Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of August 17) - DC Rebirth and Civil War II

A-Force #8 by Kelly Thompson and Paulo Siqueira

Summary: After She-Hulk was put in a coma during the battle with Thanos, A-Force is in disarray.  Dazzler is against Carol’s attempts to use Ulysses’ visions to see the future.  Especially since one of the visions shows Nico killing someone named Alice. Nico teleports away when Medusa and Carol try to detain her.    She ends up in a safe house in Ouray, Colorado.    She finds Elsa Bloodstone fighting off humans turned into giant bugs.  She joins the battle, helping get people to safety to a nearby home.  The parents there are looking for their missing child...Alice.  Nico is shocked, and Carol and Medusa arrive on the scene.

Mike Maillaro: I loved Nico bonding with Misty Knight and Elsa Bloodstone over them all having robotic arms.  It was just a fun little moment.  I was glad to see Bloodstone here, really became a fan of hers during Secret Wars.  This was a typical Civil War II crossover, well-written but fairly predictable.  I am kind of bummed out that A-Force basically fell apart during Civil War II, I was really enjoying this team.

All-New Wolverine #11 by Tom Taylor and Ig Guara

Summary: Last issue, Ulysses had a vision of Old Man Logan killing Gabby.  Steve Rogers and SHIELD has arrived at Wolverine’s house to warn her and prevent this. Wolverine doesn’t trust them, and has Logan and Gabby run away.  Cap tries to stop them, but Wolverine shoots him with a tranquilizer dart.  He warns her that Old Man Logan is not the Logan they know.  He is out of control.  SHIELD manages to shoot down Old Man Logan, who loses control and starts to kill SHIELD officers.  Gabby tries to calm him down, and he ends up gutting her.

Mike: That last panel was  one of the most horrifying things I had ever seen.  Honestly, I am not sure there is any way to redeem Old Man Logan after that moment.   The insanity plea only gets you so far...and that’s even if Gabby’s healing factor saves her. I thought this was a powerful comic and a powerful moment, so I hope that they don’t end up cheapening it by ignoring it, especially in other books.

Captain America - Sam Wilson #12 by Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuna

Summary: Sam is trying to sort out the Americops battle with Rage and other black citizens.  They seem determined to pick a fight.  Sam doesn’t want to further incite the situation.  Falcon arrives to pull Rage out of there.  The Americops attack Sam, forcing him to fight back.

Meanwhile, Americops try to recruit John Walker to take down Sam.  Walker admits he has problems with Sam as Captain America, but he won’t be used as a pawn.    But then he sees the situation escalating on TV, so he heads on down there.  He picks up Sam’s shield and tells him “That shield don’t belong to you anymore.”

Mike: That was some awful grammar to end the comic.  Blame Marvel for that not me!

Best part of this comic was John Walker’s comments about not liking Sam, but still not wanting to be used as a pawn.  In the end, that is exactly what happened, but hey, the sentiment was there.

By the way, this issue in no way tied into Civil War II at all.  Great comic, as usual, but buy it because Spencer is writing two great Captain America books, not because it’s a Civil War II tie-in!

Civil War II - Amazing Spider-Man #3 by Christos Gage and Travel Foreman

Summary: Clash goes to work for the Robot Master...but it quickly becomes clear that he was just getting close to Robot Master in order to take him down. Spider-Man arrives on the scene to join the fight.  They take down Robot Master. Clash believes this demonstrates that he can be trusted.  Spider-Man says that “what happened here isn’t a good thing.”  Clash violated the terms of his parole.  Peter can fix it, BUT, it means Clash can’t work with sonics anymore. Clash doesn’t take this well and attacks Spider-Man.

Mike: I liked the twist early in this issue where it was clear that Clash was actually the good guy here.  But, that didn’t end his problems, in fact it just made them worse.  I like how Clash has basically become the mirror Peter Parker.   I felt bad for both Peter and Clash here.  This was a very well written comic with a ending that really could not have gone any other way.

Civil War II - Choosing Sides #4

The Punisher by Chuck Brown and Chris Visions

Summary: A bunch of criminals are looking to steal something called the Zodiac virus.  They have raided a lab that had already been raided, assuming that would cover them from one of Ulysses’ visions.  But the Punisher is waiting for them to kill them all, having anticipated this strategy.

