sam wilson and crew comics and tpb reviews for you, 3/14/07

[Sam Wilson]

Sam Wilson Reviews

Once again, I’m not much for words this week.  My pick would have to be Thunderbolts because evil rules.  Word.  That being said, on to the reviews…

Thunderbolts #112
Marvel Comics
Written by: Warren Ellis
Drawn by: Mike Deodato
Cover by: Marko Djurdjevic

A few years back most of the mainstream marvel superheroes disappeared and came back in really, really lame events called “Onslaught” and “Heroes” return. During this event, to take the place of the missing heroes a bunch of villains (formerly known as the Masters of Evil) banded together and formed a new superteam in hopes of, well, who knows. Led by the new Baron Zemo (the son of Baron Zemo) these reformed villains (including Moonstone and Songbird among others) in one-way shape or form managed to stay a team up until now. Presently, in the “Civil War” torn Marvel U the Thunderbolts came down on the registration side but always the villain, Baron Zemo tried to play both sides. It didn’t work out and he was betrayed by Songbird and sucked into some Vortex, possibly lost in time forever. At the end of “Civil War” #4 a new Thunderbolts appeared (consisting of Venom, Lady Deathstrike, Taskmaster, Bullseye, Jester and Jack-O-Lantern and Songbird), and this time they are just villains who are villains, no more pretending crap, and their mission is to keep unregistered super-beings in line. Granted a pardon by Tony Stark, the baddest of the bad in the Marvel U is out to get some much-wanted payback, and their new benefactor?  Some guy named Norman Osborne, and so it goes…

Last issue the team almost got their asses handed to them by Jack Flagg (who?) on national TV, and got saved by the only member of the team who can’t be shown in public, Bullseye.  During the after action report with Norman Osborn Moonstone shows everyone what kind of egomaniacal opportunist bitch she is, and Songbird goes on a sappy litany of teamwork and heart, which is pretty much lost on the hired killers and out and out bad people who comprise of the new team. Osborne has a politically interesting conversation with the Radioactive Man (a Chinese native) and later show us he really is a crazy motherfu$#er.  We get a glimpse at some possible D-list trouble for the t-bolts and a full on intro of their next target, followed by some maniacal laughing from Norman Osborn.

This series is great. Its twisted more than the original Thunderbolts ever were, Ellis writes them as bad people. Baaaad people who have mental problems and no moral compass.  I like it, and sometimes its okay to root for the bad guy.  Unless you are a total pansie then you probably won’t like this book, but if you’ve ever laughed at a crying child, well, this book may just be for you.

Wolverine: Origins #12
Marvel Comics
Written by: Daniel Way
Drawn by: Steve Dillon
Cover by: Joe Quesada

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with “Wolverine: Origins” I’ll give a quick recap. At the end of the “House of M” fiasco Wolverine, who is the best at what he does and what he does ain’t pretty, was granted access to his memories. All of them. Yup. Most of them are nasty and are the types of things no one wants to come to light. SHIELD is alerted and so it begins. Wolverine decides he is going to use his newfound knowledge to exact bloody revenge on all those who have ever wronged him, so he whups Silver Samurai’s ass and takes his Muramasa Blade (a katanna that has a bloodlust and is said to be able to contain evil spirits) and embarks on a quest. First up, he has some words with the Secretary of State, then he visits a guy named Nuke (who we last saw in the now classic Daredevil storyline “Born Again”). It turns out Wolverine more or less helped create Nuke, and after setting that little flub straight he mixes it up with Captain America and a few of the X-men. Wolverine almost goes berserk on all of them, but Emma Frost stops him and drops a huge bombshell on ol’ Logan. He has a son. In a moment of clarity Logan hands over his Muramasa Blade to Cyclops, requesting that if he goes too far in his current revenge bender that Cyclops end it with the sword, the only thing that can permanently put Wolverine down. Anyway, things for Wolverine haven’t slowed down a bit since the onset of this series, so far Wolvie has threatened the secretary of state, whupped Nuke’s ass, threw down with Shield and Omega Red, and has crossed paths with the always foxy Black Widow and endured the death of his former sidekick Jubilee. None of that compares to the most recent event in Wolvie’s path to rediscovery, reconnecting with his son (who then subsequently disemboweled him). Yeesh…

Turns out Wovie’s son is quite the psycho, killing is something he enjoys in an all too psychotic manner. The question is, is this from Wolvie or is this on him? Wolvie states the child’s mother is Japanese, and other than being an agent of SHIELD we learn little else about him. Meanwhile, on a farm in America a young unregistered mutant is struggling to get along in life when one of Wolvie’s old foe’s reaches out and makes a connection that could spell bad news for the old canucklehead. The more things change the more they stay the same I guess.  This old foe?  Well, that would be Cyber and if he and Wolvies pissed off neglected kid get together, well, I can’t imagine anything good would come out of it…

Daniel Way is obviously building up something big with Wolverine’s son, but from the feeling I get its going to be drawn out far more than just six issues, and for the here and now Wolvie is going to mix it up with an old enemy and get back to what he is best at. I enjoy this book more than I’ve enjoyed any Wolverine book since, well, for quite some time. The first arc of Origins is available in tpb form, that and the rest of the series is worth checking out.

