Batgirl Is Bulletproof, Hit-Girl Goes Berserk, The Sentry Is A Junkie

Its February and Marvel’s Siege rolls on as does DC Blackest Night. But I what caught my eye was what both companies have coming up later this year.  Its not another cross-over, but for DC a new universe coming in March.  Christened First Wave, they are going for an Art Deco, Pulp, and Noir feel.  We’ll be presented with an alternate universe populated by Batman, Doc Savage, The Spirit, and Black Canary.  Sounds fun.

On the other side, Marvel has announced The Heroic Age coming this May.  The phrases in the press release, “renewed sense of hope and optimism, leading to the formation of all new teams with new members” and “perfect jumping on point for readers new and old alike”.  Hmmm.  I think I smell more retcons coming.  The First Wave sounds much more interesting than Marvel’s team shake up.  At any rate, that will be fodder for another post, here’s what made it off my reading pile last month…

Great Reads

Batgirl #6
This is my favorite book of the month.  We get Batgirl bouncing back from her gunshot wound last issue.  She fights with Damain Wayne (Robin).  Can’t tell if Bryan Q. Miller is trying to rekindle any Barbara Gordon (Oracle) romance with Dick Grayson (Batman), but the layering is interesting.  We see the old Batgirl and Robin adjusting to their rolls as the adults and then the new generation with Stephanie and Damain.  The final page, Batman has been ambushed for one of Roulette’s high stakes death matches and it looks like Stephanie and Damain must ride to the rescue.

Secret Warrior #12
Writer Jonathan Hickman is building to something here, twelve months in and he has all of the players aligned and ready to strike.  We know about Hydra and their personnel issues, with Viper being kidnapped by the Leviathan forces.  Gorgon and the Hydra people are on edge.  Nick Fury is briefing his people that he’s getting ready to fight both Hydra and Leviathan.  Everyone in the room gets that Hydra was founded on the ashes of Fascist German, they understand the supremacy ideology.  Leviathan was a parallel shadow organization developed by the Russians and it evolved during the Cold War.  According to Nick, it was just as massive and twice as dangerous– and then one day all of the agents disappeared.  The kidnapped Viper is supposed to hold a key to waking these thousands of missing Leviathan agents.  So the mystery deepens, who is more dangerous Leviathan or Hydra; and what does Nick know that he isn’t telling.

Good Reads

Kick-Ass #8
I have no idea how they are going to make this in to a movie. OK, after Hostel 2 you can film anything, but how will this get into theaters with less than an NC-17 rating for gratuitous violence.  In this issue alone we had a meat cleaver and a flamethrower wielded by the ten year Hit-Girl.  After which she shot multiple gangsters in the crotch.  And then the title character Kick-Ass beats few more people to death. I can’t call it a great read because its just so over the top.  Although I do like the fact that its grounded in the “real world”, no superheroes just a bunch of people hitting the  gym, using a lot of guns, and wearing costumes.

Captain America Reborn #6 / Captain America: Who Will Wield The Shield #1
I’m a bit shocked.  Not that we’ve got Steve Rogers back.  We knew this was coming, the wheels were set in motion last summer. Kind of a convulted back and forth. (1) A brainwashed Sharon Carter (SHIELD agent and Steve’s girlfriend) shoots Steve on the steps of the New York Federal Courthouse, (2) The gun severed Steve’s consciousness from his body, (3) The Red Skull got a Arnim Zola and one of Dr. Doom time machines then something happened where Steve’s consciousness got lost in time, (4) Thanks to Norman Osborn, the Red Skull got Steve’s body (way to keep it under lock and key, Avengers) planned to put his own disembodied consciousness in it.  (5) Luckily, Sharon Carter, Bucky, Black Widow, Falcon, Ronin, and Hank Pym put all the pieces together and foiled that plan.

After all that had happened to him, missing the Secret Invasion of the Skrulls and the Dark Reign of Norman Osborn, Steve decides not to take his colors back.  So Bucky will remain as Captain America for the time being.  All of which makes the last page of Siege #1, confusing– since we see Steve in the Captain America suit reacting to the CNN report of the Asgard assault.

Iron Man #22
Not a whole lot happened.  Tony is still in a coma.  All of his friends followed the instructions to jump start his brain, use Thor to making lightning and channel the power through Captain America’s shield with some jumper cables.  They brought in Dr. Strange, who last I checked wasn’t Sorcerer Supreme anymore, but I guess he still knows how to rescue people trapped in their own subconsciousness.

Thor #606
We had a great story line going, the Asgardians fighting Dr. Doom.  But it feels like it ended prematurely, as if the editors came in and said, “Wrap it up we need Thor to be Oklahoma, not Latveria.” The final battle between Thor and Doom wearing the Destroyer armor was good, but again it felt rushed. I did like the epilogue of sorts with Doom going down to his lab and giving the readers the obvious hint that he isn’t done playing Dr. Moreau with Asgardian physiology.

Detective Comics #861
This would have been a great read if not for the substitution of J.H. Williams III for Jock on the pen and ink duties.  The
story is compelling with Batwoman and Batman working the same serial killer case from different angles.  I did like the splash page though, its something I wish Marvel would go back to.  I don’t need a full page of exposition on what happened last month, comic books are supposed to be a visual medium give me back my splash page.

Disappointing Reads

Dark Avengers #13
I know that practically every month I rail against The Sentry as the most asinine retcon character in the Marvel Universe.  Brian Michael Bendis must have heard me, because now he presents a new origin for The Sentry.  Rather than the Silver Age inspired, he drank a formula and wham– he’s the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe and everybody forgot that he existed junk.  We get the real story from his long suffering wife, Lindy.  Turns out Bob Reynolds was a drug addict who broke into a laboratory looking for a fix, he came across the serum, and he’s addicted to the “power”- which is supposed to explain his duality with The Void and his own mental weakness.  Arggg.  Now you want to inject some pathos into this silly character’s origin, only ten years from his “birth”.  Too late.  So I guess the Siege is shaping up to be the comeupance of Norman Osborn with the destruction of Asgard and the meltdown of The Sentry.

Batman & Robin #7
The first six issues were stellar and then this happens.  We’ve got a new artist on the book, Cameron Stewart.  Who really is a letdown after Frank Quitely’s work.  Somehow, Batman is in London working with Squire and Knight.  They’ve located a Lazarus Pit in an abandoned coal mine in the north of England.  And to add to the confusion they break Batwoman out of a coffin.  Still more confusing The Knight apparently already put Bruce Wayne’s body in the pit.

Fantastic Four #575
I don’t understand.  Jonathan Hickman writes one of my favorite books, Secret Warriors; but I’m not enjoying his FF run thus far.  Everyone seems to be in place, Johnny and Ben bicker.  Reed and Sue juggle parenting and heroics.  The artwork from  Dale Eaglesham is fine (although there is a weird retro look to everyone’s faces). We have the Mole Man appealing to the FF for help.  They go to Subterranea to do the hero thing.  The whole issue felt forced and compressed.  I supposed its related to last issue’s visit from future Franklin Richards giving Val a warning about what else– the future.  Just once, I’d like to see a tv show, movie, or comic book where someone comes back from the future and says– “Its all good. Keep rockin’. Don’t change a thing.”