Review: Amazing Spider-Man #679.1 – Thankfully, Morbius doesn’t sparkle in sunlight yet

By

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February 15, 2012

Amazing Spider-Man #679.1
Writers: Dan Slott and Chris Yost
Art: Matthew Clark, Tom Palmer [Inks], and Rob Schwager [Color]

Hot on the heels of Spider-Man’s team-up with his Horizon Labs coworker Grady Scraps, Dan Slott and Chris Yost join forces on Amazing Spider-Man #679.1 to team Pete up with another Horizon staffer–child genius Uatu Jackson.

For much of the past year, Slott has teased the identity of the scientist in Lab 6 at Horizon. Though he finally revealed the lab’s occupant to be Morbius (Spidey’s on-again, off-again vampire villain) during last year’s “Spider-Island,” the book’s cast were still in the dark.

It was only a matter of time until curiosity got the better of the other scientists, and Pete and Uatu set out to finally uncover the truth. One of the highlights of this issue are the list of suspects they put together for who the mystery scientist is. Among them: Dr. Octopus, Beast, Dark Beast, The Lizard, Stephen Hawking, and Zombie Albert Einstein, who is present on the list because of Uatu’s obsession with horror movies.

Meanwhile, Morbius, who it turns out is an old college friend of Horizon Labs boss Max Modell, is experimenting with blood to create a cure for his condition. Naturally, this goes awry and brings about the return of his bloodlust (which I don’t seem to remember still being a problem for him in Marvel Zombies 3 & 4, but whatever…) and the not-quite-a-vampire has a brawl with Spider-Man that spills into Horizon’s cafeteria.

As with the rest of Slott’s run, the writing on this issue works on a number of levels and Yost’s experience with grittier, darker, and occasionally supernatural characters and stories (SEE: 2009’s X-Force “Necrosha” storyline) really adds to this a bit. Morbius’ underlying humanity is kept in focus throughout this issue, as is the lack of understanding among others that would cause Modell to keep Morbius’ presence in the facility a secret.

Furthermore, this issue carries on the longstanding tradition of Spider-Man books having a fleshed out supporting cast by giving us more insight into who Max Modell is as a person, and giving us a reason to care about Uatu Jackson (who I had almost forgotten about until now). Revealing that Jackson isn’t just a child genius, but is also obsessed with horror movies to the point that he has a lab full of monster-fighting gear is brilliant. After all, what else would a horror-obsessed child genius do in their free time with their own lab if given the chance?

Finally, in line with the idea behind Marvel’s “Point One” initiative, this book gives readers a good place to jump on, as it introduces one side of the current supporting cast and spins new threads that set up a future plot–one that will likely unfold this July if the reveal on the final page is any indication.

As for the art, this issue leaves little to be desired. It’s easy to follow, with the exception of maybe one or two panels, like the diagram of Horizon Labs on page 5. However, the vibrance and amount of overall detail make it easy to overlook these instances.

This is another great jumping-on point for new readers, and essential reading for regulars.

STORY: 9/10
ART: 8.5/10

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“The Amazing Spider-Man” Viral Campaign Ramps Up

By

Roger Riddell

-

February 14, 2012

The viral marketing campaign for this summer’s The Amazing Spider-Man film has kicked off, starting first with the markofthespider-man.com website, and today with the backpack of Peter Parker’s that the MTV News blog “Splash Page” reported receiving.

Among the items in that backpack were a page of The Daily Bugle. On this page of the fictional newspaper was a letter bearing a hidden message that the fine folks at MTV News overlooked: the first letter of each line in that letter spells out “SLASHPREPRARE.”

Here’s where things get cryptic: If you go to markofthespider-man.com/prepare, you get a diagram that is most likely some sort of secret code related to the main Mark of the Spider-Man homepage.

We here at the Chicago Comic Vault have yet to figure it out. Can you?

From splashpage.mtv.com

From markofthespider-man.com/prepare

UPDATE (8:00 PM):

As commenter ObFuSc8 points out below, the mystery has, in fact, been solved by other recipients of the Peter Parker backpacks:

Sorry guys, but you are a step behind.

The markofthespider-man.com/prepare site was already uncovered on FRI 2/10/2012.

