely going to keep me onboard for more than just one story arc, but I really hope he and Chechetto (or other artists) have more in store than just this.

6/10

When Your Biggest Enemy is Yourself: A Review of Daredevil #2

written by Chip Zdarsky
drawn by Marco Checchetto
colored by Sunny Gho

This one's a little late, but I liked the issue so much I'm posting a review anyway, the only one I'm posting even though I had quite a few comics on my pull list the last few weeks. This is basically the only comic I'm reviewing on an issue-to-issue basis these days for lack of time, and I picked it because of the recent batch I've read, it's easily the most engaging.

This issue, Matt finds himself frantically trying to find out who framed him for the death of a thug he fought last issue. The problem is, however, that unbeknownst to Matt but known to us readers, no such setup exists; a weakened and careless Matt, at least based on the events in issue #1, knocked the thug into the wall and apparently caused him to die without anyone else's help. Matt doesn't know this, and probably wouldn't believe it if he did, and so even as the police dragnet, led by the dogged Detective North, tightens around him and Kingpin, who freely admits having nothing to do with Matt's misfortune, rubs his hands with glee, Daredevil strives in vain to find a way to prove his innocence, and is really up a creek this time without a paddle.

Zdarsky and Checchetto continue to turn the heat up on Matt Murdock, and I'm honestly hard-pressed to imagine how they intend to undo what they've done here, though, this being a comic book, a last-gasp retroactive twist is never out of the question. Until this is actually undone, though, this presents great opportunities for some genuinely fascinating narrative. Particularly interesting is the conversation Daredevil has with the doctor who attended to the deceased thug; realizing through his heightened abilities that the doctor is telling the truth when he says there was nothing he could have done to save the man, Matt relents in his attempt to shake him down for information, and the doctor, in turn, realizes what has happened. He calls out Matt on his addiction to violence, describing his talents as "surgical" but also telling him it's time to stop. As someone who has enjoyed reading Daredevil for most of my adult life, I have to say, I really enjoyed that exchange of dialogue and that one line in particular. I also think it opens up an interesting can of worms, given that the doctor alleges that everyone that Daredevil puts in the hospital gets better. Does that imply that somewhere there's a quadriplegic ex-crook who lost his motor functions tangling with Spider-Man? That would be an interesting story.

Checchetto's Daredevil is a bit less awkward this issue; I was really perplexed by how he seemed to have forgotten how to draw him last issue after having drawn him quite well back during the DD/Spidey/Punisher crossover some years ago, though I wrote it off in part to the fact that Matt is not in the best of shape. Based on his past work, though, I feel he can still do better, and I remain hopeful that he will.

I quite like the work of the new team so far, and I hope they are able to maintain a reasonable standard of quality while they're around.


8.5/10

A Surprisingly Low-Key Reboot: A Review of Daredevil #1

written by Chip Zdarsky
drawn by Marco Checchetto
colored by Sunny Gho

When I read that Charles Soule's run on Daredevil was coming to an end, I had hoped that Marvel would use the occasion of a reboot to bring to the book talent whose work I hoped to see, like Christopher Priest or Russell Dauterman. I was slightly underwhelmed by the choice of Chip Zdarsky and even more so the choice of Marco Checchetto, but I chose to remain optimistic, especially after previews for the new issue #1 came out not long before the issue's release.

Several months following the truck accident that nearly ended his life, Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, having fought his way back to health, no longer preoccupies himself with trying to unseat Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, from the mayoralty of New York City. He's basically just trying to get himself back into the superhero game, living somewhat recklessly, picking up a random girl at a bar, and later, picking fights with thugs even though his body is not quite up to the task just yet. All the while, he grapples with the dissonance between his Catholic faith and his addiction to beating up criminals. Things could get even more complicated as new detective moves to New York from Chicago one who is not at all fond of superheroes and would be only too happy to take Matt down.

While Zdarsky won me over with his highly entertaining take on half of the Fantastic Four over in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One last year, I still wasn't entirely sold on what he could bring to the adventures of my favorite lawyer/superhero. I was even less enthused about Checchetto coming onboard, considering that I had last seen his work in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man several years ago and wasn't particularly impressed.

Well, fortunately, the pairing works, as Zdarsky, picking up story threads from Soule, kicks off an engaging new arc that keeps the noir-ish atmosphere that Soule reinstated following Mark Waid's "swashbuckling" approach to the story. While Checchetto's is a step up from most of the artists Soule worked with, the one weak point of his art is how he draws old Hornhead himself; there's something gangly and awkward about his take on Daredevil. While this look kind of suits the narrative that Matt is still finding his feet again after months recovering from his injuries, it's not really something that suits the character overall and isn't likely to grow on me. This is a shame because I quite like almost everything else about the art here. Checchetto drew a decent, Spider-Man reminiscent of Joe Quesada's style back in the day, so I find it curious that he can't use the same approach on the character that launched Joey Q into super-stardom.

The issue is a decent read, and a four-page short story written and drawn by Zdarsky was a nice touch at the end, even if it was a bit of filler, and I remain cautiously optimistic for what this team has to offer, for now.

EDIT: It's frustrating to see Checchetto's Daredevil looking so awkward as I've only just discovered that he's drawn the character before, during the Mark Waid era of the book, in a crossover featuring DD, Spider-Man and the Punisher, and I have to say, his take on the character back then was significantly cleaner and much more athletic-looking. Basically Checchetto can draw a decent DD. I only hope he rediscovers his old form as his tenure on this series goes on.