Grifter and Midnighter #1 (of 6)
DC/Wildstorm Comics
Written by: Chuck Dixon
Drawn by: Ryan Benjamin and Saleem Crawford
Cover by: Ryan Benjamin

To start this review off properly I’m going to have to talk a little bit about Chuck Dixon, Grifter and the Midnighter.  Chuck Dixon has all but fell off the face of the Earth, with his most recent book that I can remember being “Cobb” by IDW Publishing (check that book out if you can track it down, great old school fun).  Back in the day Chuck brought a Shane Black (you know, the guy who wrote “The Last Boy Scout” and “Die Hard”) quality to every comic he touched, “Punisher War Journal”, “Nightwing”, “Birds of Prey”, and my all time favorite Dixon series “Team 7” for Wildstorm comics.  Team 7 was the backbone of the old Wildstorm U, a group of elite special ops soldiers that were the grandaddys of everything wildstorm.  Grifter was on this team, and was known for his dissadent attitude and his dead on shooting (hence his nickname “Deadeye”).  He was the first to leave Team 7 in disgust and soon hooked up with Zealot from the Wildcats and went freelance for a time, and then hooked up with the Wildcats and got himself into a bunch of trouble and wacky adventures.  For the last few years he has laid low until Wildstorm’s recent relaunch.  Midnighter on the other hand has been front and center in Wildstorm’s premiere superteam of the last five years or so “the Authority”.  Midnighter is everyone’s favorite unstoppable alien-altered bad-assed fighting machine with an attitude to boot.  So why is he hooking up with Grifter and why are then getting a 6 issue from Wildstorm comics?  Hmm…

Our story open up with Midnighter seeing the rest of the Authority brutally beaten while he is held captive unable to do nothing.  Since Midnighter is the weakest member of the Authority (powerwise) this doesn’t sit to well with his psyche and he takes out his anger on the rest of the team, which earns him some forced time off.  Meanwhile, we catch up with Grifter in Manila who is back to work for the governement and up to no good, and appears to be well off his rocker and hip deep in some kind of mental illness.  The set up is clear, as to where they are going with it, I have no idea.

Chuck is back and this issue doesn’t really move things forward, but gives us a nice set up.  The set up being displaced anger, questionable sanity and most likely lots and lots of killing.  I’m okay with that, and if you are okay with those things I would highly recommend this book.

Kdawg’s Reviews

Moon Knight #8
Marvel Comics
Written by: Charlie Huston
Illustrated by: David Finch

You are asking yourself right now… Moon Knight #8??? That series isn’t cancelled yet? You probably stopped collecting it after issue 3. Well through some unknown force, the Dawg has stuck with this series and will continue to do so. I like Moon Knight as a character and Finch’s art has been something to behold on this series. He gets better with each issue. Huston has taken a couple of whack’s for his pacing but I have read worse book than this so I have stayed with it waiting for the new creative team to come on and see if anything changes. It’s clear that Huston loves the character and no matter how many times he’s been knocked for his pacing, one thing is true. We would not have a Moon Knight book on the shelves right now if he didn’t love the character enough to bring him out of creative limbo.

So what’s been happening in this series so far? Well, it has been hitting the shelves for about a year now and we have seen Marc Spectre at his lowest state. Addicted to pain pills from having his knees and body crippled with too many nights of roof top dancing with criminals. We have seen him purged by fire and reborn as Moon Knight as his god Konshu has resurrected him one more time. We have briefly seen Spider-Man and now in this issue the Sentinel of Liberty comes calling. (May he rest in peace)…

Captain America show up looking for Marc Spectre and one might think that he has come calling to recruit Moon Knight to his secret Avengers, but in fact, this meeting goes the other way. Cap lays in to Marc and tells him to stay the hell out of the way because he can’t be trusted and is a loose cannon.

What this issue boils down to is a pretty quiet aftermath of the last story. Needless to say that Moon Knight has been noticed as being back in the game by all of the major players.

This issue still had some trouble in getting there for me. There was a lot more dialogue than there has been in the past and the pacing still kind of suffers. The art is incredible and if nothing else is a complete joy to look at where the story gets muddy in the dialogue.

