DC's NEW 52:Issue #5, Part 1

ACTION COMICS: We take a break from the action (no pun intended) with what seems like the bottled city of Metropolis to bring you the revised origin story of Superman. Krypton is falling apart and Jor-El decides the family will escape into the Phantom Zone. Well, all the criminals of Krypton are there waiting and that’s when we lose Krypto. So into the rocket goes baby Kal-El who makes his journey to Earth where Jon and Martha Kent discover him. They take the child and it is a good thing because it is not long before the government or some organization is surrounding the ship, Jonathan gives them a misshapen calf to chew over. Then we segue to a future time where the adult Kal El discovers the ship (we’ve seen this before in one of the earlier issues) and then a mysterious group of what I assume are villains appears and steals an engine made from Green Kryptonite. They disappear and what we know as the Legion of Superheroes arrive (a little harder looking than I remember, but…).

Nice turn on the origin, especially with the military arriving to take the ship right after it lands. Definitely a step away from the ship being in the ground or in the barn for all those years. Morrison’s story is good and I find myself having to take back most of the bad things I said after issue #1. Andy Kubert’s art rocks. In addition, the introduction of the “classic” Legion is priceless.

ALL STAR WESTERN:  Jonah and Dr. Arkham end up inside the Bat Cave. No really. They end up trying to get out of this underground mine and it’s a full issue adventure ending with them encountering a giant bat. The back-up story continues the origin story of the Asian heroine The Barbary Ghost

Yet again, what is this like the THIRD OR FOURTH MONTH IN A ROW, I bitch out DC for giving me a 20 page main story with a back-up tale for $3.99. I do like the back-up story and could possibly see this becoming a lead feature, especially since I hear rumors that Jonah gets a temporary retirement as both the lead and backup stories will involve the characters of Cinnamon and Nighthawk. Until then, just turn this book into an anthology title.

ANIMAL MAN: The Detective creature continues to torment Ellen and Cliff as Buddy, Maxine, and the cat race to the scene. Buddy arrives and struggles with the creature and is submitted to some nasty hallucinations. Maxine tries to help her father by sending the animals of the forest to eat the creature and unknowingly spreads the rot into them, making the situation much worse. Time to split, as they understand that only the Swamp Thing can help them now.

Here is another creepy issue of this title that continues to revel in DC’s dark side. Jeff Lemire continues to make this the book you want to take a bath after reading. And Travel Foreman’s art is creepy and gross at the same time. How gross? You would be hard pressed to turn this into a feature film, even with great CGI effects, as it would make THE THING look tame. Now you know for sure: you have to read this and SWAMP THING together for the full picture.

AQUAMAN: Aquaman gets a call regarding a glyph found in the wall of the cocoons he got from the trench last issue. While investigating, it looks like some water logged Atlanteans (no really…they are truly water filled) got involved trying to get the artifact. The helicopter blows up and Aquaman ends up in the desert where he totally hallucinates and has a conversation with his father. That soon turns into retrieving a transmission off the glyph with one of the Atlanteans killed by the creatures in the trench (we believe). When the Navy finally rescues our hero and he gets home, he finds that Mera went into town to get dog food.

Well, this goes into several wacky places. First off, it IS another issue with really bad Aquaman jokes (Aquaman got lost in the desert, “talk about a fish out of water”) and silly bits (I did not know the A on his belt buckle stood for Atlantean). Nevertheless, it is also another issue with killer Ivan Reis art! So we have Atlanteans and a the government and a cover that has NOTHING to do with the story (the cover screams BURIED ALIVE when Aquaman is actually just wandering through the desert. Let’s see where the next part of this goes.

BATGIRL:  Babs ends up in a bust of the Whittiker Mob and a new character named Gretel interrupts it and it doesn’t go well. Barbara ends up back with her mom, who is still living with her and baking like crazy. Detective McKenna gets a telephone call from Jim Gordon and he wants Batgirl’s head on a plate. And Batgirl has a close encounter with Bruce Wayne who tries to kill her. So, what is the deal with 338?

