Longbox Special: Under Siege

It does seem like forever since I last posted something here, don’t it?  It’s been a busy few weeks and things had been a bit quiet on the Siege front, which seems to have changed for this week.  Also, there was the Pittsburgh ComiCon last weekend and I’ve been busy with federal job testing and buying a new car.  I completely spaced on the God Of War III/Clash Of The Titans reviews that didn’t get much further than a sentence, something I’d like to remedy here in the next few days.  Anyway, without any further ado, here is this week’s

This time around I’ll be looking at six, that’s right six, books covering pre-siege, siege, and post-siege stories.  One book wraps itself up, another gets ready for its last issue, while another is set to have its status quo shaken up... again.  First, let’s tackle the one shots.

Siege: Spider-Man #1 is a brawl book that takes place during the siege before Sentry knocks Asgard out of the sky.  The action focuses around Spider-Man musing about his place in the Avengers while taking down Venom on the streets of Broxton.  Also, Ms. Marvel of the Carol Danvers variety shows up to lend a hand.  Oh, and of course a secret is revealed.

For the past few months, Mac Gargan has been posing as Spider-Man on Osborn’s team of Avengers and Peter Parker has been wanting to have a crack at him.  He gets his chance as the two engage in Asgard only to have their fight make its way out of the Norse city and into the human one.  Ms. Marvel shows up to lend  hand by pulling Mac out of the symbiote and winding up an inadvertent host.

In typical good-guy-absorbed-by-bad-guy tradition, Spider-Man must now try to smack the holy hell out of Venom while trying not to do any damage to Marvel.  And of course, a way is found to free her only to have Mac Gargan become Venom again to continue the fight.  Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel are able to send Venom flying back to Asgard to continue the fight away from civilians.

While it’s a pretty straight up action piece, the best parts of this book are the humor.  Brian Reed delivers great dialogue and pulls from some Dark Reign material without making the story dependent  on having full knowledge of what Venom has been up to.  Also, he opens up Spider-Man’s doubts as he questions what a street level hero like him is doing in a situation like this.  Ms. Marvel lets him know that she appreciates him on the team and that it’s entirely possible she has a super hero crush on him.  Great.

Siege: Secret Warriors #1 puts its focus mostly on Phobos and how he reacts to the death of his father, Ares.  We also get to see Nick Fury let Osborn know that is minutes are numbered as he and the Steve Rogers Captain America prep their counteroffensive.

Following news reports of the death of Ares at the hands of Sentry, Phobos moves to carry out what could be considered his father’s last wishes should he ever be killed.  These wishes carry the young god of fear to the White House where he cuts through a seemingly endless supply of Secret Service officers in an attempt to get to the president.  A target he ultimately doesn’t reach but leaves a clear message for.  Meanwhile in Asgard, there is some flavor bits as Nick gets chummy with Cap in the middle of a fight.

Jonathan Hickman delivers the kind of dialogue that makes his stuff a joy to read.  His characterizations are pretty spot on and while he doesn’t get to draw on history too much, his love of it does pop in here and there.  I’m hoping some of this stuff carries over into the regular Secret Warriors title.

Thunderbolts #143 brings a conclusion to this book’s involvement with the event to a close and sets it up for what’s going to be coming after Siege.  The issue picks up with Iron Man taking down Norman Osborn and Osborn’s attempt to get the Spear of Odin to hopefully win the day.  Turns in the loyalties of team members are made and the Mighty Avengers continue in their attempt to stop the Thunderbolts.

Scourge, leader of the Thunderbolts, has possession of the Spear of Odin and is ready to deliver it to Norman in a last ditch effort to turn the battle.  However, it seems that Paladin has had a change of loyalty in an extreme, shoot you in the face, sort of fashion.  He pits himself and Ant Man against the remaining loyal Thunderbolts.  Also, the Mighty Avengers are there to add more to the mix and ultimately provide the conclusion to the fight when Quicksilver shows up and reminds us just how badass he can be.  In the end, the current team, minus Paladin and Ant Man, are taken into custody and those that aren’t are left to move their lives in new directions.  The issue wraps up with the book pointing itself in a new direction as well as Luke Cage is shown preparing to take the helm of the Thunderbolts.