I am clinging on to this series in hopes that the overall storytelling will smooth out with time and the changing of the guard in the creative department. I think Huston has laid some good groundwork for the direction of the character and his rebirth, but it tends to get lost at times. The book has been carried in my opinion to this point by the art and the shock value of the characters dark nature….

One thing is for sure… it will be good to see Marc Spectre put his life and his body back together again and continue to have a series of his own to kick ass in.


Spider-Man: Reign #4 (of 4)
Marvel Comics
Written by: Kaare Andrews
Illustrated by: Kaare Andrews

For those of you keeping score in my reviews of this mini-series to this point, I have panned issues 1 and 2.  I have mentioned time and again how I thought that it was too much an homage to Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns in Spider-Man format. I have been confused by the story and the flow from panel to panel. I have been in awe of how many similarities there are, and confounded as to what the hell was going on…

0-2… then issue #3 hit the stands…

Things became more clear. The military state in which New York had become from the security web, the brutal police called the “Reign”, The lack of superheroes in the city due to being in hiding or retiring. Peter Parker talking to Mary Jane and not being positive she is a ghost, even though on the first cover Peter is over her grave.

Issue three told us a lot of things that we needed to know and I actually enjoyed it.  It turns out most of the behind the scenes manipulation was due to the ever jealous and vengeful Venom.  In an attempt to draw Spider-Man out and kill him for a final time the security web was launched keeping everyone in the city under the guise of safety. Really it was an attempt to trap and kill a geriatric Spider-Man.

Mary Jane had in fact died and it was due to radiation poisoning from being so close to Peter for all the years that she was, her death was payment for loving him. (Let’s all remember that Pete was bitten by a radioactive spider and in essence his blood was poisoned)

So many things became clearer , I had fun and even though the flow of panel to panel was still not superb, it did not matter… the book was good.

1-2… then issue 4 hit the stands…

I actually loved this issue!  I was waiting for a pay off that would make me forget that this was the Dark Arachnight returns altogether and guess what? That is what I got.

Finally Peter Parker back in action and Spider-Man kicking Venom and his puppets: The Sinister Six’ asses back to whence they came. Spider-Man has always been about great power and great responsibility… That was in large part because of Uncle Ben… The new responsibility that carries him now though is his overwhelming love for his dead wife Mary Jane. He misses her, he needs to be with her in the afterlife, but he knows that she wants him to continue to fight and do good as Spider-Man.

That’s just what he does, as he takes down the Reign, with the help of the Sandman and his daughter who has been hiding just under the surface since issue #1 and her secret is finally revealed.

Let’s not forget the final clash between Venom and Spidey too.  It was wrapped up very well and I am pleased to say that the score is officially 2-2… but when you put then all together as a unit, I have to say that the series was pretty damn good.

I am either annoyed or happy, but regardless I have to say I have been convinced by this book that I need to change my tune.

I liked it and it gets my pick of the week.

[Sam Wilson]

Wktf’s Reviews

After the death of Captain America and all the chaos it caused at my lcs it seemed remarkably dead in the store today.  I guess almost anything would be anticlimactic after that.  Still, pretty decent comic book week over all.

Civil War:  The Confession
Marvel Comics
Written by:  Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Alex Maleev

Iron Man’s side won.  The Registration Act is law and the vast majority of Marvel heroes either are registered or granted amnesty.  As far as the Marvel guard is concerned, Reed and Sue are working toward reconciliation, Aunt May has a bullet in her (stay tuned for the subsequent Amazing Spider-Man next week), Nick Fury is still underground, Thor has not yet really returned, The Hulk is two months away from his return to Earth, Tony Stark has been named Director of SHIELD and, as we all know, Captain America is dead.  We are about to learn how the death of Cap, the moral core and accepted leader of the Marvel Universe, has affected various characters in the “Fallen Son” mini-series, and we know the gleeful affect it had on his murder’s perpetrator, The Red Skull, but this issue is all about Cap’s relationship with Iron Man, his long time friend, ally, and adversary in Civil War.

