2.242 (607) Avengers vol 3 #5 ...

It has been a while since our last v 3 review and so we finally reached issue 5 and honestly while I did enjoy some of the past decades Avengers especially the first round of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, unfortunately, with each relaunch and renumbering it got harder and harder to follow unless one is a constant reader. Sigh!

In Issue 5, the Avengers have just been reassembled with a whole new team as of end of 4 and this time consists of some all time fave and two so-called active reserves ... and as our cover clearly indicates, the Avengers have another run-in with the Squadron Supreme

For those who are wondering, basically years ago, Marvel did a maxi-series on this group of heroes in an alternate universe. There the mighty took it upon themselves to reshape the world thinking that with their power they can bring some sort of utopia to their world. Now as we all now even here in the real world that no such thing can ever be and if might is all it takes, we all also know that it's only a matter of time before things crumble

So the Squadron is their world's kinda Avengers too and while on some mission or other ended up stuck on our world looking for their way home

This issue opens up nicely with the new team having personal time like some going shopping and others exercising and training to hone their skills while even more others are in the lab trying to help out. And as the title is Avengers, all you need to know and I am sure all you are expecting is that a call will go out and before you know it, it's time for AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

As is common now in comics, that call is attended to which leads to a common misunderstanding with our two teams coming to blows. Normally the blows would be sorted out within a few panels but not this issue. With Perez at art, everyone wants to see big groups of heroes pounding the tar out of each other and both writer and artist did not disappoint

In other words, the tale ain't done here and we have to come back for Part 2

Hah!

Ratings: 8/10

308. Ultimate Iron Man vol 1 #2 ... Marvel ...

From one series with average artwork, we moved on to the first of 2 limited series from the Ultimate-verse about Iron Man and this features the writing skills of Orson Card (worldwide famous sci-fi author) and Andy Kubert who simply knocked this ball out of the park. I mean, this is Tony as a baby and then a small kid. No Iron Man, no Super Villains and yet the story and art are so riveting good, that I kept turning pages until BANG the end to be continued DAMN IT! Hahaha!

But seriously this is a tale about how Tony came to be from birth (his mom gave birth to him only in this issue) ... and ending as Iron Man ... so here we see his dad, brilliant as ever, yet having a loving heart for his newborn babe ... while mom ... well ... she didn't SPOILER ALERT make it

Tony is born with some huge issues and it requires a special bio-armour fluid to keep him alive ... and all the while dad and his mates are doing more research to make the fluid better

On their backs, as there must be a villain, is fellow industrialist and a corporate shark, Stane and what Stane does is horrible. Then again, we are shown that he is surrounded by a whole bunch of equally nasty people ... wife/ butler/ lawyer none of whom is truly on his side

A good issue to read ... I didn't have 1 but I could totally enjoy  this and makes me look forward to 3

Ratings: 8/10

279. Ultimate War #1 to 4 ... Marvel ...

When Ultimate-verse started, it was very self-contained and didn't explode with a ton of series. There were only a few like Spider-Man and X-Men and subsequently we have Fantastic Four and the Ultimates (Avengers) ... so each series came out on their own basis with the occasional guest stars only but the writers and artists? Excellent!

So when the first official cross over limited series came, Ult verse decided to do it in a big way as well and what bigger way than to have all out fight fest between the X-Men and the Ultimates and that's what this series is all about and who better to be the artist than superstar Chris Bach?

In this series, Chris showed what he is truly capable of and yet editors manage to contain his style so that it doesn't get overly convoluted with all sorts of details and clutter (mind you I am a big fan of the Bach!)

Anyhow, what's this about?

Magneto!

Apparently he opened up the series with a HUGE attack on the human population destroying public facilities and human lives and under TV glare! And what happens next? Well naturally the so-called human response is to go after him but pissed off because they all thought Mags is gone ... dead ... and surprised to find that Prof X used his powers to cloud all of their minds. Naturally they call in the Ult to handle both X and Mags!

And as for the X people? Well they are in a mess themselves because this is Mags and they are wondering how they can also salvage their PR with the humans

While the art is good and the promise is a lot, the pay off, the big battle fell waaaaay short! You read the first three issues and there are action ... just not the big fight that you expected and then the final issue? A let down. That is the biggest disappointment here. No real war or even a small skirmish! Sigh!

