Posts Tagged ‘ Thunderbolts ’

Oh, Karla…

I always liked her. Admittedly, not so much when she was a member of the Masters of Evil, wore a dorky white helmet, tried to play Baron Zemo and then got her neck broken because she forgot not to fly head-first into a wall…but aside from that, since she came back as Meteorite – and then Moonstone again, and now Ms Marvel – in Thunderbolts, she’s been one of those characters that was fun to watch as she slowly, inexorably, completely against her will, got dragged to the good side of the street.

She was always out for yourself, of course, but it was falling for Clint Barton – man, that guy gets around, doesn’t he? – that really set her on course for becoming a hero. Even if, along the way, she had a tendency to be a complete cow.

And then flamin’ Warren Bloody Ellis went and devolved her back into being a total self-centered bitch, even trying to kill teammates, when he took over Thunderbolts. And that was okay, that was fine – and then Bendis took the characterization, ran with it and threw her into bed with Kid Captain Marvel or whatever he’s called –

- and I thought, okay, that’s fine. But now…

…Bullseye?

Really?

Bullseye? Mr Gut-you-for-breakfast?

And then it becomes clear.

It’s all about Clint.

Man, when that gut hits his mark, it stays hit, doesn’t it?

And who knew that was a two-piece?

But here’s the thing: I have nothing against strong sexual characters, be they male or female – but unless Bendis has a very definite masterplan at work here regarding Karla’s motivations and goals, then this feels like sleaze for the sake of sleaze.

Karla, like Emma Frost both use their sexuality as a weapon. And not a subtle weapon; it’s more of a blunt instrument, smacking other characters – and the reader – in the face with it.

I’m not sure why, but that just makes me a little uncomfortable. I suspect that’s because I like to live in the fantasy that there are still kids reading these comics, and that they see role models in these characters.

Anyway. Nice art, I guess.

Last week was a huge week, so let’s get to it (some spoilers below) -

Detective Comics #854 – Beautiful artwork, solid story – and that’s on both Batwoman and The Question co-feature. I have to say that I like this version of Kate Kane more than the version we met in 52. Like the look, like the base, like her dad helping…good stuff all around.

Gotham City Sirens #1 – Store I went to was out. Maybe next week.

Green Lantern #42 – A bit of a let down, partly because I find Blue Lanterns of Hope stupid, partly because I find Larfleeze a daft villain, and partly because I’m sick of all the Lanterns just assuming that the Guardians are right, or at least being unwilling to question anything. This is on the endangered list post-Blackest Night.

Justice League of America #34 – Adequate wrap-up to the Starbreaker arc – although I still don’t really get why Cowboy Batman was there and the revelation about Sun Eaters being larvae Starbreakers is pretty much nonsensical. Let’s move on, already.

Superman #689 – A so-so ‘day in the life’ issue, with Valor touring the world and having splash page adventures in every country he visits, along with a one-panel inset where he sees something beautiful. Aw. Yes, it’s as cloying as it sounds.

Amazing Spider-Man #598 – Darker than usual, with Spidey getting a fistful of torture from Bullseye while Harry flounders and Norman proves he has a prediliction for blondes around his son’s age. Also, nodbody’s surprised that this guy seems to have been forgotten by everyone. Can it be? Did OMD delete Sins Past? Because if it did, I’m all for it!

Astonishing X-Men #30 – I asked last week if anyone still cared about this title. The answer is probably not. I’m kind of pissed off that Ellis killed Forge after turning him a little more crazy, though. I always liked him. Beautiful art, though.

Avengers The Initiative #25 – Good solid wrap-up issue as we get the new status quo of the Initiative. Lots to like here – dropping Gravity into the GLA is a genius idea (mini series, please!); I like the idea of the Avengers Resistance – especially with a newly-revitalized Tigra leading it; and Gauntlet sucker punching Ares out of the window of Avengers Tower. Good stuff.

Dark Avengers #6 – So. Norman’s still insane. Sentry’s still useless as a character. Mike Deodato still draws exceptionally well. And the cover doesn’t represent a single thing that happens in the issue. Still good fun.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1 – Okay set-up issue for the crossover, but I’m becoming less and less a fan of Fraction’s work on the X-Men, and that carries over here a little. Also, I’ve never been a fan of ‘torn from the headline’ stories, and Proposition X and Proposition 8 are a little too close for me to fully embrace the story yet. Oh, and the apparent treatment of Xavier seems a little pointless given the amount of time we just spent traipsing around the world with him getting him back. And, even though I’m told otherwise, I still think the Loki thing was a screw up.