The same creative team that kicked of Civil War with the one-shot Illuminati comic and former Daredevil team provides this ending, of sorts, to this “Marvel Comics event.”  And here we’re given a two part story of a conversation between Iron Man and Captain America in reverse sequential order.  At first these feels a little confusing but this technique, ending with Cap’s final words to Iron Man, really accentuate the gravity of his death.  But it’s the first story, where Iron Man seems to be speaking to Cap off panel that really is the most powerful.  The confession in question is Iron Man’s and it’s in response to a question we don’t even know Cap asks until the second story.  While Iron Man tells the story of his personal journey up until the Civil War, and provides some of his own history that led to this point, you can tell he’s really just formulating some rationalization, some explanation that, while maybe true, feels like a husband trying really hard to explain some stupid action of his to his wife.  Ulimately, the story leads to a multi-panel single page where Tony first grimaces very hard, moves to a face of complete despair and then yells, cries out loud with tears running down his face.  This man truly loves Captain America and must weigh the gain of Civil War’s outcome against the loss of his dear friend.  Sometimes winning feels like losing. Sometimes being right actually makes you wrong. And sometimes the cost of victory simply wasn't worth it in the end. The actual experience of reading this transformation is the most powerful part of this story.

Which brings us to one of the strongest elements of this comic.  The art.  Maleev just impresses the hell out of me every time I see his work.  I’m most used to his Daredevil art so anything that’s not street level, shadowy crime type art doesn’t seem like it’d be a fit for him.  Drawing Iron Man soaring through the sky just doesn’t strike me as something Maleev should be able to do well.  But he sure does.  Yeah, this art is dark and moody, but it’s superhero art that really stand out, from the battle scenes to the starry eyed kid who serves as Cap’s guard and this issue totally is Maleev’s issue.  Bendis’ writing here is much stronger than anything he’s done on the two Avengers titles and the best since, well, The Illuminati and his Daredevil days.  The focus is on character and relationships here, and this is where Bendis shines.  This was a hugely powerful issue (I’ve reread just that one Tony Stark page I mentioned a few times now) that is my pick of the week.

The Lone Ranger #5
Dynamite Entertainment
Written by: Brett Matthews
Drawn by: Sergio Cariello
Cover Art & Art Direction: John Cassaday

Here we have the penultimate chapter in this first installment of Dynamite’s new, critically acclaimed and wildly successful Lone Ranger series.  This thing has sold out with every issue and back issues are extremely hard to find.  And deservedly so.  This title has moved with very deliberate pacing and told a story that’s captivating and exciting, while also conforming to the required eventual 6 issue trade format.  Thus far we’ve seen the murder of John Reid’s father and brother along with the rest of the Texas Rangers.  John was rescue from death by Tonto who, going against more traditional Lone Ranger storytelling, is the mentor and leader of this duo.  Much larger, stronger and meaner than Reid he bears a striking resemblance to John Buscema’s Conan.  We’ve seen John struggle back to health, undertake his mission of justice (or is it vengeance?) and acquire and tame Silver.  And we’ve seen the murderous Black Bart, who killed John’s family, seek out and murder the wives and children of these dead men.  And we know from last issue that John’s sister-in-law is next on Bart’s list.

This issue feels a little like the superhero movie scene we’re all used to, probably most famous from the first Chris Reeve Superman film, where the hero reveals himself to the world in a series of daring exploits.  The mask and silver bullets are Tonto’s idea and John grasps the concept eagerly.  Tonto’s plan is to not seek out evil but let it come to them, to strike hard and strong each time, and let word of their deeds spread as they strike down lawlessness and hope “the wait will be short,” I presume for Black Bart, once they’ve made themselves known.  In the mean time Bart, like the wolf in sheep’s clothing, pays a courtesy call on Mrs. Reid and her son, drinks her tea and compliments her dead husband in the most civil of ways.  The evil just stinks on this guy.  As John and Tonto bust heads, though, John sees in the local paper that the Rangers’ kin have been killed and knows Tonto has been withholding this from him.  In a panicked rage, The Lone Ranger rides off to Oklahoma to his sister-in-law and nephew and to the climactic meeting with Black Bart.

The relationship between Reid and Tonto is bizarre.  Reid seems perfectly willing to follow Tonto’s lead, even when he doesn’t fully understand what he’s supposed to do or why.  Tonto is one part savage and another part sensei as he trains John for his role.  Clearly Tonto is the more dangerous of the two but the new Lone Ranger certainly handles himself in a commanding way when up against the bad guys.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens when he faces a trained killer like Bart, though.  Matthews’ wring has been great, even though this issue ended rather abruptly and I kept flipping the pages over to see if I’d missed something.  But I know the big show down is coming next issue.  The real heroes of this title, though, is Cariello and colorist Dean White who’ve suffered second billing to Cassaday.  The desert scenes and blood red skies have been stunning.  I’m loving this title and couldn’t be happier to have made it part of my comic reading stable.

