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Avengers Volume Five Issue 24

Posted by John Klein III on October 3, 2016
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Avengers Vol 5 Issue 24 Allred Variant

Writer Jonathan Hickman

Artists Esad Ribic, Salvador Larroca, Mike Deodato and Butch Guice

Color Artists Dean White, Frank Martin, Paul Mounts and Laura Martin

Letter VC’s Cory Petit

Cover by Mike Allred and Laura Allred

Cover Dated February 2014

I only own this issue for the variant cover.  For whatever reason, Marvel released multiple variants for this issue, which back in the day, they would have waited for the big issue 25 but 24 isn’t bad in today’s market.  I still want to own the Anka variant.

I really miss the character square from the good ol’ days.

The theme with several of the variants was Avengers on famous X-Men covers and X-Men in famous Avengers covers.  Unfortunately, there was no homage cover to Uncanny X-Men 141.  Others are like the one above, where the artist just had fun doing a cover.  Its by Allred, so of course Doop is there.

Onto the issue, which good thing there was a recap page!

So in previous issues, there are events called, Incursions, which I only know from the Facebook : Avengers Alliance game.  A game I really enjoyed and was addicted to until they went crazy with the PvP Lockboxes.  I always said I will quit playing once I wasn’t able to get one of the limited characters and that is what happened with Elektra.  Now, they have gone crazy with the feature.

Incursions is when two different Earths come together and one of them is going to be destroyed by the other.  From what I can gather, our Earth in the Proper Marvel Universe, is always being one of these planets and the Illuminati has to destroy the other Earth.

I guess at one point, Captain America was a temporary member of the Illuminati and he didn’t like the idea of destroying complete Earths so they, via Doctor Strange, mindwipe him.  Just like Zantanna did to Batman in Identity Crisis.

Also, on the recap page, is a conversation Captain America had with Iron Man about how Cap realizes that their enemies are getting to be more dangerous, attack more often and there is just plain too many of them.  Iron Man’s solution?  To make the Avengers a bigger force to be dealt with.

So the Avengers are –

Captain America, Hulk, Falcon, Thor, Manifold, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Iron Man (in the big circle)
Spider-Woman, Hyperion, Smasher, Nightmask, Captain Universe, Cannonball, Sunspot, Starbrand, Shangi Chi (on the bottom)

18 Heroes!  That is quite an army!

Avengers V5 24 Cast

I don’t recognize : Manifold, Nightmask, this current Captain Universe and Starbrand sounds familiar.

Issue opens in the future, 3030, and Tony’s whatever number-great grandchild, Rhodey Stark (will they really be still naming their children after Tony’s friends at that long of a line?) and Franklin Richards are talking about time travel.  Franklin is cool with Rhody going back in time.  The captions imply that the Richards Foundation owns the Stark company – which I like.

In the present, Thor is barbequing and makes a joke about not recognizing what hot dogs are, or what meat they are.  I sort of like a Thor who can crack a joke – he’s been on Earth and with this time, for a decade – at least, so he can feel comfortable and it shows that they are rubbing off on him.

He admits that he tried to barbeque a lobster but the creature defeated him.  Good stuff!

Hulk brings out plates of pies : mead, beer and fimbulvinter.

I like the conversation with Spider-Woman, Black Widow and Captain Marvel.

Captain America and Iron Man talk about membership.  Cap has let go of Wolverine, as he is too busy.  Spider-Man has also been let go because he has been acting erratic.  Due to him being Doctor Octopus.

They explain the cast sheet above.  The circle is the main team, the others are reserved.

Then Iron Man 3030 shows up.  Tony states it is December 2013, so there is still time to change the Future.

Future Iron Man gives the Avengers an additional monh to prepare for the Rogue Planet, the name of the issue, that is heading to Earth.  A rogue planet is a planet that leaves its orbit and now is a giant marble heading towards anything that will stop it.

The Avengers set up a base on Mars and create a device that simply merges the rogue planet to Earth, creating a new source of energy.

Iron Man 3030 takes off her helmet and calls Tony, grandfather.  Which, I am not sure if only one child of Tony’s grown up and had a child gets us from 2013 to 3030.

