5/17/10

Welcome back, readers. Probably reader, actually. Whatever. Anyway, this past Wednesday I picked up two titles from each of the two major companies. However, one dominated the other in terms of quality. Lets take a look!

HERO OF THE WEEK: We're going old school on this one. 3-D Man takes it, for finally joining the Agents of Atlas. In Atlas #1, Delroy Garret, the successor to the role of the 3-D Man, begins tracking the Agents through San Francisco as he recounts his backstory. Jeff Parker is one of the few writers who can switch back and forth between storyline and exposition well, and he does so here, with Garret's search in the present and memories of the past mixing well and playing off each other. It's cool. I like it. I think i'm gonna enjoys this series.

VILLAIN OF THE WEEK: It's a new character this week. Not just new to the blog, but new to comics in general. In Ultimate Avengers 2 #2, War Machine is assigned to bring in the man who taught Bruce Banner how to be the Hulk, Tyrone Cash. In the beginning, he was Professor Leonard Williams, a physics teacher with injured legs who developed the Hulk formula with a young Banner before testing it on himself and leaving. Now, we discover he has changed his name and used his powers to become a crimelord in South America. He and War Machine fight, exchange words, yadda yadda yadda, until finally they reach a deal and Cash is brought into the Avengers. Their mission? To takein the previously unheard-of Ultimate Ghost Writer. Mark Millar and Lenil Francis Yu make a killer team here, with great artwork and cool dialogue throughout. I'm definately digging this series.

ISSUE OF THE WEEK: Marvel's Heroic Age officially starts with Avengers #1, from Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr, and I loved it. Our story starts by introducing the Next Avengers into Marvel comics, which is a trippy twist to say the least. The NA were the protagonists of their own animated film, which itself was alright for a kids film. But now they're in comics and they kcufing killed Immortus! Dude! These guys are way more hardcore than I gave them credit.

After this, Captain Steve Rogers, America's new top cop, recruits his new Avengers team, consisting of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man (together again for the first time), Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Spider-Woman. Several other heroes are brought in as reserves, but one rejects the offer: Wonder Man, planting the seeds for a future story arc. Anyway, during the first meeting, Kang the Conqueror breaks in. Kang, an old school-villain dubbed a 'time terrorist' by Captain Steve, exposits that the Next Avengers have been screwing up the timestream and that he needs the Avengers help to take them. He also appears to have a doomsday device Tony Stark has not yet invented. And, at the end, he confers with the Maestro, a super-strong, super-smart, despotic Hulk from the future.

In the first issue, Bendis and JR Jr set the tone for the series, with great Bendis dialogue and the beautiful artwork we've come to expect from Romita. The issue is a lot of fun, it sets up for the future, and is just generally really cool. I suggest you pick it up.

OTHER THINGS OF NOTE: Brightest Day #2 is a series that'll probably appear in the blog a lot. Despite that sweet-ass Aquaman cover, this issue was mostly about the Martian Manhunter, with him remembering his origin as well as learning of a new wrinkle to it. Some other stuff happens with the Hawks and Aquaman, but it's Deadman who steals the show, as the issue ends with him about to face the Anti-Monitor. This wasn't the best issue, but it was alright. Things'll pick up soon.

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 was Paul Levitz's return to the 31st century's greatest heroes. While fans of his work might enjoy this, I didn't. Levitz's work really seems like older writing, with a lot of narration and exposition driving the story. Plus some of the things involved just seemed stupid. For one thing, I have to imagine people in the 31st century know not to witness the beginning of the universe. That's one of he major laws of Oa. Second, the characterization of Sodam Yat was a lot different from Legion of Three Worlds. Wasn't he going to to rebuild the GLC himself and not just be sad that they're all gone? Third, the artwork just seemed off in some places. Good overall, but off. I do like that he kept Earth-Man around, though. He's one of the Legions more interesting villains as of late. I won't be buying this series anymore, but I'll probably follow it.

And now it's time for the QUOTE OF THE WEEK! This weeks quote comes from Avengers #1:

Bucky: Hey...
Thor: I'm sorry.
Bucky: No...I was just saying...Hey...
Thor: I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure who you are.

That was my stuff for this week. Hope you enjoyed with my review. Thanks for reading, i'll see you next time!