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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Dec 30, 2019 1:48:03 GMT -5
Captain Britain #14"Should Auld Acquaintance..."Cover Date: Feb, 1986 Writer: Alan Davis Artist: Alan Davis Featured Character(s): Captain Britain Villain/s: Shoulders McGill, Silver Death, (1st appearance of both; both die) Opal Luna Sat-Yr-9, and The Fury (in flashback) Guest Stars: Meggan, Dai Thomas, Captain Britain Corps (Captain UK (Linda McQuillan) & Roma), Jeeves/Mastermind, Rick (young Miracleman), R.C.X. (Gabriel, Michael, & Rachael), Emma Collins, Alison Double, various Warpies, Mr. McShane, & Bobby Official Plot:Captain Britain and Meggan come to the assistance of the Captain's old nemesis, Dai Thomas. Brodie's View:We end our little Captain Britain run here, as this last issue tries to tie up some loose plot ends left over, while also setting things up for an uncertain future (though, luckily, most of it gets integrated into the main Marvel universe quite nicely, but we'll get to that near the end). Our main story deals with Dai Thomas, who begrudgingly goes to Brian and Meggan, asking their help in solving a case that requires a superhuman. The main culprit is just some crazy guy killing people with some machine/mutant/warpie/ hybrid thing, which CB is able to take out quite quickly. However, the main story there is Dai and Brian end up bonding, and Thomas goes from being a J. Jonah Jameson to Brian's Spider-Man, to the Commissioner Gordon to his Batman; a role he will continue on into EXCALIBUR. We also get some development on the R.C.X./Warpies/Jeeves (Mastermind) front (where it is also revealed that a blind Betsy Braddock has been helping take care of the Warpie children), as Jeeves reveals to Michael and Gabriel that Emma Collins is dying from something he caused when he was controlling her mind, and now that he has kind of become more human (and has taken a liking to her), he plans to split himself off into a Jeeves double in order to let Emma live the rest of her life out in the best way possible. His main Mastermind form, however, stays with the R.C.X. guys (or Michael, at the very least, as Gabriel goes on to kick it with Betsy for a bit) to take care of the Warpies. Of course, this ends up going down a dark path eventually, but not for some time. However, we do get somewhat of a happy ending for Captain U.K,. who we reveal near the beginning of this issue, and as told by Roma (remember her from the X-MEN run?), kind of responsible for the interdimensional craziness that has been happening, as she has been hanging around on the wrong Earth, after hers was basically destroyed by The Fury. She is convinced to come back to Otherworld, however, the blow is softened by the fact that Roma was able to go back into the past and save her husband Rick (who, after a bit of digging, I found out was meant to be Young Miracleman.... ), reuniting the husband and wife. We end the issue off with a montage that shows that everyone is pretty happy with how things turned out, ending the Captain Britain saga....at least in solo form....for some time. However, Brian and his cast of characters wouldn't remain "homeless" for long, as throughout 1986 and 87, they would be slowly integrated into the X-MEN side of the Marvel Universe. Betsy would be first, as she would be found during a NEW MUTANTS Annual dealing with Mojo, and with new eyes. Soon after, she would end up a member of the X-Men team, and most of us know how that went. Brian and Meggan would also show up in some NEW MUTANT/X-MEN Annuals, around the time that Rachel Summers would get tricked into going to Mojoworld and Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler would be severely wounded during the MUTANT MASSACRE storyline. Eventually, these X-Men characters would team up with Captain Britain and Meggan to form....you guessed it, EXCALIBUR, which would fold in a lot of the characters/plotlines we saw in this run. We will get to EXCALIBUR eventually, but for now, I will say that our next two reviews will be of new NEW MUTANT issues before moving on to another trade. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Dec 31, 2019 2:21:56 GMT -5
New Mutants #3"To The Grave"Cover Date: Feb, 2020 Writer: Ed Brisson Artist: Flaviano Armentaro Featured Character(s): Armor, Glob Herman, Maxime, & Manon Villain/s: Unidentified anti-mutant extremists (Andre, Túmulo, Hazlo, & Numerous Unnamed Others) Guest Stars: Sage, Boom Boom, Beak, Angel Salvadore, Kathy Bohusk, Charles Bohusk, Krakoa, Stepford Cuckoos (Mindee, Phoebe, & Celeste), Pixie, Anole, Rockslide, and the various Bohusk children Official Plot:While the original New Mutants are off in space, the rest of the youth of Krakoa begin to make the future they want to live in. First up - Armor’s outreach party, seeking young mutants who have chosen not to come to Krakoa. Brodie's View:It kind of feels sad to not be in the Captain Britain universe after a couple of weeks of writing about it. I might have to try and rectify that soon. Anyways, we find our way back to the current X-books, and to my favorite (so far) of that run, NEW MUTANTS. Unfortunately, we find ourselves dealing with that most dreaded of momentum killing threats, the Creative Fill In Team, as evidentially either Jonathan Hickman or Rod Reis (or both) have fallen behind already, so, now we're getting lesser writers