Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of June 8 and June 15) - Apocalypse Wars, DC Rebirth, Civil War II, Daredevil, Vote Loki

All-New X-Men #10 by Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley (Apocalypse Wars)

Summary: Beast is dying in the desert, but Ozymandias arrives and convinces the Sandstormers that Baal (En Sabuh Nur’s father) would be angry if they let him die. Ozymandias takes Eye of Horus that Beast got from Dr Strange and heals him.  Ozymandias realizes Beast is from the future.  Ozymandias wants Beast’s help in overthrowing Baal to help bring about the Apocalypse.  The Sandstormers arrived to arrest Ozymandias and Beast

Meanwhile, in the city of Perunefer, Evan gets to know En Sabuh Nur.  He’s surprised to realize that En Sabuh Nur was kind and heroic as a child.  In fact, they seem to have a lot in common.  En Sabuh Nur and some his friends are looking to escape his father’s tyranny via ship.  Evan helps them all escape the Sandstormers, but as they board the ship, Baal sends them an image of a crucified Beast.

Mike Maillaro: I am not sure if this issue contradicted past Apocalypse stories, but I did like the parallels between Evan and En Sabuh Nur.  Evan tries so hard to avoid his legacy, but he finds out that as a kid, En Sabuh Nur was actually a pretty decent guy too.  I’ve long thought Evan was a terrific character, and Apocalypse Wars has been a great showcase for what makes him so unique.   

I love that this crossover has really dealt with the impact of Apocalypse.  Too often in comics Apocalypse seems only there to get his butt kicked implausibly by heroes.  But Apocalypse Wars has shown that in a lot of ways, Apocalypse has managed to have several victories in ways the heroes never saw coming.  This is the most impressive showing Apocalypse has ever had, and he does not even directly appear in any of these issues.  

Matt Graham: My favourite of the Apocalypse War stories so far. I’m a sucker for Ozymandias.

I’m not sure if it contradicts Apocalypse either, but his history has been so convoluted and mutated over the decades I stopped keeping track. It makes sense that En Sabah Nur would be a nice guy, because he had to start somewhere. Marvel built it’s foundation on characters with depth and tragic relatable hooks, so it’s nice to see that even Apocalypse once had hopes and dreams beyond Darwinistic acts of terror.

You’re not wrong about Apocalypse getting a showing as a badass. Even the Age of Apocalypse required Xavier to be killed so he could start making moves, which is kind of sad.
 

Aquaman Rebirth #1 by Dan Abnett, Scot Eaton, and Oscar Jimenez

Summary: Aquaman and Mera have set up a base called Spindrift Station which serves as a Embassy between the surface world and Atlantis.  From that base, Aquaman heads off to fight a Atlantean terror cell called The Deluge. Aquaman is able to drive off The Deluge single-handedly.  Meanwhile, Black Manta is plotting his revenge against Aquaman for the murder of his father.

Mike: The problem with this issue is that it just wasn’t all that memorable.  I liked the Deluge as villains, and the ending with Black Manta was pretty bad ass, but there was just nothing here that made me say “You know what, I need to go back to buying Aquaman.”  Too many great books coming out of DC Rebirth, and Aquaman just feels lost in the shuffle as far as I am concerned.

Matt: Aquaman is one of my favourite characters, but I agree this pilot was no sea change like some other DC properties. It drifts around and lands a few cool moments, but this was their shot to establish a beachhead with him, and it read more like a safe Aquaman cameo episode of the old Justice League cartoon: “If we have Aquaman, we need Mera. Don’t forget to throw Manta in there.” This isn’t a side dish, Aquaman is the main course. He has been shown to be more than the old Super Friends joke time and again, but anytime he makes charts a course, the tide changes and he flounders.

I want to stay current on Aquaman, but I can’t fathom keeping up with this book if the first issue doesn’t reel me in with a big hook. DC, I hope you feel the pressure of another tanking Aquaman venture.

Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Christos Gage and Travel Foreman

Summary: Spider-Man is in Manhattan and defeats a group of Vulture wanna-bes.  He’s hanging out with Ulysses, trying to teach him about responsibility. Using Ulysses’ powers, they are able to stop someone from shooting his ex-girlfriend. Spider-Man admits that Ulysses’ powers are impressive and suggests that they could help Parker Industries better focus on projects that can really help humanity.  While at Parker Industries, Ulysses has a vision that Clayton Cole is going to end up reverting back to being Clash and end up fighting Spider-Man.

