Weekly Comics Round-Up 25/10/2012

TEEN TITANS #13 (DC COMICS)

Scott Lobdell continues his gritty reinvention of the popular team of teenage superheroes, but unfortunately not to the liking of this reviewer. I've had issues with this volume of Teen Titans from the very start, but mostly due to DC throwing away the long history the core characters had together in the previous DC universe. The New 52 incarnations have been barely recognisable and not even remotely as fun as their original counterparts. However, my big fault with this issue isn't due to the screwy continuity, merely that the issue itself is particularly dull. In what is meant to be 'The Bloody Origin of Wonder Girl', Cassie falls prey to the trappings of every whirlwind romance ever written. The dashing stranger, the seductive locales, the "heartbreaking" trauma that rips the lovers apart, etc. By the time any genuine plot kicks in, about some supernaturally haunted armour, I'd grown sick of the pair of them and actually WANTED something horrible to happen to split them up. Of course, all of this is told in retrospect, with Red Robin and Superboy offering snarky comments at appropriate moments. However, the one thing that did make me smile reading the issue? Seeing Superboy back in his t-shirt and jeans motif from pre-relaunch. I don't suppose it's a lasting change, but I'll always prefer an actual teenage look for the character, as opposed to his Tron suit.

3 out of 10

THE INCREDIBLE HULK #15 (MARVEL COMICS)

Bringing to a close Jason Aaron's largely botched run on the character, we have the final issue of this volume (soon to be relaunched once again as Indestructible Hulk under the far more capable Mark Waid). After well over a year of both Hulk and Banner trying to kill one another, they've decided to put their differences aside and team up to take down the real villain...like every other Hulk story known to man. I can only describe this issue, as fun as it is, as a massive reset button. The two halves of the psyche have been reunited, the villain put in their place and any lasting consequences of Banner's stint as a mad scientist erased. The last thing in the world any story should do is put everything away tidily and leave it all exactly as you found it, but this series does. In years to come, this volume will be little more than a footnote in the continuing adventures of Bruce Banner and his big green split personality. Where the cinematic incarnation soared to new heights this past summer, the comic equivalent sunk to new lows. Just when everyone wanted to read about a likable, wry, fun Bruce Banner, Marvel offered up an evil madman. Talk about a misfire.

5 out of 10

 AVENGERS VS X-MEN: CONSEQUENCES #3 (MARVEL COMICS)

Picking up from last week's fantastic issue, we continue to watch Scott Summers aka Cyclops traverse the physical dangers of prison, not to mention the political ramifications, even from his locked cell. This series was initially little more than a curious exploration of the aftermath of a larger crossover, but with every passing issue becomes something more. Kieron Gillen has been doing wonderful work with the character of Scott Summers ever since his run on Uncanny X-Men began and Cyclops formed the Extinction Team. That continued guiding hand pays off in spades here, as the character remains fundamentally consistent, even in such a traumatic period of his life. Forget that Uncanny X-Men came to an end last week, this could be yet another issue and I wouldn't bat an eye. The most impressive aspect of this book is that despite the lead character's incarceration, despite the world at large hating him, despite the superhero community in an uproar over him, Cyclops has never been more in control of the situation. He may be conflicted over his role in the death of Professor X, but he continues to be the same man who united the Mutant race when no one else could and I don't get the feeling he's willing to give up that leadership role just yet. No matter how many replacements Captain America puts forward in his place. All in all, an excellent book that continues threads from Uncanny and masterfully sets up the soon to debut All-New X-Men.