She reveals that in the original timeline, the Avengers destroyed the rogue planet and saved the Earth.

Because they saved the day, the way they did, now the Illuminati (who are also now the New Avengers) can use this new energy source for those pesky Incursions.  That is the type of tight writing one can do when you write two titles.

Decent issue, glad it all worked out.

New Avengers Finale

Posted by John Klein III on November 10, 2015
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New Avengers Finale

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Pencilers Bryan Hitch with Stuart Immonen

Inkers Butch Guice with Andrew Currie & Karl Story

Colorists Paul Mounts with Justin Ponsor & Rain Beredo

Letterer Chris Eliopoulos

Flashback Artists – David Finch, Danny Miki, Frank d’Armata, Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, Morry Hollowell, Olivier Coipel, John Dell, Mike Deodato Jr., Joe Pimental, Dave Stewart, Leinil Yu, Mark Morales, Laura Martin, Bryan Hitch, Rain Beredo, Billy Tan, Matt Banning, Justin Ponsor

Cover Dated June 2010

Jessica got the cover treatment!  Looking at the credits, I’m not sure which other pages Immonen and his team did, besides the very last page.  I suspect he may did any pages with Jessica (as she isn’t part of the action) but those pages still look like Hitch.  Maybe it is the inkers throwing me off but I’m not sure.  The final two page splash are the only pages that look like Immonen.

This issue starts with a warning, to read Siege 4, prior to this issue.  This issue ends the, Dark Reign of Norman Osborn.  Well, Siege 4 did that, but this has the aftermath.

Issue opens with everyone’s favorite villainous father daughter pair, Count Nefaria (of Uncanny X-Cast fame) and his lovely daughter, Whitney, Madame Masque.  She is seeking help from her father as her boyfriend, The Hood, and her are on the run.  This is one of the few appearances of the Count’s that I’ve actually read and it is hard not to read his voice in the classic vampire fashion.

New Avengers Finale Jessica Jones 1

I do like how, under the Iron Patriot helmet, Norman would still paint his face green to represent his Goblin side.  So kooky!  Siege took place on the Asgard portion of Oklahoma.

Poor Jessica Jones is watching the news, looking for any sign of her husband, Luke Cage.  Danielle is happy, sucking down some milk or formula.

New Avengers Finale Jessica Jones 2

Jessica gets a call from the US Army, Luke borrowed a phone.  Which is nice as my wife would not answer her phone from a number she didn’t recognize.  Luke is telling her that he is okay but there is a mess.

Cut to an awesome and what Hitch does best, double page splash.  The pages are full of debris and so much detailed destruction.

New Avengers Finale Jessica Jones 3

Jessica wants him to come home but he can’t as the New Avengers are still fugitives of the law – due to the Superhero Registration Act.  Their phones get disconnected.

The team make sure that they are all okay.  Ronin wants to take a moment to appreciate their win.  After that moment, the team wants to leave as, if they help the police, they will get arrested.  Most likely, after the damage has been cleaned up.  Captain America, the real one, is summoned by the President.  Most likely, Obama, but Bendis doesn’t like dating his comics, like that.

Spider-Woman looks over and sees the fallen villains that Norman had en massed, including the Wrecking Crew.  Ronin wants to know where the Hood is, but none of the thugs know.  So this whole issue is about finding the Hood.  Someone gives up the name of Hood’s cousin, John King.  They find him, he calls Hood and arranges a meeting.

The team gets to where Hood, Madame Masque and Count Nefaria are.  Cage is told about who Nefaria is.  Carol explains his powerset.  He has the combined power of Living Laser, Atlas of the Thunderbolts and either Whirlwind or Whizzer (it is Whirlwind)’s speed.  So energy projection from Living Laser and strength from Atlas.  Also, he is essentially immortal.  Cage makes a phone call, they need some additional power.

Inside, Nefaria is willing to help Hood but only for all of his money.  With the power upgrade that Nefaria promises, the Hood can make up all of that money, rather quickly.  He is not impressed with the Hood,at all.