The New Avengers #28
Marvel Comics
Written by:  Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Leinil Yu

This is feels like such a different title than when Cap and Iron Man formed the team that I really feel they should have canceled the book and started it up again as volume 2, #1.  Except that the New Avengers originally was a skunk-works team formed out of a need born from a crisis.  This team, anti-Registration heroes sticking together on principle coming out of Civil War.  How they found each other after the final Civil War battle and how Luke Cage got elected team leader may be told at another time.  Right now this team’s been pedal to the metal for the last two issues.  Frankly, I’ve been reading all the griping on the various internet boards and I’ll admit I don’t get it.  I agree that Yu’s art feels rough and unfinished, maybe even sloppy at times.  But, for this underground group of rag-tag heroes, I think this style suits the title and fits them perfectly.  Bendis also seems to really find his voice and the right tone with this crew, and I’m pretty impressed with how the two different creative teams for New and Mighty have created such a different look and feel for each title.

Last issue our heroes went all out to battle Elektra and The Hand to save Echo, Maya Lopez, from their clutches.  In furious battle as Ronin, Maya was killed by Elektra who then attempted to bring her back to life using secret Hand magic that also would brainwash her into joining their cause.  Much ninja battling with the New Avengers, aided by a new Ronin of unknown origin, and the team escaped with Maya in tow.  However, Maya’s not out of the woods and is suffering the shock of rebirth and convulsive spasms from the Hand’s magics.  Seeking a place of refuge, Spider-Woman thinks of the Silver Samurai, one hand short after his attempt to kill Wolverine, as the last place the Hand would look.  And Elektra and her swarm of ninjas are in hot pursuit.  In addition to the Maya/Silver Samurai/Elektra/Hand plot we have a second plot line following Spider-Woman’s conversation with Ms. Marvel in Mighty Avengers #1 where Carol told Jess that Cap really wasn’t dead, that he was being held at The Raft, and of course the team wants to go retrieve him.  I loved how Spidey states with Cap back they can call themselves the Avengers again, but Cage responds, “We ARE the Avengers.”  This, of course, creates the lead in to the upcoming New/Mighty Avengers show down and while our team seems hopelessly outgunned by the likes of Iron Man, Wonder Man, Ares, Senty and Ms. Marvel I’m betting this’ll be quite the scrap.  Already Ms. Marvel’s looking ashamed of her betrayal of Jess and I’m wondering how Logan and Natasha are supposed to face off against each other considering their history together.

The two different story lines running together is a little disorienting.  It appears that the Maya/Elektra story is in the present time whereas the Cap/Mighty Avengers story occurred one day in the past.  Still, they’re being told concurrently and it is a bit distracting.  That said, I really like the frenetic street level energy of this book even better than what seems to be the more mainstream feel of The Mighty Avengers title.  I know people have been dogging this book but I say buy it.  It’s a good, solid read.

Wktf’s Trade Review

Daredevil Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus
Marvel Comics
Written by: Frank Miller & Roger McKensie
Drawn by: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson
Inks by: Klaus Janson

Weighing in at 6.5 lbs and containing roughly 800 pages of content, this book is a monster.  It collects Daredevil #158-161, 163-191 and What If? #28.  By way of comparison, my copy of Ulysses is about 800 pages and War & Peace is about 1300 pages.  But if I were to sum up this gargantuan tome in one word I’d have to say it’s magnificent!

What’s been written about Frank Miller’s work likely could fill an entire book case, and I probably own most all of those writings.  And while he’s of course gained fame for 300, Sin City, his industry revitalizing Dark Knight Returns as well as his widely vilified All-Star Batman & Robin work, Miller literally cut his comic book teeth on Daredevil going back to 1979.  While there are three paperback Frank Miller Daredevil Visionaries volumes that contain 99% of the same content (they’re cheaper, lighter, and even combined take up less shelf space) you’ll find in this Omnibus, having all this wonderful, groundbreaking material in one single, beautifully bound volume makes it one of the treasures of my comic book trade library.

I was in high school when Miller took up the art chores on DD.  Despite veteran Gene Colan’s work on this title sales were flagging; the title had gone to bi-monthly and was well on its way to cancellation.  I was distraught that one of my favorite characters seemed inexorably headed for a doomed fate.  People who are so enamored with Ed Brubaker’s work today, and even Bendis’ work over the pre-Bru few years, both of whom have built their Daredevil stories off of the foundation Miller laid down, may find this hard to believe.  But it’s true.  When Miller’s art exploded in DD #158, following his two issue stint on Spectacular Spider-Man (guest starring, yep, Daredevil) it was crude but crackled with energy and desperation.  I just knew something special was going on here, and when he surprisingly took over the writing (I mean, seriously, I couldn’t think of anyone outside of Kirby’s 1970s Captain America run who’d done both the writing and art) I simply couldn’t get enough of it.  Elektra’s debut.  The Hand.  Stick and his crew, the Chaste.  The origin of the DD vs. Kingpin conflict.  Josie’s bar.  Turk and Grotto.  The elevation of both Ben Urich and Bullseys as true forces in the Marvel Universe.  The terrifying, dark, grimy, Eisner-like crime infested New York.  It all blew me away.  And Janson’s inks went with Miller’s art like Joe Sinnott’s did for Jack Kirby on FF, Bob Layton’s did for John Romita, Jr. on Iron Man, and Tom Palmer’s did for Gene Colan on Doctor Strange and Tomb of Dracula or for John Buscema on The Avengers.  These inkers were perfectly suited for their artists and Miller and Janson became as a single creative force on Daredevil, taking this title to arguably its greatest era ever in its multi-decade history.

