HERO OF THE WEEK: Another hero of the Heroic Age takes it this week. A new super-team launches in Thunderbolts #144, under the direction of none other than Luke Cage. Cage, being a reformed convict, is perfect to lead this group of crazies and semi-crazies, including heroes like Songbird and MACH, villains like Crossbones and Juggernaut, morally ambigous characters like Moonstone and Ghost, and...Man-Thing. Why? Because why the kcuf not. But it's Cage that ties them together and gives them purpose...until he's crushed by Baron Zemo, apparently back from his time romp and wanting to take control of the T-Bolts. Jeff Parker writes a great team building issue here and showcases what to expect from these folks. Great stuff.
VILLAIN OF THE WEEK: Slim pickings for this week's villain, but I gotta choose someone, and it might as well be the Red Lantern boys. Green Lantern #54 continues in the Brightest Day, with the New Guardians together looking for the seven entities of the emotional spectrum. With Hal, Carol, and Sinestro in, the next one up was Atrocitus. We find the guardian of rage in the angriest city on Earth, New York, providing vicious subway justice with his friend, Dex-Starr the Rage Kitty. The two meet up with the trio, fight, and are interrupted by Lobo. What's interesting here is that Atro has actually found affection for his previous ally, Mera. Can't wait to see how that plays out with Aquaman. Johns writes these guys as well as he ever did, but it's Doug Mahnke's art that makes them shine. I'm looking forward to how this storyline plays out.
ISSUE OF THE WEEK: Following up from last month, it's Secret Warriors #16. 'Wake The Beast' has been a strong arc thus far, and it's closer is no exception. A lot of stuff happenes, but Jonathan Hickman juggles it well enough to keep the readers interested in keep the stories intriguing. We start with a meeting between the heads of HYDRA and Leviathan, which, expectantly, ends in violence. Next is a brief flashback showing that Commander Kraken is not the first person to bear that name and killed his predecessor. Then we see Nick Fury mobilizing his forces to strike while the bad guys are distracted with each other. Finally, we see that J.T. James, card carrying member of the Secret Warriors, is on the payroll of Baron von Strucker, leader of HYDRA. It's a great plot twist, though I have to say I saw some of it coming. The only major fault with this issue is the art. Gianluca Gigliotta replaces Stephano Caselli on this book (which seems to attract Italian artists for some reason). Gigliotta tries to mimic Caselli, but it comes off as making all the characters look weird and misshapen. Regardless, this issue was strong on plot and i'm really looking forward to what happens in it.
OTHER THINGS OF NOTE: Secret Avengers #1 was another team-building issue of the Heroic Age. We jump right in here, seeing Captain Rogers's black-ops team in action. It feels weird seeing Mike Deodato draw people who aren't villains, but it still looks great. While it's too early to comment on the plot, the characters are well written and it's an interesting-looking team. I'd like to see how it plays out.
The Guild #3 of 3 closed the miniseries based on the web-series. The conclusion is bittersweet (mostly sweet) and the final line made me laugh. Jim Rugg's artwork switches between newspaper-strip cartoony for the real life portions and epic-style portraits for the game, both of which look really cool. The series overall was a fun little romp and if another of it's kind came out, i'd pick it up.
Amazing Spider-Man #632 debuted the newest version of the Lizard, who looks and is really cool. Go check it out.
And now it's time for the QUOTE OF THE WEEK! This weeks quote comes from The Guild #3:
"It might look like i've dug myself into a pit, but i'm actually happier now. Because of gaming with my guild. No matter what my therapist keeps saying to me, I can escape there. It's what I need right now. Besides, it's not like i'll ever have to meet these people."
And that's my stuff for this week (almost). Hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks, i'll see you next time!
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