Thursday 3/8/2012
SPOILER ALERT! Avengers Children's Crusade #9
A quick recap of the status quo:
Some time ago, Nathaniel Richards flees from the 30th century to seek help from turning into Kang the Conqueror from the Avengers. Arriving at the destroyed Avengers Mansion, he finds that they have disassembled after a crisis involving the Scarlet Witch. Reprogramming his 30th century tech with the remnants of the android Vision, he dons the mantle of Iron Lad and brings together a group of super-powered teens with ties to the Avengers legacy. They kick ass through all the major Marvel events (Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege) as the Young Avengers. The team includes grandson of the first Captain America,the daughter of the second Ant-Man, an ass-kicking ex-socialite, a troublesome speedster, the half-Skrull half-Kree son of Captain Marvel, and his boyfriend Wiccan who is believed to be the son of the Scarlet Witch.
When Wiccan's powers begin to mirror the dangerous levels of the Scarlet Witch, the Avengers decide to intervene and quarantine him. His team breaks him out and set out on a quest to find the Scarlet Witch, joined by her father Magneto and brother Quicksilver. Their journey takes them to Latveria where Doctor Doom has kept her and plans to marry her. Once Wanda regains her memory, she sets to right the wrongs she's done by restoring the powers of all the thousands of mutants she depowered. The Avengers (joined by the X-Men) arrive to contain the Scarlet Witch and Wiccan. In an effort to restore the powers of the depowered mutants before they can be stopped, Wiccan and Scarlet Witch join in a spell that is interrupted by Patriot's shield. In the interruption, all the pure power sent out by Scarlet Witch and Wiccan are transferred to Doom. Now all the teams must fight to keep Doom from remaking the world in his image. They are successful, but not without cost...
Just a heads up: this review is full of spoilers and bias. The issue opens with the close of the battle. Stature is dead after brawling with Doom when she thinks he's (re)killed her father. In an argument over the ethics of returning to the timestream to save Stature, Iron Lad kills the Vision and returns to timejumping, more bitter than ever, the seeds of becoming Kang the Conqueror deeply planted. The fate of the Scarlet Witch hangs in the balance, with Cyclops of the X-Men looking for justice and restitution. With the ultimate blame of the corruption of Scarlet Witch's power falling on Doom, the Avengers and X-Men retreat, leaving Wanda to pick up the pieces of her life and some ominous foreshadowing for AvX.
With two of their team members dead and their founder raging through the timestream, the Young Avengers are left to question their place in the world. Feeling guilty that he caused the transfer of power to Doom, which incited the battle that killed Stature, Patriot decides to hang up his shield and move to Arizona. (Hawkeye) Kate feels that since her best friend is dead and she has superpowers or real ties to the Avengers, she should hang up her bow as well. Much too everyone's surprise, Wiccan is ready to call it quits also. With the heart of the team not willing to move on, the Young Avengers disassemble.
Time passes. The ex-heroes watches on the sidelines as Manhattan gets infested with spider people, Sentinels are deployed for a world-wide mutant crackdown and the Human Torch returns to life. All the while, Billy (Wiccan) mopes. His boyfriend Teddy (Hulkling) and tries to shake him out of it. The resulting page has to be seen to believe. Probably the most romantic thing I've ever seen in a comic. Ever. Totally teared up. (To see this moment full size, right click the image below in Safari or Chrome and "open in new tab")
And the end? Well, let's just say you have to buy it to see what's in store for my favorite team. The end could possibly a huge beginning for a lot of them separately. It is a story that I've felt very passionate about over the last couple of years and while a fitting epilogue to one of the best teams ever written, it is very bittersweet. I am very sad to see my favorite team end and am very thankful for Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung for giving us years of this great story.
GEEK ON!
Danny Bernardo is GoPride's official geekologist. If any of this has inspired you to read more about the Young Avengers, I suggest you run out to your local shop and get the Young Avengers Ultimate Collection and the upcoming trade paperback of Avenger's Children's Crusade (all the individual issues sell-out.) His local shop is Chicago Comics, but also digs Challengers, Evil Squirrel, and Graham Crackers. Also on his pull-list this week: Age of Appocalypse #1, Amazing Spider-Man #681, Winter Soldier #3, and Wolverine & The X-Men: Alpha & The Omega #3. In other news, he's started rehearsal and will sadly not have time to play the sweet new Avengers game on Facebook. But anyway. Holla at ya boy!