This volume boasts many pluses in addition to this creative team’s storied run.  The binding is strong and the paper stock is a little thicker, as is fitting for a volume of this magnitude.  The color reproduction is faithful and clean.  Special features include thumbnail pages, promotional and trade art and a really great multi-page interview with  Miller and Janson together, conducted during their run on the title, where they discussed their thoughts behind and what influenced their work, what inspired their art, what it was they were attempting and hoped to accomplish.  Yes, this book is a real treat, totally respectful of the art between its covers, and presents it in a way to ensure the most fun and enjoyment from the reading experience.  And to think with the DD issue Miller did with John Buscema, the What If? #35 and Bizarre Adventures #28 Elektra stories, Man Without Fear with JR JR, Elektra Lives!, the famous Born Again story he did with his Batman: Year One collaborator David Mazzucchelli,  Elektra Assassin and the DD Graphic Novel both of which he did with Bill Sienkiewicz, there’s plenty of material for a volume 2 Frank Miller DD Omninbus!  This volume’s retail price tag of $99.99 is pretty steep, I admit, but I’ve seen it online for around $65 so it can be had for less than retail, for sure.  Of all the Omnibuses Marvel’s released this one may well be their best.

[Open palm]

Green Arrow #74. I love the artwork, even though the story was a disappointment. The grudges between heroes persist. Even worse, Jason Todd and Mia can't knife fight for sh*t. Deunan Knute (Appleseed) can dice them anytime!

[Wise Son]

Mary Jane had in fact died and it was due to radiation poisoning from being so close to Peter for all the years that she was, her death was payment for loving him. (Let’s all remember that Pete was bitten by a radioactive spider and in essence his blood was poisoned)

I thought it said she dies because of 'regular exposure to his radioactive bodily fluids'. What made that disturbing for me is that it seemed they weren't implying that she was regularly exposed to his blood, but rather.... I'm leaving it there, they were a married couple, you can tell where I'm going.

[Open palm]

Didn't they use that radiation excuse first in the death of Betty Ross Banner? But it was the Abomination who slipped her poison, not Bruce's radioactive body.

[Mastrmynd]

so unprotected sex with pete killed her?
dayam.

i wonder what kinda mutant baby they would have had.

[Wise Son]

i wonder what kinda mutant baby they would have had.

Some kind of 8-armed red-headed abomination.

[Mastrmynd]

i was waiting for someone to say somethin' smart like "Mayday Parker."

Thanks for keepin it real, Wise.

[Hypestyle]

