Front Lines - Secret Wars (Week of June 17)

by Mike Maillaro, Gina Maillaro, Graham Scherl, and Mike Weaver

ARMOR WARS #2 by James Robinson and Marcio Takara

Summary: Rhodes is watching the autopsy of Spyder-Man by Dr Druid.  Fisk is working with Arno Stark to rob Kiri’s technology.  Arno is able to provide Fisk’s operative Stingray with a stealth armor to sneak into her lab...though the armor is killing Stingray.  Kiri’s lab defenses go into full effect, and Kiri and Lila (Rhode’s niece) defeat Stingray.

Back at the autopsy, it’s reveals that Spyder-Man’s armor was symbiotically linked to him and recorded all the events that led to his death.  Peter had figured out what had caused the infection that requires everyone in Technopolis to wear armors all the time.  Though this issue ends before the reader finds out the secret.

Maillaro: This was another solid issue.  Robinson does a great job building Technopolis, making it full of life and character like he did for Opal City during his Starman run.  I did think this issue moved a little slow, but I still enjoyed it for the most part.  Quick correction, in my review of the first issue, I had said that Kiri was Arno’s daughter, but it looks like I was wrong about that.

Score: 3.5/5

DEADPOOL'S SECRET SECRET WARS #2 (Of 4) by Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli

Summary: Back during the original SECRET WARS, Deadpool (with a restored face) wanders across Battleworld.  All the other heroes are dead.  Lizard ambushes him; Lizard is pissed at Deadpool for breaking Wasp’s heart.

Flashback to a few days earlier, the X-Men decide to join with Magneto.  Deadpool is continuing to tag along.  Spider-Man attacks the X-Men, not wanting to allow them to work with an enemy. Deadpool chases Spider-Man into a room full of the lenticular shields that came with the Secret Wars action figures from back in the day.  Spider-Man beats up Deadpool and tries to leave, but Xavier wipes his mind.

Back in the present, Deadpool convinces Lizard that he’s trying to save Wasp and all the heroes who were killed by Dr Doom with the Beyonder’s powers.  Lizard decides to work with Deadpool.

Flashback to the heroes getting a mountain dropped on them.  Deadpool helps piss off the Hulk to ensure that he’s strong enough to hold the mountain up.

In the present, Lizard and Deadpool reach the closest village.  Flashback to Deadpool’s first arrival at the village where the healer fixed his face, and Deadpool fell in love with her just like Colossus and Human Torch did back in the day.

Gina Maillaro:  In typical Deadpool fashion, this comic was awesome.  Although I have to question whether it was a good idea to include this with the current SECRET WARS books.  It definitely gives the new series a “been there, done that” feel.    One thing I can’t help but wonder when reading this book is how people who read comics in the 80’s managed  to get through reading comics in the 80’s without their brains slushing right out their ears.  I do wish that someone other characters survived as Lizard makes for some lame ass banter.

Score: 4/5

MAGNETO #19 by Cullen Bunn and Paul Davidson

Summary: Sentinels from Ultimate Earth have attacked Magneto and Polaris as they were working to stop the final incursion from destroying the world.  Most of the rest of this issue is told in flashback as we see Magneto doing everything he can to increase his own powers.  He demands his MGH dealer mix up something stronger, even if it will cause him to burn out quickly.  He tracks down Sugar Man to get some mobile power enhancers.  Magneto then kills Sugar Man for his crimes against mutantkind. The issue ends with Magneto insisting Briar tell him the truth about who she really is.

Maillaro:  Weird little mistake on the cover, listing the creators as Bendis and Sorrentino.  I love Cullen Bunn’s run on Magneto, so I was a little disappointed when I saw it, but it just turned out to be an editorial mistake.  I loved seeing the great lengths Magneto was willing to go through, but this story just feels like it’s taking far too long to tell.  I also didn’t like that Secret Wars seemed to highjacked the great stories going on, and are making them feel unimportant.

Score: 3/5

MS. MARVEL #16 by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona

Summary: Kamala is still trying to process her feelings for Kamran weeks after he kidnapped her.  She even finds herself talking to random strangers about it. Kamala finds herself distracted from her “work” as a superhero.  Suddenly, people around her are packing about something in the sky.  She gears up and sees a second Earth has appeared overhead.   Kamala immediately helps protect some of the local business from looters.  She starts to send people to the high school for safety, since Loki put protective wards around it a few issues ago.

Kamala goes to check on her family, and finds Kamran waiting for her.  He has taken Kamala’s brother to expose him to Terrigen gas.   Kamran tells Kamala that she needs to take better care of her family.  He heads off.  Kamala tells her parents to get to the safety of the high school.  Kamala decides that she should find her brother, but Jersey City is descending into chaos quickly.  Loki’s magic is helping some.  Kamala heads to the high school, and finds everyday citizens looking to try and make things as good as possible.  She heads to the roof and Carol Danvers is there.  She compliments Kamala on her costume, but says that she’s still not sure how she feels about Kamala using the name Ms Marvel.

Maillaro:  Kamala spilling her guts to a hot dog vendor instead of a bartender was really clever.  Especially since I have had some of those loaded Jersey City hot dogs that made me tipsy too…  This issue was really well done, getting deep into Kamala’s struggles with Kamran and watching Jersey City deal with their own struggles in preparing for the end of the world.  It was hard at times for me to see me hometown under this kind of assault, but it felt so real.  That is my high school they are using to bunker down in.

This was another terrific issue in one of the best comics on the shelves.  FINALLY Kamala meets Carol Danvers!  And despite the end of the world theme, there was still a lot of great humor in this one.

