When I was younger I loved The Invaders comic. World War 2 comics are always pretty cool and this was new adventures in that time period. Well, Marvel has brought the title into modern times and started it off with a bang. A Kree warrior, Tanalth, The Pursuer is after Jim Hammond a.k.a. The Human Torch. The first, android version of the character. He's got himself a place in a small, Midwestern town and then Tanalth comes down with murder on her mind.
This is a good first issue. Steve Pugh's art makes it look so bright and sunny and, well Midwestern. It works and the bizarre battle in the midst of it looks as foreign as it's supposed to. we get a brief appearance from Captain American, Bucky Barnes and Sub Mariner before the issue is over so I am excited to see where we go from here.
AVENGERS WORLD #1
The premise is that The Avengers should handle things more on a worldwide front. Natural disasters, monomaniacal madmen...A.I.M., you know...stuff. The first issue deals with things going on in multiple locations with multiple teams to deal with the situations.
I have to say I like this comic. Captain America is in charge and assigning teams to different places with their strengths. There are an awful lot of X-Men along for the ride, but I was used to that with Uncanny Avengers, which is a title I dropped in favor of this one. I was not aware that Marvel's defunct New Universe has bled over to this reality with Nightmask and Starbrand, but why not? As I understand it, there will be issues focusing on individuals within the teams so this could be pretty cool. A well done first issue that didn;t feel cramped with so many Avengers on board.
AVENGERS WORLD #2
This issue continues on A.I.M. Island. Smasher, who I know nothing about is doing her best to break out of her prison cell. But, A.I.M. has other ideas. They want her to deliver their message to the world with the help of The Entropic Man. The Entropic Man? Really? They are breaking out old characters left and right for this series and I like that. People you haven't seen in decades? That is kind of cool.
Here is the thing that bothers me with this issue. Smasher is a woman, no, that's not it. She is covered practically head to toe with just the bottom half of her face revealed. The costume is form fitting so she might as well be naked and Stefano Caselli, the artist of the book, seems fascinated with her pubic bone. That thing is pronounced in every full length shot she is in. Even when it is from her backside. Five different times in the book seems like a little much to me.
Other than that I think I made the right choice with this book and am glad to have selected it over The Uncanny Avengers.
GEORGE A. ROMERO EMPIRE OF THE DEAD #1
Yessss! Since Hollywood is stupid and doesn't give the Godfather of The Walking Dead any money to make good movies, then this is the next best thing. The art by Alex Maleev makes you feel like you're in a Romero movie so, kudos.
But, how is the story? It's Romero, it's zombies, it gives us a nod to Dawn of the Dead in a single sentence and then Romero does that thing that he does so well. He ties it to Night of the Living Dead and your jaw drops. Seriously, you are not ready for this bombshell and it works so well.
The weak link? Vampires. I don't think I care about the vampires so much. We'll see.
AVENGERS A.I.# 6
In this issue the team is at a crossroads. Victor is thought dead, but just deep in the A.I. universe known as The Diamond. Hank Pym is calling himself bipolar and Dimitrios, the engineer of all of this thinks he has the upper hand when he draws The Vision once more into his reality, but The Vision has something up his sleeve and Dimitrios had better be good at video games.
Lots of video games.
Avengers A.I. deals with discrimination to the nth degree. It's not color of skin or beliefs, but human against non human. It isn't us so it's alright to hate. Right? Let me illustrate the wrong there with a scene from the beginning of this issue. Monica Hill, director of S.H.I.E.L.D AND Monica Chang are on a bench watching an old man feeding birds. It seems that he is an old class of Life Model Decoy. He escaped from A.I.M. many years ago and lives a quiet life feeding the birds. Hill has him executed as a hostile A.I.
This made me sick.
We made them. They are our responsibility and now we cut them down on the off chance that someone may control them in the future.
Like I said before...made me sick.
Avengers A.I. is probably the smartest book on the shelves today. It makes you think and we get The Vision. I call that a win-win situation.
AVENGERS A.I. #7
This is a INHUMANITY tie in. I read none of that, but apparently, Black Bolt took out the flying city of Attilian and it landed in New York City. The terrigen mists are released and if you have even the slightest hint of inhuman in you you are going to change.
Ant Man and Doombot are on recon mission to retrieve the technology from the fallen city before it gets into the wrong hands. They cross the path of Daredevil who, at first, thinks that it is Doctor Doom, who he has no love for, but Ant Man explains the situation. Daredevil is looking for a woman named Doris.
The terrigen mists found her first and turned her into a monster of cthulu like appearance. They manage to subdue her in a scene with Doombot that may have made him my favorite character in this book.
This was a tie in issue so, not a lot of advancing storyline, but it gave Doombot a moment to shine so, that's a good thing.
AVENGERS A.I. #8
GasCheck is the most popular app to have on your smart phone. It helps you locate the cheapest gas available in your area. Oh, and it was created by Dimitrios who uses it to turn humans into mindless, savage killers. Now the A.I. Team along with Rogue and Captain America go into The Diamond to face Dimitrios once and for all to save mankind from the worst possible A.I. scenario imaginable. Victor and Alexis are already in The Diamond so they are covered for everything.
Right?
This issue brings up the government legislating Doctrine 47. It makes hunting down and deleting any a.i. completely legal. So, even if the A.I. team survives The Diamond, what will there be to come back to?
This is the issue that is the ember for the fire. With the introduction of a law that makes it alright to kill anyone different from us, write Sam Humphries is saying a lot about the way that people treat one another. This is the issue to hop on if you have been waffling about the series. This is where it is all going to get fierce and I can't wait to see what happens next.
KINGS WATCH # 3
A madman with the name Cobra is looking for a quantum crystal to open the King's Watch, a gateway to some place...unspeakable. The only hope for humanity is The Phantom, Flash Gordon and Mandrake The Magician.
King's Watch is high pulp adventure that reminds me of the old cartoon Defenders Of The Earth with a gritty edge to it. My only complaint is that they have The Phantom as some unshaved muscle. I always saw him as more elegant than that. Is there a reason for the stubble? Flash and Mandrake seem to remain clean shaven. I realize it's a small beef, but it just sticks there and irritates me.
Other than that, the book is awesome and next issue...Ming The Merciless!
Yes!
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