Front Lines - Secret Wars (Week of July 29, 2015)

Reviews by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

1602 WITCH HUNTER ANGELA #2 by Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Irene Koh  

Summary: Angela tells Serah about the vision Enchantress gave her promising Serah’s death after they kill three of Enchantress’s demons.  Serah insists they need to keep on demon hunting no matter what the risk is. Doom wills it.  They come across a caravan being attacked by beasts.  The caravan contains 1602 versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy.  Angela and Serah rescue them.  They call themselves the Gardiner’s Men, and they are a trope of players on their way to a nearby village festival celebrating the wedding of Anne Weying to Edwin Brocc. 

Angela and Serah sense one of Enchantress’s demons nearby.  It turns out Brocc is the demon.  He recognizes Angela and Serah as “spies of the church” and unleashes his demon symbiote on them.  The Gardiner’s Men help them take him out.  They also find out that he had poisoned his bride, but she still begs them to spare his life.  They refuse and Angela beheads Brocc.  Angela and Serah head off to find the next demon.

Mike Maillaro: The 1602 versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy were real cleverly done.  y favorite part of 1602 was the strange versions of Marvel’s characters, and that worked real well here.  The only real issue I had with this comic was the lengthy telling of Angela and Serah’s backstory.   Personally, I thought it was a little unnecessary and took away from the main narrative.  This has been a constant problem in SECRET WARS with too many flashbacks.  I would rather see what’s happening next in the story without all the distractions.  It was done in a clever way here (a story as a wedding present), but I still would have preferred the comic more without it.

Score: 3.5/5

AGE OF ULTRON VS MARVEL ZOMBIES #2 by James Robinson and Steve Pugh

Summary: In the Deadlands, a pilgrim version of The Punisher is killing zombies.  He’s destroyed by an Ultron.  This Ultron seems to want to talk to the zombies on behalf of Lord Ultron.

Meanwhile, Western Pym has been brought to a place called Salvation by Vision, Wonder Man, and Jim Hammond.  Ultron had tried to use the three of them to take over the world, but they managed to escape his control and fight back.  They found other refugees from all over Battleworld to create Salvation.  They want Pym’s help in defeating Ultron.  Pym is worried that he’s not advanced enough to help them, but they believe they have plenty of time since Ultron is at war with the zombies.

But, Ultron is making peace with the zombies.  He offers them half of Battleworld to consume while he transforms the other half.  The zombies agree. 

Mike Maillaro: I really liked Robinson’s work on ALL-NEW INVADERS. It was cool to see him sneak Radiance in this issue.  He also writes a great Jim Hammond, a character I never had any real connection to until Robinson gave him some new life. I also liked seeing the different factions “over the wall” and how they deal with each other.  I actually have found the stories focusing on Deadlands and the Shield Wall much more compelling than many of the stories set in Battleworld proper. This comic has a misleading title, but it’s been really good so far.

Score: 4.5/5

BLACK WIDOW #20 by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto

Summary: In present day, Black Widow is piloting a ship full of 616 civilians trying to get them to safety to avoid the final incursion.

We flashback to Widow working for the Red Room in Cuba back in the day.  She has been tasked with finding out if a family is leaking secrets to the Americans. She is able to get proof.  Widow is given orders to kill the family in a very public way to send a message.  Her friend Marina is trying to convince her that the Red Room is not going to provide either of them with any long term happiness.  Marina seems to think they can start a new like here in Cuba.  She even has a boyfriend, a local fisherman.  Marina helps Black Widow arrange to kill the family.  Black Widow then kills Marina, Marina’s boyfriend, and even her cat.  All under orders from the Red Room.

Back in the present, Black Widow is trying to make amends for her past sins but saving civians.  And that is where this issue (and this series) ends.

Mike Maillaro: Well that was just a depressing story.  Not sure how relevant it was to SECRET WARS.  It was a strong story about Black Widow’s past, showing that at one time, she was basically just an evil pawn of the Red Room.  But, I think it would have been a little better if some redeeming qualities of Black Widow were shown.   I also think it was a little weak that BLACK WIDOW, a very acclaimed series, had to end on a fairly insignificant SECRET WARS tie-in.  It might be a little cliche, but if this story had ended with something in modern days showing Black Widow trying to get some redemption from the family she wronged, it would have made a little more sense.

Score: 3.5/5

DEADPOOL’S SECRET SECRET WARS #3 by Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli

Summary: Last issue, Zsaji healed Deadpool’s face.   We continue to see what Deadpool was up to during Secret Wars.  As one point, She-Hulk decided to lead a one woman assault on Doombase.  When the heroes arrives to help her, Deadpool ended up fighting Thunderball, who he was able to defeat by shooting him in the mouth.

