Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of April 20) - Avengers Standoff, Super-League, Apocalypse Wars, Spider-Women

Action Comics #51 (Super League) by Peter J. Tomasi and Paul Pelletier

Summary: Superman goes to rescue Supergirl from a DEO office in National City, but finds out that she’s not a prisoner.  When Savage took away Superman’s powers, Supergirl’s powers seemed to have vanished as well.  DEO had been helping her recover her powers for short bursts.  

Meanwhile, “Fire Superman” believes that he is Clark Kent, and ends up causing some serious damage to the Daily Planet to anyone who thinks otherwise.  Lois ends up taking him out with a taser.  

The surviving “Chinese Zodiac” monster who attacked Superman and Batman returned to Dr Omen to give her a sample of Superman’s blood.

Superman tells Supergirl that he’s dying, and brings her to the Fortress of Solitude giving her complete access to the facility.  He also asks her to carry on his legacy after he’s gone. Before she can answer, Wonder Woman arrives, pretty pissed that Superman hadn’t gotten around to telling her yet.

Mike Maillaro: I actually enjoyed this issue quite a bit, but I did have some small things that jumped out at me as odd.

1. For some reason, whenever I look at the cover of this issue, I can’t help but think “Aquaman.”  

2. I know that in fiction you go for dramatic impact, but Dr Omen cutting off the monster’s hand to get Superman’s blood seemed really ridiculous.  You think there would be some cross-contamination with the monster’s own blood.  Not to mention, the monster shouldn’t be all that happy that IT JUST LOST IT’S HAND FOR NO REASON.  

But I am not going to let these little things take away from this excellent arc.  “Fire Superman” is one hell of an unique character.  I did love that Lois was able to take him down so easily. When I started reading comics, “Reign of The Superman” was one of my favorite arcs, and I think we’re heading in that direction here too.  Superman Rebirth is building up to be something huge, and I can’t wait!

I also liked they they are dropping some hints here that Supergirl will have some ties to the TV series.  National City and the DEO both get a lot of play here.  I haven’t read much of Supergirl in the last several years (I was always partial to Matrix Supergirl), but I have already put her new series on my pull list.

Grey Scherl: I actually really enjoyed her New 52 series for the most part. It started out a bit rough, but the stranger in a strange land gimmick really worked out. She had some slightly different powers, absolutely zero connection to humanity, and had to deal with the fact that she was essentially a planet destroying weapon. The book had heart, especially after they introduced the new Silver Banshee and had them be best friends instead of enemies (which pissed me off in the show, because Siobhan should be her bestie). That said, New Supergirl is totally on my pull list.

This whole arc has the feeling of a modern take on Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, with Superman having to go and say goodbye on what he knows will be his last days. Only this time there’s no Luthor/Brainiac hybrid or future story where he’s secretly married to Lois who has no idea he’s Superman.

Extraordinary X-Men #9 (Apocalypse Wars) by Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos

Summary: This issue fills in the gap between Colossus and his students getting sent into the future with the Ark and the X-Men arriving about a year later.  When Colossus and the students arrive in the future, they are quickly confronted by Apocalypse’s Horsemen.  Colossus goes to fight the Horsemen and sends the students to protect the Ark.  

The students escape through a doorway and find themselves traveling across various worlds.  In their journey, they find out that in the 21st century, Apocalypse decided all mutants were not worthy of survival.  Other races like Inhumans, Moloids, Atlanteans, robots, etc, etc were given their own domains linked by doorways with Apocalypse ruling all.  The students travel across the worlds for close to a year having many adventures, but find that there is no safe haven for mutants.  

At that point, the X-Men arrive in the future and find themselves facing off against the Horsemen...and Colossus who has become their leader and calls himself Apocalypse.

Mike: In a weird way, Jeff Lemire created a much more interesting version of Secret Wars here.  I am not sure if that was intentional, but it was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, to get through a year of storytelling in one issue, this did feel a little bit rushed, but I still enjoyed this world and would love to see a story that gave us more of this future.  