Mike: There was a lot to like about this book, like Johnny Storm sleeping naked in Spider-Man’s bed and the characterization of Harry Osborn.  I also thought Ulysses and Spider-Man had a great rapport.  This was the first Civil War book I read where I felt Ulysses was more of a character than just a plot point (I am sure Grey will have more to say in that regards).

I did think the end was a bit of a cop-out though.  It would have been a much bigger story if Ulysses had a vision of Harry Osborn turning evil in the future.  Clash is an interesting character, but he’s only had a few appearances and I doubt anyone has a real strong connection to him, in or out of continuity.  

Civil War II: Gods of War #1 by Dan Abnett and Emilio Laiso

Summary: Hercules has been marked by his battles with The Uprising Storm (a group of “new gods” looking to replace the old gods).  This mark causes the other heroes to shun him.  Amadeus Cho meets up with him at a bar and tries to encourage him.  They hear a crash outside, and find the rest of the heroes engaged in a battle against the rogue Celestial (from Civil War II #1).  Hercules wants to help, but the Uprising Storm keeps getting in his way.  The other heroes can’t see them, and they believe Hercules has gone mad.  Later on, Hercules decides he needs to gather up whatever old Gods he can find to fight back against The Uprising Storm.  Hercules says “I’m putting the Gods of War back together.”

Mike: I don’t think I’ve ever bought a comic starring Hercules until this one. Which is kind of strange, since I have always liked the character a lot.  Huge pops to this book for mentioning Cú Chulainn.  For a while now, I have been using the Irish legendary character in stories as my homage to Thor.  I only found out recently that he actually appeared in the 90’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

I loved The Uprising Storm.  The idea of new gods looking to take the place of the gods of old was really cool.  Assuming this picked up from Hercules most recent series, I really want to check that book out now.  This book wasn’t all that much of a Civil War II tie-in (though it did happen the same time as Civil War II #1), but I really enjoyed it.  Dan Abnett wrote two books this week that we are covering and both were very good.  

Daredevil #8 by Charles Soule and Goran Sudzuka

Summary: Matt Murdock is in Macau undercover as “Laurent Lavasseur” playing high stakes poker.  Which requires a lot of bluffing because he can’t actually see the cards.  Matt is trying to track down something the Black Cat stole.  Matt makes it to the finals, but he will be up against Alexander Apex, a house plant who happens to be a telepath.  Being blind, Apex can’t use his powers to see Matt’s cards.  Matt’s psychic defenses allow him to defeat Apex.  Afterwards, as Daredevil he meets up with Spider-Man.

Mike: Matt and I have often talked about our love of how psychic battle is portrayed in comics.  This issue was a particularly entertaining one with DD feuding with Apex during a poker game. For the most part, I have enjoyed Soule’s run on Daredevil, though I will admit I keep making unfair comparisons to Waid’s run, which I really enjoyed.  But Soule’s Daredevil keeps getting better.  I like that he is putting DD in more and more unique situations, and showing the limits in his powers in reasonable ways.  This issue ended up being one of the best comics I read this week!

Matt: I enjoyed the short Elektra bit in the prior issues, but Soule is really ramping his game with this one. Soule has succeeded at ensuring Daredevil feels familiar while throwing some new twist in to keep even a diehard DD fan like me impressed. The poker series is one of my favourite moments since an old 90s issue where DD can hear piano wire stretch tight on a booby trap. Really cool use of his senses while offering insights into his day to day problems, like being unable to read the cards.

The telepathic fight was creative and informed more about Matt’s ninja roots and aesthetic. I enjoyed seeing Black Cat pop up in another book, and was even more pleased at the Spider-Man cliffhanger.

This is a solid title and one of the workhorses in this new Marvel era. It’s not too safe, not too different, and lets the character and history of the book speak for itself.

Flash Rebirth #1 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico

Summary: In Central City, a woman is stabbed multiple times in front of her son.  Barry Allen is on the scene as a CSI, but Director Singh is very concerned that Barry can’t be impartial on this case.  Barry keeps having visions of Zoom.  He is certain it’s the speed force trying to tell him something, but he’s not sure what.  His dad suggests that someone really should investigate the speed force.  Barry tries to clear his head, and he has what he thinks is another vision...but it turns out to be Pre-Flashpoint Wally West. Barry is able to pull him out of the Speed Force (see DC Rebirth #1) and Barry remembers the world as it was before Flashpoint.  

Barry decides to go talk to Batman.  Batman agrees that something real odd is going on here, and they agree to work together to figure it all out.  Meanwhile, back at the crime scene, a yellow blur is watching the cops investigate.