Ratings: 7/10

277. Ultimate Avengers vol 3 #1 ... Marvel ...

Okay - we know we skipped the second volume but heck it was with more gun-toting people and that artist. Yes, sometimes that artist produces awesome work but usually very rush work. That's why we do not want to mention names here but volume 3 has Steve Dillon on interiors and Steve about rocks it even though his work is clean lines and almost cartoonish style with nearly one angle view

Right

Volume 3 is all about the vampires. So we start off with Daywalker Blade whose sole mission in life is to track down and kill vampires and what an opening sequence we have. He is in a hotel room shagging while being attacked by vampires. Naturally he goes all ninja/ samurai blade on them chop-chopping everyone to pieces while learning that there is a new vampire boss in town

Similarly switch to the other guy on the cover. We find a new young blind teen taken under the wing of Stick to be the next DD as apparently the original died (say what?!?!?!?) ... however, instead of getting more into this new DD, well, he lost it before he even got a whole issue out. We kid you not. Like we said earlier, this is the  Ultimate - verse where nothing is sacred and people who die generally do not make a comeback

So where do the Avengers come in? Well they take a backseat in this issue except with them being assembled to investigate what the fuck is going on and to see Cap now working with Fury and team ... now for me that's stretching it especially after what happened in vol 1 eh?

Ratings: 7/10

276. Ultimate Avengers vol 1 #1 ... Marvel ...

For those people who came into the comics reading and collecting late, you will probably hate what's going on in the Ultimate-verse. It's no surprise as most of us have given up on it - poor artwork, crappy storylines. No wonder they are killing the line by merging it all into this year's big crossover. I mean all the other -verse that are merging are limited or gone timelines but Ultimate is alive so you know it has to suck something major, right?

Now what's special about this -verse? Well it was created basically to give new readers a chance to jump in by updating existing star characters for the new generation and that was like 15 years ago. Naturally over time it builds up its own garbage. The only problem was it is express garbage as the Ultimate-verse ... everything moves super fast

And the worst part of it is that it is told in series of limited series with sometimes no linkage so for those of us who buy this occassionally, we get lost wondering which comes before or after

Now what about this?

Well this has something going for it. THAT AWESOME COVER. Carlos Pacheco + Dany Miki = Awesome ness

Aside from that, this continues after Ultimates 2 ... where we start off with a huge bang ass sequence. Basically Ultimatum limited series has happened (see? not new reader friendly). The world was almost destroyed an many heroes are injured or died. So the remnants are left struggling to find their footing while others take advantage by being baddies

Nick Fury is out of his old job and trying to find a place while Hawkeye offers him to join a new Black Ops version of the Ultimates ... called the Avengers. Hah! Formerly only select operatives now it has been expanded. On the team includes Nerd Hulk (clone of Bruce Banner), new Wasp (with armor like suit), new Black Widow (Fury's bitchy ex), new Iron Man (apparently richer and smarter than Tony Stark is Tony's brother (WTF right?)), and Rhodes as a war and kill crazy bastard

Their first critical mission ... find and contain Captain A ... why? Because he has encountered the Red Skull ... and found out his identity ... who? Well wait for the next issue, yes?

Ratings: 9/10

272. West Coast Avengers vol 1 #7 ... Marvel ...

Well with the next upcoming movie for the Avenger 2 ... focus on Ultron as baddie ... then it's only right timing that we review this issue ... as it gives probably one of the most unique interpretation/ tale on Ultron ever in the history of Avengers comics

For those of you who have tried the first few issues of this particular run of the WCA, you will have noticed a subplot involving Ultron where something doesn't seem quite right. Well, here is where it gets full blown treatment and guess what? It finishes in one issue. Yup. Ultron = 1 full issue

Anyway, Hank Pym once more gets suckered into the nonsense that is Ultron except that this time, the Ultron he met has once more evolved and explained that he is like a child growing through his teenage rebellious period (fighting against the Avengers) but is now matured (like an old man) and wants to instead get to know his father (Hank his creator) better!