and artists dipping in to write a story about....sorry, lesser New Mutants. Not that this and the next issue are horrible. Actually, they're decent, but coming in expecting the greatness we got with the first two issue and instead getting this is about like enjoying the first two bites of a well made steak, and then going for that third bite and seeing that your steak has been replaced with a well made Burger King Whopper. Once again, nothing against The Whopper. I actually quite enjoy Whoppers, but it's not a steak dinner. Be that as it may, I will do my best to review these issues fairly. While the New Mutant team is off in space, we pick up with some of the lesser known New Mutants still on Krakoa. In particular, Armor, from the Joss Whedon run, who is trying to find out which young mutants have not made their way to Krakoa. She picks the brain of Sage/Tessa, who picks out two names missing from the roster, Beak and Angel Salvadore (AKA two of the lamer parts of Grant Morrison's run). She eventually teams up with Glob Herman (also from the Morrison run, although, at least he looks pretty cool) and two children, Maxime and Manon (two very recent additions to the X-Clan), and they go off to Nebraska to find out why Beak and Angel skipped out on coming to mutant paradise. It turns out there's a very good reason they never came. Beak's father is suffering from a variation of Alzheimer's Disease, and is bedridden and comatose. This would be a death sentence for him, but luckily, Armor uses some of the Krakoan drugs on him, bringing him out of his coma, and starting the road to at least somewhat of a recovery. Unfortunately, a truly happy ending we don't get in this issue, as the Bohusk farm is invaded by a group of Anti Mutant Extremists who risk to take the Kroakoan drugs and sell them on the black market, and they're willing to kill everyone there (they use a mutant power restricting missile to tilt the playing field in their favor) to do it. Now, I'll say that this was a decent issue for all the bitching and griping I did in the first paragraph about it. Ed Brisson is a decent writer, and he and Flaviano Armentaro (the artist) do a decent job here. Hell, when you can make me give a shit about Beak and Angel Salvadore....you're doing okay. I just hope we're going to get more Hickman/Reis stuff before this team potentially takes things over. Not quite read to eat those Whoppers on the regular yet....not when I could get steak. In the next issue, we'll see if our makeshift team can get themselves out of the sticky situation they found themselves in at the end of this one, or if they'll need some other mutants to intervene to save their asses. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 2, 2020 5:32:35 GMT -5
New Mutants #4"Fast and Furious"Cover Date: Feb, 2020 Writer: Ed Brisson Artist: Marco Failla Featured Character(s): Boom-Boom, Armor, Glob Herman, Maxime, & Manon Villain/s: Unidentified anti-mutant extremists (Andre, Túmulo, & Numerous Unnamed Others) Guest Stars: Sage, Beak, Angel Salvadore, Kathy Bohusk, Charles Bohusk, Krakoa, Shark-Girl, Match and the various Bohusk children Official Plot:When Armor and her team set off to bring their friends home to Krakoa, they thought it'd be an easy sell and a quick trip. Then everything went sideways, and now they're in serious trouble --looks like it's time to call in the cavalry. But will that be enough to turn the tide? Brodie's View:We get Part Two of what appears to be a Three part story, as our villains (the Anti-Mutant Criminals we saw take the Bohusk Family and our four mutants from Krakoa (Armor, Glob Herman, Maxime, and Manon) hostage) explain their motivations for doing what they did. Although, we also see that the calvary, if one could count a drunk Boom-Boom to be the calvary, is on the way. We start with an ever drinking Boom-Boom getting sick of the constant party going on in Krakoa, and decides to try and find out what happened to Armor and some of the others. She goes to Sage, who fills her in on where Armor and the others went, while also giving her a good talking to for kind of wasting her mutant gift by being a drunk follower. Eventually, Boom-Boom does at least decide to do something, and she shows up at the very end; drunk and waiting to start blowing stuff up. Meanwhile, we get the other end of this story, as Armor and the others are monologued by the leader of the criminal gang that has been keeping them prisoner. Basically, they want to steal, copy, and be able to sell the Krakoan drugs on the black market, although, they at first try to act like this is some sort of a political issue (that their country would not allow the import of said drugs). Once it's kind of brought out that this is more about money than helping people, this kind of sets up what happens as soon as the dampening collars start getting messed up (which happens to due to trickery by Angel Salvadore, who fools one of the guards into turning off her collar, as she needs to be able to vomit up stuff on her food before she can eat it), as now the criminals no longer have the potential sympathy that might have had otherwise. Just as the mutants start to break free, Boom-Boom shows up to make things even more....explosive. In the next issue of New Mutants, well, we will hopefully see the end of this storyline/move back to the main story, as that has been GREAT. As far as the next review goes, I have the next trade picked out, and I will give you the hint that I'll be dipping back over to the DC side of the pool for the next week or so. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 3, 2020 0:53:10 GMT -5