While the first part of these tie-ins was weak, the last two issues really pulled things up.  It became less about the mission for the spear and more about the characters setting their own directions.  Even though I’m still not so familiar with the characters, I found them to be humanized pretty well.  Hopefully the book will carry on in a strong way with its new direction.

New Avengers #64 is another side piece that offers insight into the events in the main book.  This time, Bendis focuses on The Hood and where he’s headed in the aftermath of the event.

The issue starts with a flashback to Avengers Tower and a meeting between Osborn and Parker.  Osborn is interested in how Loki assisted Parker with the Norn stones.  It’s the kind of back-room dealing that cost Osborn his initial cabal, but that he sees as a way of maintaining control of the situation.  Things move back to the siege itself and Parker’s loss of power as Loki takes the stones back to power the heroes in their effort against Void.  This leaves The Hood and Madame Masque in need to get as far away as possible.  The fate of Mockingbird is also resolved as the fight shifts after the fall of Asgard.

This issue felt a bit like a hodge-podge of background material and last minute resolutions.  I have to wonder at just how Bendis is going to wrap up this title next month.  Maybe I’ll tackle that one even though it’s not a Siege tie-in.

Thor #609 continues to follow the Asgardians as opposed to the titular character, which doesn’t really harm the book much.  I’m just glad that they left the Ragnarok character behind for now.

The issue opens with Kelda prepared to turn herself over to H.A.M.M.E.R until Asgard falls from the sky at which time the agents open fire on her.  In Asgard, the troops begin to rally as Tyr is shown to be very much alive and Loki does his thing in an attempt to save his own hide.  Back in Broxton, Bill’s family acts to protect Kelda by putting themselves in the line of fire.  Kelda acts to protect them all and Volstagg cleans up the troops that decided to make a run for it before heading off to Asgard himself to deliver justice.  Balder and Loki have words and Loki is exiled from Asgard.

This was another book that was sort of all over the place but not in a bad way.  It’s been progressing the three stories of Volstagg, Kelda, and the Asgardians fairly well in during the tie-in without becoming too lost.  I’m just glad that the book’s role is done and can hopefully get back to focusing on Thor.

Mighty Avengers #36 sees an end to the book and the current storyline, which is still somewhat confusing as to what it has to do with the event book.  It’s Pym vs. Ultron Pym and his army of brides.  There are flashes to the Mighty Avengers and what’s going on in Asgard but it’s mostly material transplanted from Thunderbolts #143.

Hank explains to Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie (agents of G.R.A.M.P.A) that the infinite mansion was constructed as a harness to maintain Jan’s form in Underspace and the Jocasta bodies were used to maintain her brain functions.  This doesn’t sit well with Jocasta but the conflict with Ultron, now calling himself Ultron Pym, takes priority.  Okay, things really start to break down as the whole situation is dealt with by Jocasta marrying Ultron and Hank using a ploy from an issue back to fool Ultron.

This book lost me at that point and the rest of it just seemed like a tacked on ending that felt uncomfortable.  I can’t say this is the best way for a book to end but at least it’s over.  I still can’t see why they bothered to include this title in the tie-in other than for the last few pages where the Mighty Avengers finally come back together in the eleventh hour of the conflict.  I’m just glad the book is over.

And that’s it for this week!  That was more tiring than I thought it would be.  There’s only five more books in the Siege Checklist so soon I’ll be done with this and might be able to get back to talking about other stuff.  Till the next...

Longbox Special: Under Siege

So here we go again with another big week for Marvel’s latest big event book.  This time around feels almost like a repeat of the last time they put out five books in a week.  Two of them are fairly lackluster, two are decent entries, and the fifth book makes me wonder why it was included at all.  Anyway, let’s have at it...

Might Avengers #35 is the book that made me scratch my head and wonder at why it’s being included as a Siege tie-in book this week.  The main focus of the book is on Pym and the return, once again, of Ultron.  The book skirts along side Siege but never gets itself directly involved.  There’s a call to arms from Steve Rogers, Vision and the other Mighty Avengers have taken off to assist, and Jarvis is shown leaving with the mystery case, which was delivered to Tony Stark during last week’s entry into the main event book.

