Comics: 1-30-08

MIGHTY AVENGERS #8
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inkers: Danny Miki & Crime Lab Studios' Allen Martinez & Victor Olazaba
Colorist: Justin Ponsor & Stephane Peru
Letterer: Artmonkeys' Dave Lanphear
Production: Rich Ginter
Associate Editor: Molly Lazer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

Mark Bagley's catch-up job on Mighty Avengers ships another issue just three weeks after the previous one, which is also the same week that New Avengers finally ships the final part to their "Trust" arc. Both of the books are almost at the same place, continuity wise, but this doesn't stop the whole thing from being a mess. Like I said (probably) in the review to #7, all drama in this issue is completely gone since, really, a good chunk of this story was already published back in New Avengers #36. That issue was released on November 14th. That's crazy-bad scheduling. We've had to wait since then to find out exactly what Tony Stark did to rid New York City of the symbiote bomb that, literally, was there one page and not there the next in that New issue. We find out in this issue of Mighty that he just whipped up an antidote, real nice and quick like. I mean, I guess that's okay. I am not a fan of unnecessarily convoluted remedies and mechanical macguffins that pop up out of nowhere, but there's nothing more than one of Mr. Fantastic's computers analyzing a sample symbiote and producing the magic cure. That Iron Man then sprays everywhere. Problem solved. We waited two and a half months for that?

There are also some frustrating errors when reading these two issues back to back. Again, I have to stress how lax I am with continuity these days, especially with Quesada's Marvel. But both of these books are written by the same guy and the dialogue in both books is the same as well, meaning that Bendis definitely looked at the issue of New when scripting this issue. I can get that there are little asides and bits of dialogue that are not in each issue. That's fine. I look at this as being two different cuts of the same movie, with Bendis choosing what word balloons to include to enhance each story. That's fine. But. Why, then, does a phrase that Wonder Man says in New turn into one that Ms. Marvel says in Mighty? And, biggest mix-up of all, why does an entire scene with Luke Cage comforting an attack victim in New turn into, same dialogue and all, Hawkeye (Ronin, Clint, whatever) in Mighty? Yeah, it's obvious that Iron Man confronting Hawkeye is good drama for Mighty Avengers, but why blatantly change the character? Couldn't Bendis have made Hawkeye help another victim with different dialogue? Whatever. Bendis is writing so many books a month, I guess we can't expect him to keep them all straight even when he goes out of his way to make them depict the exact same story.

But. Overall. The issue has good art. The characters are all interesting and issues like this really drive home the difference between and the need for two Avengers titles. Also, Iron Man's comment about Wolverine being a symbiote once ("What hasn't he done?") is great. The buildup to "Secret Invasion" is still keeping me interested, it's just when Bendis does issues with blatant continuity errors like this I have huge worries about him planning a line wide event.

MY SCORE: 8.2/10


NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Carlo Pagulayan
Inker: Jeff Huet
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: RS & Comicraft's Albert Deschesne
Associate Editor: Molly Lazer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

Sadly, I'm going to continue on my continuity rants since they're all that is holding the Avengers titles back from greatness. Really, I have a lot of fun reading these comics and Bendis has made me care about characters that I've never even given two shakes about before.

Complaint #1: Dr. Strange has, at some point, been attacked by the Hulk during the Marvel event "World War Hulk" and is now the victim of broken hands. A plot point that comes into play in this issue. A plot point that hasn't come up at all since this whole epic storyline started way back in New Avengers #27 almost a year ago. This book has been so densely plotted, I can't piece where Strange was supposed to have slipped away to get his hands jacked up. Therefore, he's been like this the whole time, a fact that hasn't mattered at all until now probably because Bendis didn't know that other people were using his characters in the rest of the Marvel Universe. This is more of an editorial problem, I'd say. I almost respect Bendis turning this awkward turn of events into a pivotal part of the story (it turns out he's been in cahoots with dark magic to mask his crippled hands) but it just reeks of rewrite and acts almost like a cop out. The bad guys win. They kill the Avengers. And Dr. Strange uses his dark voodoo to resurrect them, voodoo he didn't have until Bendis was clued in on a story that, yep editors, he should have been told about a year ago.

Complaint #2: Ms. Marvel shows up and lets the renegade Avengers go free, letting their good deeds and the bigger picture outweigh their unregistered status. Wait, did I just describe the ending to New Avengers #36/Mighty Avengers #8 or this annual? Oh. All three. That's right. In two comics that came out on the SAME DAY that tell stories that, seriously, probably take place no more than a day (if even half a day) apart from each other, Ms. Marvel lets them go. And no one says anything. This is just lazy. I like that Bendis let one of Ms. Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. grunts voice concern over this but, really, it should have been Ms. Marvel herself expressing her concerns over continually letting these guys go.

Complaint #3: Spider-Man. There's no linear continuity gaff here; the last year's worth of both Avengers titles have probably occurred over, what, a week at most? So yeah, he's still in the black costume. That's fine. It's just that he's walking around with his mask off all over the place, a huge plot point which was just negated under a month ago in The Most Confusing Marvel Story Ever being told right now in Amazing Spider-Man. No one knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Everyone's memories were altered by Mephisto. So that means that Marvel has just published a story that was, essentially, negated and altered in another story that's still on the stands. The whole notion of no one knowing who Spider-Man is is so ludicrous, I can't buy it. I can't buy that America knows that Spider-Man was unmasked but "no one can remember who was under the mask." That's. Retarded.

And those are the biggies. The issue is a huge fight scene, which I have to say Bendis isn't good at. Fists flying, half sentences and grunts, the issue takes about 10 minutes to read and it's longer than the normal one. "The Trust" arc had such a great build up, the deus ex machina of Strange's suddenly crippled demon hands is a let down. I have a headache just thinking about this issue.

MY SCORE: 7.3/10


ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #118
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Stuart Immonen
Inker: Wade von Grawbadger
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Production: Anthony Dial
Assistant Editor: Lauren Sankovitch
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Senior Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

So simple. The appeal of the Ultimate line used to be the flashy creators and the modern approach. Now, for me, the appeal is the ability to just read a comic that pretty much exists in its own forward-marching world. Yeah, the Ultimate universe is riddled with delays and some clunky continuity, but it's so refreshing to read Ultimate Spider-Man knowing that that's the only Ultimate book I have to read (and the only one I do). It's fun and shows how great a writer Bendis can be when he's not bogged down in the insanity of the Marvel timeline.

This is a fun issue. I like the parallel way each character is introduced with a short page or two of their inner monologue about how crappy their lives are. For the first time in a while, it seems like the book has a fully fleshed out supporting cast comprised of characters that I like. The convenient arrival of Iceman just at the worst moment is kinda hard to believe, but it's all written so well and plays off the character dynamics in such an entertaining way, I can deal with it. The reveal of Liz as a mutant (I assume Ultimate Firestar) was not a surprise but it was a nice cliffhanger to what is actually a quaint little standalone issue. Not much happens, but luckily Stuart Immonen is as skilled at making scrubbing counters look exciting as he is at giant goblins.

Another above average installment in the new era of Ultimate Spider-Man.

MY SCORE: 8.4/10