Dark Reign Lethal Legion #1 – I picked this up because Tieri promised Crusher Creel. Well, he’s in it, barely, but I’ll forgive the false advertising. The majority of the issue focuses on Tiger Shark, in prison, telling how the current Lethal Legion – him, the Grim Reaper, Creel, Mr Hyde, Nekra (who also popped up in Utopia, oddly enough), the Grey Gargoyle and a final mystery member – got together and got set up. I’m not sold on the flashback-heavy structure of the story, but it’s got potential. Oh, and the art by Mateus Santoloco is very reminiscent of Darick Robertson.

Guardians Of The Galaxy #15 – The Guardians wrap up their War of Kings involvement in typical strong fashion; Moondragon’s not the woman she used to be; Warlock might be the man he will become and used to be (look, it makes sense); Crystal’s no helpless hostage; Lockjaw might be god (at least if you’re Cosmo) and Groot is Groot. Simply awesome. What comics should be.

Incredible Hercules #130 – Slight misstep this time out as Zeus gets put on trial, simply because he’s such a pompous ass that you really don’t want him to be saved. That said, there’s some good stuff with Cho and his parents (and Aegis, of all people), and Hercules’ speech in defence of his father is great. So even when this comic’s isn’t firing on all cylinders, it’s still better than 90% of the comics out there.

Nova #26 – A great book, but I’m not a fan of the reintroduced Corps. I don’t want a second rate Green Lantern Corps, I want Rich Rider. Let’s get this back on track and I won’t even mention that Robbie Rider’s supposed to be missing a finger, okay?

Secret Warriors #5 – Best issue so far, and the first one not to feature the team. What does that tell you? That nobody cares about the team because their characters haven’t been developed at all? Probably.

Skaar Son Of Hulk #12 – Some smashing and more than a few surprises. A light, fun read – and there’s more to Skaar than meets the eye. I’ll be picking up Incredible Hulk #600 to see where Skaar and his dad land next.

Thunderbolts #133 – Okay, well…if Black Widow isn’t who we think she is, who is she? Tasha? Mystique? This just got a lot more interesting between that, her real boss, Ghost’s connivingness and Eric O’Grady potentially stepping up in a big way. On top of that there were more examples of HAMMER’s gestapo-like tactics and the welcome return of Songbird. One of Marvel’s most unpredictable titles right now.

Uncanny X-Men #512 – So. Looks like it’s not just Greg Land’s static posing that makes Uncanny a bit of a mess right now, is it? Fraction is not on good form here. The whole X-Men science team thing seems like a good idea but plays like a second rate Planetary, to be honest.

X-Force #16 – The Messiah War concludes with not so much a bang as a whimper. A pity, because it had been pretty good fun up to hear – but at this point its difficult to see what, if any, changes to the status quo of either books this story has really made.

X-Men Forever #2- It feels a little wrong that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. From a page-long soliloquy from Nick Fury to hearing a sound in a corridor, to Wolverine apparently having adamantium hair, there’s so much wrong here that it’s difficult defend. And yet…and yet…it’s still strangely great.

Proof #21 – As much as I like the concept of this book, I think I’m about done. It’s well done, but over the last few arcs it feels like its lost its way – and that’s a damn shame because for a while there it was one of my most anticipated books. I’m out after the conclusion of this arc.

There’s an Avengers movie coming up, you know, and although I’m absolutely certain that it won’t feature the Masters of Evil, this tweet a while back by Jonathan Ross got me thinking:

Who would be the ideal Masters of Evil, cast so that they could spin off into a Thunderbolts movie, perhaps?

Well for a start off, you take the team from the Under Siege storyline circa Avengers #269-277. It was such a great collection of villains that you’d be hard pushed to beat it.

Still for the sake of having a manageable roster, I’d leave the Wrecking Crew out of it – because that still leaves plenty of power.

First up, Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man – a favorite of mine and Frank Tieri. Here, you go with Jonathan Ross’s suggestion because it’s just about damn perfect: Vin Diesel.

For Titania, Crusher’s partner-in-crime and lover, I was going to go with a wrestler until I realized that I don’t know any – so I thought I’d settle for a statuesque actress. Sure, she’s been in other Marvel movies, but get her back in the gym to muscle up a bit and I don’t think you could do better than Rebecca Romijin:

As budget’s no constraint, I started thinking about Mr Hyde as CGI – but then I relized that I didn’t need to; if you can pay anything, there’s an obvious actor who could portray the villainous Calvin Zabo if you could afford him: Sylvester Stallone:

Every story needs a twist and in the cases of the Masters, it’s the fact that the female Yellowjacket, Rita DeMara, is in over her head and actually ends up helping the heroes. Sounds like a job for Kristen Bell to me:

Erik Josten, former Power Man, is Goliath in the Masters. A career soldier who can handle himself, you need someone physically tough. I’ll take Jason Statham for ten, please; I mean, you’re going to use CGI to make him look taller anyway, right?