Otherwise, this book features Hank, Jocasta, and a couple members of G.R.A.M.P.A as they are attacked by an army of Ultron controlled Jocasta bodies.  It’s all build up to a reveal that Pym built his Infinite Avengers Mansion on the body of The Wasp who it turns out is the sole inhabitant of Underspace, the opposite of Overspace, the realm where Eternity resides.

The book itself is fine for a Mighty Avengers story but I haven’t been following them for some time now.  Supposedly the next issue is a Siege tie-in as well, but if it’s anything like this issue I have to wonder at why this book is being included.  It forwards little to nothing of the main event story and serves mainly as a revelation to the fate of The Wasp.

Thunderbolts #142 is the book that Mighty Avengers #35 should have been.  However, like the last installment of this book, there’s just not anything going on that I really find myself caring about.  The action picks up where the last issue left off with the Mighty Avengers, sans Pym and Jocasta, fighting with the Thunderbolts who have been tasked with retrieving the Spear of Odin.

There is, of course, a lot of hitting and shooting and what not, all leading up to the eventual retrieval and fight for the spear.  There’s some indication that not all members of the Thunderbolts are behind Osborn and would rather see him not come into possession of such a devastating weapon.  Things get complicated when Asgard comes falling from the sky and the spear is lost in the rubble only to be recovered by an Osborn loyalist on the team.

I’ll admit that this issue wasn’t as bad as last but then again there was a lot more action and not so much talking going on.  Still, there was really nice development with the Thunderbolts just in the reveals of certain characters and their loyalties.  All the same, I could have spent my time better elsewhere.

Thor #608 wasn’t really that better elsewhere but it certainly picked things up a bit from last issue.  A prophecy made last issue comes to pass and puts one of the Asgardians on the spot.  Braxton is a battlefield for another pair of warriors, and Kelda visits with Bill’s family to break the bad news to them.

Tyr leads the Asgardians from the back lines terrified of a prophecy pertaining to the death of the god of war.  Upon seeing the corpse of Ares, he faces his own cowardice only to engage with The Hood who is now wielding the Norn Stones.  Volstagg and Ragnarok battle in the streets of Broxton until Volstagg retreats, the memory of Soldier Field still fresh in his mind.  This battle concludes itself in the shadow of Asgard.  All the while, Kelda has made her way into town to face the parents of Bill who take his death understandably hard and would rather have nothing to do with Kelda at the moment.  H.A.M.M.E.R forces show up to take Kelda into custody, a request she seems willing to see through.

Of course this issue wraps itself up with the fall of Asgard, something most of the books address this week.  It’s unclear if the floating city dropping on Ragnarok has taken him out of the fight or not.  This is another issue that is a vast improvement on the last but that’s not saying too much considering how weak that one felt.  Considering how key Thor is to what is happening, it’s surprising how distant this book feels from the heart of things.

Avengers: The Initiative # 34 splits its focus right down the middle of the book, starting up where the last issue left off.  First off, the Avengers Resistance is busy trying to take down Camp H.A.M.M.E.R.  Then, The Hood and most of his lackeys are called to Asgard, taking them out of one fight and into another.

Things look bleak for the team attempting to take down Osborn’s training facility, which is being overseen by a significantly powered-up Hood and his equally powered up thugs.  It’s in the eleventh hour that Penance makes his move and joins the fight, seemingly evening the odds.  This is all just in time for The Hood and company to be called by Osborn for back-up.  The book follows them to Asgard as they join the fight we see in the main book.  Constrictor and Diamondback suffer a bit of miscommunication as Asgard is brought down before she can reveal her affections for him.

Again, the fall of Asgard is the coup de grace for the events of a tie-in book but it’s an effective plot point to help tie in the events from one book to the next.  This time around, it looks like they’re pulling focus away from Taskmaster and spreading it out.  It makes me wonder if this is the beginning of the transition towards the end of this title.

Finally we have New Avengers #63 where two relationships are explored and, of course, Asgard goes boom.  Bendis is still using this book to explore more of the interiors of characters as opposed to focusing on the events of the event book.