Later, Thor tells Deadpool he found a device to repair his tattered costume.  Deadpool finds the symbiote.  They bond, but Deadpool convinces it to separate. Deadpool worries that his own twisted psyche might have damaged the symbiote, even driven it nuts.  Spider-Man arrives, and Deadpool points him towards the symbiote.

Back in the present, the heroes are all dead. Deadpool brings Zsaji to the fallen heroes.  She kills herself to bring back Reed and Colossus.  There are still a lot of fallen, so Wade seems to have allowed Reed to use his own healing powers to help them, but the end result is his own healed face has started to revert back to its horribly deformed state.

Gina Maillaro: Not a typical Deadpool issue, but good none the less. Like the previous issue, we get snapshots of events in random order.  The scene with the symbiote had great humor and wit, and also some insight into this version of Deadpool’s character. Although, there is still something unsettling about Wade being selfless. 

Mike Maillaro: My biggest problem with this series is that it often reads like fan fic.  I liked the Spider-Man scene, but there were quite a few scenes, especially here, where it just felt like Deadpool was added to scenes in Secret Wars just for the sake of adding Deadpool.  Like the fight with Thunderball. They didn’t even try to make that scene funny.  There were a few places this happened.  I think it’s because this series might be too long...if they cut it down by a few issues, they might have been able to place him in funnier situations.  Secret Wars was a pretty dull story at times.  Even Deadpool can’t fix that...

Score: 4/5

M.O.D.O.K. ASSASSIN #3 by Christopher Yost and Amilcar Pinna

Summary: MODOK is analyzing Angela’s hammer to figure out why it refuses to follow her commands any more.  Angela is surprised that the other Thors haven’t come for her yer.  MODOK realizes that someone is cloaking Angela to all technology.  He believes that someone is targeting her.

Members of the Assassin’s Guild arrive to kill them including,: Boomerang, Jack O Lantern, and Screaming Mimi.  They are easily about to defeat these assassins, but MODOK is badly damaged by a sniper shot from Black Widow.  His focusing crystal is damaged, which will greatly limit his powers.

Meanwhile, in Doomsgard,. Angela’s absence has been noticed.  One of the Thors goes to Sheriff Strange for some mystical help in finding her.

More assassins arrive, including Hit Monkey and Kaine.  Angela is taken down.  MODOK strains his powers to take the other assassins down, allowing Angela to recover. Kingpin. Shroud, Viper, Wolverine, and Sabretooth arrive with a new assassin trained by The Hand….Doctor Octopus.  MODOK finds this hilarious and easily defeats Doc Ock.  And then suddenly, Mindless Ones appear to attack them all.

Mike Maillaro: This story went all over the place, but it was a lot of fun.  I loved this version of MODOK.  He sort of reminds me of MODOK from Superhero Squad. Kind of goofy, but still evil at the same time.  I also like that there seems to be a lot going on behind the scenes here.  Who would try to kill a Thor?  And then who would try to her cloak her from being found?  Who controls the Mindless Ones?  This series seems to be a lot more important to SECRET WARS than you would think on the surface.

Score: 4/5

THORS #2 by Jason Aaron, Chris Sprouse, and Goran Sudzaka

Summary: There is a wake for the fallen Beta Ray Bill at Valhalla’s Mead Hall. The other Thors declare vengeance on whoever did this.  The Thors ends up rounding up the usual suspects: Hulks, Ultrons, Sinisters, Zombies, but they find very little.  The name Jane Foster keeps popping up.

Beta Ray Bill’s partner, Ultimate Thor, finds out that a disgraced Thor (Thor the Mighty) took Jane Foster’s stuff.  Thor the Mighty warns Ultimate Thor that he he tries to follow this lead, he will end up dead like his partner.  The two fight briefly.  Before he leaves, Thor the Mighty warns Ultimate Thor that he has forgotten many important things.  Ultimate Thor demands to know “Who is Jane Foster?”  Thor the Mighty tells him it doesn’t matter, “They are all dead anyway.”

The Thors find that Thor the Mighty is telling the truth.  There were Jane Fosters all over Battleworld, but they all seem to be dead or missing.  Whoever murdered Beta Ray Biill has been digging up the bodies and dumping them in the streets to be found.  Another body shows up in a similar fashion...this time it’s a Dr Donald Blake.  Suddenly, the Thors investigating this by come under attack….by Loki!

Gina Maillaro: I am really enjoying this book.  I am a big fan of Law and Order, and this book is definitely in that vein.  I also am enjoying the departure from the typical superhero plot line.  While the book does not ignore the potential for Thors to kickass in a fight scene, it does not overwhelm the plot with the need to physically assault everyone, even when there are some tense moments where blows felt eminent.

Mike Maillaro:  I totally agree with you on this one.  The mystery has been great, and I love how they have used the various Thors.  Loki showing up in the end was kind of expected, but that didn’t take away from how great the reveal was.  This is kind of what I always wanted POWERS to be. 

Score: 5/5