Or - “The Big Bombshell Revealed…”

Recent conversations with Tom Grice (who is still WRONG, Sir, WRONG!) have made me think that perhaps I’ve been unfair to Marvel lately. The entire Initiative program rubs me the wrong way, and the interlocking nature of the entire dang Marvel Universe right now does color my perceptions of titles like Omega Flight and New Warriors (though I stand by my blatant excoriation of Illuminati #3 and Loners #3.) Thus, I am going to try and give you a more balanced literary criticism of this issue, purportedly the hook upon which Marvel’s new giant super-crossover hangs. I’ll say this for the issue: I didn’t see any of the reveal coming…

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Or - “That Sign Over There? That’s My Breaking Point, And It’s Comin’ Up Fast…”

Generally speaking, I don’t drop comic titles very often. What with the general upswing in my disposable income, and a couple of bad experiences desperately searching to fill runs of books that I previously decided were a lost cause, most of my titles end up being cancelled out from under me before I drop them. But my recent problems with the underlying premise(s) of the three Avengers titles are leading me towards a crossroads and, to be frank, this title is near the top of the expendable list. It earns this dubious honor with egregious Mary Sue-ing, mean-spiritedness and just generally being unpleasant. I tend to have a six-issue window wherein I make decisions about potentially removing a book from my hold list. Welcome then, to “Initiative Cancellation Watch ‘07.” Let’s see if Dan Slott can push me in a positive direction…

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Or - “Well, At Least The Damn Talking Has Ended…”

It’s been three issues, and FINALLY, we get to see the Mighty Avengers do something other than snipe, get recruited, or talk about how they can’t fight the horrible, horrible menace. There’s still some questions in the air, the damn thought balloons are still here, there’s a couple of inexcusable cheesecake shots (like 2/3 of the cover), but at least there’s no Iron Dictator in evidence, forcing the other heroes to step up and actually act heroic. How did they do, you ask?

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Or - “As I Walk Along, I Wonder What Went Wrong…”

New Avengers is an interesting case for me and my comic book reading habits. I like the interplay of the characters (even the criminally-overexposed Wolverine) and I like the sense of family created in early issues. Since the beginning of The Initiative, that family sensibility has been tightened and emphasized until it feels more like a gang, waging an underground war against another (much larger) band, reminding me in a way of “The Warriors.” The problem is, that scenario doesn’t leave much space for that long-lost Marvel concept, the “superhero.”

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Or - “I’d Hate To Be An Attorney In The Marvel Universe…”

Can you imagine trying to practice law in an environment where it’s ILLEGAL to be a superhero, but perfectly legal for the government to draft fourteen-year-old girls into combat? Can you define the boundaries of jurisprudence when the “top cop” in your country has nanobot spy-eyes anywhere that the wind can blow, but can’t keep track of his own villains? How about a world where it’s considered acceptable to take away She-Hulk’s powers, leaving her powerless with NO secret identity and a rogues gallery that crushes Buicks on their foreheads, but NOT acceptable for Black Bolt to request that you not INVADE HIS SOVEREIGN BORDERS because you’re afraid to let The Sentry think for himself? Colonel Taylor had it right: “It’s a mad house. A mad house!” Best start watching for statues as you walk down the beach folks, because the Marvel Universe is officially now a horrific future dystopia, and those always seem to end with O. Henry twists…

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Or - “Making The World Safe By Standing Around And Talking For Roughly A Decade…”

If you’re a regular Spoilerator, (And if so, thanks! If not, welcome aboard! There’s dip by the radiator, and remember our only rule: ‘Tom Grice is WRONG, Sir! WRONG!’) you won’t be surprised to hear that the new, awesome, world-changing status quo of the Avengers titles hasn’t really done anything to blow my dress up thus far. I mean, yes to the setup of the two conflicting team, yes to the use of less-spotlighted characters and old favorites (the return of the Wasp and the induction of Iron Fist and Ares all get thumbs up) but the split of the Avengers is much like the time the transporter split Jim Kirk: neither of the entities left behind is complete.

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Or - “Have You Ever Felt Like You’re Missing The Point?”

I’ve been working hard to keep up with the flow of comics, and thought I had made some headway until this Wednesday. Struck about the head and shoulders with nearly a dozen books that I wanted to recap (including Mighty Avengers #2, Justice League of America #8, the Nightwing Annual and more), I realized that I was needlessly restricting myself to one book a day. With my pull list being the behemoth that it is, maybe a little extra effort is what we need to get things manageable. In an ideal world, I’d be able to review comics the week they come out, instead of two or three weeks later. In that world, however, I’d have a pony, a candy-apple-red Chrysler Imperial, and a harem of bellydancing women who adore me, led by Scarlett Johannsen who has recently become allergic to all types of fabric. Be that as it may, we’re going to give you TWO reviews today, and depending on what happens in April we may keep double-booking for a while. In the wake of Civil War, the landscape of the Marvel Universe is ineffably different, and the heroes in it changed forever. So how come it feels like “business as usual?”

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Or - “I Saw Full Metal Jacket, Too, Fellas…”

There’s an old saying in the comic book industry, attributed to the late, great Wally Wood: “Never draw anything you can copy, never copy anything you can trace, never trace anything you can cut out and paste up.” Recent developments at Marvel indicate that this advice is no longer followed with regard to the ART, but it seems impossible to keep echoes of older stories out of an art form like comics. The ‘homage’ is a time-honored tradition, ranging from an intentional echo of times past to a full-on aping of an writer’s style & dialogue, to flat out copying a previous story with a new character in the lead. A recent example came when I was unable to get into the much-acclaimed “Spider-Man: Reign” because the first issue kept hitting me over the head with it’s resemblance to “The Dark Knight Returns.” The first issue of the Initiative has much to offer in the way of fun, but I kept getting the nagging realization that I’ve seen this all before…

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Or - “Behind The Curve Is Where I’ll Be…”

Okay, so I admit it. I’ve been dragging my feet on recapping this title. I was of the opinion that I wasn’t going to cover it at all, until I managed to stay on my daily schedule long enough to actually exhaust what was in the review bag (though not buying last week’s comics due to budgeting catastrophe may have been in large part responsible, as well.) The honest truth is: I’m a big Frank Cho fan. I’m a conditional Brian Bendis fan (though I enjoy him better on his self-created characters than on Marvel’s core titles). And I’m an Avengers fan, Old-School, through and through. I remember The Vision taking over the world, I remember “Emperor Doom”, I remember the debut of Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel II. So, what would make me into such a weenie about simply reviewing a new comic book if I go in knowing I like the characters, the artist and the writer?

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