On 2/10 the official MOTS twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/markofspiderman) had tweeted coordinates in 5 different cities where lucky hunters found Peter’s backpack (same as those received by media outlets).

Clicking the video screens (on the main MOTS site) in the sequence indicated by the “code” on the /prepare site revealed a countdown in six cities, all of which hit zero this morning.

The next phase began this morning. There were 5 drops per city tweeted throughout the day, one at a time for each city. Lucky hunters today found another bag with a cell phone, 2 sweatshirts and a note.

After all 5 drops had been claimed in all 6 cities, the MOTS site updated with the message: “All operatives have been selected and are standing by for further communication. Stay vigilant, we will be in touch over the next couple of days.”

Calls have already started coming in to those with cell phones stating something will happen tomorrow.

Thanks for the clarification, ObFuSc8!

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Review: Conan The Barbarian #1 Crush Your Enemies, See them Driven Before You, and Hey Check out that Half-Naked Goth Chick!

By

Matthew Sardo

-

February 13, 2012

Writer by: Brian Wood
Art by: Becky Cloonan
Colors by : Dave Stewart
Letterer by : Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover by : Massimo Carnevale
Publisher: Dark Horse

Conan is awesome. I have very fond memories of seeing the movies when I was a kid. I remember first seeing a trailer for Conan the Barbarian while I was laid up in the hospital getting over an intestinal flu. I couldn’t wait to get better and go check it out in the theaters.,The first was an epic sword and sandal classic like no other before. It had demons, giant snakes, cults, orgies, magic, and a brilliant score. I even liked Conan the Destroyer, which was vastly inferior as a movie, but equally brutal in terms of monsters, battle, and blood. It was more a quest kind of adventure that felt like a dungeons and dragon module. There was bizarre cults, wizard battles and human sacrifice. One of the first comics I ever bought was a Conan one from the early 80’s. It what first got interested in drawing. I even read a few of Robert E. Howard Conan novels with Frazetta covers which were a bit tough for a junior high-school kid like me to get through. They were dry, light on monsters and really kind of drawn out with lot’s of talk of wenches and ale. That was the first time I kind of got let down by the character. So I gave the books a pass, eventually got into other things and kind of forgot about Conan. When this new 2011 Conan movie came out I was disappointed again. I took me 3 times just to get through the thing, I kept on falling asleep. Whatever magic pull Conan had on me when I was younger had all but vanished. I know that Dark Horse had been keeping the Conan comics alive and kicking since the early 2000’s. The covers have always been great but I’ve never been compelled by writer or interior art to get it a proper shot. When I heard that DMZ and Northlanders writer Brian Wood was on scripting and Beck Cloonan was on art duties I thought I’d give it a crack. I was a big fan of early DMZ and I’ve read a handful of Northlanders books that really kicked ass. I figured if anyone could get the tone right it would be Brian. Becky Cloonan I’m not so familiar with. I’ve seen some of her art for her mini-comic Wolves that looked really stark and cool, so why not.

I wasn’t expecting this. Not in a million years. Wood and Cloonan have reinvented Conan into a likable self-aware rogue. He’s like your drunk friend that’s always at the wrong place at the wrong time, getting into fights, and causing a shit-ton of trouble, escaping with a few bruises and good story to tell. Not a frat boy, mind-you, more like the punk kid from the wrong-side of the tracks kind of friend. The dude that always had your back in high school, but broke anything that you lent him and never paid you back. Conan is impulsive and selfish (he’s a barbarian)but has a pretty big heart and ego to match. He just escaped from a clusterfuck on to a boat, and basically hi-jacks the thing in order to escape the wrath of a corrupt city guard. There’s a brief showdown with the captain which leads to nice exchange:

“Have you silver to pay for passage, barbarian?”

“I pay with Steel.”