Score: 5/5

OLD MAN LOGAN #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Andrea Sorrentino

Summary: Last issue, Logan climbed over the wall around his domain.  As he lands on the other side, a Thor shows up and attacks him.  Logan is blasted into the woods where he’s confronted by a tiger and then Sabretooth, who is a horseman named Creed here.   Creed goes to attack Logan, but Logan is rescued by Storm and other X-Men from this domain. They drive Creed off, and Logan falls unconscious.  When he wakes up, he finds himself under telepathic sedation from that domain’s Emma Frost.  They try to sort out what’s going on, but Creed and the other Horsemen arrive, led by Apocalypse.

Grey: So nobody realizes that on the other side of the walls are other realities? I mean, they know that every realm gets a Thor, and that there are Baron’s under Doom, but they don’t realize that every kingdom is different?

That said, Old Man Logan being a trek across the multiverse is going to be fun.

Maillaro: Yeah, I thought that parts of this comic seemed to contradict what we know about Battleworld. Logan’s confusion about finding other X-Men read odd to me.  But, like you said, this was still a real fun comic.  I loved this slightly different take on Age of Apocalypse.  Though I did think the reveal of Apocalypse at the end was a big odd.  We already knew Creed called himself a Horseman, and many of the characters were in their AoA costumes, so using Apocalypse as a big reveal wasn’t a big cliffhanger.    Score: 3.5/5

RUNAWAYS #1 by Noelle Stevenson and Sanford Greene

Summary: For 60 years, the Victor Von Doom Institute for Gifted Youngsters has brought together the best and brightest children from all over Battleworld.  They are being trained to become the Doom Elite.  A group of students is currently serving detention in the Correction Room including Amadeus Cho, Jubilee, Pixie, Cloak, Skaar, and Molly Hayes after being involved in a massive fight in the hallways earlier.  It is almost time for teams to register for final exams.  Pass and you continue moving up Doom’s ranks.  Fail and you wash out.  Many of the Correction Room students are worried that they will miss registration.  Cho sabotages the Doombot Guard so they can escape.  Since they are all so late, they are all made one team...even though they mostly hate each other.  The school headmistress, Valeria, is plotting to ensure they all fail out.

Gina Maillaro: RUNAWAYS was good in concept, but not so much in execution.  There was an attempt to having some real conflict between the characters, but none of them were developed enough to make them convincing.  Jubilee’s “girl gang” get involved in a fight in the halls dragging everyone into it.  This was sort of likeTHE BREAKFAST CLUB without Judd Nelson...

Score: 3.5/5

SQUADRON SINISTER #1  by Marc Guggenheim & Carlos Pacheco

Summary: The Squadron Sinister is going on a tear, “annexing” different regions by killing their heroes and installing a puppet government, generally headed by that reality’s Kyle Richmond.  Not all is wine and roses, though, as their empire is beginning to be difficult to manage and further expansion doesn’t make the most sense.  Nighthawk informs them of an alternate reality building an argonite gun, one of the few things that can kill Hyperion, so they plan to take that in order to use it against other Hyperions they find.  Unfortunately, Doom sends a Thor to check in on them, which is annoying enough even before the Thor in question, Iron Thor, ends up mysteriously dead.  They decide they need to handle this really fast so Doom doesn’t come down hard on them, but they should still steal the argonite gun first anyway.  It’s revealed to the reader at the end that both Nighthawk and Warrior Woman are planning something on the downlow.  Warrior Woman, in particular, is working with the Frightful Four, who were earlier mentioned to be one of the bigger threats in the Squadron’s general area.

Weaver: There was a lot to like in this issue, and the Squadron Sinister members are portrayed  pretty well and distinctly.  However, it felt like the plot was going all over the place and very disjointed.  It’s a comic that is worse than the sum of its parts due to plot whiplash.  Hopefully the second installment will streamline it a bit more, because for now, the disjointed nature of it holds back what could be a really good comic.

Maillaro: Just wanted to chime in.  I don't know the character all that much, but the guy Warrior Woman was talking to in the end is Mark Hazzard, Merc of the New Universe.  I had no idea New Universe was part of Secret Wars.  That was a nice surprise!

Score: 3.5/5

THORS #1 by Jason Aaron & Chris Sprouse

Summary:  Various and sundry historical Thors and Thor like beings are working as a police force in Battleworld.  Ultimate Thor is considered to be the best of the bunch, and he and Beta Ray Thor are starting to investigate a murder that’s similar to four other murders in different parts of Battleworld.  They have no clues whatsoever, and are worried that if they fail, they will lose their hammers.  The only suspects they find are a group of Ghost Riders, and while they do arrest them, they know that it’s impossible that they committed the murders.  They go to Frog Thor, who is working forensics, and learn that all the bodies are actually the same woman, but they don’t know who.  Beta Ray Thor says that he’ll go talk to a secret contact of his to find out more information.  It turns out that the mystery contact is Loki.  Beta Ray Bill is mortally wounded before reporting back, but does manage to tell the Thors that the multiply murdered woman’s identity is Jane Foster.

Weaver: It was kind of odd to see THORS as a CSI style show, and even moreso to have Beta Ray Bill and Ultimate Thor be the buddy cop pairing, with Beta Ray as the grizzled older partner and Ultimate as the hotshot star of the group, but it worked a lot better than I expected.  I also liked that they embraced the diversity of hammer wielders, as we saw everything from Storm to the Frog Thor and even a Destroyer Thor.  I don’t like that everyone except Ultimate Thor is called some version of Thor every time they appear (Ultimate Thor sometimes is called Leif), and there were some points in the pacing that moved a little slow, but all in all, it was a good comic.

Score: 4/5