The Avengers crash through the window and the fight begins.  Carol is the first to confront Nefaria, she’s going by Ms. Marvel at this point.  She starts taking a beating from him, but only so she can absorb his energy – a powerset people forget that she has.  I didn’t even know she had it!  Is that a left over from her Binary days?

So she hits him with his own power which weakens him to merely “not so powerful” but still.  He takes down Carol and shouts that he is immortal.  Just then, Wolverine shows up to start ripping into Nefaria.  This is who Cage called.  Carol starts back into Nefaria, taking more of his energy.  He is immortal but a tad less so, so Wolverine’s attacks are mostly weakening him.

Wolverine was on the West Coast, as the X-Men are on Utopia.

Asgard, Oklahoma.  The Avengers drop – Hood, Madame Masque, Count Nefaria and John King.

Cage asks Hill what the Avengers are, and she tells him that they need to watch the news.

New York.  The Next Day.  Superhuman Registration Act Thrown Out.  Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, replaces Norman Osborn as America’s Top Cop.  So this issue sets up the Heroic Age, a more back to basics approach Marvel branded the titles with.

New Avengers Finale Jessica Jones 4

Rogers, out of his star spangled suit, informs the team that the President has appointed him, The Director of SHIELD.  Which lasts a decent amount of time.  Rogers reveals that Count Nefaria was one of the responsible parties from the original first issue of New Avengers, volume one.

New Avengers Finale Jessica Jones 6

Mockingbird brings up the question of what they do now.  This, somehow, sets up Cage to provide a giant monologue, which is mostly an excuse to reprint art from previous storylines.

We get a glimpse from the original Ronin storyline, that had Echo under the hood.

New Avengers Finale Kitty Pryde

Yes, I own this just because of this page, that I already own once, during the original Sentry storyline.

Cage has been honored to be counted among these New Avengers.

New Avengers V1 8 Kitty Pryde

Which is taken directly from New Avengers 8 with art by David Finch.

I guess the House of M counts as it was a Bendis penned crossover and this title would have had tie-in issues.

We get the storyline reminder, and the mess that it was, with the essence of the lost mutant powers, reappearing on Earth and killing Alpha Flight and eventually ending up with Weapon Omega.  It also was Bendis doing what Marvel needed so that they can use Magneto again after Morrison’s attempted to shelf the character with the Xorn business.

Double splash page (they all have been, thus far) of Secret Invasion, another Bendis written crossover.

Double splash from when Doctor Strange was looking for the new Sorcerer Supreme.

New Avengers v Dark Avengers!

The final one of these is when Rogers, as Captain America, got to throw his mighty shield into Iron Patriot, Norman Osborn’s face.

New Avengers Finale Jessica Jones 5

I really like this final page, clearly done by Immonen – with all of the characters, out of costume.  My only problem, with it?  Shouldn’t Bucky’s arm be metallic?  It is definitely flesh colored.

The next issue is Bendis’ first Avengers 1, with a very complicated time adventure.

Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men Exodus

Posted by John Klein III on May 12, 2015
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Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men Exodus

Written by Matt Fraction

Art by Mike Deodato and Terry Dodson with Rachel Dodson

Colored Justin Ponsor & Christina Strain

Lettered VC’s Joe Caramgna

Cover Dated November 2009

Utopia Part Six of Six, the Conclusion!

7 Days Ago.  Beast confronts Emma and Scott, in their bed.  I wonder if this dictates what they wear to bed as Wolverine did the same thing to them in Astonishing X-Men Volume Three Issue 1.  Beast is telling both of them that the other is keeping secrets.

Scott’s secret is X-Force and Emma’s is the Cabal.  Emma wants to keep hers but Scott is far to willing to share.  The story continues in Dark X-Men : The Confession, which I read but don’t own any longer so we won’t be revealing it.  Essentially, they share their secrets.

Now.  1.2 Miles off the coast of San Francisco.  The Dark Avengers are on their way to Utopia.  Cyclops starts telling people their orders.  I like this two page spread with the bottom panels.  Where it goes from Cyclops and the X-Men to a panel of Cyclops face to Osborn’s face to him and his team.  Cyclops wants the team to battle stations.  Osborn just wants Mystique to stay in Xavier form and the rest of the team can do what they do best.

