Avengers #5

Written by Mark Waid

Penciled by Mike Del Mundo
Cover by Mike Del Mundo
Published Mar 1, 2017

   Desperate to stop Kang, Vision shows the team his new device: a time tether. Part of Captain America's plan, it could help them win the battle for good. When Captain Falcon...America tells them he doesn't have a plan, Vision from the future steps out of thin air to explain. Though it's been millennia, Cap's plan revolved around making surgical strikes through time on Kang's supply line. Showing them the end of time and the time relative to where they are now, they can go into the past and future creating bombs simultaneously, destroying his fortress and giving him nowhere to run.
   Realizing he'll have to divide the team and running out of Avengers, Cap conveniently remembers the time machine in the basement of the former Baxter Building. He goes back in time to get the first Avengers, joining forces with Giant Man, original Thor, Hulk, She-Hulk, Namor, original Captain Marvel, original pre-evil Captain America, and the original Wasp. Also giving a proud "Avengers Assemble", Vision informs him he also just taught the original Avengers their battle cry. Half of them go back to ancient Egypt, disrupting Kang's slaves from making their high tech weaponry. Spider-Man places the time bomb in the fusion reactor. The other half of the team goes to a future alien planet, and after some awkward exchanges between the Thors, discover a team of miners. They mine time, stealing the future from primates and keeping them from evolving. The Avengers fight back until getting caught in the time stealing rays themselves. Beginning to erase the original Avengers, the current team also begins to disappear from existence.
   The issue wraps when we see the third team split off roughly 2000 years into the future. Being dropped pretty much right into Kang's lair, he doesn't recognize them but is systematically interrogating each Avenger. Will they crack under pressure? Will they stop the miners? Will they blow up the fusion reactor? We'll have to wait until next issue to find out.
   I've always been a fan of abstract comic art but getting into this is a stretch. If this is gonna be the flagship Avengers book, they have to do better than this. It literally looks like watercolors meets half-assed penciling and then they turned the contrast up to like a thousand percent. To be perfectly honest, it distracts from the story and if there isn't a change somewhere on the horizon, I could see myself not being able to stick with this title. The story is ok but after so much time travel in the X-Books, this shtick is getting about as watered down as Mike Del Mundo's artwork. I give it a 5/10.

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Invincible Iron Man #12

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Penciled by Mike Deodato
Cover by Mike Deodato
Published Aug 3, 2016

   As the rubble of what was formerly Stark Tower steams, Tony sits atop of it eating a burger while the firemen stand around asking each other what he's doing. He asks Maria Hill and Mary Jane, who are now among the staring crowd for some ketchup. It was just 3 weeks ago that he met members of the Stark Industries board apologizing for faking his own death to infiltrate a Japanese techno mafia. Of the members looking for answers, Tony personally rails against Mr Lynch for hiring a known criminal to break into the building. Although it seemed perfectly normal once he found out Tony left his AI in charge of running things while he was gone, Tony still takes a personal dig that Friday ran things better than Lynch could. He threatens a vote to remove Tony from the board to which Tony votes that Lynch is a dick. After the meeting, Tony notices that MJ is still apparently an employee of his. He asks Friday who's still the most mad at him which leads him to MIT to meet with Dr. Amara Perara.
   Once he gets there, he finds out that Amara is apparently in Europe. He gives another scientist the flowers he'd brought for her and meets with the Dean who is also not helpful in tracking her down. He does mention something else that piques Tony's interest. Former student Riri Williams argues with her mother about leaving MIT on the grounds of testing a new invention she's made. She asks to see this invention to which Riri refuses until her idol Tony Stark walks in. There she displays the Mark 41 suit she reverse engineered. Impressed, Tony inspects it until Riri finally asks him for an AI to help control the suit. Tony offers to sell her one for $45 million dollars. Her mother, clearly freaked out by all this, continues to protest until Tony orders everyone out to dinner.
   Back in the present, Maria questions Tony's mindset to whom he tells he's fine. He knows Carol Danvers is no doubt watching them from some satellite image and wondering what he's planning to do next. Tony tells them that what the Inhumans have done is either an act or terror or a declaration of war, and threatens that it wouldn't take much to remove them from the planet if he so chose to do it, though it wouldn't bring Rhodey back. Suddenly a voice comes out of nowhere that agrees with him. Doctor Victor Von Doom walks up and tells him he has to show him something. Maria Hill quickly threatens arrest and with that, Doom and Stark teleport into a flash of green light and we're left to be continued.
   There's only a few issues left until the Riri era kicks off, and this book is winding down probably about as excitingly as it can. Tony's time in the Marvel Universe grows short. And although I'm excited to find out just how the Dr. Doom version of our favorite hero came to be, it's gonna be tough not to miss Stark. Pretty good issue nonetheless and I'm looking forward to the next one. I give it a 9/10.