I am also real curious what the X-Men are going to make of this future.  All indications are that mutantkind has lost.  Part of me suspects this is going to be a major part of the X-Men’s role in Civil War.  At one point, Storm almost seemed ready to “give up” but I think this is going to serve as a strong rallying cry.  Despite all the rumors, the X-Men still have a strong role in the Marvel universe, and Apocalypse Wars have made me very excited about the future of the line.

Matt Graham: Civil War’s X-Men mini promises that the Uncanny and Extraordinary teams will come to blows and that’s the most intriguing part of the event to me. Uncanny and Extraordinary have a nice parallel friction in terms of goals, personalities, and interpretations of the dream. On one hand, I’d like to know if superheroes even fight villains anymore, but on the other I can’t turn down an old fashioned X-Team on X-Team brawl.

For me, the X-Men are at their best when the world doesn’t fall in their favor, and Lemire gets some strong characterization and story fuel out of it. I wonder if this story was supposed have more set up in the first arc. The rushed recap worked, but I can’t help but feel this was the tale Lemire was sitting on while he assembled the roster over the first few issues.

Mike: To be fair, Uncanny does feature a healthy chunk of villains on it, especially if we factor in Mystique who’s been hanging on the fringes, so we are still mostly getting hero vs villain (yeah, even I don’t believe the spin I am trying to put on that)...  

Captain America: Sam Wilson #8 (Avengers Standoff) by Nick Spencer and Paul Renaud

Summary: Last issue, Steve Rogers was restored back to his youth by Kobik.  This leaves Sam Wilson and Bucky a little unsure of what comes next.  Steve says that they need to find Kobik. They end up fighting several villains, getting help from Mach VII who was a guard here.

Agent Kincaid makes her way to the museum looking for a secret weapon there which could help turn the tide.  She gets help from the museum’s mysterious curator.

Meanwhile, Zemo is also looking for Kobik and sends Kraven, Trapster, and Fixer to find her.  Fixer has built a containment field that should turn her back into a Cosmic Cube if they can find and catch her.  Kraven tries to bait the trap by setting up a kid’s birthday party to lore Kobik in.

After Team Cap beat the bad guys, Mach VII flies off to see if he can sent a call for backup to SHIELD.  Rogers gives the shield back to Sam Wilson saying that he’s still Captain America. Rogers also apologize to Sam and Bucky for allowing disagreements to get in the way of true friendship.  At that point, the rest of the Avengers teams have arrived and everyone is ready to shut down Zemo’s revolt.

Mike: What I love about Spencer is that he can take ridiculous moments and just integrate them right into the story without any hesitation.  The shot of Kraven wearing a birthday hat while planning how to catch Kobik is just so goofy, but it still worked so well.  Spencer might be even better at blending humor and serious moments that Peter David, and that’s a pretty high bar.

My favorite part of this issue was the heart to hearts with Team Cap.  There is a lot of question about what the return of Steve Rogers means to Sam Wilson and Bucky, and I’m glad that this is being taken serious by the writer and character.  I have been enjoying Sam Wilson as Captain America, and it seems like he will still be carrying some respect moving forward.

And it was also great to see Mach VII again.  Spencer used him in Superior Foes of Spider-Man too.  Granted, both here and Superior Foes, Mach VII comes off as a bit off a goofball, but I still enjoyed seeing him anyway.

Matt: This is Standoff at its best. The real standoff is between the three shield wielders and Spencer has been making sure that the relationship between Steve, Bucky, and Sam, even when apart, is at the core of the crazy event exploding all around them.

His attention to detail pays off with other characters, such as Kraven being the one to hunt and trap Kobik despite a wide variety Cap’s traditional enemies. It’s a nice call and it played out in a fun kind of creepy way.

The worst part about this is Marvel being its usual enemy by spoiling the aftermath before we even had the first issue.

New Avengers #10 (Avengers Standoff) by Al Ewing, Marcus To, and Juanan Ramirez

Summary: American Kaiju is giving Avenger Five a serious beatdown, as the New Avengers team is having a tough time coordinating their attacks.  