This attitude feels right at home with the Conan I know and love from the movies. Yet it’s different. He’s got a bit more a playful almost light-hearted spirit. He’s not a burdened by tragedy and fueled by revenge like in the movies. Nor is he as dim-witted. This is more than I bargained for. I genuinely like this version miles above the original movie Conan. There’s a lot more depth and swagger to him. He’s not just a brute that can kick-ass, but someone who can con his way out of situation if he need’s to. He does that here. Conan regaled the captain and crew with a tale about how he was drunk at a tavern while the captain of the guard was killed over the mistreating of a maiden. He was passed-out and picked up because all other suspects left. Sobering up in the court he realized how fucked he was about to be and grab his sword and battled his way out of there, only to be chased to the boat. He wins over the crew with his story.

Cloonan’s Conan (say that five times fast) looks like a healthy Nathan Explosion from Dethklok. He’s in his early 20’s and doesn’t have the muscle-bound body builder physique that is commonly associated without the character. He kind of just looks like a viking dude with long straight black hair that can kick some ass. At first I wasn’t so sure Cloonan’s style was right for this book. There’s any early double-page spread of Conan looking over his should during a chase that looked rather simplistic and crude, and did not evoke feeling of the epic age of Hyboria. There is a few spots where this happens and the set-piece backdrop fails to impress. Her simplified cartoony-style just doesn’t work with a straight forward composition. Let’s face it, a lack detail does not take the breath away. However when she brings it in to the close-quarters and talking heads, you can get the real personality of the people she draws. Their expressions come through and tell the story in an economical way. I immediately know who Conan is as young barbarian. I get that the striking Queen of The Black Coast is an insane and sexy succubus and the captain is solid guy just trying to make his way in the world. Dave Stewart’s coloring compliments Cloonan’s emotive combination of dry-brush inking and fluid lines with a desaturated color palette. It completes the whole package and tone of the book and firmly places it on the fresh side of “indy”. You can tell straight-away this is not your typical sword and sandal Conan and runs a bit off the beaten path.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc?rel=0]

Even thought this a different direction for Conan it’s a good set-up issue. My main critique of this right now is that we are missing battle, grandiose backgrounds, and a bit of fantasy. Off-beat or not, those three ingredients are crucial to a successful Conan. I think we’ll get them soon enough, but I could have used a bit more of a taste in the first issue. In the meantime there’s a lot that’s working right now. Conan’s personality is different from what I remember but it works. It makes him a bit unpredictable and therefore more interesting. I suspect some traditional Conan fans might have an issue with it though. Conversational dialogue style blended with romanticized narrative caption makes for easy and enjoyable read. The sexuality of the Queen of the Black Coast leaps off the page and in to your lap. She is simply stunning. That gothic beauty will keep all the fanboys coming back for more. Becky Cloonan rendered her in the most compelling way imaginable and really heats up the pages of book with her presence. All in all the Conan reboot is a solid first issue and has me hooked for more.

Story: 7/10
Art: 6.5/10

Follow me on twitter and tell me what you think @the_hellhounds

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Review: Severed #7 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

By

Matthew Sardo

-

February 10, 2012

Writer by: Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by: Attila Futaki
Colors by : Greg Guilhaumond
Letterer by : Fonografiks
Cover by : Attila Futaki
Publisher: Image

He loved to hear the little kids scream
His instruments of hell did gleam
A box with a cleaver, a saw and a knife
He used them to cut up their innocent lives

Mr. Albert Fish, was Children your favorite dish?
Mr. Albert Fish, was Children your favorite dish?
Mr. Albert Fish, was Children your favorite dish?
Mr. Albert Fish, was Children your favorite dish?

– Macabre “Mr. Albert Fish (Was Children Your Favorite Dish)” from the Grim Reality EP

(FYI – You might want to check out my previous review of Severed if you aren’t caught up on the full story.)

Severed concludes in dramatic fashion this week with a final showdown. Young wayward fiddle player, Jack Garron, is trapped in a house with tattooed cannibal, Allan Fisher, in a battle for his life. The early 20th century has never felt so scary and dangerous. What Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft accomplish this issue is nothing short of amazing. They somehow manage to keep the suspense and the mystery going until the very last page. Even though we know Jack Garron survives (he’s been telling this story from the present) and he loses his arm, everything else is still up for grabs.

