Uncanny Avengers #20

Written by Gerry Duggan

Penciled by Pepe Larraz
Cover by Adam Kubert
Published February 22, 2017

   Red Skull has captured all of the Unity Squad by using Quicksilver to lure them all in. Once there, he took control of all of them using Professor X's telepathic brain. Luckily, Deadpool was able to call Wong and Spider-Man to help him out. Wong tells Spidey that it's odd hearing Red Skull's voice through his friends. Using Synapse, he renders the three of them nearly incapacited by nausea and vertigo. Next, Johnny Storm flies up to roast them but Spider-Man throws a grenade at a fire hydrant, knocking him out of the sky. Quicksilver knocks Spider-Man into a wall and he throws a web bomb, which Deadpool shoots and activates. Wong uses a spell on Dr Voodoo and keeps him at bay while Spidey webs up Human Torch.
   Suddenly Deadpool has a plan. He tells Spider-Man to web him up and throw him to Avengers Mansion. He launches him and on the flight, Deadpool plans to take out Rogue first. He's distracted upon his arrival since the Mansion has essentially been turned into a cosplay nightmare. Red Skull uses the civilians to attack him and Deadpool uses a smoke bomb to escape. Dragging a mocked up Black Panther and Storm to safety, he knows the only other threat besides Rogue is Red Skull's daughter, Sin. His plan for dealing with her is simple - he just punches the shit out of her, knocking her out. Rogue won't be as easy.
   He pulls open a door and there stands Red Skull in the flesh (or lack thereof). All it takes is a millisecond's pause however and Rogue blind sights him. Red Skull tells him he gave him quite a scare while Deadpool pumps bullets into Rogue. Each one bounces off and she finally punches completely through him in one glorious page sized panel full of gore. Finally Red Skull tells him he's retiring for a meal. Sin asks why he isn't going to watch Rogue completely destroy the Unity Squad and he tells her there's no need. He can experience every blow from Rogue's mind... Every life she snuffs, every heart that stops beating, He can prolong each painful last moment to savor it that much more. The issue concludes with him telling Deadpool that if it's true he cannot die, perhaps he just hasn't ever met someone motivated enough. He tells Red Skull to why not come downstairs and do it himself? "HAH! That's the spirit" he says wiping his chin, and with that we're left to be continued.
   You know, for a character who they don't even own the film rights to, Marvel sure loves Deadpool. If it's not in his own book which is published bi-monthly, or the mercs spinoff or him and Spider-Man or whatever, it's in his own Avengers book, where Gerry Duggan can continue to make it all about this one character. I can kinda dig it, I mean I like Deadpool. But I like Cable and Human Torch and those dudes too. And don't let me lead you to believe this story isn't good, because it totally is. I just wish it was a little more inclusive. When you have so much to pull from, don't make it all about one guy. I give it a 7/10 and hope it bumps up before so many of these characters get pulled back to the X-Mansion.

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Deadpool #27

Written by Gerry Duggan
Penciled by Sean Izaakse
Cover by David Lopez
Published Feb 15, 2017

   Agent Coulson is at the Lincoln Memorial and standing off against three Captain America clones from the future, and they won't surrender to anyone except Steve Rogers himself. Rogers radios in and tells him he's on the way, and with a gigantic Hydra tattoo across his chest, he then tells Deadpool they're scheduled meeting will have to wait. Meanwhile, Deadpool threatens a group of tourists taking his photo while he's stuck in a tree. He drops from the trees and they run away. Later he joins Coulson at the Memorial, who asks him what he's doing in DC since Cap fired him from the Avengers. Suddenly Steve Rogers walks out and the trio attacks him. They ask what the repercussions are for killing Deadpool and it turns out there are none.
   While fighting, Deadpool asks Cap if he's going to reform the Unity squad and he says they'll talk about it later. Just then the largest of the three leaps at them, and Deadpool runs him through with his katanas. Rogers tells him to try and take the others alive. The remaining two left, one charges the other and Cap tells Wade to get behind him. He explodes, knocking Rogers to the ground and Deadpool cracks the joke that he wished he loved anything as much as old people love naps. The last of the three runs away and Deadpool tells the SHIELD agent to not shoot anyone HE wouldn't. Coulson scans him and they seeing him running to the Korean War Memorial. The 3rd Cap clone runs into the real one, telling him even though they failed to kill him, he can at least tell the world about his ruinous empire. Captain tells him he can't let that happen, lying to Deadpool that he's armed. Wade puts two in his chest and Steve calls for a medic. Coulson starts to tell him that he's not armed but realizing he needs to keep his poker face, instead says he's "not going to be a problem anymore...". Coulson thanks Cap for his help and it takes awhile before he's gone that Coulson's knees buckle.
   He goes for a drive thinking - did Captain America use Deadpool as a torpedo, and then using a drop piece to justify the shooting? He enters a diner and opening a secret passageway walks into a safe house leftover from the "old" Fury days, and begins his investigation. The man who was his greatest hero, the man who's now the head of SHIELD, has some problems. It's up to Coulson to find out and with that, the issue is left to be continued.
   I don't know how many times Captain America has been turned into a Hydra sleeper agent, or if it's maybe just that it's happened so many times in RECENT memory, but it's getting a little stale. Since I don't really read his comic, I don't know the whole story and at last look, the Avengers hadn't delved too much into it either. I guess I'll wait to find out. The only good thing is that if it's gonna happen in the pages of Deadpool, it shouldn't take too long since this book is published so often. This was a good one though. I give it an 8 out of 10.