Mike: This was probably the most packed of the DC Rebirth specials.  It deals with a lot of the things from Rebirth.  Wally’s return and Batman discovering something weird is going on (related to the Watchmen).  This was mostly just setup, but it was still a great read.  Definitely one of my favorite Rebirth titles.

New Avengers #12 (Civil War II) by Al Ewing and Paco Medina

Summary: Maria Hill is considering how best to leverage Ulysses’ power to see what’s coming.  She believes that Sunspot is going to use AIM to cause a lot of trouble.  She tasks Agent Garrett with stopping him.

The New Avengers are working with the other heroes to stop the rogue Celestial (see Civil War II #1).  After Wiccan is able to help the sorcerer’s banish the Celestial, he got a call from Sunspot.  The other New Avengers get Wiccan to agree to hear Sunspot out.  He says he needs to borrow them for some “light treason.”  

Meanwhile, the Maker plans to use his team of New Revengers to take advantage of the chaos that will be caused by Ulysses.

Garrett embeds a computer virus in Dum Dum Dugan which allows him to take control over all of Dugan’s robot bodies. Garrett plans to use them in his plans to take down AIM.

Mike: Maria Hill saying “Heel Turn” over and over again felt very unnatural.  As anyone who follows my Cheap Pops column knows, I am a huge wrestling fan, but I hate when people try to slip in wrestling jargon as part of normal conversation.  It feels real strained.  

New Avengers seems to keep getting roped into crossovers, which has made it real hard for this book to find it’s own footing.  I like Al Ewing, and the characters on this book should make it one of my favorite books, but it just never quite seems to reach it’s full potential.  It also doesn’t help that each issue seems to want to swerve (yes, that was intentional) it’s readers. Who’s a good guy?  Who’s a bad guy?  Who’s a double, triple, or quadruple agent?  It is just all too much and takes away from what at it’s core should be a really great comic.

Like Gods of War, this book only seems tangentially related to Civil War II.  Yeah, it happens at the same time, but it didn’t seem to have much of an impact other that the Ulysses namedrop, and some of the New Avengers having been there during the battle with the rogue Celestial.

Wonder Woman: Rebirth #1 by Greg Rucka and Matthew Clark

Summary: Wonder Woman is having a hard time figuring out what her status quo is.  She is still pretty thrown by the fact that she might have a twin brother out there.  She ends up crushing Ares helmet, which should be impossible.  She tries to use her Lasso of Truth on herself to figure things out.  It tells her that she has been deceived.  She decides it’s time to stop allowing everyone else to manipulate and control her.  She heads to Olympus, but she finds that Olympus is just another lie.  She is determined to find out the truth.

Mike: I don’t read a lot of Wonder Woman.  It’s nothing against the character, I just find most mythology characters a little dull.  I also didn’t read much Thor until the current run.  But I have been picking up all of the Rebirth specials, and this one was excellent.  For the first time ever, Wonder Woman is now on my pull list!  

Civil War II #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez

Summary: Iron Man breaks into New Attilan.  The Inhumans are waiting for him, but it turns out to be a drone armor allowing Stark to slip in while they are distracted and take Ulysses.  The Ultimates are concerned that Stark has just declared war on the Inhumans.  The Inhumans start to head towards Stark Tower (though Stark isn’t there).  The Ultimates and other heroes arrive to stop them from tearing the place down.  Captain Marvel convinces the Inhumans to let them find Stark and Ulysses.

Stark is trying to figure out exactly how Ulysses’ powers work.  What triggers his vision of the futures, how much does emotion affect what he sees.  The heroes arrive.  Stark tries to talk them down, but Ulysses has a new vision, which he projects into everyone else’s head.  The Hulk is going to kill all the heroes.

Mike:  Civil War II has been a weird one for me.  I like the concept of heroes dealing with the moral implications of someone who can see the future, and the issues themselves have been very well written, with some real strong character moments.  

But, I am still not sure the execution makes a lot of sense.  Stark’s actions in particular seem to require a big stretch of credibility.  We are four issues in (counting the Free Comic Book Day special and the 0 issue), and everything still feels so vague.  This issue ended with “HULK IS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE!”  But I literally felt nothing looking at that panel other than wondering “why does Hulk have no pants?”

Part of the problem is that Marvel events don’t really have much lasting effect.  Secret Wars was close around 200 issues long and literally NOTHING changed in the end except for Miles ending up on the main Marvel universe.  So, I read Civil War II and the announcements of another Marvel relaunch with a lot of skepticism.  I hope Marvel proves me wrong, but they haven’t in a long time...