I’ve mentioned in my earlier review how I thought that Snyder and Tuft based Allan Fisher on real life cannibal, childer killer and rapist, Albert Fish. He was also known as the Gray Man, and the Bogeyman (there were several others too but these are the relevant ones). Of course we’ve all heard of the Bogeyman, as in “If you don’t go to bed, the Bogeyman will get you.” It has become sort of a mulit-regional legend used by adults to frighten kids into behaving. According to wikipedia: “Bogeymen may target a specific mischief — for instance, a bogeyman that punishes children who suck their thumbs — or general misbehavior, depending on what purpose needs serving.In some cases, the bogeyman is a nickname for the devil.” In the case of this story it may be relevant to punishing runaways. Jack Garron ran away from home in search of his estranged father because of a post card he got sent to him. It was his dream to be re-united with his dad and play the fiddle on the road with him. Now that he’s trapped in the house with this old pervy cannibal with shark teeth. Fisher tells him that he’s not here just to eat him, but also going to consume his dreams. His father is long dead and now he plans to take his arm so he can never play the fiddle again. Allan Fisher is the Bogeyman of this tale, a dream-devouring, child-eating immortal demon with truly evil motivations. Snyder and Tuft allude to supernatural elements and perhaps try to interpret the gap between the outlandish and crazy lies of Albert Fish and his Bogeyman reputation, and factual accounts of the crimes he committed. They consolidate legend and reality into Severed and spit out a timeless primal nightmare.

I’m usually pretty good a guess where a horror story is going to go. I’ve read a ton of books and have seen a enough movies to have a really firm grasp on the genre. So I was taken aback by how much I got wrong and didn’t see coming with this series. Whenever I thought there was going to be a scare, it was a red herring. When I was least expecting it I would get thrown a curveball and the plot would thicken or something terrible would happen. A foreshadowing kill in the first issue sets out a bait for the rest of the series. Like-able characters and interesting historical backdrop drew me further into the story. Each issue builds upon the dread and tension established and left me anticipating a terrifying and bloody finale. Just when i thought I had it all figured-out stakes are raised when an unexpected guest from Jack’s past drops in. Suddenly nothing is safe. Is this set-up for some sick and demented dinner scene ala Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hannibal? Will there be a demon’s feast or will it all fall apart? How does Jack get out alive? This is what I love about writing in Severed, it’s just unpredictable and inventive.

Unfortunately art took a step down from last issue. I know I was bitching and complaining about the soft coloring, but I still held the ink work and structure of the pencils in high regard. A heavy-handed air-brushed color approach by Greg Guilhaumond knocks out most of the line work and muddies the pages even further. I think if Attila had to time to color these pages, it would be on par of what we’ve seen before. I mean you can tell by the covers, that given the time to focus on one image, he can really nail it. That cover really pops. It has dynamic range, intricate detail and a dramatic palette. I think he just has a full plate and needed help on this one. That means we get mud, sweat and grime on every page, and get faded line-work. The last few pages that take place in modern times were especially hard for me to look at. The present day palette had little depth and look like high-school water colors. It’s a shame that a such mysterious and ominous conclusion got the bargain-bin treatment with cheap-o colors. However for most of the series it was a pretty solid effort.

Overall I was really happy with how Severed turned-out. I never thought I read such a page-turning comic that would leave me so anxious and nervous about what was going to happen next. The whole entire creative team deserve a big kudos for championing the medium and showing that true horror comic can be made even with the limitations of a comic book format. Although they veered slightly into the supernatural context of horror conventions, they didn’t rely on an abundance of monsters, blood and guts to scare the audience. It was with the use of foreshadowing and suspense that they crafted a frightening tale. That’s a rare thing these days, and they should be proud of their accomplishments. Don’t worry if you haven’t picked up Severed yet, you can grab the hardcover edition that is due out in April. Don’t miss out on one of the best comic book horror stories in the past ten-years.

Story: 10/10
Art. 6.5/10

Follow me on twitter and tell me what you think @the_hellhounds

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Review:Mega Man #10 – Mega Man does his best Charles Bronson Impression

By

Matthew Sardo

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February 8, 2012

Mega Man #10

Story By: Ian Flynn

Art By: Ben Bates

Review Score: 7/10

Mega Man starts out this issue on the receiving end of a beat down from Quick Man who then teleports him to Heat Man’s level and tells him they will meet again. As per the video games Ian and artist Ben Bates do a fantastic job recreating the level design and enemies leading up to the Robot Masters themselves. This issue Mega Man faces Heat Man and Crash Man .