Cyclops tells Wolverine and X23 to fight Weapon Omega and Daken.  Cyclops realizes that Hawkeye is really Bullseye.  He tells Angel to take out Hawkeye.  Angel comments that it isn’t him who Cyclops is sending, and Cyclops tells him that he is right.

Ms. Marvel is attacked by the mutants who she attacked earlier in the storyline.  Colossus fights Scorpion Spider-Man, who has given up most of the control to the symbiote.  Wolverine finally gets some revenge for his dead Alpha Flight companions by attacking Weapon Omega.  That’s a nice call back.  Especially as the Dark Avengers and the Uncanny X-Men don’t have much history together, the teams nor individuals.

Marin County.  Bullshawkeye is fighting Archangel now, as Warren is able to shift between the two identities.  He wouldn’t want to stay as Archangel as he is a lot more ruthless in that form.

The Big Guns are now in the fight – Sentry, Ares and Iron Patriot.  Namor goes after Sentry.  Iron Patriot fights Cyclops, which makes sense as they are the leaders of the two sides.  Norman is mad as Scott made him look poorly on the news.

Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men Exodus New Mutants v Ares minus Magik

Dani Moonstar comes to Utopia and takes on Ares.  Her fellow New Mutants help her in the confrontation.  I thought Magik was in this sequence but its Magma as you can tell by the flames at her feet.  I had thought it was a portal from Limbo opening up that brought the rest of the team there but its just the flame from Dan’s sword as she is now a Valkyrie.  Not sure where Magik is during all of the fight as she only appears in one sequence, as far as I can see.

Dark Beast fights off Northstar and Dazzler.  I like the idea of those two heroes together.  The X-Club shows up to fight Dark Beast.

Mimic fights Iceman.  Daken makes sexist comments about how women can’t fight.  Armor, X23 and Pixie start beating him down.

Emma finds Xavier, I think in the Dark Avengers ship.  Emma gets help from Xavier to shut down Sentry.  The last time she fought Sentry, in the New Avengers arc, Sentry, she established a White Room in his head.  Kitty’s in issue 8 of New Mutants, so we’ll review that issue one of these days.

The Dodsons did the opening pages for the Dak Confession tie-in and now they kick in for the Emma / Sentry White Room sequence.  Well, Emma and Robert Reynolds (the Sentry’s alter ego).  In the all White Room is one black square.  Inside that black square, is another Black Room where Bob is standing in.   The Sentry’s deal is that he’s super powerful but he has a dark side, The Void, that sort of balances him out.  But the Sentry is also a split personality guy so he has a Sentry persona, a Bob persona and a combo of Bob controlling Sentry sort of personality.  That’s my understanding.  Emma pulls Bob out of the Black Room and into the White Room.  The White Room is Bob’s safe place.  Emma keeps the Void at bay and this lets Bob take over Sentry again.  Sentry snaps out of his fight with Namor, is ashamed of himself and flies off.  Emma now had a shard of the Void in her head and transforms into her diamond form to keep it there.  Which becomes her status quo for a while.  I really like the way it resolves itself with Cyclops.  I think we’ll get to those issues.  Actually, Cyclops defeats the Void in Uncanny X-Men 519 – which doesn’t have Kitty nor Magik in it so I don’t own it.  Shoot!  I really like the Matt Fraction era of Uncanny X-Men due to how heavy on Cyclops it is.

Iron Patriot is just wailing on Cyclops.  Cyclops is annoying Iron Patriot, with how humorous he is being.  Iron Patriot is confidant as they still have Ares, to which, Cyclops asks him if that is the case.

Ares is being overwhelmed by Dani, he wasn’t expecting to fight a Valkyrie this evening.  Dani isn’t just a Valkyrie, she also has a bunch more power to take down a god.  Iron Patriot doesn’t like how the fight is going now.