And so a ray of hope glimmers into the sad pathetic life of Hank Pym aka Ant Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket and what-ever else

However, as this is comics, all is not meant to be as Hank is then sucker punch/ attacked by Ultron. SPOILER ALERT. Because as fate would have it, there is yet another version of Ultron around (like the cover says it all) and this Ultron is back for more of the same. Hence it's Ultron v Ultron - one to love and one to kill and right smack in the middle is Hank and Wonderman (obligatory muscle)

A most interesting read ... and a touching ending ...

Ratings: 8/10

223. WCA vol 1 #4 ... Marvel ...

In every good comic book series, usually there will be some new villains that have staying power. This can be in the form of a recurring nemesis for that series or someone so big that it goes beyond that of the series itself. And when it is a team book like this, the West Coast Avengers, the change in roster is always something to look out for. So in the 4th issue of the regular ongoing series, we have both of these critical points happening and both are clearly reflected on the cover. So no SPOILER alerts here

First up is Master Pandemonium. While the tale is generally told in 1 issue, it doesn't wrap up well with the villain truly defeated. So it means more of the Panda-man is coming. As the cover shows, the Avengers have a new villain who is more magical based than scientific based which is never a good thing for them especially since they have no go-to guy for magics in this issue

And as the cover shows, this chap can rip a hole in his torso as a gateway for demonic like beings to come flooding out and attacking and destroying anything and everyone

So what's his motive and why is he here? Not everything is disclosed here and more will come in the years ahead (that's the beauty of these dated reviews eh?)

Finally we reach the second point. By this time, the regular Avengers team book is renown for guest stars and even new members on short stay. Well through the first mini series and until this issue, the WCA has been stable with Wonder Man, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Tigra - generally low on the power scale of the other team of A

So when we see the Thing on the cover, it made all the fans wonder if after his sojourn in outer space, Ben is finally back on Earth but deciding to go with the Avengers instead of his regular FF mates. If so, no surprises there as well because he has a solo book at that time where this tale is told of his disinterest or unhappiness with the FF. This is so that his regular solo book has some legs and joining the WCA? Promises to be a lot of fun even though his ability is merely strength something that Wondie and IM already have

So does he join the team in the end?

Well, Hawkeye does try hard to persuade him!

Ratings: 7/10

221. Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #190 & 191 ... Marvel ...

Back in Chris Claremont, writer extraordinaire's hey day, this is the type of work he can produce on a regular basis. As if the past few years' run of non stop good tales was not sufficient to earn him a slip up, as if the past few issues of over-the-top action was not enough, here he comes with another 2-parter that just kicks so much  @$$

The opening issue wastes no time as we see a world immediately transformed and left us wondering in the first few pages WTF happened from the last issue to this! As it is, a green curtain has thrown up around Manhattan and anyone and anything within, is transformed to something from the age of Conan the Barbarian

And with that transformation, everyone sort of loses their sense of self including remembering that they had been transformed. Who is responsible? Kulan Gath - and this is the guy whose plot has been building up in the form of a necklace found by a dock worker (see how sub plots take months to develop and BANG unleashed as something big?)

So while the outside world is trying to understand what is going on, inside the curtain, all is not well. Like any new power, there are those who support (Callisto) and those who object (Avengers). Amongst all these is Spider Man who for some reason is totally unaffected by the master spell. So naturally Gath has it in for the Spider by sending his people to hunt Spiderman down

Everyone and we mean everyone is featured besides Spidey, we have the aforementioned Avengers (Wasp is some disgusting insect!) and the New Mutants (bad guys too) and the X-Men (naturally). The great thing about Marvel tales of that era is that they somehow managed to squeeze so much into 2 issues with no crossover to other issues!

Ummm do we need to say that huge fight ensues?

Oh yes and we learn a bit more about Selene whom we were given a heap ful from last issue

Ratings: 9/10

208. Iron Man vol 1 #215 ... Marvel ... Bob Layton ...

WOW!

That's all we can say ... and we are referring to the cover for this issue's Iron Man. In fact, generally, Iron Man has had a long series of excellent covers from even the days of JR Jr like 80 issues ago! And this is in the age when there is supposedly a Marvel house style ... and before computer colouring ... take a look at it ...

As for the interior, it is the same team and while a lot of the scenes are workmanlike, the storytelling is always smooth and when there is a need to SHOUT, the artists deliver

So how about the story you ask?