Fans familiar to Mega Man know that as he defeats a Robot Master he then gains their powers . Ian Flynn uses this as a plot device during the story . Each time Mega Man gains a new power his circuits become tainted and he starts progressively turning evil . Dr. Light realizes this and leaves to the lab to try to develop coding to combat Mega Mans decent into Evil. It’s actually kind of refreshing to see Mega Man flawed and destroying these robots Charles Bronson style . Its like he’s a hit man for hire and the Robot Monsters are just poor dudes waiting for a beat down. Now while I find this funny the kids who read this book may not get whats happening but I tend to give our youth more credit than most .

Again each Robot has its own personality , in this issue Heat Man is lethargic and cynical , and Crash Man is Aggressive and Reckless. I enjoyed Ben Bates art this issue. It’s fast paced and he recreates a few scenes from Mega Man 2 that fans will appreciate . Colors are vivid and this is exactly the kind of art you would expect in a book like this .

Unexpectedly I’m still enjoying this book. This is definitely fun for kids and adults alike. Fans of the character and video games will continue to enjoy the amount of detail worked into each issue, everything from the power sets to the trade mark Biw Wip! sound when Mega Man teleports is there. Archie comics officially has another successful video game property on their hands .

Mike DeVivo

Follow me on Twitter @pandasnadrobots

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Review: Scarlet Spider #2 – Kaine’s struggle with morality continues

By

Roger Riddell

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February 8, 2012

Scarlet Spider #2
Writer: Chris Yost
Art: Ryan Stegman, Mike Babinski [Inks], and Marte Gracia [Colors]

Kaine, the once-deformed-but-now-healed clone of Peter Parker, has been determined to quietly start life anew in Mexico ever since helping save New York City from the infestation of the Jackal’s spider monsters.

Unfortunately, he got sidetracked in Houston when he uncovered a human trafficking ring. He saved a Mexican girl, the only survivor in a shipping container full of illegal immigrants, who he delivered to the local hospital before setting out for the border again. As he’s leaving, however, he sees an explosion at the medical center in the rearview mirror of his taxi cab, commandeering the vehicle.

The explosion was caused by a mysterious, unnamed, fire-throwing villain from Mexico who Kaine makes quick work of–in his first appearance in the new Scarlet Spider costume, it should be noted.

Primarily focusing on Kaine’s struggle with his newfound sense of morality given his new lease on life, Chris Yost does a great deal of work setting him apart from the real Spider-Man. Kaine isn’t afraid to use a downed officer’s gun against a villain, and questions whether or not it would be better to just kill the man. He’s confused when the crowd outside of the hospital cheers for him after he takes down the villain, and even more-so when the local authorities give him praise.

Ryan Stegman’s pencils (whether intentionally or not) evoke the work of Mark Bagley, which is fitting, given Bagley’s history with the character. Overall, the art is smooth and polished, but with enough grit to fit the character and a lot of nice little details.

Looks like those years of begging Marvel to bring back the Scarlet Spider finally paid off.

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #5 – Congratulations, Kitty! It’s a bouncing baby… Brood?!

By

Roger Riddell

-

February 8, 2012

Wolverine and the X-Men #5
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Nick Bradshaw [Pencils & Inks], Walden Wong [Inks], and Justin Ponsor [Colorist]

Somewhere between fending off an attack from the new Hellfire Club and doing some rebuilding after the emergence of the son of Krakoa beneath the school’s grounds, Wolverine used up all of his funds for the Jean Grey School. To make matters worse, the ultra-rich brats that make up the aforementioned new Hellfire Club weaseled their way into Worthington Industries board of directors, taking control and having the company’s amnesiac billionaire CEO Warren Worthington (aka Angel) deemed mentally incompetent.

Simply put, Logan needs to find more money soon or his tenure as headmaster of the Jean Grey School is going to be short-lived.

To remedy this, he takes Quentin Quire (aka Kid Omega) to space to find more funding. I guess space money is good on Earth in the Marvel Universe, as it seems like Wolverine could have just taken Quire to the home of someone like Warren Buffett and had him use his telepathy to secure funds. We’ll see where this goes next issue, I suppose.