For Blackout, the Masters’ mentally unstable darkforce controller, I thought of an actor who appears to have had some experience with this kind of character recently: BSG and Smallville alum Sam Witwer:

I had a problem with Moonstone; on the one hand you need someone who can be evil, but on the other hand you need someone beautiful enough that she can get you to let your guard down. Ever seen Election? I finally settle on Reese Witherspoon; it’s casting against type but I think it could work.

Then there’s Fixer. Slimy, brilliant and egotistical, Norbert suffers from a seriously dorky outfit (but looks much better later on as Techno, so I used that pic) and the fact that he’s not the man that he likes to think he is – and that sounds tailor made for Casey Affleck:

Finally, there’s Zemo himself. Aristocratic, arrogant, commanding and ruthless, you really need an Englishman for this, don’t you? Paul Bettany should do the trick!

Obviously this cast is somewhat flawed as (a) you’d never be able to afford them, (b) half of them wouldn’t do it, and (c) it ain’t ever going to happen, but still – what do you think?

I’m not sold on the current series under writer Brian Reed and I’m not sold on Moonstone/Ms Marvel taking over from Carol Danvers as the star of the Ms Marvel book – but honestly I may take a look at the book again just because this costume is probably my favorite female super heroe costum, hands down (and admittedly because I think Karla Sofen’s a much more interesting character than Carol Danvers).

Although personally, I do prefer the Farah flick of the original…

So I wasn’t 100% on the money with my post-Secret Invasion predictions but I was pretty damn close.

From IGN the cover to Dark Avengers #1
According to the article, Tom Brevoort had this to say:

Who are the Dark Avengers? That’s the question that all of Marveldom is going to be asking as Secret Invasion gives way to Dark Reign. Are they clones? Doppelgangers? Future Echoes? Or something more immediate and horrifying? And once their identity is revealed, that will only propel the Marvel Universe onto a path that will carry it forward towards an inevitable, explosive climax.

Just as initial look, that looks a lot like the Iron Patriot (whoever he may be), Wolverine, Venom, Hawkeye and Ms Marvel in her old outfit – or perhaps Ultra Girl.

Still, I actually get a bit of a different vibe when I look closely – the Ms Marvel character reminds me a little like Thunderbolts’ Moonstone, Hawkeye’s mask reminds me of Batroc’s and Wolverine…doesn’t Wolverine look a little slim and clean-cut in this pic? And is it my imagination or does ‘he’ breasts?

Consider my interest piqued!

…rampant speculation and possible SPOILERS below (well, if my random speculation is right)…

In the latest post-Secret Invasion issue of Ms Marvel, we end with the out of the blue realization by Carol Danvers of what she needs to do next:

Then in this week’s issue of Deadpool, the crazy merc’s data about how to kill the Skrull Queen doesn’t reach intended recipient Nick Fury because it’s hijacked by…Norman Osborn.

And then there’s this preview of an upcoming Moon Knight.

Uh, what was that again?

Is that a SHIELD agent about to address Osborn as ‘Director’?

Now granted, he could be referring to him in his capacity of Director of the Thunderbolts, and I’m not even sure if Moon Knight is set after the invasion or not, but I was linking some dots here

We know thanks to this that there will be casualties at the end of Secret Invasion. And we know that Nick Fury will still have his Secret Warriors at the end of the war – and from the sound of it they’ll still be secret, which suggests to me that Fury may still be underground and not SHIELD leader.

It’s pretty much a given that Iron Man won’t be Director following the war too, what with his Iron Man, Director of SHIELD book being cancelled in favor of Invincible Iron Man.

I think Norman Osborn will be filling the position. And I think he’ll be doing some double dealing that costs a lot of lives to get there – but maybe only certain people, such as, say Ms Marvel, will know what went down.

That would certainly tie in with new Thunderbolts writer Andy Diggle saying that the book will be taking some new directions, especially if they end up being a SHIELD black ops unit with international reach.

So. Norman Osborn, Director of SHIELD. What do you think?

The good:

1) Great, Bond-esque title

2) Mary Jane!