The Void is chasing Sentry in space.  Daken is being beaten down by girl power.  Wolverine isn’t going down for Weapon Omega.  Ms. Marvel makes her way to Iron Patriot, trying to get him to give up on the fight.  The Dark Avengers are losing by sheer numbers.

Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men Exodus Magik a Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men Exodus Magik b

 See Magik as the first X-Man on the top left there?  She has a tear in her costume above the knee, how did she get that?  We are now entering the era of “Everyone is an X-Man” which I liked.

Ms. Marvel tells Iron Patriot that no one has won over Americans by committing genocide on live television.  The Dark Avengers leave the island.  Iceman congratulates Cyclops but he still has one last bomb to drop.

In the last Deodato page, Cyclops makes another speech on television.  Cyclops has been an X-Man since he was 15.  He declares that Utopia is a safe haven and no mutants will be harm and all mutants are welcomed here.  It is in international waters, so they are no longer part of America.  They will still defend and support America but they are now free.

The Dodsons take over for the final three pages.  Norman hosts his own press conference, declaring it a victory as he has rid America of the mutant threats.  He and the Dark Avengers take full credit for all of this, working his spin magic.

Utopia.  We learn that Utopia is nowhere near functional.  The X-Club is full of bad news and a full workload.  Since Emma is in her diamond form, she is cut off from her emotions, except for snark.  Emma references the last time the X-Men lived on an island, it didn’t go so well.  I’m not sure what she is referring to with that line.  The island that Magneto used as a base, circa Uncanny X-Men 150, is my best guess.  That sure didn’t work out so well for Illyana.

In future issues, Beast isn’t happy that he was left to be tortured while Scott waited until Utopia was ready to be brought to surface, starting the six years (and running) of hatred that Beast has for Scott.

The story continues in Dark Confession and Dark Reign : The List X-Men 1, which I own so we’ll review that eventually.   There is also a preview of the next big storyline, Necrosha – which we will review one of these days.  The big thing to come out of that story is that Doug Ramsey comes back to the land of the living.

Original Sin 3

Posted by John Klein III on August 23, 2014
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Original Sin 3

Writer Jason Aaron

Artist Mike Deodato

Color Artist Frank Martin

Letterer VC’s Chris Eliopoulos

Part Three of Eight

I feel a little tricked by this issue.

On the cast list :

Original 3 Cast List

Kitty and Magik are clearly listed.

But the only panel they could be present in is this one –

Original Sin 3 Kitty Magik maybe A Original Sin 3 Kitty Magik maybe B

Which I can’t make out which one could be either of them from that upper middle panel with the blue light putting all of the secrets in their heads.

I added the Art Adams’ Interlocking variant cover to my Wishlist as Kitty is definitely on that cover so if I ever get to own that, I will most likely take this issue out of my collection and keep the variant in its place.  Sort of like how I would do with Wolverine and the X-Men Volume One Issue 25 that Carmen Drake is on the cover but outside of a bonus page in the back, Kitty isn’t present at all.

Nick Fury narrates later in the issue that only those heroes (and people) present at this depicted moment are the ones that know all of the secrets that Uatu the Watcher knew – so at least Kitty and Magik now got some gossip that they can enjoy.

Though it also seems like they only know secrets that pertain to them that they didn’t know about themselves.

The big moment from this issue is that Winter Solider not only strands Moon Knight and Gamora on an alien planet – but also kills Nick Fury!  Nick Fury is definitely dead, as Bucky cut off his dead.

The mystery of who has Uatu’s other eye is at least mentioned.  Who has that thing?

Other highlights are :

The Orb is working for Doctor Midas.  Exterminatrix is Midas’ daughter.

Hulk wants to smash Iron Man.  There is a mini to explain why.

Thor knows he has a sister.  There is a mini to explain that.  I predict it will be lame.  Though I like how Aaron is writing it, so it should be important to this overall story.

I wonder what secrets Kitty and Magik now know.

Fury takes Orb prisoner.

Wolverine and Hulk are watching Orb.  I really like how Orb summarizes his guards – a tortured school teacher and a deranged physicist.

Fury tells Captain America that after the secrets bomb – Thor, Spider-Man and Daredevil took off for their tie in adventures.