This time around we get a look at the couples on the team, first up is Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.  They talk about being superheroes and parents, how those two things need to be prioritized in their lives for the sake of their kid.  Next is Clint and Bobbi’s relationship, which has seen its fair share of strain since her return after the Skrull invasion.  Her and Clint spend some time doing some old school hero stuff taking down a B-List villain and talking about the future.  Both of these stories are juxtaposed against the team’s attack on Osborn and his forces that are moving against Asgard.  With the city taken down, there are of course questions as to the fate’s of some of these characters.

New Avengers has managed to be a fine side book to the Siege event and plays itself very well as not being key to the events and more key to the characters.

Okay, there we have it, another week and another five books down.  Soon we’ll be moving into April and with it, the end of Siege.  I’m not sure how much I’ll miss writing these weekly bits up since I always seem to find myself at a loss in the how to address things.  Mind you, Second Coming is starting up this next week in the X-Books and I do like me some mutant story events.

The Longbox - Secret Invasion Edition

The Mighty Avengers #12
writer: Brian Michael Bendis
artist: Alex Maleev
Marvel Comics, released 4-23-08
I know this book came out over a month ago, and I've since read #13, but this particular issue was so good, I had to go back and write about it.
Here we have the Bendis and Maleev re-teaming again in the wake of their run on Daredevil to tell us what Nick Fury has been up to since the Secret War fallout. There are disguises. There are skrulls revealed. And there are just flat-out superb espionage twists all over the place. The deeper we get into Secret Invasion, the more the amped up the paranoia and mistrust has become, and stories that focus on characters such as Fury only grow that much more fascinating. Between his Avengers books and the Secret Invasion mini itself, Bendis is running on all cylinders right now.
What is most surprising upon rereading this issue is how much trust Fury has put into Spider-Woman. At this point, all signs are pointing to her being a skrull. I feel that Bendis is leading the readers astray with these clues, but if it turns out that Jessica Drew has been replaced, one really must wonder what this will do to Fury. He's prepared for anything, even her being a skrull, but at some point I'd think he would hit a wall from being so isolated from every thing and every one in any form of normalcy.
All that said, the real kicker is the double-page spread at the end of the issue. It's just Fury staring at a wall of polaroids of many Marvel characters, a few with circles on them. However, there are both red and blue circles. I take that to mean that one circle represents who he thinks is a skrull and the other for those who he has deemed not to be skrulls. After reading Secret Invasion #2, we know that the Spider-Man running around on Earth was, in fact, the real Spidey. Fury has a blue circle around this picture. Daredevil, Stature, and Lockjaw also have blue circles around their pictures, so they are probably all safe for Fury to associate with. With red circles are the Sentry, Dr. Strange, Wolverine and Hulkling. I'm pretty sure Hulkling isn't aligned with the skrulls, but we do know that he is half-skrull. But in the world of comic books, it's hard to say when this moment occurred for Fury in relation to other books, so his being a skrull may not have been common knowledge at that point. I've been convinced that Wolverine is a skrull ever since reading Secret Invasion #1. He is depicted by Yu in some panels in full shadow, just as Jarvis, Dum-Dum Dugan and Hank Pym are in that same issue. Dr. Strange was acting very un-Dr. Strange-like a few issues ago in New Avengers. And who knows what's going on with the Sentry, but it wouldn't be shocking to learn that he's a skrull as well. At any rate, that's my interpretation of this panel and my theory as to who is and who isn't a skrull.
By the way, I love Maleev's art throughout this issue. The man draws street-level superhero stories as well as can be hoped for. Plus, you have to love the visual gag of Fury in disguise, but using his Ultimate Universe persona to do so.
The Avengers books by Bendis should definitely be read by anyone reading Secret Invasion right now. They will fill out the story considerably, and with this sort of story, that's what you really want.
10 out of 10

The Shortbox 2/8/08

Captain America #34
writer: Ed Brubaker
artist: Steve Epting
Marvel Comics, released 1-30-08
By now, those of you that follow the comic industry probably know what has occurred in this particular issue -- a new Cap has emerged. Who is it? Well, I'll let you read the book or another site to find out, but in this humble reviewer's opinion, Brubaker has written another fantastic issue. Looking past the hype, it's a solid individual story. It sets the stage for the next arc while displaying what the new Captain America can do, including a few things Steve Rogers either couldn't or wouldn't have done. Steve Epting may be my favorite artist in mainstream comics right now, and this issue is a great example of why. Say what you will about the design of the new Cap outfit, but taken for what it is, Epting draws it well. But really it's his action scenes that shine over all aspects of this book. The man was born to draw Captain America throw that shield. This is definitely an issue worth owning.
9 out 10