As the cover blurb states, this is a new direction and what this means is that after 14 issues post-Obadiah Stane, Tony Stark is finally ready to launch his new company from the funds he recovered inc building an over-the-top cliffside residence for himself

At the same time, the people around him are moving back into his circle of friendship ... and we get to see a bit of him trying to adjust back to normal life running all his businesses inc thinking to do an acquisition deal (yup we are back to corporate world) ...

However, as this is still a comic ... like the cover shows ... there is an over-the-top development here and Iron Man is trying to build a space station that ... supposedly help people ... as we have not been following regularly we have no idea how but that's not the issue ...

For the villain of the piece, we have AIM and this time they comes with a bio weapon and kami kaze attitude ... which in short means? Iron Man and Rhodey (suited up) got their asses KICKED MAJORLY ... and the ending ... wow what an ending ... literally knowing that you will need to read the next issue

Ratings: 7/10

204. New Avengers vol 1 #3 ... Marvel ... David Finch ...

Yes for those who didn't know when they relaunched Avengers slightly more than a decade ago, they decided to add in the word new ... naturally thanks to today's market, there have since been some more relaunches even from this series ... so it's like (New) New Avengers and what-not ...

Well in issue 3, we finally see the big long drawn out fight to be more or less over ... with the heroes taking a moment's rest ... basically there's a breakout from the Raft prison ... and the Avengers after being disbanded ... well, they don't exist but the individual heroes come back to help arrest the criminals ... some got away and some don't ...

And naturally with Captain America and Iron Man around ... they got to thinking if they were wrong to break up the team and that there is a need for the Avengers after all ... and this also explains why this particular iteration of the Avengers will be different consisting of folks like Wolverine, Luke Cage and Spiderman

Forget the cover with the Sentry ... at this point the guy is merely background noise ...

So aside from some good dialogue that we get to read what else happens? We see some side plots being developed a wee bit more ... and then building up to the next arc ... not really a new arc but more of the same ... as the heroes discovered that they better go after some of the more violent criminals ... we will not spoil it for you except to say ... look at that cover and can you imagine ... the entire book is done in terms of artwork of that detail?

David Finch is awesome!

Ratings: 8/10

200. Mighty Avengers vol 1 (2) #3 to 5 ... Marvel ...

So for the 200th review we decided to do 3 issues of Frank Cho's awesome but unfortunately short run on this the Mighty Avengers

Let's talk briefly about Cho - he is famous for his work on good girl/ bad girl but for me sometimes he overdid it especially on the thighs making the lasses look "chunky". Here the most obvious on his artistic flaws include #3's Tigra (how is that angle even sexy?)

Anyway, this continues from the cliffhanger of issue 2 where thanks to Ultron for some weird reason Iron Man is now a ... woman. Don't get us started. We don't even want to tell you the answer here as otherwise that would constitute a major spoiler

So what can we share? Two things:

1. Ares - finally shows us his true abilities as the God of War. Formerly he is more like a thug that serves no purpose because his strength is easily eclipsed by most of the other Avengers and his nasty uncooperative attitude is less than useless but here, he actually came up with a plan that attempts to take down Ultron. Yes, Ares has a plan

2. Ant Man - whoooo wheee - we see how good the new Ant Man can be when he puts his mind to it as he then takes his power and one other to penetrate Ultron's defences

So lots of action, enough intrigue, enough mysteries to keep you wondering ... and well ... I guess enough decent artwork?

Ratings: 7/10

177. Avengers vol 1 #249 ... Marvel ...

Okay ... let's skip about 100 issues down the time line or this translates into about 8 years worth of comics ... and let's see where our Avengers are ...

Well, as the cover tells us ... this is a crossover event book. Now bear in mind that waaaaay back then, crossover events were a rarity and this issue ... the Avengers didn't take the lead but rather one of their members i.e the storyline originated from THOR's own book and spilled over here

You see, in the world of THOR for more than a year now, Walter Simonson (writer again) has been busy building up a storm of a storyline introducing new characters that are from waaaay left field and throwing Thor into all sorts of nastiness while showing us the brewing storm coming ... and in this case even the brewing storm has many sub plots and he HIT us hard with the ominous ... blunt ... deliberate ... and it works!