We get an interesting new villain and a bunch of fun with Babs' mom. Nice Gail Simone story and typically cool art from Ardian Syaf. Still one of my favorite books and I’m still waiting for the payoff on Barbara Gordon’s recovery.

BATMAN: Eight days have passed and Batman has been struggling to fight his way out of the Labyrinth of the Owls. He hasn’t had any success and ends up taking a serious stabbing from Talon. Meanwhile, the Bat Signal burns out.

Strange little issue as Batman goes through the ringer, the book is turned upside down (literally!) and our hero gets skewered! Last month, I was bemoaning that this was fast becoming the Bat book NOT to read. A partial reprieve this month as the whole Batman has a nervous breakdown bit is awesome. Killer art again from Greg Capullo and a very creepy story from Scott Snyder.

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT: The Scarecrow taps into Batman’s deepest fears and drives him slightly mad. But Superman shows up and tries to help him. However, Batman is jacked on this toxin and wails on him, sending Superman whipping about. So Superman wails back and Batman is slightly broken when all is said and done.

Another great looking issue. I really want to see where this is going to end up. I find it hard to believe that The Scarecrow’s toxin would be able to cause both fear and intense, muscle-altering strength. David Finch and Paul Jenkins write a great story and Finch’ art totally speaks for itself.

BATMAN AND ROBIN: Damien ends up with Ducard and it looks like his training is getting ready to begin. We get Ducard’s back-story and, among other things, find out that he offed his mother. We also find that Bruce Wayne trained with the Ducards. But will Robin pull the trigger when push comes to shove?

Another great issue here. More back story on Ducard this time around as opposed to Damien and the Dark Side. Peter Tomasi's story continues to rock while Patrick Gleason blows the top off the book with his great artistic style. As always: this book is a winner.

BATWOMAN: Batwoman goes toe to toe with ghost woman Maria and we get the parallels to her life and Kate’s. Then it becomes a search for Medusa, which was a clue left my Maria. No sooner does she start researching then a certain Agent Chase and her boss the smoking skull named Director Bones. We learn that Medusa is not a person, but an organization. She cuts a deal and joins the D.E.O., which will give her some advantages and puts her at odds with Batman.

Man, this book continues to blow me away. J.H. Williams III art is so life-like. And the plot by Williams and W. Haden Blackman continues to move along at a good clip. And I love the whole interweaving with the D.E.O. into the story is great. I loved CHASE and bringing the characters back makes me happy, happy, happy! I cannot recommend this book enough.

BIRDS OF PREY: When we last left off, the girls were getting ready to battle and found themselves outside and missing a Batgirl. They fight the bad guys, make their way back into the building, and decide to meet up again in 24 hours, making note of where they are going in case they get mind wiped. In the meantime, Starling ends up at somebody named June’s house. Don’t know what this is about, but there is some definite relationship going on here (or at least was). Starling eventually ends up being shot at and doing the swan dive into the sea.

Duane Swierczynski turns in another intriguing issue while Jesus Saiz' continues to turn up the heat in the art department. However, this story is running on a bit too long. Did someone in DC editorial decide that all of the new 52 books needed to have 5 or 6 issue arcs? Because I am quite happy with some nice short little three issue pieces that spells out the whole thing and moves on. The days of epic stories are over as we have no time or interest, unless there are enough plot points to keep us jumping. That’s starting to be lacking here. I LOVE the old BIRDS OF PREY and, after five issues, I am finally finding myself missing it.

CATWOMAN: When last we saw Catwoman she was falling from the sky. Well, it is a hard landing and all, but she mixes it up with Reach and wins the day. The police realize they need to be looking for Catwoman and she discovers that there is a big payday to the tune of just under a half a million dollars. Of course, the money is from a heist and out of custody and is DEFINITELY marked! Unfortunately, Selena decides to start pampering herself and spending it like crazy. It’s not long before she’s under arrest for spending that dirty Gotham Police Department money.