Captain America won’t tell Fury what he saw.  Did everyone just see one secret about themselves, or did they just focus on those ones?

Fury saw no secrets.  Maybe his brain is already full of secrets.

Winter Soldier, Moon Knight and Gamora see a planet, who isn’t Ego, get shot to death with the same green bullets that Ant-Man / Emna Frost / Black Panther as well as Doctor Strange / Punisher are finding.  The bullets range in sizes.

Winter Soldier abandons his two teammates.

Winter Soldier kills Nick Fury, who I am sure is not a LMD.

I already seen the cast list for issue four and neither Shadowcat or Magik are in that issue.  Maybe I will get issue five.  Time will tell.

Original Sin 2

Posted by John Klein III on July 15, 2014
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Original Sin 2

Writer Jason Aaron

Artist Mike Deodato

Color Artist Frank Martin

Letterer VC’s Chris Eliopoulos

Part Two of Eight

In the previous issue, Uatu the Watcher was murdered.  His eyes and armory were taken.  This issue, we see a masked lady and a hooded man.  They keep talking about the one eye, I’m not sure if the other one is out there or did just the one get stolen.

I really like the character list, as I know who everyone is.

Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor

Nova, Storm, Iceman, Black Widow, Kitty Pryde, Thing, Falcon

Luke Cage, Magik, Dardevil

Doctor Strange, Punisher, Thunderbolt Ross, Black Panther, Emma Frost, Ant Man

Mindless Ones

So Black Panther, Emma and Scott Lang Ant Man are looking for clues with the Moloids.  I can only imagine that the previous issue must have had Emma being sassy with Black Panther.  If not, I would be disappointed.

Turns out, the Mindless Ones killed Uatu, but they were clearly following someone’s orders.

Iron Man, really just Tony in a bathrobe and a helmet; along with Bruce Banner – are investigating Mindless One’s energy signature.

Meanwhile, Doctor Strange and Punisher are investigating in some other realm.  I know the Mindless Ones as being foes Doctor Stange faces.  Anyone who has played the Avengers Alliance game on Facebook or Playdom’s own website should recognize them as well.  I had to quit playing Avengers Alliance when they introduced the Elektra Lockboxes in PvP.  The game was becoming something I could no longer keep up with.  Now, there has been so many Lockboxes and Special Operations, that I can’t go back.

I wonder how Punisher gets along with Doctor Strange, that is an unusual pairing.  They work well together this issue, but was it odd last issue?  One day, I will know as there is an Art Adams variant cover with Magik on it.  Not sure if I need issue three yet, but I already know that Kitty is on the Art Adams variant for that issue.  He is doing an interlocking cover for this event.

We get to the scene with the villains.  The hooden man is fascinated by the eye.  The lady just wants a fight.  There is a man in a bed, moaning.  He is being transformed into something.  At first, I thought it was Thing, but he is in another scene, so it isn’t him.

The heroes have the skyscraper that the villains are using as a base, surrounded.  Captain America tells the team that Magik is evacuating the building as quickly as she can teleport people.

The masked lady’s name is Exterminatrix.  I believe she is new.

Original Sin 2 Kitty battlefield

We get an awesome panel of the street team.  They are – Thing, Captain America, Falcon, Luke Cage, Nick Fury, Hulk, Black Widow, Wolverine and Kitty Pryde.  Hulk lets out a yell and Kitty says, what he said.  She is so great.

There is this double page spread of the gathered heroes.  Exterminatrix is captured.  The hooded man isn’t scared as the eye begins to open.

Spider-Man us standing on Hulk, Magik is next to him and Kitty is standing in front of Hulk.

Original Sin 2 Double Page Spread-1

The hooded man takes off his hood, he is The Orb – Z-list super villain with an eye for a head.  I remember him from several different handbooks over the years.

Orb announces that the eye is no longer an eye but a bomb as it glowes brighter than ever.  Thus, the issue ends.  Not bad at all.  I wasn’t confused at all. Not tempted to get issue three but I should order it as I can only imagine that the issue opens still on this scene so Magik and Kitty should still be present.  But I have been burn before, thinking that.