Meanwhile, Kitty Pryde’s sudden-onset, ready-to-burst pregnancy from last issue turns out not to be a pregnancy at all, but a Brood infestation. Beast and the rest of the staff soon discover millions of microscopic Brood were released into the school’s ventilation system, genetically engineered with Kitty Pryde’s physiology in mind. Basically, it’s an elaborate assassination attempt, the solution to which is foreshadowed earlier in the issue when Beast shrinks down his entire class with Pym particles to take them on a field trip inside the body of the school’s janitor, Toad.

This issue moves really fast, and Jason Aaron throws in a lot of comic relief with the action. Among the best instances are Doop substituting in Kitty’s ‘Introduction to Religion’ course and the continued use of Toad in a slapstick role, lamenting his status as a janitor after spending years in Magneto’s “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.”

Nick Bradshaw’s are extremely detailed, with more going on in the background than a quick read would allow you to see, and Ponsor’s colors really make these panels jump off of the page.

If you’re looking for an X-book that’s a fun read and easy to jump onto at the moment, look no further.

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Deadpool #50 – Even the Dead(pool) may die…

By

Roger Riddell

-

February 8, 2012

Deadpool #50
Writer: Daniel Way
Art: Carlo Barberi, Walden Wong [Inker], and Dommo [Colorist]

Longtime Deadpool fans know that Wade Wilson is in love with the one thing in the world he can’t have: Death. In Deadpool #50, Daniel Way kicks off the biggest story of his 4-year run on the book–an epic that might just grant the Merc With a Mouth his wish.

The “Evil Deadpool” story arc ended with Wade’s evil clone being killed by a dart that negated his mutant healing factor. [That’s, you know, the thing that keeps him from getting killed dead!] They’re on a comic site, dude… They know what a healing factor is.

Upset that he wasn’t in the projectile’s path, Deadpool sets out to find out who took the shot so he can finally feel death’s cool embrace. In order to accomplish this, he sets up a complex game of a chess–a game that he doesn’t even know how to play–involving his X-Force teammates (“The Horse Heads”); Bob, Agent of H.Y.D.R.A. (“The Wheelbarrow”); Daken (“The Shooter”); and The Kingpin and Typhoid Mary (“The Ones That Go Diagonally”).

As the issue plays out, Deadpool attempts to play all of these “pieces” to draw out who it is that can kill him. Of course, there’s one piece in the game that Wade doesn’t account for: “The Wild Card.”

Way manages to squeeze in elements from all corners of the Marvel Universe in this extra-sized first part to what may be his magnum opus on the series, and Deadpool’s coup de grâce, while Carlo Barberi’s pencils remain consistent with his earlier work on the book. Among the better moments of the issue are Psylocke attempting to read through the clutter of voices that is Wade’s mind and a panel where Fantomex explains how the chain of command in an assassination conspiracy tends to work.

[And they said comics weren’t educational…]

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Carnage U.S.A. #3 – Symbiote dogs and moral dilemmas

By

Roger Riddell

-

February 8, 2012

Carnage U.S.A. #3 of 5
Writer: Zeb Wells
Art: Clayton Crain

When Cletus Kasady, aka the symbiote-enhanced mass murderer Carnage, takes over a small Colorado town and compromises an Avengers task force, there’s only one thing the government can do–and it doesn’t involve napalm.

They assemble a top secret, symbiote-enhanced task force of their own.

Last issue, we were introduced to said task force, powered by the four de-amalgamated symbiotes that once comprised Hybrid. The coolest among these is the symbiote-enhanced military dog Lasher, who has a confrontation with Carnage’s pet, the Doppelganger (remember him?), at the beginning of the issue.

Zeb Wells keeps the dark tone in place throughout, with Kasady–dressed as a priest–holding much of the town’s population in a church and demanding they each remove their teeth with pliers as a sacrifice to him. Meanwhile, he’s demanded that the wife of the town’s sheriff, leader of a small camp of survivors where Spider-Man has found refuge, kill her husband lest he should kill their children.