Another awesome issue from Judd Winick and Guillem March. What more can I say: the book rocks. Just go buy the book!
 
DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS: Deadman has it out with Rama and lays down some pretty heavy demands. Finally, those souls tied to him are now released. He gets a chance to jump back into Johnny Foster’s body and makes a hero out of him What Deadman learns from all of this is not to ask “why me” but to say “why not me”.

Nice ending to the storyline. Boston Brand finally comes to grips with his past and his present and prepares to move on to the future. Paul Jenkins and Mike Chang did a great job of retooling this classic character for the current generation. They didn’t totally screw with him and he finally got to meet up and have a serious sit down with Rama. Nice job guys and now onto the next arc, which I am DYING FOR: CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN by Dan Didio and the amazing Jerry Ordway.

DEATHSTROKE: We’re back many years ago as Deathstroke and Christoph are breaking in a couple of new recruits including Slade’s son Grant and Alex, who you may remember from previous issues. Soon we are in the present and Slade is burning Christoph’s dead body. Slade also discovers that the Ravager’s knife is bugged and that bugs him. It isn’t long before Slade is in a tussle with the newest person in “the suit”. Bad stuff here as he gets a Russian submarine thrown at him. That’s not good!

As I have said before: this is a great book that just keeps getting better and better thanks to the team of Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett and Art Thibert.  Dear Lord: please don’t let Rob Liefeld SCREW IT UP when he comes on board with issue #8 and changes things up. Until then, I plan to enjoy this heartily!

DEMON KNIGHTS: Horse-Woman attacked Exoristos, who has been exiled from Paradise Island (yeah…she is truly an Amazon) but made sure she missed the vital organs. Mordru and Morgan use their astral projections to try to sway the knights to no avail…except for Vandal Savage, who turns traitor.

I love this book! Each issue puts another piece together and adds to the legend of these classic characters. Paul Cornell’s story is totally captivating and Diogenes Neves’ artwork rocks! Highly recommended!

DETECTIVE COMICS: Followers of the Joker are demonstrating and Batman is not exactly their favorite person right now. Meanwhile, Charlotte Rivers is doing some undercover work at The Penguin’s Casino and is probably going to get in big trouble. In the back-up story, we meet the son of Doctor Hugo Strange

We come from the great first story arc that wrapped up last issue and we get this? A 12-page lead story that goes nowhere fast followed by an 8-page back up that sends up a future story line and also goes nowhere fast. 20 pages for three bucks? SHAME ON ALL OF YOU. And they weren’t even 20 GOOD PAGES! Where’s more of the continuing Joker story. After all, this is where is started and, although it continues in SUICIDE SQUAD, it would be nice to see it move along here. Not my favorite read of the month…not by a long shot!

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E.: Maxwell Lord finds himself in a world of trouble and asks S.H.A.D.E.net for some help. So Frankenstein gets sent down to do battle with O.M.A.C. and does. Meanwhile, Father Time is trying to hack into Brother Eye and apparently does…just as O.M.A.C. is transported out of the battle with Frankenstein’s arm in his grasp. Back at S.H.A.D.E.net, Frankenstein gets patched up by Nina and vents at Father, who used him to get what he wanted…and he’s not happy about it.

Kind of a nice in-between arcs issue here that not only crosses over with but is repeated from a different perspective in O.M.A.C. Great looking cover from J.G. Jones with the always surrealistic interiors from Alberto Ponticelli. Add in an adroit story from Jeff Lemire and you have a real fun issue.

GREEN LANTERN: The captors they hoped to free lock up Hal Jordan and Sinestro. The lantern is still outside their prison and wreaks a little havoc on one of the Sinestro Corps members, then frees the prison and it is off to the races in the form of some major revenge! So now Sinestro has gone from being a zero to a hero and takes leave along with Hal. And Hal is left with a ring he cannot recharge. All of this seems to be part of the Guardians grand plan to eliminate the Corps.