Ms. Marvel #23
writer: Brian Reed
artist: Aaron Lopresti
Marvel Comics, released 1-2-08
I'm sure that there have been fans of Carol Danvers since her inception years ago, but the modern take on her introduced by Bendis in Alias and his House of M series has increased her profile immensely. As discussed previously at LowBrowMedia, Ms. Marvel has decided to mold herself into the greatest superhero on the planet, the title she held in the House of M universe. It's a fascinating and ultimately refreshing take for a superhero book to go on a quest of self improvement in the age of desconstructionalist approaches ala Frank Miller.
After the less-than-inspiring Civil War arc, this book has gotten back on track as of late. Reed is mixing together a very eclectic cast for Ms. Marvel, consisting of potential boyfriend Wonder Man, Sleepwalker, sidekick Arana, the hilarious Machine Man, and the surprisingly mysterious Agent Sum. Sum should have died several issues ago, but has an unexplained healing power. He is a very impressive leader in the field and, apparently, a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. officer. His backstory is one I've become very interested in, perhaps even more so than Carol's personal mission. However, because of Ms. Marvel's inevitable involvement in the upcoming Secret Invasion event, he is also a potential skrull risk. I would be pretty disappointed in that revelation, but only because I feel his value as a support character in this book is greater than most.
In any event, this issue is strong with action, humor, emotional depth, character history and a couple of very nice twists. Lopesti hits it out of the park with his art and is a welcome contributor to the title. I assume that his new duties as regular artist on D.C.'s Wonder Woman will mean that he won't return to this book any time soon, but I hope he does. And I don't want to forget to mention Greg Horn's covers, which continue to impress. It's a solid book worth your attention.
8 out of 10

The Mighty Avengers #8
writer: Brian Michael Bendis
artist: Mark Bagley
Marvel Comics, released 1-30-08
Bendis and Bagley are back together again, and the team that brought us Ultimate Spider-Man for 110 issues combine forces for the best issue of The Mighty Avengers yet. Before this issue, I hadn't gotten very excited for this title thus far. Coupled with the long delays, the unconventional use of thought balloons, and a team full of mostly heavy hitters, the book just was really not my cup of tea. I'm a big fan of the work of Brian Michael Bendis, so this was definitely a surprise to me. I much prefer the more street-level feel of the current New Avenger squad since the split of the teams. That said, they are much more suited to deal with the symbiote problem in this issue. I've always loved Venom and Carnage (many of my first comics read as a young teen involved the original symbiote characters), so a slightly new spin on it was welcomed. Each panel had a lot of crazy action going on in it, and Bagley is well-suited for such a task. But the real treat of this issue is the interaction between the Mighty and New Avenger teams. The tension when the groups stand on either side of the same street is extraordinary, especially considering it all occurs on one page. I also have to congratulate Bendis on his use of thought balloons. Thus far, he has utilized the internal thought balloon in an almost Faulknerian manner, showing us more of their subconscious thoughts than the classic conscious monologues made famous in comic books of yesteryear. I haven't decided yet if I've gotten used to them or if he is simply doing a better job writing them, but issue 8 was the first time where I felt that they did not distract from the story.
Overall, this is my favorite issue of The Mighty Avengers. I still feel it could be better, but now I know that I'm not dropping it until after Secret Invasion at the earliest.
8.5 out of 10

The Overman #2
writer: Scott Reed
artist: Shane White
Image Comics, released 1-2-08
The tag line at the top of this comic is "Welcome to the end of the future." It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see on a one-sheet of a Sci-Fi Channel original movie, but I'm not even sure a screenplay of this mini series would be optioned. This issue was better than the first installment, but that's not saying much. The first issue was bizarrely complicated and a clear example of how not to introduce your reader's first glimpse into a new world. It wants us to think of it as a high-concept science fiction epic, but I just haven't seen actual examples of it yet. I'll check back in with this one after it concludes, and maybe it will live up to its creator's ambitions. For now, give another independent book a chance instead.
5 out of 10