Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of July 13) - DC Rebirth, Civil War II, Apocalypse Wars

Agents of SHIELD #7 by Marc Guggenheim and German Peralta

Summary: The issue starts with Coulson’s team trying to recover a crashed satellite.  The Department of Defense comes to take over the operation, opening fire on Coulson’s team to get them to stand down.  Between this, and Coulson’s protocols to take down superheroes, most of his team has decided to call it quits, and the rest of the team is having a difficult time trusting Coulson.

Coulson is tasked with bringing in Tony Stark.  Stark allows them to find him.  He tells them about Ulysses.  He says that war is about to start, and he wants Coulson’s team with him.    Phil allows Stark to escape.  Hill was monitoring him and finds out what happened.  Hill seems to support Captain Marvel’s desire to control the future.  She fires Coulson.

Mike: Agents of SHIELD continues to be a good, but not great series.  I think they have done a very good job bringing the TV characters into the comics, but at the same time, it never feels all that necessary.  It doesn’t help that this series continues to be plagued with crossovers that just never feel important.  Coulson allowing Stark to escape is a cool scene, but it just feels tacked on as another reason people should not trust Coulson.  

These series was at its best when Waid was doing stand alone stories unrelated to the rest of the Marvel Universe...but this is a far cry from that, and the series suffers as a result.

Civil War II #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez

Summary: The issue starts in a Federal Court House.  Matt Murdock has called Carol Danvers to the stand.  Carol is testifying about Stark and Danvers going to see Banner because of Ulysses prediction that Hulk was going to kill all the heroes. It’s been a year since Amadeus Cho removed the gamma radiation from his body. They introduce him to Ulysses.  Hank McCoy sneaks into his lab, and they find out that he’s been injecting himself with dead gamma cells.  Banners says it was to ensure the Hulk stayed dead. SHIELD is about to take Banner into custody when Hawkeye kills him with an arrow through the head.  

The trial is for Hawkeye, who is on trial for murdering the Hulk.  He says that Banner gave him a special arrow to kill him dead if he ever Hulked out again.  Hawkeye claims that he saw Banner’s eyes turning green.  There is a video diary that proves Banner did make this request, but no one else saw Banner’s eyes turning green.  During the trial, Ulysses is revealed to the public.  A verdict is reached.

Meanwhile, Stark has figured out how Ulysses’ powers work.

Mike: I have heard a lot of people say that this issue contradicts some things that happened in Totally Awesome Hulk.  I am not sure I agree with that.  Cho removed the radiation from Banner, but there is no reason Banner couldn’t have been still injecting himself with dead gamma cells to keep himself stable.

As I said about the earlier issues, the conflict feels real forced here.  A courtroom trial is a pretty boring setting for a comic crossover, to be honest.  And it seems strange that so many people would think Hawkeye had an agenda here.  Bringing up his criminal past and all doesn’t make a lot of sense. Everything just felt real heavy handed here.

For the most part, I don’t even think Civil War II has been bad.  It just feels far fetched, with the characters being along for the ride.  It’s a lot more readable than Secret Wars core series, but at this point, it feels like a lot of ado about nothing.  I didn’t even care too much about Banner’s death here as it just felt like a plotpoint to keep moving the conflict forward.

Civil War II - Amazing Spider-Man #2 by Christos Gage and Travel Foreman

Summary: Spider-Man continues to work with Ulysses to prevent disasters.  Spider-Man is concerned about Ulysses’ vision that Clayton Cowles is going to slip back into being Clash, a sonic-based villain.    Meanwhile, Cowles is having trouble adjusting to working at Parker Industries,  he wants to work on his own stuff, but he can’t afford it. His parents suggest he should talk to Peter, but he already feels like a burden.  Cowles also gets dumped by his girlfriend who he was planning on proposing too.  

Cowles sees Ulysses sneaking around Peter Industries.  Cowles is able to use a sonic device to overhear Ulysses telling Peter about his vision.  Spider-Man confronts him, and Cowles ends up quitting.  He goes to a villain bar, and runs into Mendel Stromm. Stromm offers him a chance at a big score.  

Peter wants to apologize to Cowles.  He calls his parents, and finds out about Cowles’ money trouble.  He is willing to sponsor Cowles’ side projects.  But it seems like it’s too late.  Cowles puts on the Clash costume and gives Stromm a call.

Mike: This issue features one of the most awkward lines I have ever seen in a comic, “You’re just out of school and you’re making five figures.  You’re set for life!”  Uhm...five figures isn’t all that much money.  Even if you are making high five figures, you are not “set for life.”  I know the comic industry is tough and not a lot of money there, but I genuinely had to stop when I read that line to roll it over in my brain a bit…

Other than that really odd moment, this was a strong comic.  Marvel has done a great job ret-conned Clash into Spider-Man’s history, and I’ve enjoyed what Gagos is doing with the character here.  I also think this story has put the Civil War II conflict into a more nuanced light.  Ulysses feels like a complete character here, not just a plot point.