This book continues to blow away all the other Green Lantern titles. Geoff Johns does his best work on this title, followed by his writing on AQUAMAN and the JUSTICE LEAGUE. And I have always loved Doug Mahnke’s art all the way back to his work on MAJOR DISASTER. Poor Hal Jordan: the one thing he craves the most, even more than Carol Ferris, is the power he gets from his ring. And he can’t do anything about it. Bummer Hal!

THE HUNTRESS: Now that Helena has finished with Moretti, she turns her attention to the bigger fish running the white slavery ring: The Chairman and his son. Well, by the end of this issue it will only be down to one of the two…

PLEASE let there be an end!!! This book continues to wallow below some of the WORST of the Punisher stories over the last 40 years! This story has just become so much of a drag to read, even with Marcus To’s “how hot can I make The Huntress” art. I know I said I would not read the last two issues of this mini-series, but I really, REALLY hoped to see a change. SILLY ME!!! Now it’s down to one more issue and my only hope is that it will somehow set up Levitz’ WORLDS' FINEST (which I swear I won’t read after issue #1)

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Darkseid is in the house and starts firing those wonderful tracking beams out of his eyes. Flash manages to duck and one of Darkseid’s minions is hit but Superman isn’t so lucky and not only gets zapped but is taken away by the flying “demons”. Green Lantern decides to take command but is whipped in the process. Batman reveals his true identity to him and convinces him to let Batman do it his way. His way is to be captured. But he didn’t realize it would lead him to… Apokolips.

Again, we get some of Jim Lee’s BEST work in some time (maybe the fact that he has four inkers working with him might help?). However, we are again troubled with the curse of the 13 year-old’s dumb dialogue (no offense to any 13-year-old kids out there). Seriously: GREEN LANTERN’S GOT THIS. Granted, this becomes a sticking point when Flash asks him if this is his “big battle cry”. And we get Batman doing the big reveal, explaining to Green Lantern that the two of them are the only “normal” people here G.L.responds with the question: “wearing a batsuit is normal”. So Geoff Johns: are you writing to a 13-year-old level or are you writing this with your tongue so deep in your cheek that you are bleeding out? When someone figures this out let me know.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: The team takes on Peraxxus directly by making him think he has blown up their spacecraft (yeah…it was a Guy Gardner creation). They don’t destroy him, but do defeat him and send him on his way with a variation of the “I’ll be back” speech. First mission accomplished-here’s to the future.

And so ends the first story arc. Nothing fantastic here but a nice ending to a nice introductory story. The team continues to try and gel and it should be interesting over the next few issues to see how all that works out. Dan Jurgens writing certainly evokes a great old school JLI feel to it (yes…it’s about putting the Diva in Godiva). Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan’s art continues to hearken back to Kevin McGuire’s work on the old JLI.. I absolutely cannot wait for the next story arc to begin. TRULY, THE Justice League title to be reading.

NIGHTWING: Some witch named Zohna summons a demon and sends them after someone at the Haley Circus. In New Orleans, Dick is trying to keep things together at the Haly Circus and wondering what the deal is with the book he discovered with his name in it. Before long the demon shows up for Jimmy the Clown. It seems he and Zohna had a thing going and she wants him back. It’s Nightwing to the rescue, defeats the demon, and arrests the girl. The following day, Jimmy gets rid of the ring that connected him to Zohna and we discover that Raya and Raymond are in cohoots with each other. Seems she is not as innocent as she appears. And wait: isn’t he supposed to be dead?

This wasn’t too bad an issue as we discover that Raya and Raymond have some serious skeletons in their closets. And what DOES the book mean? It’s obvious that Raya and Raymond know about it and are pleased Dick discovered it. Where will it all end? We will hopefully find out in the next issue.