Civil War II - Ulysses #1 by Al Ewing, Karl Kesel, and Jefte Palo

Summary: Karnak is in his Tower of Wisdom.  Medusa brings him some new Inhumans to train, including Ulysses. Karnak rejects the other candidates as being flawed, and agrees to train Ulysses.

Mike: I included this for the sake of being complete, but Marvel’s infinite books are pretty lame most of the time, and this was no real exception.  I was particularly disappointed to see Karl Kesel’s name on the cover, but he really didn’t do the art for this issue, just the layouts.  I love Karl Kesel, and Jefte Palo was a very weak choice.  Honestly, there was just nothing here to really justify buying this book.

Civil War II - X-Men #1 by Cullen Bunn and Andrea Broccardo

Summary: In Dubai, the Terrigen cloud is starting to roll into town.  Some rich mutants have locked themselves away in a sealed tower.  Magneto and the Uncanny X-Men arrive to bring less fortunate mutants here to keep them safe as well.  It is revealed that several of the servants are actually Sentinels in disguise.  The sealed tower is ripped open.  Storm’s X-Men team arrives to help hold the mists back and help defeat the Sentinels.  

Magneto’s team finds out that Storm’s team had advanced warning this was going to happen because of Ulysses.  They aren’t happy about this, as they consider the Inhumans the enemy.  Magneto retreats to the Savage Land to consider what to do with this information. Nightcrawler arrives, but he’s not there to attack them, he agrees with Magneto.

Mike: I thought the beginning of this issue was a terrific homage to Masque of the Red Death.  And these new model Sentinels were pretty cool too.  Magneto’s distrust of Inhumans as the enemy was a real strong moment for me.  I thought everyone’s characterization fit well in this story, and the ending with Nightcrawler deciding to side with Magneto was huge shocker.  Definitely one of the better Civil War II tie ins!  This wasn’t “is it moral to use Ulysses’ gift to see the future” it was “can the Inhumans be trusted?”

Deadpool #14 by Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne (Civil War II)

Summary: When the rogue Celestial came to Earth in Civil War II #1, Deadpool gathered up his Mercenaries for Hire to help out.  But Deadpool seemed more interested in working with the Avengers teams than his own group.  In the end, he is invited to Stark’s post-battle celebration, but he ditches his team, who seem to think they might be better off without him.  They end trying to convince Cable to lead them.

Mike: Even Marvel doesn’t seem quite sure if they should call this a Civil War II crossover or not.  It was solicited as one...but the cover dress for Civil War II seemed to be missing on some of the versions of this issue (I have seen it both with and without the Civil War II black top and logo).  I would have skipped this one if it wasn’t for this column.  It wasn’t a bad comic, I just don’t have a lot of interest in Deadpool or his mercenaries.  Though I did like seeing Slapstick!  

International Iron Man #4 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev

Summary: We find out that right after the battle with the rogue Celestial in Civil War II #1, Iron Man had decided to start trying to figure out who his real parents were.  He finds the orphanage in Bulgaria that he was adopted from, but can’t find out much.  The women who works there suggests that he needs to find out who gave him up, they would have more info.

We get more flashbacks filling in the gaps of Tony’s relationship with Cassandra, who has now risen to the top of a powerful criminal organization more secretive than AIM and HYDRA, but better about keeping out of the spotlight.  

Tony’s search for his parents somehow put him in the same circles of Cassandra, and she refuses to believe this is a coincidence.  He asks her to call off her Mandroids, but she refuses to let him walk away because she needs to show strength and letting Stark walk away would cause her whole organization to collapse.

Mike: This issue has one of the oddest circular logic moments I have ever read.  Stark goes to the orphanage to find out who his parents are, and the woman who runs the orphanage gives him the sage-sounding advice “you were adopted from someone.  Whoever gave you up.  They knew.”  Uhm.  Yeah.  No shit.  But Stark couldn’t find them, that is why he came here in the first place.  

Honestly, I have liked Bendis’s work on Invincible Iron Man, but this sister book has been pointless.  I honestly don’t care at all about Iron Man being adopted. Cassandra is a interesting character, but she basically just feels like a cheap knock-off of Elektra.  And I can’t image she will have much of an impact beyond this arc.

This issues is also not much of a Civil War II crossover.  Stark just happened to decide to check for his parents right after a major battle in Civil War II #1...that is the only connection.  I do kind of like that this explains why Stark wasn’t around when Rhodey was killed, but it still didn’t add anything at all to the story for me.