Civil War II: Choosing Sides #2

War Machine by Jeremy Whitley and Marguerite Sauvage

Summary: This story is just quick flashes on some heroes reflecting on War Machine’s death at the hands of Thanos.  Miss America, Spectrum, Misty Knight, Storm.  In the end Miss America takes Kate Bishop to different realities to show her how different Rhodey’s life went there.  

Goliath by Brandon Thomas

Summary: We meet an inmate in The Cellar.  Goliath (Bill Foster’s nephew Thomas) feels inspired by War Machine’s sacrifice.  Other prisoners restore his powers and want his help in a prison break.  Tom uses his powers to take down the other prisoners.  The prison decides to grant him parole for his actions.

Nick Fury: Post Prologue Part 2 by Declan Shalvey

Summary: After faking his death, Nick Fury Jr. is tracking a traitorous SHIELD cell. Fury disguises himself as Moon Knight and is tracking a wealthy SHIELD donor named Elton Black.  Black insists that he has no desire to harm SHIELD, but he needs to take down Fury Jr for the good of SHIELD.  Black kills himself rather than reveal more.

Mike: Like most Marvel crossover anthology books, Choosing Sides has some good stories, but nothing that feels “must buy.”  

The first story gives us some nice insight into how heroes view each other and death...though Storm felt really out of place.

I had never seen Tom Foster before.  I liked his story, but the art on that middle story was awful.  So much so it was hard to follow what was going on.

I really just don’t care about Fury Jr, but his Moon Knight disguise was kind of fun.  Like I said when I started this, this book was mostly good, just not sure I would tell anyone they had to pick it up.  It’s basically the definition of average.

Civil War II: Gods of War 2 by Dan Abnett and Emilio Laiso

Summary: Hercules gathers up some of the other gods to help in his battle against the Uprising Storm.  The Uprising Storm attacks the gods before they can make a plan.  

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Captain America see Hercules alone seemingly having gone mad.  They don’t see the other gods or the Uprising Storm. The Uprising Storm work to rebrand Hercules as a new God of Chaos, turning him against the other gods.

Mike: Like I said about the first issue, I hadn’t been following Hercules all that much, but the Uprising Storm seems like a great idea for a storyline.  I am not sure this works in context of Civil War II, but that hasn’t lessened my enjoyment of this arc.  Everyone is worried about Hulk going crazy, but Hercules is pretty much in the same place.  Didn’t know what to expect from Gods of War, but it’s showing some new corners of the Marvel universe to me.

Deadpool #15 by Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne

Summary: The Mercs for Money have decided that Deadpool has been cheating them, so they decide to destroy the contracts they signed to work for him, which they believe are in his safety deposit box.  

Meanwhile, Deadpool has decided to raid the Triskelion in order to meet Ulysses.  Deadpool is tempted to kill Ulysses, but he decides to talk to him first. Ulysses seems less than impressed by Deadpool’s threats. Deadpool admits that he’s here to see if Ulysses can see his daughter’s future.  But Ulysses says he can only see big massive events of potential death and destruction.  He asks if Deadpool has any business in Ho-Ho-Kus?  Deadpool think he is having a vision, but it turns out that the Mercs are on the news robbing a bank.  On the way out, Deadpool has a gratuitous fight with Black Panther.  Deadpool is badly hurt, but manages to escape.

The Mercs break into the bank vault.  They find the contracts.  Deadpool throws dynamite in the vault, and walks in holding a detonator.

Mike: Not even a bad comic, but feels completely pointless at a Civil War II crossover.  I am not sure what the point of the Deadpool and Black Panther fight was other than just “hey, we both had movies this year, so we deserve a bigger spotlight.”  If you are buying this just to keep up with Civil War II, you can definitely skip this one.

New Avengers #13 by Al Ewing and Paco Medina

Summary: John Garrett of SHIELD has taken control over the various Dum Dum Digan LMD’s.  He calls Songbird in for a conference.  In the future, Ulysses has seen Sunspot’s funeral...and Songbird is there.  Garrett has Songbird arrested as a traitor.

Meanwhile, Sunspot is watching Hawkeye’s trial.  Songbird calls him for help before she is knocked out.  Garrett removes her powers and threatens to kill her if she doesn’t tell him where Sunspot’s base is.  Sunspot sends Cannonball, Power Man, and Max Brashear in a stealth vehicle to rescue her.

Maker is watching all of these events, and chooses that moment to attack AIM seemingly killing Pod and Dr Ho.

Mike: New Avengers tends to be a bit inconsistent.  Sometimes it feels like it’s spinning it’s wheels a bit, and this issue is an example of that.  Too much set up, and not enough actually happens in this issue.  It also felt like a bit of a stretch to call this a Civil War II crossover.  Garrett realizing Songbird because Ulysses said that she attended Sunspot’s funeral seemed like a huge leap of logic.   It also contradicts a lot of what we know about Ulysses’ powers (where he only shows disasters), but Marvel has a knack for terrible editorial consistency.  