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Infamous Iron Man #5

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Penciled by Alex Maleev
Cover by Alex Maleev
Published Feb 22, 2017

   Ben Grimm wakes up in a recovery room wondering if it was all a dream... unti Maria Hill walks in and reminds him that no - it's wasn't. He's on the SHIELD helicarrier and the last place he remembers being is in Dr Doom's lab. Doom wasn't there but his mom was. She cast a spell on him and then Victor showed up, and saved Ben's life. Back at Doom's castle, his mother asks to see his face. Victor doesn't believe it. Ben tells Maria he'd always heard Doom's mother was a witch and was killed somewhere out in the woods, but there she was. She tells him to scan her, listen to her heartbeat, anything but Victor isn't convinced. She explains to him that she's been in hiding but now, in light of her son doing such good deeds, she's returned. He's turned his path to that of honor. She moves to destroy Grimm but Victor orders him freed. She casts a spell on him and that's all he remembers...
   Ben tells Maria they need to get back to Latveria and she tells him they never left. She orders boots on the ground and they arrest the general Doom left in charge who demands an audience with Maria. At Cambridge, SHIELD agents walk into Amara Perara's lab to ask her about Ben Grimm and Doctor Doom's fight outside her apartment. No sooner do they walk in that a school administrator walks in with a notice for her to leave the school. Dismayed, she goes back to work and sees Victor Von Doom walk in. She wonders aloud if she's going to end up murdering him. He tells her he's sorry this all happened. He's recently been reunited with his mother but he'll fix all of Amara's woes.
   Flash back to their meeting, and Doom asks his mother why she's shamed him all these years. She says she loves him and he attacks her. She tells him they'll finish this another day and Amara, in the present, asks him if he thought she was really dead. He tells her he saved her soul from eternal damnation once. Amara tells Doom that she can't fix him. She can't even fix herself. The issue concludes with Doom's mother standing over a cauldron. Reed Richards tells her he's proud of her and she thanks him. With that, we're left to be continued.
   I don't really understand why Marvel canceled the Fantastic Four if they were just going to essentially bring them all back in the pages of Iron Man of all places. Victor Von Doom is an amazing villain, rich and full of history but I personally never drew parallels between him and Tony Stark. After Secret Wars they couldn't leave him hanging. Maybe they wanted to test the waters and didn't want to waste space in an Avengers book. I don't know. For now though, I DO know I enjoy this story and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. I give it a 9/10.