Meanwhile, Songbird knocks out Hawkeye, revealing herself to be a SHIELD plant.  Rick Jones arrives to help Hawkeye escape, and the head a portal that is supposed to take everyone to the New Avengers real base (in the Savage Land). One of the AIM agents is a little over zealous, which causes Rick to think he’s made a big mistake.  He runs off.  Hawkeye tries to chase after him, but he’s surrounded by SHIELD agents.

Sunspot vents Avenger Five’s Gamma Reactor, which turns American Kaiju back into normal Todd Ziller, allowing the team to escape.  But Hawkeye has been arrested, and Songbird is revealed to have been a traitor.

At Avengers Base Two, Sunspot is suffering from terrigen poisoning.  His old friend Cannonball has arrived to help the team out. Sunspot says “Operation Secret Avengers is ready to begin.”

Mike: As a huge fan of old school New Mutants, I actually cheered out loud when I saw that last panel.  I’ve said this the last few issues, but New Avengers seems to be an Avengers Standoff story that doesn’t quite sync up with the rest of the event.  And we don’t even know what Rick Jones fate was at the end of this issue.  He’s another character that I am a fan of, so I hope he doesn’t go back into obscurity now that Avengers Standoff is winding down.

Matt: I can only echo what you said. The book seems to resist crossing over as much as it can. There were a lot of turns this issue and while I came for the crossover, all the team developments may keep me on. It succeeded there.

Grey: My biggest problem is that it was a two issue arc. I mean, this arc was awesome, but only two issues? Come on, man! I stuck around for this! I mean, I’m still on board for at least another few issues since it’s just been a really good book, but I’m still annoyed.

At least they didn’t kill AK, so we might get lucky enough that he comes back!

Mike: If Spider-Gwen and Gwen-Pool got their own series, American Koiju can definitely get one! AK for President!

Silk #7 (Spider-Women) by Robbie Thompson and Tana Ford

Summary: In Spider-Gwen #7, Silk had decided that since she was stuck on Gwen’s Earth anyway, she was going to go find her family on this world.  She immediately sees they are alive, safe, and happy.  She decides to pretend to be that world’s Cindy Moon, and rings the doorbell.  She has no idea that this world’s Cindy Moon is the head of an organization called SILK and she hasn’t seen her family in three years.  As a result, Cindy doesn’t quite get the happy reunion she was hoping for.  

She decides she needs to confront the Cindy of this world.  She finds out from her brother that this Cindy Moon lives in a Penthouse in Highrise Tower.  She ends up stumbling into SILK HQ, and is certain this Cindy Moon is a supervillain.  Silk finds out that an Agent Drew in Cold Spring Harbor has Gwen’s dimension watch.  She also finds a USB drive marked Spider-Women that she takes with her.  

Silk calls Gwen and Spider-Woman for backup.  They are still with this world’s Reed Richards.  Spider-Woman tells her to take the USB drive and get out of there as quickly and quietly as she can.  Spider-Woman sends Gwen to help Silk and goes confront Agent Drew in Cold Spring Harbor.

Silk tries to escape, and is attacked by a mutated Doctor Octopus.

Mike: Man, this issue was tough to read.  Silk finally gets to reunite with her family, but she finds that this world’s Cindy Moon has no relationship with her family at all.  This has been the best issue of this crossover so far, as it actually felt like it had some real impact on the character.  Robbie Thompson has been terrific on Silk, and this continues to be one of my favorite Marvel books, despite the anchor of this crossover...

Matt: I’m very disappointed that we both consider this event to be an anchor. Two (potentially three, see my Alpha rant) of my favourite characters teaming up and it’s wasted on more alternate reality. It is nice that the tie-ins do focus on the headlining character giving Cindy some heart wrenching conflict.

Is it possible that Gwen’s aloofness and attitude to Cindy sours the team-up vibe that should be exciting?

Mike: Yeah, I honestly don’t know what it is. I am pretty sure I was excited for this at some point before it hit.  And the individual issues have actually been average to above average, but just something about it just isn’t working for me, and I can’t quite put my finger on why.