Power Pack by John Allison and Rosi Kampe

Summary: Jack and Katie go to visit Julie at Empire State University.   Over coffee they talk a bit about Ulysses and Hulk’s death.  They are being harassed by a social media drone. They use their powers to destroy the drone.

Nick Fury Post Prologue Part Four by Declan Shalvey

Summary: Fury Jr is stealing info from a SHIELD base.  Black Widow is trying to track him down. They have a brief fight and he gets away.  

Mike: The Punisher story was kind of pointless.  Punisher shows up and kills some criminals.  There wasn’t anything Civil War about it…

I love Power Pack, so I was glad to see them again.  It was just a nice catch up to the characters.  Again, not much Civil War here, but at least these aren’t characters who have their own book like Punisher, so it gave this story sort of a reason to exist.

I actually love silent comic stories when they are done well...but to be honest, this Fury one wasn’t done all that well.  Good art, but Shalvey is a better artist than storyteller.  I also am not sure how this fits in continuity as Black Widow has basically gone rogue from SHIELD in her own series.

Civil War II - Gods of War #3 by Dan Abnett and Emilio Laiso

Summary: Hercules is still fighting The Storm, which no one else can see but him.  The Avengers arrive trying to stop him, thinking he’s lost his mind.  Thr other gods convince the Avengers that Hercules is being controlled.  Cap yells “Avengers Assemble” and that released The Storm’s control over him.  Hercules tells the Avengers that The Storm is gone, and he’s ready to help with Civil War II when they give the call to action.  Hercules reveals to the other gods that he needs to take down The Storm first.  

Mike: Pretty much same review I gave for the first two issues.  Really enjoyed this as a very good Hercules story, but it’s a very unnecessary Civil War II crossover.  Just feels like they had some Hercules stories they never got around to using, so just put them here and threw Civil War II on the cover to sell more copies.  

Civil War II - Ulysses #4 by Al Ewing, Karl Kesel, and Jefte Palo

Summary: Ulysses escapes from the room Karnak locked him in, determined to try and stop the train crash he saw in his vision.  He encounters the chef, who tries to put him back in his cell.  Karnak has gone to Portland himself to see if the vision comes true, though he does not seem all that inclined to stop the crash.

Mike: I did like the scenes at the end showing all the passengers going about their lives as disaster is coming their way.  And Karnak’s scene with airport security was pretty funny.  I really dislike Marvel’s Infinite format, as it feels like you don’t get enough comic for your money, but I do enjoy the story Al Ewing is building here.  I just would prefer actual Karl Kesel art and not just his layouts done by a different artist.  Kesel has always been a favorite.

Civil War II - X-Men #3 by Cullen Bunn and Andrea Croccardo

Summary: Magneto goes to London to recruit Rachel Grey.  She has basically been off the map since her father did whatever he did to the Inhumans.   He tells her about Ulysses.  Having come from a horrible future herself, he is able to convince her that she can help him protect the future.

Meanwhile, Storm goes to see Medusa.  Medusa is pissed that Storm had Gambit infiltrate New Attilan, even if he did protect the city from Fantomax.  Medusa accuses her of sympathizing with Magneto.  Tensions are running high.  We find out that Medusa sent an Inhuman to spy on Magneto.  Storm and company go to see Fantomax who is prisoner at the Xavier Institute.  Archangel arrives on the scene to attack. Nightcrawler teleports Fantomax away.  Magneto’s team attacks the X-Men.  Old Man Logan realizes that this wasn’t a rescue mission, it was a distraction.  Magneto and Rachel go directly to New Attilan.

Mike: Civil War II: X-Men has been one of the few series that I thought tied in Civil War II as well as events that had been running in the Marvel universe before Civil War II started.  That has made me enjoy this book far more than I was expecting too.  I still am not sure how I feel about Death of X, but if this is serving as the lead-in, I will at least give it a read.  Cullen Bunn seems to have the best handle on the X-Books these days.  