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Extraordinary X-Men #19

Written by Jeff Lemire

Penciled by Eric Koda
Cover by David Yardin
Published Feb 22, 2017

   In Iceland, the X-Men charge into battle against the Inhumans. Storm yells out for them to not hold back and suddenly Illyana hears Sapna's voice. She tells her that she needs her help, and Illyana has to painfully tell her that she's kind of in the middle of something. She pulls her into another dimension and in the heat of battle, Magik is locked inside her soulsword.
   Sapna tells her that since she killed her, she's been very lonely. Illyana tells her she can't be here right now. Sapna tells her her body will be ok because time moves slower inside the sword. Ilyana says she's sorry the way it happened. The World Eater left her no choice but she needs to get back to the X-Men. Ilyana can see Crystal speeding towards her through the sword but Sapna is mad, and tells her she won't let her go. Just then a boom is throttled across the realm and they realize Crystal is attacking her. Illyana tells her she has to go but if she lets her go back to her body, she promises to come back and find her a way out. Sapna relents and Magik pops back into reality. She hits Crystal with the soulsword while the X-Men battle with the Inhumans mightily. Colossus tries to speak with his sister but she tells him she's distracted. If anything happens to her, bring her sword to Doctor Strange and tell him she's inside of it.
   Back inside the sword, Illyana tells Sapna she wishes she never got M-Pox, was never found by the world eater, and they could go back in time. But it's not the end. She has an idea. A way to pull Sapna out of the dimension and back into the real world, maybe even eventually finding her a body. She agrees, and the two of them hold hands stepping through a portal and back to the fight. Outside she talks to Sapna and knows she's there, while Colossus thinks she's just talking to herself. Sapna asks her what we do next and Illyana tells her we fight for what's important and we keep fighting no matter what. With that, the issue wraps.
   Of all the X-books, this is still the reigning champ as far as I'm concerned. Including as many of the Giant Size X-Men from 1975 as possible, it still manages to spotlight other legendary mutants as well. Magik is one of those that has a great background and with great writing, Lemire does a great job of continuing to round her out. I don't know what's gonna happen when they shake it up with the new titles in a few weeks but I for one can't wait. I give this one a 9/10.

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Amazing Spider-Man #24

Written by Dan Slott

Pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli
Cover by Alex Ross
Published Feb 22, 2017

   Ben Reilly has work to do. The last thing he needs is a fight with Doc Ock, who is still pretty mad about endangering his crush Anna Maria Marconi. He calls to one of the Miles Warren clones for help but like all the other clones, he melts. Throughout the incubator, the Admin, Jackal's apartment, everywhere - they all collapse until one doesn't. He realizes he's the real Miles and he's prepared to make the clone of Peter Parker himself pay for the abuse he's suffered. He dons his creepy green Jackal costume and plots his revenge.
   Back at the lab, Spider-Man sends out the audible signal through all of his webware devices that will stop the carrion disease from progressing to the world's population. From New York to Paris, every smart device equipped with Parker Industries software emits the sound. Otto lashes out at Ben's device and smashes it, punishing him for ever hurting Anna. During their fight, Ben remembers the one unaltered Proto-clone and rushes to use it. Unaware Otto has rigged the device, he puts it on and is shocked unconscious. When he wakes he discovered the clone gone and Otto gone with it. With time of the essence, he takes the drugs to stabilize his decomposition. He takes the shirt off one of the dupes and takes off. Leaping from the window, he finds a motorist passing by. Stealing his watch to stop the disease, he takes his car as well.
   Ben drives back to the replica he made of Pete's childhood home to gather money, ID's, passports, and everything else he'll need for a getaway and runs right into the new Jackal Miles Warren. He sets fire to a pile of meds, documents, and everything else Reilly needed. Enraged, he attacks him. He asks why Miles made him in the first place just to torture him. Miles tells him he gave him life and he just wasted it. Ben tells Miles he wasted the tech on of his obsession with Gwen Stacey and Peter Parker. He gets the upperhand on the Jackal, finally leaving him to die in the house which is now engulfed in flames. Jackal yells that it isn't fair. Ben yells out that life isn't fair. He punches out the firemen on the lawn and makes a run for it. Who he is - who he was... Nothing matters except for who he's gonna be now. And with that the issue comes to an end.
   I enjoy Peter Parker's and Miles Morales' Spider-Men but at some point here I'm gonna have to draw the line. There was a time where this book could stand on it's own. Now you're gonna have to read 15 books to keep up with it. I never thought I'd say this, but for once they could take a page from DC. Batman is a book that very rarely crosses over where it seems like this book - a flagship book can hardly stand on it's own. Relying on the "Spider-Verse" is getting a little ridiculous. Gwen Stacey is a Spider-person now? Silk? Doc Ock? Aunt May?! I'll give this one a 7/10 for good story but hopefully they'll cut down on all the extra books. Us comic book kids love to read but at some point, we're gonna hit the spider wall.