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Batman #18

Written by Tom King

Penciled by David Finch
Cover by David Finch
Published Mar 1, 2017

   Batman stands on the roof of Arkham and hears Bane's offer. The Psycho Pirate for Duke, Gordon, Catwoman, and Bronze Tiger. Not wasting a second's thought, Batman tells him no. Interlaced with panels showing similarities between their upbringing: Bruce holding his mortally wounded mother next to one of Bane next to his in a jail cell. Commissioner Gordon walking the boy away and an inmate walking Bane away. Young Bruce being introduced to Alfred and young Bane being introduced to the random prisoners... Back to the present, an enraged Bane grabs Batman and starts beating him. Bloodying him and screaming how dare he tell him no, we see young versions of them begging for their mothers back. Bruce studying various textbooks and doing pushups, and Bane sitting in an empty cell and doing his own calisthenics.
   At Arkham, Bane continues the fight. Does Batman think he's some kind joke. Some kind of riddle. He's not a madman howling at the moon, and he's not a rich boy playing dress up. Back in the past we see the two of them training. Walking tightropes, handstands in their cell, mountain climbing, swimming, punching walls and kicking over trees. At the fight, he yells "I AM BANE". Enraged, he demands he give him the pirate and again Batman tells him no. One last look at their upbringings reveals their fights against the Joker, formation of the Bat family, the doctor's experiments, Gordon telling him about Bane and Bane learning of the Bat.
   Bane readies for another punch and tells Batman that this is it - this is how he dies...but this time Batman tells him to shut up. He tells Bird to kill the hostages and to join him at the entrance to Arkham. The only problem is that Bird doesn't answer the phone. Catwoman does. She tells him that all of the hostages are now free and his men are waiting for him at the safe house. Bane instead goes to Arkham on his own. He kicks the door in and with that, we're left to be continued.
   Tom King is an expert on pitting Bane against their Bat as he's obviously done so before. This time he sheds some light on their similar background, showing that the two of them have more in common than they may know. Focusing mostly on that in this book, the story really didn't advance more than the hostages getting free while Batman distracted him. Not that it's a bad thing. Art is stellar and though we're not too much further along than before we read it, it's still a great read. I give it a 9/10.