3) Kraven – in some form or the other!

4) John Romita JR back on Spidey!

5) Dan Slott playing with Norman Osborn!

Clicky the pic to embiggen and read the full preview here.

*I don’t imagine that Marvel actually has a ‘statue division’, although that would be rather cool. they could pull out ID cards when chasing people and shout “Rex Public, Statues!”. Then maybe they would freeze in place and completely fail to catch the perp. What?

**’subtle Emma Frost’ – three words that no comics reader would ever expect to be uttered in a row.

EBay has returned to blight me after a good solid six months without purchases (some of which I haven’t even read yet) – I picked up The All-New Atom #1-11 for a song recently and loved every issue. I don’t know why I skipped this first time round – possibly because the captions in the Brave New World story annoyed the crap out of me.

Other recent purchases include the OYL issues of Firestorm – a book I supported since #1 that I felt lost a little steam. When I saw the last issues on Ebay I couldn’t resist – and I suspect the same thing will happen shortly with Green Arrow and Hawkgirl; I just can’t resist completing runs.

I also picked up Ion #1-12 but haven’t had a chance to read it yet – I’ve always preferred Kyle to Hal (I’ve said before that Kyle really got me back into DC just prior to Zero Hour) so this was a no-brainer.

Showcase ’93 – ’96 was another pick up – basically all of 1994-1996 and a few 1993′s. I love anthologies, especially those that highlight characters that don’t get used too often. I’ve also been picking up the Thunderbolts variants of eBay, much as I did the New Avengers ones.

There’s been one other purchase – a dirty secret, really – and that’s Secret Defenders #1-25. It’s not as though I’ve forgotten how creatively bankrupt a lot of the 1990s were, or that I’d forgotten how bad the one issue I picked up at the time was – it was just that it seemed like a good idea.

Good grief. I know this was knocked out at a point where quantity ruled over quality but it is awful. And the really bad thing is that I’m kind of enjoying it….

There’s a few more things that I’m always looking out for – Action Comics Weekly, a complete low-cost run of Sub-Mariner #1-72 (which only exists in my head), and a whole host of recent DC minis – Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery in Space, Omega Men - and regular titles such as Checkmate.

So is there anything you’ve picked up lately?

Looks like I flunked my plan to post every week day – although in my defense, yesterday was a holiday and I posted twice at one point last week so the average worked out…

Anyway, some interesting things and thoughts…

Marvel’s Omega Flight has been reduced to a five-issue mini. I actually don’t think that this is necessarily a bad idea – too many books get launched as full ongoings only to have the plug pulled 6 or 12 issues in. At least this way there’s a defined end-point, and – according to writer Mike Oeming – a shot at an ongoing.

DC has pulled the plug on Firestorm as of #35. I have to admit that I haven’t followed the book since OYL, mainly because it irked me that they spent all this time bringing back Professor Stein then had him missing after the one year jump. Even so, I’m sorry to see this go – I think that it suffered unfairly from a lack of support after the original Firestorm’s death in Identity Crisis, and it face an uphill battle because of that. Add to that that Jason Rusch is one of the few lead non-caucasian characters published by the big two, and I think it’s doubly sad that the title is going.

I understand that Blue Beetle and Atom - also featuring non-white leads – are also on shaky ground sales-wise. Is this a sign that there’s not a big enough readership to support minority characters, despite the clamour for them?

Sean McKeever has signed with DC – this is especially surprising as he was just announced as the writer on the new ongoing Spider-Man Family and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane is a critical darling. Rumors abound that he will be working on a New Gods title, despite his denial. Personally I’d love to see him take on a Lois Lane book, but that may just be me…

There’s even more stuff spinning out of Civil War. Now I’m as big a Marvel fan as anyone but this is getting a bit much even for me.

The first issue of Warren Ellis’ take on Thunderbolts was really good – not a surprise as I’m a big Ellis fan – and I’m looking forward to seeing Songbird and Penance getting more facetime. Speaking of Penance…I’ve still not fully processed what has happened here to my one of my favorite under-appreciated characters. When I have, I’ll have something to say.

I should say that I succumbed to the T-bolts variant cover. I’m weak, dammit, weak!

Agents of Atlas ended with a bang. A great mini with great art – now can we please see a reunion between Namora and Namor in his upcoming mini? Please? Pretty please?

Manhunter has been confirmed as bowing out as of #30. Here’s hoping that Kate sticks around in Birds of Prey for a while.

JOHN OSTRANDER IS BACK ON SUICIDE SQUAD!!!