Power Man and Iron Fist #6 by David Walker and Flaviano

Summary: Luke and Danny are concerned about the rumblings of another superhero civil war, especially after the death of War Machine and She-Hulk.  They try to visit She-Hulk, but it’s family only.  Carol tries to bring them over to her side, but they aren’t sure that predictive justice is the right answer.  They decide they are tired of fighting their friends, and they will sit out the upcoming conflict.

Meanwhile, a group called Preemptive Strike is trying to take down small time villains, even those who have reformed.  They brutally attack a low-level thug named Gamecock.  Several villains and family members of villains try to hire Luke and Danny to stop Preemptive Strike.  Preemptive Strike attacks them in their office. The police arrive and end up arresting Danny.

Mike: Preemptive Strike felt a little heavy handed in the context of Civil War II, but I still think Walker did a great job here.  Power Man and Iron Fist has been one of my favorite series since Walker took over the characters.  It’s a fun book, but still deals with some pretty heavy duty ideas and stories.  I was a little hesitant to see this book dragged into Civil War II, but it ended up being a really strong issue of a strong series.

All-New X-Men #11 by Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley

Summary: En Sabah Nur dives off the ship that would take him away from Egypt, determined to rescue Beast from Baal.  Evan is concerned that this will lead to En Sabah Nur becoming Apocalypse.  They get back to Beast, and are ambushed by Ozymandias.  Ozy knocks out and takes En Sabah Nur.  He is dedicated to bringing about the Apocalypse.  

The Sandstormers attack, Beast and Evan easily defeat them.    Beast decides they need to recover the Eye of Horus to get back to their time.  Evan wants to change history to prevent En Sabah Nur from becoming Apocalypse, but Beast insists that they can’t mess up the timeline that way.  They arrive to find Baal and the Sandstormers about to torture En Sabah Nur to toughen him up.  Baal attacks Evan.   Beast sneaks off to try and steal the Eye from Ozymandias. Ozymandias agrees to trade him the Eye for a “tale from the future.”  Beast grabs Evan and teleports them back to the future.  Evan is pretty pissed.

Mike:  Young En Sabah Nur was a very different character than I expected.  Apocalypse Wars has been a terrific X-Men arc, and of the three “chapters” this might have been my favorite.   There was just a lot to absorb and think about after reading this one.  In a lot of ways, it seems like Beast and Evan’s actions may be responsible for creating Apocalypse.  Typically I don’t care too much about those kinds of ret cons, but it just felt like it worked really well here.  Curious where X-Men goes from here heading towards Death of X...

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #1 by Robert Vendetti and Ethan Van Sciver

Summary: The Sinestro Corps have become the supreme force of order in the universe.   Sinestro himself seems to have grown old and near death from their battles, but he considers the war to be won.  

Meanwhile, Hal Jordan uses Krona’s Gauntlet to forge a new Green Lantern ring using his own will.  Hal is restored as a Green Lantern. This sends tremors throughout the universe, including on Sinestro’s War World.  Sinestro goes to Parallax and asks him to grant him one last request, “Everything!”

Mike: I had stopped reading Green Lantern soon after New 52.  I actually like Vendetti’s work usually, but he never quite felt like a good fit on Green Lantern.  I only picked up this book because I had been picking up all the Rebirth books to review them in this column.  And I am glad I did.  This (along with Green Lanterns Rebirth) show a lot of promise on restoring Green Lantern to greatness.  This was the best written Hal Jordan I’ve seen in a real long time.  

Nightwing Rebirth #1 by Tim Seeley and Yanick Paquette

Summary: Dick Grayson has left Spyral and is returning to Gotham.  He tries to say goodbye to Helena, but she’s getting ready to pick up the Huntress identity.  Spyral is now under the leadership of Tiger King.  The Court of Owls had planted a bomb in Damian’s head to make Dick work with them.  Dick removes the bomb.

Meanwhile, Lincoln March is trying to take a leadership role in the Owls, but he is killed as the Owls insist that Nightwing will lead them.  Dick plans to take them down from the inside.

Mike: Basically, this comic serves as a solid transition from Grayson to Nightwing.  Tim Seeley does a great job with Dick Grayson, and I am glad to see he will be sticking around.  Definitely a solid Rebirth book promising Dick Grayson will continue to be important in the DC universe.

By the way, Huntress has a very odd history in New 52.  Helena Wayne (Huntress) came from Earth 2 to Earth 1 and took on the identity of a dead woman named Helena Bertinelli. In Grayson, we found out that Bertinelli faked her own death.  Helena Wayne returned to her world, and now the real Helena Bertinelli seems to be taking on the Huntress code name.  That is some circular storytelling logic...