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Justice League #16

Written by Bryan Hitch

Penciled by Fernando Pasarin
Cover by Fernando Pasarin
Published Mar 1, 2017

   15 minutes before the events unfolded from the previous issue, Batman arrives at the Infinity Corporation. They tell him he has about 15 minutes to exist and he asks if he's the only one left. They tell him Superman is still in the current timeline but the rest of the league is unreachable. Apparently the stones have been talking to them, but Supes is a required part of the equation. Batman tells them he'll do what he can. After he leaves, the employees wonder if they should "tell him the truth" but they decide the time isn't right.
   In Atlantis about 47,000 years ago, Aquaman tells the Atlantians that he'll one day be their king. For now though, they await the queen's childbirth and have carved some signs into the earth stone. He tells them he JUST used the Zodia crystal to save the earth which is apparently not very important to them at this time anyway. In DC about 500 years from now, the Lanterns battle the um, Lantern police and demand they bring them to whomever is in charge, which is apparently inside a gigantic battery. Simon asks them if the Guardians know and they tell him they don't care. The world had fallen into chaos but one Green Lantern chose to stay behind. Suddenly their story is interrupted by Molly transmitting on their watches. Back at Infinity Corp. they show Batman and Supes the message from Molly to each member of the league. She tells them that they need to put their devices in the temporal cores of each machine in their time periods... Ancient Atlantis, Ancient Greece, Barry Allen's Flash creation period, future Washington DC and the 30th Century. The magnitude of their missions begins to sink in. Batman asks if they can use the stones to help the League but they tell him that it isn't possible while Superman keeps asking about his wife and son. Batman asks the people at Infinity why they're helping but they won't say.
   They link the group Molly mentions called "The Timeless" to the events and Superman asks if there's a control center in the floating ship outside their building. They tell him that there is a point of higher temporal energy. He tells them that he's going to go and discus things. Flying towards them, he says that he's come to talk and that looking for a fight is a bad choice. Suddenly a huge being tells him he is always, everywhere, and has been waiting for Superman. The next page reveals a massive embryonic being tethered by cables and tubes. It ominously says it's "time to save history" and with that, we're left to be continued.
   You know, the writing in this series has been and continues to be stellar. The art is where it takes a step back however. Superman looks like a confused Rob Riggle and Aquaman kinda looks like Sylvester Stallone does now, in the new Rocky and Rambo movies with the fat muscley face. It's not noticeable enough to screw up the story for me and probably won't be but if I had to find something to complain about, I guess it would be that. Overall however I still give it an 8/10, and if there's one book you need to keep you sort of caught up on the DC universe, this is still definitely it.

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Uncanny Inhumans #12

Written by Charles Soule

Penciled by Carlos PachecoCover by Ryan Stegman Published Aug 3, 2016

   Stark Tower has fallen. Who is responsible remains to be seen but Medusa is well aware who is going to be blamed. She gives the order to Karnak to seal the city of New Attilan. He's afraid it may signal guilt. She's more afraid of the human casualties that could be on Inhuman hands and a revenge attack from Iron Man. With former NYPD detective Frank McGee's help, she, Lockjaw and Karnak set out to find out who knocked this building down.   Meanwhile in Switzerland, the Inhuman terrorist Lash works with some other separatist villains to begin working on an avalanche on Stark Properties in the region. whom scrambles drones to mount a defense. Back stateside, Medusa meets with her ex-husband and former Inhuman king Blackbolt to see if he had anything to do with it. Frank deduces it must have been a powerful Inhuman with an axe to grind, and in his mind, it points to the prince - Medusa and Blackbolt's son Ahura. Back in Switzerland. Lash attacks while in Venice, Medusa's team walks into the Ennilux Corporation. Once inside, Medusa compliments her son on getting better with his powers. Cutting the chitchat, the conversation focuses on the ruins of Stark Tower. Ahura denies any wrongdoing and claims he had nothing to do with it. Just then, the television in his office flickers with breaking news on Lash's terrorist dealings on Tony's properties. One of his lackeys raises a gigantic piece of rock above one of his factories, and after a rather unhelpful diatribe he gives about it being in Medusa's name, he drops it and it explodes. In an instant, Medusa teleports to the scene. While the rest of her squad holds the terrorists at bay, she demands of Lash why he did this and suddenly a flashback reveals his motives.   In Greenland and much earlier on, Maximus meets with Lash and tells him the plan. To take down Medusa, he needs some firepower. It seems his sister in law has made some errors lately, and by committing these atrocities in her name it just  might just put her over the tipping point. Back in the present, Lash stares into her eyes and says that he didn't do anything... she did. Captain Marvel flies in with the Ultimates asking her just what it was she did and with that, we're left to be continued.   One of the greatest things about Marvel Unlimited is being able to read what is going to one day become a classic crossover and this is just another wonderful chapter of it. I think we're going to be seeing a lot of Medusa over the next few years so this gives us a peek of what just developed her character. If this is just another brick in that wall between her, the Inhumans and the Mutants, how they scale it will be amazing. I give it a 9/10.