JSA is going from strength to strength. Looks like the new Starman is indeed the Starman of Kingdom Come – and as such, I think that he’s Thom Kallor of the Legion. Which Legion, I have no idea…

Of all the DC books I’m picking up right now, I’m enjoyin Superman the most. Seriously, it’s all kind of good.

You may – or may not – have noticed that I haven’t posted those little week in review things I do for my comic purchases for a while. This hasn’t been for lack of purchases – although I have been getting a bit later in the week with them – but more for lack of stuff to say.

I’ve been enjoying a lot of the books that I’ve picked up (which is always a good sign) but I find that I’ve been tearing through a lot of them with very little to say after them.

So I’m remedying that now by just listing some thoughts down…not necessarily in order…and not a Civil War comment in the bunch!

1. Supergirl has improved exponentially with the latest issue to hit stands, #9. Now granted that’s not difficult as, let’s be honest, this has been a turd of a book for some time. Now free of Greg Rucka’s Candor arc (with a C not a K), this ish was a treat, looking at how Kara’s finding her way in the world. Guesting a load of characters who don’t steal the limelight from the lost maid of steel (with the possible exception of potential love interest Boomerang), this is a solid read. Looks like I’ve finally stopped wavering.
2. Robin – this is a good read – and once again, Boomerang guest stars. I really like the guy, despite not reading Outsiders anymore. Robin himself, though, has been best-affected by the OYL overhaul if you ask me, and for the first time in a long time (geez…since Chuck Dixon left, I guess) I’m actually looking forward to the next issue instead of being ‘meh’.
3. JLA – yes it has a longer name but I’m damned if I’m typing it. Solid first issue, with nice dynamics from the big 3 as they vote on a team – even though one’s forming without them. Although I’m really not sold on Batman calling Red Tornado ‘Reddy’.
4. X-Men – Astonishing, Uncanny and Adjectiveless have all turned in great recent issues – the creative switches on the latter two are really paying off, and Whedon and Cassaday are firing on all cylinders on the former. So….what the hell is going on? Is it all in Emma’s head or what? Oh, and I’m not convinced that Colossus is getting out of the 24 issues alive.
5. 52- for a title that I was on the verge of dropping this has been a huge turn around. It’s now the top of my pile every week. I’m not sure what happened about six weeks ago, but it’s like everything is just clicking now. Impressive stuff.
6. Star Wars KOTOR – I’m liking all of the SW relaunches, but this one takes the cake so far – really good fun even if it’s in an era that I’m completely unfamiliar with. Solid book.
7. Hunter Killer – wow. I thought they’d given up on this, then #6 rolled out a few weeks back – and it was very very good, deserving of a second immediate read which hardly ever happens. I’d recommend this to anyone, anyone at all.
8. The Escapists – surprise of the summer for me! A 6 issue limited series from Dark Horse penned by Brian K Vaughan framed with the same kind of conceits as the book on which the character is based, this is working on all kinds of levels for me. Highly, highly recommended.
9. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – PAD seems to be bringing back the classic Mysterio – about time this got cleared up as by last count there were 3 of them running around, including the dead one.
10. Sensational Spider-Man – meanwhile, over here Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is bringing back a lot of classic villains – Chameleon, Molten Man, Electro…after his first arc brought in Puma, Lizard, Stegron and the Black Cat amongst others, I’m a little concerned that he’s blowing through the classic rogues too quickly, but I’m having fun while he does.
11. Heroes for Hire – okay, kind of CW related, but this was a great first ish this week – and hey, Shang Chi and the Daughters of the Dragon in one book can’t be beat. Fun book with a good premise – I’ll be interested to see where it goes after the war is over.
12. Superman – fun fun fun. Both Superman books are in great hands right now, but the Busiek-Pacheco Superman gets the vote from me. Best it’s been in quite a while.
13. Thunderbolts – long time readers of mine will know that this is one of my fave books. And that hasn’t changed. The last issue, basically a set piece between Zemo and Cap’n A scored highly with me by referencing my all-time fave Avengers storyline, Under Siege. A change is coming to this title soon – and I’m curious as to what it will be. I think a new team will be rising following the Grandmaster arc…
14. Wonder Woman – it’s good but I think a lot of it has been spoiled by other books. I mean, we all know Diana is taking the crown back thanks to JLA. Not only that, but the fact that Dr Psycho is running around after getting his ass kicked in Manhunter is also irking me (although maybe that arc is set after this arc which would make sense given how Manhunter #25 ended…). Great art though.

Agree? Disagree?