Spider-Woman: Origin
Writers- Bendis, Reed
Art- Luna Brothers
Grade:  A-

   On a scale of superheroes, I’m not sure where Spider-Woman lies.  Sure enough, female heroines have had an uphill battle getting into the hearts of preteen boys.  In the late 70’s, I didn’t have a problem watching the Wonder Woman live action show- still, if given the choice between that and back-to-back reruns of Adam West’s Batman, my far-from-adolescent sensibilities would probably have chosen West’s paunch over Ms. Carter’s bustier.  Nowadays, I can say quite the opposite- but I digress.  During the first several years of her tenure as part of Marvel’s canon, Spider-Woman was probably one of my top female heroes- not that I knew of many to begin with.  But her tacit connection to Spider-Man (the stylized eyes, the spidery powers) put her over the top compared to whoever else was in the running.  I suppose it also helped that Marvel included her in a heck of a lot of its promotional merchandise—along with Spidey (Man), the Hulk, and Captain America, Spider-Woman was featured on 7-11 Slurpee cups, candy bar contests, coloring & activity books, kids clothing, and more.
   But what is exactly the origin of this femme fury?  To find out, one must begin in the late 1970’s.  This was the decade that feminism became fully entrenched in popular discourse (Roe vs. Wade, the Equal Rights Amendment debate), and both feature films & television were experimenting more with female protagonists in adventure vehicles:  The many films of Pam Grier, Angie Dickinson’s Police Woman and the iconic Charlie’s Angels come to mind.  Clearly, some of them were more ‘exploitative’ than others, but at least the suits were trying.  Over in the four-color world of comics, the editorial powers that be were likely trying to figure out how to cash in on the trend.  For a brief while, Wonder Woman had her costume snatched away, deemphasizing her ‘sexiness’ and became a plainsclothes martial artist, which (perhaps ironically) raised the ire of Gloria Steinem.  DC soon reversed course and put her back in her red, gold & blue glory. 
   In any case, Princess Diana (um, of Paradise Island) had long been an iconic comic book figure in mainstream culture for decades.  And she belonged to DC.  Marvel really didn’t have a comparable analog to speak of.  Up until the time that such soon-to-be legends as Chris Claremont and others began their writing tenures at Marvel, most of Marvel’s lady avengers were what one could pejoratively describe as “housewife heroines”:  lady superheroes who, at least in theory, had formidable abilities (Invisible Girl, Marvel Girl, Scarlet Witch), but more often than not, spend a good deal of time having to be rescued by their male counterparts.  Indeed, “poison maiden and the great b*tch” by Susan Wood was published in 1974.
   And yet, while it could easily be argued that cultural issues were at work concerning the genesis of Spider-Woman, there was likely also another, albeit more cynical, reason- capitalism.  To be specific, there was allegedly discussion among the higher-ups at Marvel that they should create female versions of some of their top characters, if only to prevent some other company from doing it first—thus having the legal upper hand for any future projects based on them. The Invaders series had already birthed a Miss America, so three major characters ended up being introduced- the She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and of course, Spider-Woman.  Each of them were quickly spun off into their own series- out of the three, Spider-Woman’s initial run was the longest, lasting roughly 50 issues.  Spider-Woman could crawl on walls, was super-strong, could cast energy bolts (called ‘venom blasts’) and she could glide on air currents with the sheer membranes on her costume.
   Unfortunately, at the end of her series’ run, the character found herself stripped of her powers and retiring her heroic identity for a life as a private investigator in San Francisco.  A second Spider-Woman was introduced in the Marvel Secret Wars maxi-series in 1984.  Jessica Drew eventually would show up as a supporting character in Wolverine, and a handful of other titles.  By the late 90’s, however, a third—and fourth—Spider-Woman was introduced:  The first being the villainous Charlotte Witter, and the fourth being teenaged Mattie Franklin.  Jessica was given back her powers only to have them removed again, and when this incarnation of Spider-Woman saw an end to its publishing run, she again disappeared.

   Finally, Jessica Drew got reintroduced to modern comics audiences by Brian Michael Bendis through the mature Alias title—in fact, she was almost made the protagonist, but there was a standing pitch with Marvel to revive her at the time (that eventually didn’t happen).  Finally introduced as a member of the New Avengers, Bendis gave her back her full complement of powers—including being able to genuinely fly now, instead of just gliding—along with an almost maddening backstory of being a double agent for both SHIELD and HYDRA.