This comic jumped around a little, making it feel a bit rushed at part.  We see a spy infiltrate Magneto’s base...and then nothing really comes of that.  The Uncanny X-Men attack the mansion, just to give Magneto time to go to New Attilan.  It was never a bad comic, but at times it did feel like they might be trying to do too much at once and that this series could probably have used a few more issues to give the story time to breathe.

The Fallen #1 by Greg Pak and Mark Bagley

Summary: This issue starts at Hulk’s funeral.  There are protesters, who attack RIck Jones when he’s trying to give the eulogy.  A lot of people hated the Hulk and are glad he’s gone.  Silver Surfer arrives to give them all a blast of “calming energy” to disperse them. The Warbound, Rick Jones, and Betty Banner decide to go check on the “other” Hulks.  

Betty goes to see her father, General Ross in prison. He is glad Hulk is dead.  He is real curious about what Betty has planned, saying she is just as angry as Bruce ever was.

The Warbound go to mourn with Skaar.  They are Warbound to him now.

Rick is trying to track down Amadeus who has gone missing.

Matt Murdock plays a video will of Banners.  He passed on some scientific research to Stark and Dr Strange.  He passes on his estate to his friends, including control of a  foundation to help the Hulk’s victims, paid for through his patents.  He gives Skaar and the Warbound plans for a spaceship home.  Betty the documents to start a new life and identity,.  And Rick Jones a guitar that belonged to Hendrix.  He also gives them all a kitchen timer.  He says that before they do anything, they should use the timer to give themselves three minutes to think about it.  We see them each using the timer later to make a decision….except for Amadeus who tosses his timer aside and leaps into the night.

Mike: I actually almost missed this issue entirely.  No idea why it wasn’t listed as Civil War II: The Fallen.  I am glad my friend Grey told me about it, because this is exactly the type of comic I love.  Great character moments, lots of heart to it.  Plus it was great to see the Warbound again. They had all just basically vanished for a while.

By the way, Cho is about to start some serious shit!  I keep thinking he’s going to be the Hulk that kills all the heroes.  I kind of hope a lot of them stay dead, allowing Marvel to keep moving in a new direction.  Marvel has given a lot of new characters the spotlight lately, but they keep holding on to the older characters almost as a crutch.  I am really hoping Marvel’s next shake up really cuts some of those ties, at least for the foreseeable future.  I want to see the next generation of the Marvel Universe already!

Mockingbird #6 by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk

Summary: Looking to get away from the trail of the century, Mockingbird accepts a mysterious invitation to go aboard a luxury cruise ship.  She suspects a trap here, but the benefactor says they have “valuable information she couldn’t refuse.”  She finds herself in the middle of a cosplay convention.   Her mysterious contact keeps just missing her.  She runs into her ex-boyfriend, Hunter, on the cruise.  He’s there was a Corgi convention.  She finds out that her contact is a man named Garfield Edsal.  She recruits Hunter to help search his room.  When they get there, they find he’s been murdered.

Mike: I honestly had no interest in reading a solo Mockingbird series.  I did like the character as part of Avengers West Coast back in the day, but I will admit it was always about her relationships with other characters.  I only bought this comic because it was a Civil War II tie-in, and I continue my insane attempt to read and review all event comics.  But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this issue...It was a very fun story with some real clever moments, and a lot of murder mystery action going on.  I did cringe a little when they gave Bobbi an ex named Hunter, but he seems very different from the character in Agents of SHIELD at least.

By the way, I loved the board game scene in this issue, as they seemed to be using real board games like Arkham Horror and Betrayal at House on the Hill. That was a real nice touch.  

Power Man and Iron Fist #7 by David Walker and Sanford Greene and Flaviano

Summary: Danny Rand is visited in jail by Misty Knight.  She is concerned that he will be a target in prison.  She reports back to Luke Cage that Danny seems to be in a real dark place.  She realizes Luke is plotting something with the villains, and she says that she can’t help them.

Two bounty hunters are staking out Cage and Danny’s office.  One of the bounty hunters lost an expensive prototype called the Agnitus.  Jessica Jones and Colleen Wing have recovered it.  Gadget is able to fix the device.  It seems to be able to use facial recognition in order to access criminal records, even ones that are wiped clean like Cage’s.  

Cage is plotting to break Danny out of prison, but Ulysses tells Captain Marvel, so she gathers up a team to stop them.