Thursday 3/1/2012
SPOILER ALERT! Amazing Spider-Man #680 (review)
QUICK RECAP OF THE STATUS QUO:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #680 Written by Dan Slott & Christopher Yost
After many attempts at holding a day job, Peter Parker has finally found employment at Horizon Labs, where he is one of seven geniuses working on projects whenever they want. This gives him time to be a part of the Avengers, New Avengers and Future Foundation (FF) replacing Johnny Storm (Human Torch) upon his death in the Negative Zone that disolved the Fantastic Four. EXCEPT Johnny is back! (If you want the expanded science of how, click here) and with all the adventuring Spidey and Torch have had in the weeks after Johnny's return, they have yet to find time for a bromantic getaway.
Until now...
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #680 Pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli, cover by Humberto Ramos
This has got to be the single best issue I've read so far this year. Period. I have loved almost everything that Dan Slott has done with his run of ASM, but partnered with writer Christopher Yost, this issue is the perfect balance of plot, adventure and comedy. They have completely captured the playful competition and fraternal bromoeroticism of the Peter/Johnny relationship and built on it in a way no writer yet has. You really see why they're a perfect fit. Johnny's cool confidence comes off as arrogance if it isn't bounced off of Spidey's hapless quips. And Spidey's quips are just plain quippier with Johnny as the straight-man-in-on-the-joke. Throw in some exceptionally awesome geek references (at one point, in a one breath recap of what Johnny's missed on TV since he's been dead, Spidey kills it with the last line "...and they're STILL on Hershell's farm!") and you've got an issue that transcends classic and nouveau. The subtle nuances where they sneak in "I missed you while you/I was dead" between laughs just develops their relationship further and I'm very excited to see where it goes. Great job all around!
GEEK ON!
Danny Bernardo is GoPride's official geekologist. Also on this week's pull-list are Ultimate X-Men #8 and New Avengers #22. If you'd like to run into him on new book Wednesday, you will find him engaged in some awesome counter banter with Eric, Ralph and Caitlin at Chicago Comics. Other great Chicago shops to get your books are Challengers, Third Coast, and Evil Squirrel. If you want any other book/shop recommendations, leave a comment below or tweet away.
Grandson of first (and black) Captain America, Isaiah Bradley, Eli grew up wishing he could be a hero like his grandfather. Despite the general public's disbelief in Isaiah's hero status, Eli stood up to defend his grandfather's legacy. When approached by Iron Lad to form the next generation of Avengers, he jumped at the opportunity, despite not inheriting his grandfather's Super-Soldier abilities. The controversial methods he used to obtain such powers and the redemption that he gained in rising to be the natural born leader of the Young Avengers speak to the true American spirit from which he gained his name.
Mainstream comics' first African-American superhero. Getting his start defending an island nation from former Nazis under the tutelage of Captain America himself, Sam Wilson was born out of Stan Lee's desire to accurately represent an African-American hero born out of the Civil Rights movement.
Originally inspired by blaxpoitation icon Pam Grier, Misty Knight is a cybernetically enhanced detective with ass-kicking kung fu mojo. She has teamed up with some of the best over her years in comics, including the Iron Fist, the X-Men and Spider-Man. She now runs "Heroes for Hire", a street level agency that hires out supes between missions.
Pretend there was a machine that could erase Halle Berry's portrayal of the Kenyan born goddess out of your mind. Much better. Storm was part of the second wave of international X-Men and the first woman to lead the team. An arbiter of wisdom, morality, and taste, she is currently the Queen of Wakanda. And from her punk rock mohawk to her form fitting, skimpy black leather outfits, I'm sure she's been an inspiration to many drag queens.
Luke Cage may have started off as a bit of a jive talking stereotype, with his poofy afro and ex-con status. But in the years since his 1972 debut, he has proved himself to be a tough leader who doesn't take any shit. Luke Cage's unbreakable skin serves as metaphor for his tale of redemption. No matter how much life throws at him, he still ready to kick some ass.
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