O.M.A.C.: Kevin is having one of those days when Brother Eye has him OMACTIVATE (that is SO corny that I love it to death!) because Frankenstein is on his way down to kick the you know what out of him. What follows is a full issue fight sequence (with a great two page, silent spread right in the middle of the staples!) ending up with Brother Eye pulling O.M.A.C. out and a transformed Kevin (can’t believe I spent the review of issue #4 calling him BUDDY…as in Buddy Blank from the original Kirby series) ends up with Frankenstein’s art as a souvenir. Meanwhile, Mokarri is ready with Zero Patient and this could be another battle issue with issue #6.

Ask me how pissed off I am that DC is pulling the plug on this tittle. Now I understand that Dan Didio is probably falling on his own sword because he finds it unfair to chop other titles and not take one of his down too. But this book is SUCH the guilty pleasure title for me. Each issue, Didio and Keith Giffen embraced the spirit of Jack Kirby and ran wild with his legacy of quirky characters. I certainly hope the stories and characters here make their way into what I assume will be FRANKENSTEIN.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS: Roy battles Crux, who is confused as to why human Roy isn’t working with him against the alien known as Starfire. Meanwhile, Jason Todd battles the Untitled, who killed his mentor. When all is said and done, the trio is on the run out of town as the townspeople see them not as heroes but as murders.

Interesting twists here by Scott Lobdell. Just when you think that Jason Todd will be revered as the hero he always wanted to be recognized as, he is seen as a murdering villain and chased out of town. What was cool was how he mentions that the “thrall” could be anywhere in any town. Seems a little INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS kind of cool to me.

Marvel's BATTLE SCARS

When Marvel announced the book BATTLE SCARS, the second mini-series to come out of FEAR ITSELF, the hype behind it promised that the main character would be important to the Marvel Universe in the months to come.

The book begins with a brief flashback to the events of FEAR ITSELF and then thrusts us straight into an firefight in Afghanistan where we meet Sergeant Marcus Johnson. 72 hours later, all is quiet and Johnson gets a letter which send s him home. The letter tells him his mother has died. Four days later and there’s a funeral, followed by Johnson returning to the family home. Not long after that, he have Russian hit men attacking Johnson and the police on duty investigating the scene. And then there’s the Taskmaster trying to take him out.  What does all of this have to do with a mysterious gentleman  hooked up to a respirator?

Captain America and Quake show up to mix it up. Well, Cap mixes it up and Quake gets Johnson out of harm’s way. In short: that means S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. Once there, Johnson gets debriefed, told that his mother was targeted by terrorists because of something she may have seen. S.H.I.E.L.D. may think he’s secure, but Johnson escapes to continue his own investigation of his mother’s death. He eventually hooks up with a fellow Ranger named Cheese who is told they have a target named Taskmaster. And then there’s the rumble with Deadpool, who also gets involved with Taskmaster and the Serpent Society.

Meanwhile, we have this old guy who apparently is dying, getting older with every minute. And then there’s Orion, who is really…NICK FURY?

Okay…so we’re four issues in and I have NO IDEA what the deal is, except someone wants Johnson’s blood to keep his old butt alive. I guess the whole idea of being so important to the Marvel Universe is going to depend on who the old guy is. To be honest, I really don’t care at this point who this guy is. He’s really an uninteresting guy in the middle of a bigger plot.

Chris  Yost, Cullen Bunn and Matt Faction are all listed as being responsible for the story but Yost takes credit for the script. Bunn and Faction’s name on this piece lead me to believe that there is a much bigger story here, but it would be nice to see that…especially after four full issues. We have got all these superheroes and villains showing up because this guy is so important but, at this point, we have yet to see it. And you know, with two issues left, I feel I have to hang on for the payday.

