Front Lines - Comic Mini-Reviews (Week of March 2, 2016)

Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha #1 - by Nick Spencer and Jesus Saiz

Summary: A SHIELD agent in a far off outpost has hacked into the mainframe to allow his friends to watch NFL games. Winter Soldier attacks the base, forcing this hacker to help him steal some files and then hide his tracks.  The agent is later interviewed by Steve Rogers.  Rogers is trying to figure out what Bucky is up to.  He’s been attacking SHIELD outposts for six days now.  Steve is concerned that Bucky’s Winter Soldier programming has kicked in.  He realizes Bucky left him a clue at the last attack.

Meanwhile, Sam Wilson is taking out Green Skull, an eco-terrorist who is trying to destroy New York.  The public is still pretty divided on how they feel about this new politically-active, outspoken Captain America.  He gets a call from the Whisperer  who says that they need to meet.  

Bucky meets up with Steve and tells him that Maria Hill can’t be trusted. At the same time, Sam Wilson meets the Whisperer, who turns out to be Rick Jones! Both Sam and Rogers find out that SHIELD is still running the Kubik program which was supposed to be shut down.  It was SHIELD using Cosmic Cube fragments to reshape reality  Sam and Rogers both agree to help Rick and Bucky, respectively.

SHIELD arrives at both sites.  Bucky escapes.  Sam tries to fly off with Rick.  Rick tells him to leave him behind and go find out what SHIELD is up to.  Sam calls the Avengers for backup.  

Hill takes Rogers to Pleasant Hill to show him what she’s been doing.  She reveals that they have been using the Cosmic Cube to select the “best” realities for the villains and giving them a new life here. Rogers demands she shut it all down.  Hill brings him to meet the little girl, who is Kobik.  The cube fragments had all joined together and they create the form of a child.  Hill warns Rogers that Bucky is coming and he would not hesitate to kill Kobik to stop this place.  A local man comes in to talk to Hill.  It’s Nitro!  He blows up the entire building.  Throughout Pleasant Hill, Zemo’s awakened villains start to strike.  He’s managed to free 18 of them.

Hill pulls Rogers out of the rubble.  Cap calls in the Unity Squad as backup.  Zemo and his Masters of Evil have arrived.

Matt Graham: I haven’t kept up with most of the tie-in titles, so I’m coming into this event blind. It’s been easy to retrace how we got here (Welcome to Pleasant Hill one-shot aside) as this issue doles out backstory while keeping everything moving - the story unfolds at a deliberate pace. In fact, the pacing is leagues above most of Marvel’s other flagship titles. I recall a time when most number 1s were as packed with story and action as this while justifying the cover price.

Nick Spencer takes a classic setup - the cops are locked up and caught unawares with the very criminals they put away - but takes it to an Avengers level presentation. A scenario like this really does justify the crossover and winding saga. The best part is that beyond the “supervillains beating on superheroes” due our way, Spencer has thrown in some twists to test who the audience may ally with.

The ethics repurposing criminals through brainwashing can fuel family gatherings for years. Maria Hill has pure intentions but questionable executions. Commander Rogers has good reasons to put a stop to all this, but the climax of the issue shows maybe Hill also had a point if he’s not willing to just put them down for good. Did the Whisperer or public really need to be involved? Are Bucky or Captain America even approaching this the right way? A child is at stake and key to resolving all of this. A cosmic reality altering child, but still a child.

Stakes are high. It’s these complicated motivations and thought exercises that make me the most excited to follow this event.

This is also the best Maria Hill I’ve read in a decade. I’ve always liked the character and Spencer does a great job with her dialogue and characterization.

Mike Maillaro: I was so happy to see Rick Jones in a major role again!  Avengers Standoff is off to a real good start.  I do worry what will happen when someone other that Nick Spencer gets his hands on this epic plot, but I don’t wanna be negative.  

I actually think Hill has a lot of really good reasons for what she’s doing here.  I like that Rogers is approaching it as “this will end badly” more than dealing with the ethical problems that this particular solution creates.  Zemo’s team of villains is shaping up to be pretty kick ass.  Makes me real excited about the new Thunderbolts series.

There was some great humor in this issue.  Like Zemo admitting that the only reason he freed Trapster was to test the system on someone that he wasn’t too worried about whether or not they died.  And when Maria Hill saw the look on Rogers’ face and said, “So he told you….great!”   

And I really loved the parallel scenes with Bucky talking to Rogers while Rick Jones talked to Sam Wilson.  That was really well laid out.  Though it would have been nicer if the two stories dovetailed together by the end.  For the second half of the issue, it’s basically all Rogers in Pleasantville.  I would have liked to see more characters reacting to this.