8/10

Conquering Fear...but not Boredom: A Review of the "Man Without Fear" Miniseries

written by Jed MacKay
illustrated by Danilo Beyruth (issues #1 and #5), Stefano Landini (issue #2), Iban Coello (issue #3) Paolo Villanelli (issue #4)
colored by Andreas Mossa

Following the gag outgoing Daredevil writer Charles Soule pulled on readers by having Daredevil vanquish the Kingpin, only to reveal that the whole thing it was a dream he was having while in a coma he fell into after being hit by a truck, writer Jed MacKay and a gaggle of different artists essentially have Matt Murdock fight not only his paralysis but his own inner demons as he struggles with whether or not to be Daredevil after the truck accident has revealed the ravages to his body that his life as Daredevil has wrought. For the first time in years, Matt feels the cold grip of fear, and this time even his iron will may not be enough to overcome it.

I wasn't particularly keen on picking this up as I didn't know much about the creative team, but I figured it would serve as important connective tissue between the end of Soule's run and the beginning of incoming writer Chip Zdarsky's, so I ended up giving it a shot, but only after all five issues had come out. My suspicions were right about the story basically having some significance to Daredevil, but so were my fears about its quality. It's really nothing great to write home about, whether from a story or art perspective. In not so many words, it takes MackKay and his quartet of artists five issues to tell readers what we already know: that Matt Murdock was always going to return to being Daredevil.

This didn't have to be as weak as it was; this could have been the opportunity for an A-list creative team, or at least an A-list writer or artist, people who wouldn't normally work on a title like this, to try their hand at the character, and even with an ending as predictable as this one inevitably was it could have been a fun read. As it was, however, with a bunch of also-ran creators, especially Beyruth, whose art bookends the series, this miniseries just serves as distinctly superfluous filler while readers wait for Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto to relaunch the main series. The thing is, given that I didn't even follow the series as it came out, it feels distinctly superfluous, and with the exception of Landini and Coello, the art was somewhat forgettable too.

Well, at least DD's main series is back, and as I shall reveal in my next reveal, it was certainly worth the wait.

6/10

Deconstructing the Minds of Teenage Athletes: A Review of Fence Vol. 2

written by C.S. Pacat
drawn by Johanna the Mad
colored by Joana LaFuente

It's been a long wait, but the saga of Fence, C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad's absorbing look into the lives of a prep school fencing team and their aspiring members finally continues with volume 2, which collects issues #5 to #8. Unlike the previous volume, which ended on a somewhat infuriating cliffhanger, this story wraps up quite a few loose ends even as it keeps the saga of Nicholas Cox and his rivals chugging along.

In this volume, with the exposition and character introduction out of the way, quite a bit happens as the fencing team tryouts continue in earnest. Highlights of the compilation including a stunning match involving high school fencing wunderkind Seiji Katayama, and series lead Nicholas Cox getting a much-needed confidence booster. Tension builds as the roster of hopefuls for the team narrows, and the final candidates begin to emerge. Wills and skills are tested and many of the aspirants come to learn the hard way that it will take a lot more than just determination to get onto this squad. What's clear, though, is that the real challenges are still ahead.

When I read the first volume after having consumed an almost-exclusive diet of superhero comic books, I was struck by how different in storytelling it was. It wasn't the R-rated fare that usually doesn't make it into the pages of a mainstream comic book and yet it wasn't the larger-than-life adventures of men and women in tights (though it did feature plenty of teens in tight outfits). It was a series focused mainly on teenage insecurity, framed against a backdrop of a hyper-competitive sports setting. The first volume introduced us to Nicolas Cox and the various characters in his school, and I would have rated it much more highly had it not ended on a complete anticlimax.

This story isn't just better because it actually finishes what it started, but because it really goes into the heads of its characters. Team captain Harvard Lee, for example, who previously seemed vaguely modeled after Takenori Akagi from Slam Dunk, managed to get his own proper arc, showing his own insecurity and fears, and surprisingly, even Aiden, the established bad boy from last issue, gets character moments that don't dwell on his "villainy" or weaponized sexuality. Seiji's biggest fan, Bobby is still, well, Bobby, and hasn't much moved forward from the last arc. As for Seiji, the sort-of-archnemesis of the hero Nicholas Cox, writer Pacat teases us ever-so-slightly with a look into his "secret origin" but doesn't go any further than that. The coach, the series' only strong female character, remains Pacat's number one tool for exposition, though to us non-fencing experts it is somewhat welcome.

Of course, this is still Nicolas Cox's story, and his moments of redemption are somewhat satisfying, even though they kind of get to his head, as they would with most teens. It was gratifying, though, to see other characters in the series get some page time.

Johanna the Mad continues to impress, though as before, I wasn't really thrilled with her "super deformed" characters, because they distracted from her slick linework and storytelling prowess. This series is definitely strong enough to break free from the manga that inspired it. Also, unlike many manga/anime artists, Johanna knows how to draw black people.

This series has about four issues to go before they switch format to graphic novels instead of floppy issues, and, judging by how this story has gone so far, there's a LOT of story left to tell, but it's gratifying to know that Pacat (or whoever is editing this series for collected edition format) was considerate enough to give us a story that satisfied, rather than leaving just about everything unresolved, even as she has us looking forward to the next installment.

8/10