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Deadpool #28

Written by Gerry Duggan

Penciled by Salva Espin
Cover by Reilly Brown
Published Mar 1, 2017

   One of Shiklah's monsters has gotten out of the underworld and wandered into the New York City Subway. As that's not really the safest place for a monster, pretty much every human nearby pulls out handguns and blows the thing away. Once Deadpool's wife hears about it and comes running, she discovers the beast dead and then things really get out of hand. She transforms into a super demon and prepares to avenge the monster when Deadpool, fresh off of stealing a police horse, comes running up to calm her down.
   He tells her that this is the kind of stuff that happens in New York. He himself had once killed a guy just for playing the bagpipes. She accuses him of taking the humans side and he somehow convinces her to take the humans to court over it. Once there, the judge rules all of them released as there's no laws on the books for non-humans and Shiklah vows her revenge.
   When they return to the underworld, Shiklah walks Deadpool down a staircase and into a room where a squad of her apparent boyfriends plan to cut him up and store him in jars until the war with the humans is over. He takes exception to this, decapitates one of them and escapes. They chase him and he uses the Subway system to pretty much run them over. Later he texts his friends for help but Captain America, Domino, Spiderman, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and even Mister Sinister fake having any time to help him out. Back in Shiklah's lair, she reveals to one of her henchmen the scepter of manticore, a legendary ancient relic that can unite the underworld. She projects her image over the city and tells the humans they have until dawn the next morning to leave Manhattan.
  Back topside, Werewolf, Frankenstein, Living Mummy, and a group of other legendary monsters discuss the unwillingness to join the fight. In Mexico, some vampires discuss going to New York to help with the humans eviction until one of them is run through the back with a wooden stake. The last page reveals Blade, the vampire hunter extraordinaire announcing his plan to return to stop the city from paying the price for Deadpool's stupidity - and with that we're left to be continued across a painful myriad of crossover books I have no desire to read.
   This comic isn't very good, which in keeping with swapping from decent to bad every other issue still obviously rings true. The only good thing about it is that when we get to the next issue, the "Till Death Do Us" storyline will be almost over. This is one that i'll likely be switching to a new title for once it runs out so I guess I'll do what I have to for now and finish this review. The art is ok. The writing is poor. The lame jokes are even worse. I give it a 4/10.

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Star Wars 29

Written by Jason Aaron

Penciled by Salvador Larroca
Cover by Stuart Immonen
Published March 1, 2017

   Yoda and Garro near the heart of the mountain and Yoda confirms that it indeed is alive, although barely. The jedi and his young master meditate and commune with the mountain for days and eventually hear it's voice. It was once a giant amongst others of it's kind until people butchered them all out of greed for power. Now only one remains. As it heals, Yoda and Garro make there way back to the rockhawkers with the mountain's secret.
   When they near, the group of children ask what that secret is. Yoda won't tell them as they've not shown themselves worthy, but Garro foolishly blurts it out disobeying the jedi. Promising to tell them more if they let Yoda go, the group frees him and walks away as he "so ends" Yoda's training. Yoda returns to the others and prepares them for war - a war like none of them have ever known. While he trains them to commune peacefully, the Rockhawkers feed the mountain with the dark side. Yoda sets out to speak with the now hulking beast. He tells it that they've only made it's suffering worse.
Standing in front of it, he tells the mountain it shall not pass.
   Back where the Rockhawkers kneel in meditation, they speak the words that are coming out of the mountain but they can't overpower Yoda. They all ask each other who taught him their ways and Garro sheepishly replies "A coward most likely. A coward and a fool..." Back onboard his X-Wing, Luke puts down Obi Wan's journal and sees the Vagadarr system. Piloting through the asteroid field and flies low over the planet's surface. Seeing a gigantic stone hand, he lands. Realizing he should have read all of Yoda's tale, a small figure walks up telling the young jedi he always knew there would be another. Standing there before him is a very aged Garro, the last of the rockhawkers. He tells Luke that he's going to help him finish this war and with that, we're left to be continued.
   I always get kind of annoyed when a book like Deadpool jumps around in time for no real reason, but when it comes to Star Wars, we're kind of accustomed to it. The middle trilogy coming out decades before the first one and so on, this is almost how the story is supposed to be told. They pop in and out of Obi-Wan's journals and it's always interesting. Jason Aaron does another good job here and I'm glad he's still going at full speed. I give this one a 10/10.

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