Scott Eaton’s artwork fits nicely with the story. He’s a good artist…not phenomenal, but really good. But I really wish that this thing has a good payoff…not, make that an absolutely amazing payoff,  in the next two issues otherwise I find myself feeling like I’ve been raped at $3.00 an issue.  


UPDATE: the series has concluded and here's the BIG SECRET we waited six crummy issues to get(yeah MAJOR SPOILER ALERT HERE!)-Johnson's BIRTH NAME is Nicholas Fury Jr.! So he beats the bad guy, shaves his head(yeah...lost an eye during the mini-series too) and now looks like Samuel L. Jackson. So we retconned the whole idea of having Nick Fury be African American in all Marvel's movies starting with IRON MAN by doing this! And Nick, the REAL NICK, no longer has the Infinity Formula on his side soi he will eventually die and THIS will be Nick Fury. SERIOUSLY? Now I REALLY feel like I've been raped for six issues! Make Mine Marvel? Not after this pile of poop! I'll be thinking twice as to where I'll put my comic money in the future, especially with new titles.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK #1

It has always been a tumultuous trip for Bruce Banner and his alter ego the Incredible Hulk. In the last few years, he has been shot into space by the Illuminati, lands on the planet Sakaar and becomes emperor. The ship he landed with eventually explodes, killing millions, including the Hulk's pregnant queen, Caiera. He comes back to Earth and trashes most of  Manhattan before being defeated and taken into custody. A Red Hulk emerged, revealed to be General Thuderbolt Ross. Rick Jones became the Gamma irradiated A-Bomb. Betty Ross became the Red She Hulk. Skaar, the son of Hulk, made his appearance on Earth and Bruce Banner, unable to change into the Hulk, after Red Hulk absorbed Hulk's radiation, was exposed again to Gamma radiation by Norman Osborn and turned into Hulk once more.

Then they all tried to live as one big happy family, complete with Bruce trying to fix his now non-existent marriage to Betty. In the final issue of THE INCREDIBLE HULKS #635,  Bruce and Betty resume their romantic relationship. The last scene of the issue is of them in Hulk forms leaping off into the air.

In October 2011, a new INCREDIBLE HULK SERIES was born. Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Marc Silvestri (issue #4 is illustrated by Whilce Portacio), it begins with a bearded loin skinned Hulk ruling an underground world filled with Moloids. In the midst of his peaceful rule, he gets visited by robots bearing sonic disrupters and a woman by the name of Amanda Von Doom(no relation…seriously: that’s her line, not mine). And she’s actually here to enlist the green guy to battle Banner.

Yeah…the two of them are separated and he’s on an island playing the role of the mad scientist to the hilt. In fact, he’s trying to recreate the Hulk by experimenting on the creatures on the island, who all refer to Banner as father. It seems he and Betty ended up on this tropical island after the separation(which we still have yet to learn about) and he basically blows her off in lieu of his concerns with betting the monster back. She splits and leaves him to his experiments. Well, all he has to show for it are a bunch of failures and a “brain tumor the size of a grapefruit”(guess that’s what’s happens when you stick your head in a gamma powered microwave oven.). So, after years of trying to rid himself of the monster, all he wants is the power back.

Von Doom gets the Hulk from his underground territory and introduces him to her team. Hulk has no interest at all, despite the fact that the ship gets attacked by some of Banner’s creation. Of course, that is before he realizes that some of Banner’s minions, collectively known as the Boar Brothers,  are in his kingdom and looking to kill everything. When the Hulk returns and finds that the brothers have taken the young Moloids, he proceeds to seek and destroy, leaving them alive enough to return to Banner and suffer their days. The Moloids move further underground,  Hulk seals them there, joins Von Doom’s crew and prepares to attack. But Banner has a trick or two up his sleeve.