   The TPB Spider-Woman: Origin offers the definitive origin of the first Spider-Woman.  I guess.  Depending on your memory for minutia, there are some conflicting stories concerning Spider-Woman’s origin.  I never got to read most of the original Spider-Woman run, so I have to admit I’m not intimately familiar with any of them.  Well, except the TV cartoon origin:  in it, Jessie’s dad was a research scientist studying spiders- a pre-teen Jess opens a glass cage with one of the big bugs, and it leaps out (!), biting her.  Dad Drew saves her life with an antidote serum derived from the venom; from there on, Jess grows up to be the editor of a magazine, and whirls herself into her trademark costume whenever trouble arises. 
   Her original comics origin was somewhat different, and more than a little bizarre:  In it, back in the 1920’s, her father, Jonathan Drew, worked with a partner named Herbert Edgar Wyndham.  The latter pretended to be simply a human geneticist, but in reality was the High Evolutionary- who was once human but alien forces gave him unprecedented cosmic power & technology which he then used to pursue wildly disastrous experiments.  They were stationed at Wundagore Mountain in Marvel’s fictional Eastern European country of Transia; a very young Jessica got exposed to some radioactive material, and was poisoned.   Desperate, the elder Drew convinced Wyndham to place his daughter in a stasis tube, where she was kept alive for decades, and being injected with a derivative of spider-protein.  When she was finally revived decades later, she was now a young adult woman- but was brainwashed by HYDRA to be an assassin for them—a confrontation with Nick Fury snapped her out of it, and she then became a super-hero.
Bendis, along with co-author Brian Reed, turn all of this on its head.  You see, it seems that our beloved Jessica Drew was mind-mucked quite royally by HYDRA (she and the ex-subjects of Weapon X could form a support group).  Apparently, she was only born a few decades ago, when her parents were both scientists working under the tacit assumption that this was a British government grant financing their work.  Miles Warren was Drew’s partner, and this Wyndham was not the High Evolutionary, but a British general secretly in HYDRA’s camp.  Drew and his team had developed a machine that could map the DNA from a living creature and potentially imprint certain characteristics into another.  So far they were only working with arachnids—the latest being a ‘Wundagore Widow’- like a black widow, but red, with a yellow underbelly- sound familiar?
Anyway, the General shows up unannounced, and during an impromptu tour of the lab, Drew’s wife accidentally steps in front of the laser-mapping device as Warren activates it—with the Wundagore Widow in between.  The result is that the laser beam pulsates right through the spider, and into the belly of Miriam Drew—who is pregnant.  The obsessive Mr. Drew is flabbergasted, and begins resenting his wife—his surly attitude does not change even after Jessica is born perfectly healthy—perhaps too healthy—he secretly takes fluid samples, injects her with serums and records the data as if Jessica is just another experiment.  When Miriam finds out, she is horrified, and in her confrontation with Jonathan, he becomes enraged and starts beating her.  Observing this, young Jessica lashes out with her first venom blast, and falls unconscious.
When Jessica wakes up, she has aged 10 years—it is eventually revealed that HYDRA did this to her, keeping her sedated and continuing experiments on her.  She is then indoctrinated with other young people, and molded into a HYDRA agent, including being trained in combat by the Taskmaster.  A planned rescue of a fellow HYDRA agent goes badly, and Nick Fury reveals the sad truth of her life to her.  Everyone at HYDRA, including her first boyfriend Jared, knows that they are terrorists.  From there, Jessica bolts, dropping ‘off-grid’ several times over the course of a few years.  Eventually, she dyes her hair, discovers that her parents are still alive (which doesn’t end well), and that HYDRA plans to use several other women in its “Arachne” project.  Seeking personal revenge, and still haunted by the brainwashing visions (she occasionally sees her father as a werewolf, as well as the Taskmaster; her nanny Bova is briefly seen as a humanoid heifer), she confronts her father one final time at an oil rig-turned-HYDRA base.  As you might guess, stuff gets blown up, big time.  In the epilogue, Jessica and Fury come to an understanding, and Spider-Woman starts her heroic career in San Francisco.
Overall this is a good TPB to pick up—The Luna Brothers’ art has a slight manga touch, and Bendis’ dialogue is mostly solid, only occasionally diverting to eccentricity.  The retconning is handled plausibly, though one has to wonder- what did HYDRA have to gain from having her think that her dad worked with the High Evolutionary, and her nanny was a walking cow?

[masigl4179]

10 books/9 picks for March 14, 2007
9) Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes#26/#27- Overall, I have no problems with this title but I'm just curious about the overall direction of the title and I'm still not sure what the heck Supergirl is doing there yet.
8. The New Avengers#28- I liked the previous issue, but I think my boys Kev and Marcus have poisoned me against this title. Sure it wasn't as good as last issue but I'm just not sure how bad it really was.
7) Iron Man#15-M Ok, Tony Stark is a Machiavellian dick but damn if this is not an interesting direction for his character. Tony Stark is the Director of Shield and I know that it's all gonna come falling down especially when the Hulk comes back later on this year.
6) Green Lantern Corps#10- This issue was ok after the Dark Side of the Green Storyline. We got some good Kilowog moments and I'm really interested in what's going to happen with Sorank Natu and her new partner.
5)Teen Titans#44- Every time I try to quit this title Geoff Johns throws in some new concept to reel me back in. This time it's Deathstroke and Titans East. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my girl Cassandra Cain, Batgirl my not necessarily be evil.
4) Stormwatch: PHD#5-I really dig this title and although I never really followed the old title I'm happy to know how the old members survived their battle to the death. Also, I really like the set-up for this story with Jackson King being interviewed for a black leadership magazine.
3)52 Week 45- What can I say? We all knew it was coming... Black Adam went the f*ck off and perhaps, dare I say maybe rightfully so. Still this issue brings up a lot of concerns about how power; in this case absolute power corrupts. I mean sure I feel sorry for Black Adam and he suffered a terrible tragedy but does that give him the right to murder a million people in a country.
2)Fables #58- Of course Fables is off the chain like always but I like how the story is told from Ambrose's perspective and we finally found out what happened to Bigby's brother.
1) Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8#1- Yes, this title claims my number one spot for the week, because it is one of the best written #1 issues I've ever read. Joss Whedon's writing is off the chain this issue because if you watched the last season of Buffy this issue picks up right where it left off.