Nova #8 by Sean Ryan and R.B. Silva

Summary: Nova was there at the battle with the rogue Celestial, but got knocked out.  He is invited to the post-battle celebration, but he feels out of place. Everyone treats him like he’s invisible.  Even Miles seems to have more of a connection to the other heroes than Nova.

Sam returns home to find his mother having a hard time dealing with Sam’s double life.  Sam doesn’t know what he’s fighting most of the time or even how the helmet works.  Sam decides that it’s time that he knew how the helmet works.  He tries to ask Stark, but Stark is overwhelmed with his own stuff going on in Civil War II.  Nova goes to visit Stark, and finds Mole Man attacking the city with a Mole Monster.

Mike: To be honest, I had to check to see if this issue was actually written by Sean Ryan.  Nova has seemed to have a pretty solid handle on being a hero for a while now, and pretty much all of that seemed to have vanished here.  I know that he’s a teenager, and that actually probably is pretty realistic for him to be having such big doubts in this moment, but Nova debuted during X-Men vs Avengers and has been around for a lot of major battles.  This isn’t his first “crossover” epic.  

And what happened to “everyone was going to help Sam find his father?”  That wasn’t even touched on in this issue.  I don’t know, it just seemed like this issue ignored a lot of stuff that has happened to Sam over the last few years to tell a story that just didn’t quite fit.

Titans Rebirth #1 by Dan Abnett and Brett Booth

Summary: Wally decides that he needs to reach out to his old friends on the Teen Titans.  None of them remember him, but as soon as he comes in contact with them, their memories are restored.  They are determined to figure out who did this and prevent them from stealing more time.  

Mike: Short summary I know, but this issue was all about characterization.  I have been a Teen Titans fan for as long as I can remember, and this was just a beautiful comic.  And I love Wally’s new costume!

Uncanny X-Men #8 by Cullen Bunn and Ken Lashley

Summary: Psylocke is being held in the hidden Akkaba City below Green Ridge, Colorado.  She breaks free from her cell.  She goes looking for Magneto.  She overhears that Holocaust and his cult have been mutilating followers to try and purge the corruption of Apocalypse from their bodies.  Psylocke is ambushed by Fantamax.  They have a brutal fight.  She realizes that he’s working with Magneto, but that doesn’t stop her from knocking him out.

Meanwhile, in the Morlock Tunnels Sabretooth, M, and Callisto are dealing with an outbreak of Emplates.  They decide they need to follow them back to their master, M’s brother.  Emplate says he needs M’s help in “saving him.”

Psylocke ends up walking into a room full of badly mutilated Akkaba followers.  She knows they are trying to lore Archangel here...but Psylocke can’t help herself.  She sends him a TP cry for help, and he breaks free of their base in the Savage Love racing towards Green Ridge.

Mike: I haven’t read much Uncanny X-Force, so I wasn’t too sure what was going on with the conflict between Fantomax and Psylocke...but this was one pretty bad ass fight scene.  Holocaust’s mutilation cult is terrifying and disturbing.  I still have no idea what’s going on with the two Angels, but this has been a real powerful story.

And I am a huge Gen X fan, so seeing Emplate back in a major way is awesome to me.

Matt: You haven’t missed much with Fantomex. The book has teased Fantomex and Mystique working different angles with parallel goals, but until now it’s just been cryptic hints whenever they appear on screen and bicker.

Vote Loki #1 by Christopher Hastings and Langdon Foss

Summary: Several years ago, a New York governor ended up misappropriating funds that were supposed to be used to repair damage done during a big superhero fight.  One of the children affected (Nisa Contreras) would grew up to become a reporter who managed to take down the governor.  

These days, Nisa is covering a presidential debate.  Hydra attacks.  Loki happened to be there in disguise and saves the day.  People try to encourage him to run for President.  Nisa starts to suspect that he set this whole thing up so he could achieve that exact goal.  Loki goes to visit Nisa in her home.  He is determined to win her over. He gives her full access to his campaign.  

Nisa tries to publish a story burying him, but someone gets ahold of her editor, and has them change the headline from “Loki will burn Washington” to “Loki’s campaign: something to get excited about.”  Readers only care about headlines, ignoring the many points she makes.  The issue ends with Thor arriving at her door pretty pissed off.

Mike: This was a pretty awesome comic.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one, but it was a lot of fun.  Loki plays one hell of a high stakes game here.  I was glad to see Thor show up in the end.  Great political satire and still a strong superhero comic at the same time.  Can’t ask for much more than that!