Matt: That’s a valid concern about the plot.

The humour was great. All the dialogue felt natural and the art really captured the perfect stills for expressions and body language. Maria in the malt shop was one of my favourite scenes in recent months.

I was hoping for more of a dovetail as well. A shot of the Avengers rallying to Falcon and reacting to this would have been nice.

Batman and Robin Eternal #22 by James Tynion IV, Scott Synder, Genevieve Valentine, Fernando Blanco

Summary: In the Arctic, Mother has a new base set up.  All children workers.  She has one of the children killed because he has one of the satellites a 100 feet off course.  She’s preparing to use her “trauma beam” to turn all the children into blank slates she can remake in her own image.

At Spyral HQ, the Robins are trying to figure out how to find and stop her, but they are running out of time.  There is a lot of tension.  Dick says that it’s hopeless.   Damien slaps him.  He insists that they can do this.  His father believed in them.  Back in the day, Bruce Wayne had told Damien what each Robin had to offer.  Dick was a clearer version of Batman.  Jason was willing to do what Batman can’t when the world needs it.  Tim was the ultimate strategist. Damien shouldn’t try to be any of them, he just needs to trust himself.  Damien is certain Batman believes in them enough to take down Mother.  This rallies the Robins.

Orphan has arrived at Mother’s base with Harper and Cassandra in chains.  Harper refuses to forgive Cassandra for murdering her mother while under Mother’s control.  Mother kills Orphan for his earlier failures.  She then starts to activate the satellites.  

Mike: With only a handful of issues to go, they really are building up towards a huge climax here.  You don’t often get to see the moment where the heroes seem to have lost all faith, and that worked really well here.  Damien rallying the Robins by using Batman’s memory was a terrific moment.  Typically I don’t find myself getting all that worked up over cliffhangers, but this series has been built up so well that I actually found myself kind of stressing over “HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY GET OUT OF THIS?”  

Black Widow #1 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee

Summary: Black Widow is being chased through a SHIELD Helicarrier.  She’s stolen something important and it is considered “to be considered an enemy of SHIELD.”  Widow fights her way past dozens of SHIELD agents and breaks out the window of the Helicarrier.  

SHIELD agents with jetpacks and flying cars go in pursuit, but she outmaneuvers them all, stealing one of the jetpacks to assist her escape.  She lands and steals a motorcycle, fleeing to the mountains.  One lone SHIELD agent manages to catch up to her.  She takes him out after a vicious fight.  He says, “I hope it was worth it.”  She replies, “Me too!”

Mike: This comic was pretty intense.  I am not sure we got enough characterization on the Widow here, but it does grab the reader from page one.  I love how easily she can outwit most generic SHIELD flunkies.  It’s clear that SHIELD is as ineffective as HYDRA and AIM ever were.  I am really curious what she stole, and wondering if there is any connection between this story and Avengers Standoff (I suspect probably not).  SHIELD seems up to a lot of wicked things these days.  In the movies, we could at least attribute it to HYDRA infesting SHIELD.  In the comics, I am just thinking its poor leadership since Hill took over.  They really need the original Fury back!

Matt: I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time. The issue read like one of the James Bond cold opens, so I can forgive the lack of characterization this issue. All we need to know was executed with action. It’s nice to see Black Widow as the best she is at what she does, as I find she gets undersold a lot. On the other hand, I was lamenting how her prior series focused on her past ops and retribution, or her training, and I’m not sure a rogue agent against their agency story is much different. That said, the spy thriller is a genre, and you can’t say Natasha doesn’t belong in it. Looking forward to the future.

Invincible Iron Man #7 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato

Summary: Mary Jane Watson arrives for her job interview at Stark Industries. Stark gets their 40 minutes late.  Stark is trying to get rid of his reputation as a flake, and that is why he wants to hire MJ.  She’s reluctant to take the job because people only change if they really want to, and she doesn’t believe Tony would want to change.  He introduces her to his AI assistant, Friday.   Stark asks Friday where Rhodey is, but she has been unable to find him.  Last time they saw him, he was in Tokyo checking out something for Stark.  Friday suggest that Stark call Peter Parker, who is already in Tokyo.  MJ is able to give him a number he can use to call Parker.  Stark hires MJ on the spot and asked Parker his he can borrow Spider-Man to go looking for Rhodey.

We find out that Rhode is being held by a woman named Tomoe.  She tears off his armor, putting it on herself.  She says Rhodey will die for his and Stark’s hubris.

Meanwhile, at MIT, an 11 year old prodigy is building her own armor.  We aren’t told who this is, but I suspect it’s Rhodey’s niece Lila.