8 out of 10

INVINCIBLE #96 (IMAGE COMICS)

For the past several issues, we've been witnessing flashbacks to Robot and Monster Girl's time in the hyper-accelerated Flaxan dimension. Which led to the untimely reveal that Monster Girl had secretly fathered a child with a native! Don't even get me started on the logistics of a girl fathering a child, I always assumed the Monster was a girl too, but I guess it's...confused. Anyway, the conflict with her progeny is wrapped up quickly, leaving a fair portion of the book to deal with the emotional impact of the revelation. Robot seemed to take the news quite hard previously, but if anything, it brings about a heartwarming reunion for the couple. I'm just going to ignore the deep dark secret he's hiding (even though I know it's bound to come out later!). Meanwhile, there's a hilarious little subplot about Mark (thought the series had forgotten about him, didn't you), wherein he and Eve attempt to rekindle their sex life in the wake of losing his powers. Sufficed to say, he's clearly been taking the easy road all these years, as his technique could use some finesse. Not a standout issue of the series, but it keeps the proverbial plates spinning for another month. Essential in the buildup to a landmark like issue 100.

7 out of 10

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Weekly Round-Up 23/08/2012

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #692

A nerdy high school student visits a laboratory with his class, only to be granted superpowers. Sound familiar? Well this time, it's Peter Parker on the outside looking in, as one of his demonstrations inadvertently creates a new hero by the name of Alpha! However, that is where the similarity ends, as Alpha quickly goes off the rails and uses his newfound powers for all the wrong things! What was initially touted as Spidey's first sidekick, soon becomes an in-continuity What If story. With no pretense of a secret identity, Alpha uses his abilities to do what we all would - make money, impress girls, make fools of jocks, etc. This was a fun opening chapter to a story that I'm sure will have dire consequences for our favourite wall-crawler. The bigger Alpha's profile gets (and his ego at that), the more attention he attracts... 8/10

GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #12

This series has always struck me as the odd one out among it's Green Lantern brethren. The premise of all the Lantern Corps uniting as one sprang out of Blackest Night, where it was used most effectively. At that time, the team consisted of only the most high profile of Lanterns, whether it be Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Carol Ferris, etc. These were the proverbial cream of the crop. However, this ongoing series has basically been surviving on scraps, as all those other characters are busy elsewhere, giving the impression this is strictly the B-team. To my surprise, it wasn't as bad as I expected. As their first year draws to a close, so does their conflict against the almighty Invictus. But that isn't the real narrative meat of the issue. Instead, we finally find out who stole all those Lantern rings way back in Issue 1 and just what they hoped to achieve by sending them to Kyle Rayner. These reveals are far more satisfying than any random slugfest with a musclebound villain. The issue ends on an ominous note, leaving me dying to know what role this team will play in the DC universe going forward. 7/10

ULTIMATE COMICS: THE ULTIMATES #14

This book is a mess, plain and simple. Whether it be the plotting, telling an insane story about States succeeding and Texas threatening to nuke the rest of America. More so, the art varies wildly from page to page. One reveling in realism, another boldly stylised, as if it were straight from a cartoon. In a year where "The Avengers" is pulling in a billion dollars worldwide, how does the series that inspired it flounder so badly? Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention quite how ugly the redesigned costumes of Captain America and Iron Man are. Both are clunky and cumbersome, which is the last thing you'd expect icons to be wearing. This book reminds me alot of Squadron Supreme post-JMS. It's ugly, directionless and missing the magic that made it a must-read in the first place. This is the reanimated corpse of a once great series. Avoid at all costs. 1/10

UNCANNY X-MEN #17 

Despite falling smack dab in the middle of AvX, this arc has been more of a side story about the Phoenix Five (still intact at this point) taking down long-time foe, Mister Sinister. It's actually rather handy the focus of the event isn't on this adventure, as it would undercut everything the main series was putting across. While the combined might of every single Avenger struggled to make a dent in one of the Phoenix Five, Mister Sinister keeps ALL FIVE captive for an entire issue. Admittedly, there's a panel that proves the Phoenix is too powerful to contain, but to have such an unstoppable force...stopped, is a little strange. The majority of the issue falls to the remainder of Cyclops' Extinction team i.e. Psylocke, Storm, Magneto and Danger, as they plot to sneak their way into Sinister's castle and liberate their comrades. The teamwork on display is fantastic and even with all the ulterior motives flying around, these are combinations that work. Infact, this issue features my favourite Psylocke moment ever, bar none. I've never liked the character before, so to hear myself laughing out loud at her antics was a complete surprise. I'm positively begging for that to be her new catchphrase. It'd rival "it's clobberin' time" and "flame on". 8/10