Of course, he’s also using them as puppets via the Carnage symbiote, and Spider-Man intervenes as soon as things take a turn for the ugly. This creates a moral dilemma, though, as Spider-Man finds himself having to fight off two Carnage-possessed children. To Spider-Man’s relief, Kasady becomes angered that Sheriff Morell’s wife still won’t kill him and calls the sheriff’s family back to the church.

If writers had created these types of deranged moral dilemmas back in the ’90s when Carnage was first created, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so one-dimensional.

On that note, Carnage isn’t going to kill the sheriff’s kids himself if he can scar someone else’s psyche in the process. Attempting to get the symbiote-possessed Captain America to do the dirty work backfires, though, as Cap fights back and is able to free himself from Carnage’s control long enough to radio for help from “Code Name 4563.”

Given recent developments in Secret Avengers (Carnage U.S.A. takes place after the events of Secret Avengers #23), fans probably already know who Cap was calling in…

Overall, this series is still moving along at a great pace with enough nods to (and improvements upon) the past to keep longtime readers engaged while not alienating anyone new to the characters. Crain’s artwork still fits the story’s dark tone, although a lot of his backgrounds are very plain, if there’s anything in them at all. Of course, this story is set in the Midwest, where there really isn’t much to see to begin with, and Crain paints everything, making extremely detailed backgrounds in every panel something that would be quite a bit more time-consuming.

This is still required reading for any 90s kids who like to go on and on about how awesome Carnage is, or anyone who hated symbiotes after Marvel stuffed them down everyone’s throats during that same time period.

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Secret Avengers #22 -Captain Britain and Giant Man join Hawkeyes Team

By

Matthew Sardo

-

February 8, 2012

Secret Avengers #22

Story By: Rick Remender

Art By: Gabriel Hardman

Review Score : 8.5/10

Rick Remender comes aboard Secret Avengers and immediately injects the humor and bat shit crazy story ideas hes known for. The question is can he juggle two very different team books and have both be so high in quality? The short answer is yes.

We start the issue off following Captain Britain as he takes on Riot and his sentient mob of humans . The fight is short and it gets Captain Britain from London to Other World which is featured heaily in Remenders other team book Uncanny X-Force. Britain gets a call from Captain America and is transferred to the Secret Avengers new base using Pym Particles. It seems Hank Pym and Beast have been left to their own devices and have created a new Headquarters for the Secret Avengers to operate out of . The kicker is that anytime they are inside of the base they are shrunk down to the size of an Ant . Britain accepts the invitation to join the team and after Captain America announces he is leaving there is a very funny moment between Britain and Hawkeye . Hawkeye lets Britain go on assuming he is the choice to lead until he fires a well placed sticky arrow over his mouth and announces his acceptance as the new leader of the team.

Remender does a fine job juggling all of these characters and their personalities . Captain Britain is Cocky and Regal, Hawkeye is Brash and a bit of a trickster , Hank McCoy gets to have a little more fun than we are use to seeing him have due to Remenders quick wit on the page. Everyone seems to benefit from his writing style. While there is a large amount of humor in this book Remender writes a very dire situation in Pakistan . A suicide bomber sets his sights on a woman and child and manages to have the bomb go off only for the women to reveal that she has the ability to consume the explosion and redirect back into the city. The woman is an Adaptoid and this incident sends the team to investigate the fallout. Other Adaptoids across the world activate and head for Pakistan as well. A fight ensues between the Avengers and The Adaptoids with the Avengers losing their battle .

Gabriel Hardman handles the art in this series and I’m having a hard time enjoying his work. Characters look great but his style is a bit sloppy in areas . Maybe it has to do with the inking but it could be a bit cleaner. The characters all look very unique which I appreciate and he can draw a very kinetic action sequence .I’m also not a huge fan of the washed out colors in the issue. The inks tend to pop a bit too much for me.

Hawkeye instructs Antman to jump onto one of the Adaptoids which takes us to our final scene of the issue and a huge reveal involving Lady Deathstrike and a group of other villains to good for me to spoil. Needless to say between the final page reveal and the promise of Venom joining the team next issue I’m definitely excited to see what Remender has in store for this series .

Mike DeVivo

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