Mike: Part of the reason I included this comic on this week’s column was because it said it was Road to Civil War.  And it might be, but nothing in this comic really jumped out as being that big to me.  I thought Avengers Standoff makes more sense as a lead into Civil War than this book did.  Are they planning on killing off Rhodey?  It would be odd to me, especially since he is featured in Captain America: Civil War.

I still think the Tony Stark/Mary Jane scenes feel real awkward to me.  They should know each other better, but I guess at least some of that was retconned by Brand New Day.  Though it was never clear how much.  

Matt: Brand New Day annoys me as they should know of each other even with that sweep. I’m also baffled that there was a big focus on Brian Michael Bendis moving on to newer things and not only did he rest on Iron Man (after all those years with the Avengers crew), but he brought MJ (after all the Spider-Man) with him. I’m just not into it. It’s nice the Road to Civil War is being paved, but at this stage in construction nothing is interesting and I’m still trying to get through Pleasant Hill.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 by Kyle Higgins and Hendry Prasetya

Summary: Bulk and Skull have created a video podcast called Ranger Station, which serves as a recap for anyone new to Power Rangers.  They are asking people what it means to be a Power Ranger.  They end up talking to Tommy, the new kid in town (and secretly the Green Ranger), Kim rescues him.

In class, Zack falls asleep during class.  Jason tries to defend him, and they both get detention.  Jason tries to find out why Zack fell asleep, but he’s reluctant to explain.  

Throughout the day, Ruta keeps haunting Tommy trying to make him doubt himself.  Rita is working on gathering chaos energy.

Tommy and Kim do a training exercise.  He’s trying to rescue civilians, but they get overwhelmed by Putties.  Zordon says this is a no-win scenario, but Tommy refuses to accept that.  He becomes obsessed with beating it.  Later, when he gets home, Scorpina is waiting for him.  She holds a blade to his neck.

In the 2 page back up (by Steve Orlando and Corin Howell), Bulk and Skull are heading towards a fight between the Power Rangers and a giant monster. They end up encountering a Putty, and accidentally knocking it out.

Matt: This book is a book I always wanted but never thought I’d get. I tuned after after Zeo, so the cast focus in perfect me. It’s different from the show despite the roots, and I’m glad they’re using the medium beyond adapting a 20 minute formulaic toy commercial.

Mike: They have done a terrific job making the Power Rangers up to date without taking away what made them so much fun in the first place.  This comic is a little deeper than the original MMPR was, but it’s still very true to form.  My only real gripe about this one is that there isn’t really all that much action here except for the training simulation, but that’s a minor gripe.  Higgins has always been very good at putting characters first.

Vampirella (2016) #1 by Kate Leth and Eman Casallos

Summary: In the middle of the night, several aspiring actors have arrived at a set in the middle of nowhere.  They were brought here by a woman named Slade who claims to be a casting director.  All the lights go out, and the extras are attacked by a monster.

Meanwhile, Vampirella, Tristen (her werewolf boyfriend), and Coleridge (her butler) are settling into their new home in Hollywood Hills, a haunted mansion.  A masked creature bursts into the window.  Vampirella takes the creature down.  The creature bursts into flames, but she finds a business card for Shade. Vampirella finds herself getting photographed by paparazzi.  She shows up in the press as “Half Naked Monster Woman.”  She decides to start wearing less revealing clothing.

While trying to track down Slade, she encounters another masked creature in a nightclub.  This one seems to be a lizard.  It also self-destructs, but warns Vampirella that “Slade is not to be messed with.”  Vampirella also meets Juliette Court, a PR specialist who offers to help her with her image problem.

Later, Vampirella dreams about a massive monster stalking aspiring actors in the woods.  We see Slade who says, “Welcome to Hollywood.”

Mike: Why do bad guys always do this?  They send goons to harass the hero with a warning “stay out of my business.”  Most of the time, the hero didn’t even know the bad guy existed in the first place, so they end up creating the very problem they were trying to avoid.  Darth Helmet said "Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.” But to me, villains are often even dumber.

Matt: I learned from Hellcat that Kate Leth needs some room to really establish herself, but here she seems more confident. It can’t be easy kickstarting an entire new life and direction for one beloved character, let alone two. Hellcat took a few issues to show that the rich history of the character would be a focal point, so while this issue seemingly wipes Nancy Collins away from Vampirella, there’s enough left that I think we’ll see it weaved back in once Hollywood has its footing.

I’m all behind the new costume. I like the classic look, but this one suits her adventuring lifestyle and still keeps the sex appeal.