Mike: Lots going on in this one, including Danny slipping into some dark chapters from his past, and this mysterious Agnitus.  They managed to do a good job placing the story in the context of Civil War II, but I missed the madcap fun of the early issues of this series.  

Hopefully, the next issue can give us a little more depth on the Agnitus, which seemed just like a MacGuffin, and give us a little more fun.  

Spider-Woman #10 by Dennis Hopeless and Javier Rodriguez

Summary: Jessica and her team continue to try and prove Ulysses’ visions aren’t always right.  Jessica believes that she can help turn Carol away from her desire to “control the future” if they can prove that Ulysses isn’t 100% accurate.  Jessica finds that all of Ulysses predictions come true.  She is about to call Carol to admit “defeat” when she finds out that Hawkeye killed Hulk.  She realizes that Carol is to blame, and storms off to confront her.

Mike: The best part of this issue was Jessica and her team investigating Ulysses’ visions.  We get to travel all over the Marvel universe, even seeing Werewolf by Night.  And then she has a fun adventure with an Inhuman who drops Tetris blocks from the shy.  It was very much in the spirit of Hopeless’s fun Spider-Woman stories that I love so much.  The ending where Jessica realizes what Carol has done was really well written and drawn.  Definitely my favorite Civil War II tie-in for this week.

Ultimates #10 by Al Ewing, Kenneth Rocafort, and Djibal Morissette

Summary: The Ultimates have put Anti-Man in a cell way too close to Thanos, who seems to be manipulating him into realizing The Ultimates are really the bad guys here.

The Ultimates head to arrest a woman named Alison Green.  Ulysses had a vision that the briefcase she’s carrying contains a very dangerous weapon.  The Ultimates seem pretty divided about how Carol is using Ulysses, especially Blue Marvel who is very much against it.  They arrest Green, and when they get back to HQ, the briefcase is empty.  Miss America attacks Carol.  Her travels across the universe have shown her the dangers of predictive justice.  She ends up teleporting Spectrum to another universe.  Thanos watches all this with great amusement.  Anti-Man breaks free of his cell.  Thanos releases himself, pleased with how this all worked out.

Mike: I thought it was a little odd that Miss America ended up attacking Blue Marvel, who seemed to agree with her, for the most part.  I did think it was a little strange that Thanos set all this up.  It seems like making the Ultimates fight would typically be beneath him, though I guess they did defeat Galactus, which would have put them on his radar.

What I really liked about his issue was that the reasons behind each characters’ thoughts on the issue were laid out very well. It was never heavy handed, but they all felt very much in character.  I also loved that the “most powerful weapon” ending up being the destruction of the Ultimates, not a true weapon.  That is the first time Ulysses got it wrong, and that will be explored more in the main Civil War II series making this a very important crossover.

Supergirl Rebirth #1 by Steve Orlando and Emanuela Lupacchino

Summary: The story starts on Argo City years ago.  A criminal named Lar-On is exiled to the Phantom Zone by Zor-El (Supergirl’s dad).  Soon after, Argo City is destroyed.

On Earth, Supergirl uses a ship powered by a Phantom Drive to go to the sun and try and recover her dwindling powers.  She is working for the DEO, with Agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers serving as her foster parents.  The launch of the ship causes an portal to the Phantom Zone bringing Lar-On to Earth.  We find out that when exposed to sunlight, Lar-On turns into a werewolf like creature.   Supergirl reaches the sun, her powers restored she heads back to Earth to help the DEO subdue Lar-On.  He realizes immediately that she’s Zor-El’s daughter.  He is about to attack her, but she tells him about the destruction of Argo City and how she’s exiled to Earth like Lar-On is. She manages to calm him down enough for DEO to subdue him.  Supergirl is determined to cure him.

DEO sets her up with the civilian identity of Kara Danvers while she works for them (in payment for them helping restore her powers).  She is a high school girl in National City.  

Meanwhile, in Argo City now, a cybernetic version of Zor-El is lurking in the ruins of the city.  He promises to do better in saving the city moving forward.  He wakes up another cybernetic female, presumingly his wife...

Review in this week’s Open Mike Night