This is a very strange book and I’m not quite certain how I feel about this book. Jason Aaron writes a really good story, as evident by his work on WOLVERINE, SCALPED and PUNISHERMAX. And the concept of these two being split is interesting. But to see Banner go from the milquetoast we all knew and loved to becoming this insane Dr. Moreau styled scientist doesn’t work for me. So unless there is some explanation that he lost his mind as part of the process that split them, I can’t go there. As far as Marc Silvestri’s art: okay-it’s Silvestri. People were jumping up and down like this was the Second Coming. Big deal. He’s good and always has been. I won’t say it’s his best work, but it’s not his worst.

I figure I’ll give it through the end of issue #5 anyway, as they promise to reveal the secret of the separation. Beyond that: no promises.

AVENGERS 1959

In NEW AVENGERS #10, we got this great little story that introduced us to a 1950s Avengers team. It was created by Nick Fury and was designed to hunt the last of the Third Reich. The team was made up of Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Dominic Fortune, Namora, Sabretooth, Silver Sable (not the hottie from Spider Man days, but Ernst Sablinova), Kraven the Hunter, and Ulysses Bloodstone.  Following the fan reaction to this, Marvel let legendary creator Howard Chaykin run wild on a five-issue mini-series appropriately called AVENGERS 1959. This time around they have some new friends including Eric Koenig , The Blonde Phantom, and British wizard and spy Powell McTeague.

Our story begins with the core six members toasting The Avengers and going the separate ways. Louise Mason, also known as The Blonde Phantom, is undercover and involved with Dieter Skul who is hanging out in the capital of Lateria. The other Avengers are all being attacked by various bad guys and gals (including the female ninja who gets impaled on a bus stop sign) carrying some sort of signature skull emblem. Did I also mention that Kraven and Namora are physically involved? Powell McTeague shows up to talk to Nick Fury, explaining the some former Nazis are looking to start a Fourth Reich.

Soon, Fury is on his way to Lateria where he meets up with his old Howling Commando friend Eric Koenig and the infamous Blonde Phnatom to investigate a possible Nazi cell. Rumor has it that the king of Wakanda has been kidnapped. In the process, Fury and the Phantom end up fighting zombie soldiers. Meanwhile, the rest of the team shows up on a boat in the middle of the Pacific and battle Baron Blood and Brain Drain. And then they get help from McTeague. The villains disappear, leaving the skull emblem on the deck of the ship. McTeague explains that he does not believe the Ubermadschen are behind this-that it is an unknown foe that is pulling the strings. We discover that Geoffrey Sydenham, a U.S. government official with ties to Dormammu, is masterminding the whole thing.

Fury and the Phantom continue their search for the missing Wakandan king and end up running across the quartet of Axis Annie, Madame Mauser, Praulein Fatale and Penny Panzer. With the help of the other Avengers, the foursome is taken captive and dropped off and interrogated on the island of Madripoor. Back in Washington, Gorilla Man, sent there by Agent Jimmy Woo (nice tie in to the Agents of Atlas series), saves General Hill from an assassin’s bullet. Sydenham’s partners Dieter Skul and Count von Blitzkrieg send an electromagnetic pulse through Wakanda, leading to a battle between the forces of evil and The Avengers.

I will not ruin the ending but suffice it to say it reveals secrets, there’s a big battle or two, and it leaves room for a sequel.

You either have to believe that Howard Chaykin is insane or a genius. Just look at some of the books that are part of his body of work: CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN, THE SHADOW, WORLD OF KRYPTON, AMERICAN CENTURY, PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL, AMERICAN FLAGG, BLACK KISS, TIME 2. These are some of the most talked about and in some case, controversial titles of the last 20 years. Sometimes he is dead on the money-sometimes his work leaves a lot to be desired (still smarting over the 2010 THE RAWHIDE KID series). But this book is killer. His writing is sharp and crisp and the dialogue snippets are great. And his artwork has not been this good looking in quite a while.

I loved the mini-series and look forward to a sequel. Just seeing such diverse characters as Sabretooth and Kraven hanging out with Nick Fury and Dominic Fortune makes this whole effort totally worth the cost.