The New Avengers #28 Review

For those that haven't been following the universe-spanning events of "Avengers vs X-Men", the Phoenix Force has returned to Earth and splintered, taking five of the X-Men (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus and Magik) as hosts. Despite the Phoenix Five doing everything in their power to make the world a better place, ranging from solving world hunger to providing electricity to areas without, the Avengers have decided such incomprehensible power cannot be trusted in the hands of mere mortals and that it will only be a matter of time before the X-Men are corrupted from within. As a result, the Phoenix Five have outlawed the Avengers as a group, driving them underground. This particular issue of New Avengers tells the tale of three captured team members - Hawkeye, Spider-Woman and Luke Cage, as they struggle with imprisonment and plot to escape the X-Men's brig.

First things first, glad to see that Hawkeye's condition has greatly improved since we last saw him in the pages of Avengers vs X-Men. He'd infuriated Emma Frost to such an extent, she decided Clint deserved to die and attempted to roast him like a marshmallow! There's no hint of his injuries here, so all seems to have gone well when Cyclops brought him back to life through sheer willpower. They even put him back in his costume, which I had assumed was burned up during the initial scuffle, but that's a minor quibble.

Unfortunately, while this issue may have brought an Avenger back to life, it certainly does no favours for their public relations. At several points throughout the story, the imprisoned heroes act disturbingly like psychopaths. Hawkeye and Spider-Woman being the pair most at fault. I suppose you could understand their behaviour taking their associations with SHIELD and their past life as spies into account, but they go to some questionable extremes to take down their X-Men captors. One flings a plate into the throat of a young girl and proceeds to break her arm, while the other manages to obtain a pen to write a letter...and holds it to her sympathetic teenage captor's neck, threatening to kill her. So these supposed superheroes are more than happy to physically assault teenagers and when that doesn't work, threaten their lives. Which part of these characterisations sounded good to Brian Michael Bendis as he was writing?

Thankfully, it's not a complete loss, as the moments where they aren't being totally out of character are actually rather charming. There's a particularly funny beat when Spider-Woman attempts to rescue Hawkeye from his cell, only for him to think it's a shape-shifter imitating her. The romance between the pair continues to be a highlight across the entire Avengers franchise, while also raising questions after coming out the same week as Avengers Assemble #5 which depicted an illicit kiss with Black Widow. It just goes to show, they can take the quiver away from Clint Barton, but he always has one "arrow" in reserve.

Luke Cage is the Avenger who comes out of the issue with his reputation most intact. Rather than follow suit with his deplorable colleagues, Cage's thoughts are geared entirely towards the welfare of his wife, Jessica Jones, and their baby, Danielle. It certainly doesn't hurt that the X-Man guarding him is Warpath. It's a lot easier to sympathise with Cage taking on a hardened veteran of X-Force over his team mates cowardly take downs of Magma and one of the Stepford Cuckoos.

As with the majority of these "Avengers vs X-Men" tie-ins, the intent comes across as muddled and confusing. Exactly which side are we meant to be rooting for here? This is a New Avengers issue, so you'd expect the title team to be sympathetic. However, all of the team's members come off extremely badly. Meanwhile, the X-Men, who are the captors in this scenario, are kind, considerate and polite to a fault. They're feeding the Avengers, bathing the Avengers, rushing to get whatever would make the Avengers feel more comfortable, but treated as the villains for their troubles. At the end of the day, the Avengers have never had a good reason to come after the X-Men or regard them so poorly. Infact, with so many members crossing over between the two, you'd expect the Avengers to think highly of Mutants. Until the day comes where the Avengers can produce a valid reason for fearing the Phoenix Five (other than "urmmmm, it could go wrong?"), I will struggle to empathise with their plight.

6 out of 10