So finally, the fire demon Surtur has managed to break out of his prison ... and using the dark elves (Malekith being their leader) together with his own fire demons ... they have broken the casket of ancient winters ... and unleashing eternal winter on earth!

So while the Earth is consumed by freezing cold thus causing havoc ... and a lone human scrambles to fix this situation ... Thor and the entire Asgardian legion is trying hard to stem back the tide of the demons as they come pouring through various portals in different realms/ dimensions ...

Get it?

Well ... if you don't basically all you need to know is demons from Thor's background is invading Earth and Asgard hopping to rule all .. and Thor coming to earth to help fight the tide of nastiness ... and as Avengers are Earth's mightiest heroes ... naturally they came to the defence

What is really good is we get to see regular human soldiers taking a stand too and not leaving it to the super heroes only. So basically the conclusion is ... in THOR ... and next issue in Avengers is a new storyline ... feel free to skip this issue if you want but if you like Thor, then this is good to get!

Ratings: 8/10

176. Avengers vol 1 #158 ... Marvel ...

Remember the last panel from the last issue?

Now as you recall from our last review, we were rambling on about writers ... and not artists ... which is a rarity for this review column, eh? Well, here again, they proved how good the writers were because that final closing panel is opening right into this issue and it actually leads into the massive blow-out as per the cover!

And just who is this wonderful writer? None other than Jim Shooter ... who in time will become EIC of Marvel and who will go on to develop Valiant and Defiant

Actually in this very issue there is a new villain who in time to come will be one of the Avengers deadliest villains but as you see, here in this issue, he doesn't even rate a cover appearance so good is the storyline ...

The focus is on the Vision and his continuing doubts about his humanity after meeting Simon Williams, the man whose brain patterns served as the foundation of the Vision's programming (yes it's all very confusing so you should read the comic hahaha) ...

Anyway as the cover shows, as Simon offers Wanda (the Vision's wife) a comforting arm ... the Vision's brewing emotions went into overload and the 2 men (or men and android or synthozoid) ... decided to have it out ... while the rest of the team came running in breathless after their knocked about from last issue ... and decided to let the 2 combatants spar

All the while, in the back ground, a new villainous plot is materializing while the hint from last issue takes a back seat here ... who is the villain in this issue? GRAVITON

Yup master of gravity ... we got his "how I came into my powers" storyline told in a few effective passages ... we got a demonstration of his powers and how he is becoming kookoo ... and we even got to see how he decided to become a supervillain ... you have the Avengers to blame actually ... what do we mean?

Go read the comic - hah!

Suffice to say, when the heroes finally got their act together to confront the baddie, the same thing, except worse, happened just like the last issue! And we ended this issue on a definite cliffhanger. So if anyone who read this and like it will definitely be back next issue!

Ratings: 8/10

175. Avengers vol 1 #157 ... Marvel ...

And now it's time we head back to one of the all time classic comic titles - the Avengers - the original run - the one that inspired all of us and the movie - and check out that cover! The artwork may seem stiff by today's standards but the cover composition is classic comicbook goodness. Everyone fallen at the feet of something in grey and the words? Why they merely reinforce the cover!

As the cover shows, the main cast for this issue is Captain America, Iron Man (chairman of this batch),Vision (back when he was still alive and married to the Scarlet Witch), Scarlet Witch (back before she became cray), and Yellowjacket

Those not in the cover include the Beast (Hank from X-Men) and Wasp (wife of Yellowjacket)

Basically, after the huge run of the previous arc, this is meant to be a breather of sorts but in the classic old days of comics, even this issue, as we see the Avengers relax and unwind in their own ways with some going out while others tinkering in the lab and even others in the kitchen ... the writer manages to dig back to the early days of this series and pulls back an old storyline and made it the main thrust of this storyline

It has something to do with that grey stone title blurb ... and we will give you a hint ... Defenders

Aside from that, as we read through the entire comic, we are given just the tiniest hint of something else brewing ... something that is actually the cause of this issue's villain even though we didn't get more than a few panels and ... even that they kept the "brewing" feeling down to a minimum

So it's all around great storytelling whereas in most other comics ... the guy behind the picture tends to be a tad bit ominous thus drawing our attention in while here ... the guy behind the picture is almost like a prop

Good reading this!

