Avengers Assemble #15: Tying into Age of Ultron, we get to see what was happening across the pond in London during the Ultron invasion. Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel was in London during the invasion and becomes trapped there, so she joins forces with Britain’s greatest heroes like Captain Britian and Excalibur to attempt to drive Ultron out. They recruit one of the most unlikely superheroes, Computer Graham, whose powers are that he seems to be able to mentally create and manipulate computer code and he manages to hack into the Ultron drone heading up the London invasion and allow Carol to destroy it, seemingly at the cost of all the heroes lives. I rarely get a chance to read about the British Marvel characters, so this was a fun read.
Avengers #11: If you’ve been keeping up with these Pull List articles, I’ve been saying that Avengers is slowly becoming an incomprehensible mess of cosmic BS but thankfully, this issue gave us a break from that and instead sent Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Shang Chi, Cannonball and Sunspot and Spider-Woman undercover into a casino to try and stop an AIM arms deal. This issue is just fun and a breath of fresh air into this kind of pompous series. There’s great martial arts action with Shang Chi, Cannonball and Sunspot get drunk with some AIM agents and Black Widow takes out a bunch of terrorist scumbags. Hopefully this is step in a more fun direction for the series and not just a detour before we head back for more cosmic gobbledy gook.
Deadpool #9: Deadpool takes down another person on the demon Vetis’ hit list, a MAN who can communicate with sharks and other AQUAtic creatures. We also get a look into the main area of Deadpool’s brain, which is suprisingly a rather ornate and classy museum where all the exhibits are sculpture and paintings of Deadpool.
Avengers Arena #9: Just like Avengers proper, this issue also picked up after a few issues of sameness, as a new, more immediate villain revealed herself. Apex is a student in Britain’s Braddock Academy who can manipulate technology and it’s revealed that she has been manipulating Death Locket and any of the other kids who rely on tech. In even crazier reveals, it’s revealed that Apex’s brother Tim was locked inside of her, as the two share the same body and used to alternate days of being in control until Katie (Apex) locked him up in her mind. Tim seems to have control over Katie but Katie returns and gains full control of Death Locket, who has half her body modified into a robotic super weapon.
Thor: God of Thunder #8: With the Godbomb almost ready to be activated, the past, present and future Thors finally join forces for the final battle against Gorr the God Killer. If the idea of an all Thor team up doesn’t sound awesome to you, I don’t know what to tell you and you should probably not visit this site anymore because it’s a fantastic concept and I can’t wait for the next issue when the battle begins.
Batman #20: The two part Clayface story wraps up this week as first Bruce as Bruce has to figure out a way to escape a Waynetech trash compactor and then as Batman, battles Clayface and manages to trap him in a special containment cell. I like what they’ve done to evolve Clayface, with the fact that he can now manipulate anyone down to the genetic level but he’s lost what little was left of his actual identity. The backup story wraps up as well as Batman teams up with Superman to stop a magical demon.
Grimm #1: A new series from Dynamite based on the NBC show, the comic is from the main guys behind the show and looks to expand the mythology. In case you don’t know the show, it follows Portland detective Nick Burkhardt, who finds out he is a Grimm and able to see the true forms of creatures called Wessen, many of whom are the inspiration for various folk and fairy tales. He’s gathered a small band of friends to help him fight the evil Wessen and the mysterious and dangerous Royal Families, who operate out of Europe. This first issue of the comic find Nick heading to Vienna with his partner Hank and his Blutbad (wolflike) wessen friend, Monroe to track down a trio of coins that can grant the holder of them unlimited charismatic power. Nick’s mother was actually trying to hide them but is captured. I’m not sure exactly how and when this fits into the continuity of the show but it seems a little ridiculous that the trio would just up and head to Vienna and things get even stranger when a sexy female Grimm shows up to bust them out of a jam, a character who seems made up just for the comic.
Star Wars #5: The highlight of this issue is an excellent space battle where Princess Leia shows off her combat prowess by almost single handedly taking down an Intridictor class Star Destroyer, which was preventing her and her fellow squad mates from warping out to hyperspace. A TIE bomber with hyperspace capabilities tracks the trio of ships down though and horrifically damages Leia’s X-wing and seriously wounds her. Meanwhile, Han and Chewie make a deal with a Coruscant sanitation worker to get them smuggled out of the city, but have to stay one step ahead of Boba Fett and Bossk.
Wolverine #3: Lots of action this issue as Wolverine and Nick Fury Jr. head to a pharmaceutical plant that seems to be tied to the mysterious alien mind control gun they have been tracking. It turns out the influence of the gun may be more widespread than they though as a group of seemingly normal people are at the plant to help with a heist of a mysterious piece of tech. It’s still not 100% clear who or what is behind the gun but the issue ends with a bunch of scientists lining up to dump their blood into a giant tank.
The Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror #4: The latest Rocketeer mini series wraps up the way you would expect it to. Cliff gets his rocket pack and manages to rescue Betty and the villain gets his comeuppance at the hands of a giant, robotic Cthulhu.
Constantine #3: John Constantine manages to at least delay the combined evil magic of Sargon the Sorceress and Mister E by destroying the last piece of the Croydon compass, which unfortunately were the eyes of Philip Croydon, the son of the compass’s creator. Lots of cool magic action this issue and apparently Constantine has some sort of curse where if he stays in London, the city itself tries to kill him in accidental ways, a la Final Destination.
Secret Avengers #4: While the main Avengers book has been kind of up it’s own ass with it’s cosmic storyline, the Secret Avengers book has been nothing but kick ass espionage action. AIM managed to steal the Iron Patriot that Norman Osborn wore and used it, and the talents of the villain Mentallo, to upgrade and unleash a swarm of sentient Iron Patriots across the Middle East. They are attacking targets the US was considering but eventually, SHIELD has to stop them before the wrong target is hit and there’s retaliation. Maria Hill calls in Bruce Banner and sends him to stop the Patriots before they hit Tehran, but then set him up as the fall guy saying the Hulk was attacking and SHIELD and the Patriots managed to stop him. Meanwhile, Nick Fury Jr, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Mockingbird infiltrate the newly sovereign AIM Island on a mission to both shut down the Patriots and kill AIM’s Scientist Supreme.
Suicide Squad #20: As it seems to be the norm for the Suicide Squad, after barely surviving their last mission, the team is brought back to Bele Reve Prison and subjected to a series of mind games from Amanda Waller. Harley Quinn is visited by a Joker impersonator, who is quickly killed by The Unknown Soldier, Voltaic is given an experimental new revival serum and King Shark is subjected to psychological trauma by a beautiful robotic woman. All of this seems to be an interview/audition of sorts for Waller’s newest consultant, Jim Gordon Jr, who turned out to be a vicious serial killer.