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Old Man Logan #18

Written by Jeff Lemire

Penciled by Andrea Sorrentino
Cover by Andrea Sorrentino
Published Feb 15, 2017
 
   Logan and Puck stare down a Brood infected Jean Grey as he bounces from past to present and the rest of the aliens just keep coming. He tries to free himself but falls backwards, hearing Jean call out to him in the process. Suddenly his claws pop out on their own and he knows he's not in control. Deja Vu strikes and he sees a sea of dead X-Men, his nightmare scenario that has played out in his mind over and over again. The Brood possessed X-Men visions attack him just as the lights turn out and Logan is back in the Wastelands. Alone. Again.
   He hears a sound over the horizon - a baby crying. He remembers that he came back into the Wastelands to get the Hulk baby he left there. The baby reaches his hand out, touches his face, and eventually completely dwarfs it. The grandson of Bruce Banner stands before him as warlord of the wastelands. He thanks Logan for leaving him there and helping him fulfill his destiny. If he'd have raised the boy, he'd have been weak like Logan's own family. He then sees them standing there, asking why he didn't save them. Logan knows it isn't real, and the red hair of his own daughter Jade reminds him he's here in the present to save Jean Gray. He pops a claw, tells her to hold still, leaps up and precisely slices the brood embryo off her neck.
   Weak, he picks her up. Puck reminds Logan that they're not ok yet and Logan asks Jeanie to shut down the brood's hive mind. She does so in one brilliant 2 paged panel, and they all fall asleep. Jean apologizes to Logan for making him see the visions he saw. He tells her it's ok but he's not cleaning up the brood mess. Beast shows up with a SHIELD containment squad and Iceman, Puck and the rest of Alpha Flight are ok, Logan still has a problem shaking it off. Jean sits next to him again and in their conversation, he reveals to her that he intends to fix these problems he left behind. He tells her he has to go back and with that, this story arc concludes.
   I've read so many Wolverine comic books that I was burnt out on the character and this series has completely reinvigorated it. I've said before I truly believe it's the best book in the Marvel Universe and I stand by it. A year and a half in, my only hopes is that they don't mess with the formula. Great writing and great art. I give it a 10/10.

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The Punisher #9

Written by Becky Cloonan

Penciled by Mark Horak
Cover by Declan Shalvey
Published Feb 15 2017

   Frank angrily buries Ethel and rides away on her husband's motorcycle. Meanwhile, Agent Ortiz bangs on the windows of the ambulance Face has hijacked. He tells her that nobody will ever come looking for her and how her partner screamed while he murdered him. She reminds him that the blood pouring from his nose is evidence of an EMC overdose on the way to his brain. Sleep deprived, he drives off a cliff and over a mountainside. Face pulls her unconscious body from the wreck. When she comes to, she's tied to a furnace in a cabin. Finding a scalpel in her sleeve and quickly concealing it, Face walks in with an armful of firewood.
   Explaining to her he intends to cook and eat her, she tells him he'll need a lot more wood. He heads back out and collapses. Using the scalpel to cut through her constraints, he Sees her run from the cabin and chases her. She stabs him with the scalpel and just as he prepares to kill her with her own weapon, he begins to hallucinate. She explains to him death is imminent but she promises him a clean death in exchange for information.
   She asks him where the drugs are while miles and miles away, some DEA agents question Olaf's wife, Veronica. She tells them she hasn't seen him in months and that she's planning on divorcing him. They ask if they can look around and she mention's his man cave. Reminding them she has to put their baby down for a nap, they ask to see the mancave and she relents. Kicking the door open reveals a tripwire and thousands of pounds of C4. The house explodes.
   On the run. Olaf's phone displays a notification that the fire sale protocol is engaged. Angry she messed with the basement door, he expresses happiness that it at least takes care of the headache. Back at the cabin, Ortiz hotwires a station wagon and from the back seat, Face reminds her of her promise. She tells him she's changed her mind. Her phone rings and it's a fellow DEA agent telling her there's a situation and it's all hands on deck. She responds that she's on vacation and she has a rendezvous with some old friends in Canada just as we see Frank crossing over the border with John Conway's military ID. With that we're left to be continued.
   Nothing like a Punisher comic book where Frank Castle is literally only shown in like 5 panels. I understand that this story needs a little shoring up, but this was kind of a weak way to do it. 9 issues in and Face and Condor are still part of the arc, although it looks like maybe not for long. I don't know how many other books Becky Cloonan writes for Marvel right now, but seeing as this book is published sparingly she should be able to spend a little more time with it. Hopefully it picks up. I give it a 6/10.

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