Ratings: 7/10

169. Mighty Avengers vol 1/2 #2 ... Marvel ... Frank Cho ...

As the next Avengers movie is coming and its trailers are everywhere, we thought it timely to review this issue

During the initial run of Mighty Avengers featuring babe-artist, Frank Cho ... naturally we have to have as many pics of curvalicious women as possible including ... a female version of Ultron! Yes, that's him/it as her/ it on the cover ... hehehe

And this issue is awesome!

Following from the Avengers first outing, here the problem builds up and leave the Avengers stumped. With so many challenges coming, it is beginning to look like the disassembled arc from years ago that launched the Avengers comic into the sales stratosphere charts ...

And to the horror of the Avengers, in this issue, they found out who!

It is really cool to see an Iron Man whose armor may have been compromised ... and suddenly gasping and gagging ... and BANG ... it's Ultron but as a chick! Hahahahahaha!

Naturally there are loads of action but as this is Bendis on writing chores, you just now this is not going to be a told in one or told in two kind of stories but rather a loooooooooong series. Still with gorgeous art, tons of action and scene after scene of supes in full uniform, this is an awesome read

So go and BUY it already!

Ratings: 8/10

166. Iron Man vol 2 #3 ... Marvel ... Whilce Portacio ...

Remember our rant from the last post? Well here we are proven right. Look at that cover. If you really scrutinize the details, yes the armor is done well. But as a whole, it fails to pop. Now whether that is due to production works or the colourist or whatever, I have no idea but as an end user or a buyer or a fan, that cover just fails to grab attention and looks "old"

However ... and thank goodness there is a however ... anyone who has read and enjoyed issues 1 and/ or 2 ... will pick this up on the strength of how good the earlier work was and WOULD NOT BE disappointed. There! We said it in caps!

We have the end of the fight between Hulk and Iron Man as we see them tear through each other and their surroundings. We see Tony realizing the Hulk is not Hydra or Hydra-related and that there is more going on beneath his former radar of attention span and we see .. Hulk and Tony zipping through the air, dive bombing into the sea ... and lots more

What do you want to know? What more?

Enough, right!

Suffice to say, that this issue ends the first arc and leaves us in a good position for the rest of the series. It ended well not with 100% closure but with sufficient points of satisfaction. So it is now time to move forward ... and we will definitely be back with issue 4

Ratings: 7/10 (1 point deducted because of the cover sorry!)

165. Iron Man vol 2 #2 ... Marvel ... Whilce Portacio ...

As always, we start off with a little rant about the artist and the artist for this is Whilce Portacio, one of my all-time faves. I admit he has a very strong signature style and after a while most of his characters seemed to look alike including the hairstyles but hey ... it's a style (not the hairstyle) that I enjoyed ... similar to Art Adams if you know what I mean

The only I usually have to Whilce is his cover-work. Most artists really give a good showing for cover better than interiors but somehow Whilce is lacking. Once in a while, his covers are good and this issue? AWESOME

For those who have read the first issue, you will be aware of what is going to happen here. Even though the title is Iron Man, in the relaunch universe of the 90s, this particular first arc of Iron Man has double duties as it explores Tony Stark's transformation into Iron Man and Bruce Banner's transformation into the Hulk ...

Hence if this is titled Astonishing Tales: Iron Man/ Hulk it wouldn't be amiss

As the cover clearly indicates, after the end of 1, an enraged and confused Hulk arises from his creation looking to settle some scores and release his first pent-up rage at the perpetrators (Hydra). Unfortunately Hydra is not the main chap around because Tony, who is injured and now drapes the IM suit ... ran into him and thought ... he is perhaps ... one of the causes of the destruction around them

At any rate, with the Hulk's rage, he does what he does best - cause destruction

And so it's time for a titanic showdown and what a glorious fight it is! One issue is not enough to contain all the slambang goodness and we find ourselves at the last page eagerly awaiting issue 3. This is HOW a comic should be - escapist entertainment, over-the-top action, good artwork, great colouring ... all wrapped in an entertaining storyline

Ratings: 9/10 - to get 10, I would have loved a nice foil enhanced cover hahaha!