Justice League of America #19"The Super-Exiles of Earth!"Cover Date: May, 1963 Writer: Gardner Fox Artist: Mike Sekowsky Featured Character(s): Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, The Atom, & Aquaman) Villain/s: Dr. Destiny & the Justice League Dopplegangers Guest Stars: Snapper Carr & Jean Loring Official Plot:Each of the Justice League members are shocked when their doppelgangers get the drop on them. While the real Justice League are knocked out, the impostors commit crimes for which the real Leaguers are blamed. After being arrested, they plead Not Guilty in court and with the help of Jean Loring they are exiled from Earth. In space the League begins to figure out how they can return to Earth and clear their names. Deciding to return to the Earth in their civilian guises, the Justice League reveal their true identities to each other for the first time. Battling their doppelgangers, the League manage to defeat their impostors. Clearing their names, the League soon learns that Dr. Destiny created a device that, in conjunction with the evil side of their minds, created the duplicate League members. After destroying Destiny's device, the Justice League ensures that Destiny will be placed in solitary so he cannot create another devastating machine. In order to protect their loved ones, each member of the League agrees to be exposed to Amnesium from Superman's Fortress of Solitude in order to forget their memory of their true identities from one another. Brodie's View:So, the next trade, as one would expect from the intro above, is going to be one covering The Greatest Tales Ever Told: JLA, or in other words, the greatest stories of the Justice League of America. I will say that there was a minor story at the start of this trade; a three page story from 1982 (and in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #200) recapping the origin of the original JLA (in recent years retconned to not include Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman). However, there's not much to that, other than the first threat the team faced...well, and George Perez art, which is great, but I decided to jump ahead to the first actual story included in the trade. For that, we're heading back to 1963, and it's interesting to read this classic story while knowing that across the way, Marvel was redefining the super hero story at the same time that this one was hitting news stands. That all being said, in this particular story, Doctor Destiny, a villain with the power to affect/create things from dreams, tricks the Justice League into inadvertently creating superior versions of themselves that wind up quickly taking the actual JLA out. This is due to the fact that these dream Justice League-ers are not subject to the various weaknesses that affect the actual heroes, so, they just use those weaknesses against them. They then frame the actual JLA, forcing them to be exiled from Earth, as there isn't a way that they can prove their innocence (and there's no jail that could really hold them). In space, the JLA see that their evil twins have begun to use their powers to take over the U.S,. so, being the heroes they are, they decide to try to take the copies out again only to be beaten again, and trapped and submerged underground. An interesting thing to note about this is that being that their superhero alter egos are now hated criminals, the team must basically fight their respective copies in their secret identities (which is also where they first reveal those identities to each other). Once underground, the team figure out a way to take out their evil copies; by having The Atom shrink down small enough to mess with their brains, making them all doppy and unable to fight (of course, one wonders why they just didn't think of that the second time they fought them, but, hey, 1963 comics were written pretty much for children, so, logic didn't really play a huge part in things). Once the doppelgangers have been taken out, and the JLA's innocence been proven, they figure out that Doctor Destiny was behind this, and put him in a special cell (as he was in prison the entire time) to prevent him from trying something like this again. Superman then promises to bring back something that will make them (and the world) forget that this had ever happened, both to protect their reputations and their secret identities, bringing things back to Status Quo for the next issue. This was a decent start to this trade, story wise, but I will be honest and say that a lot of Pre 70's stuff, particularly Pre 70's DC stuff, leaves me kind of cold. I think because comics were viewed and written a certain way before writers and artists started using the creative freedoms won in the late 60's in order to make the art form more complex than it had been previously. Still, this was decent for what it was, and it was cool that the JLA was basically an All Star Roster at this point. It'll be interesting to see that change over the points we'll be touching on throughout the rest of this trade. In the next issue, we'll jump to the late 1960's to see what happens when Snapper Carr (the only sidekick character to make 60's Rick Jones seem Hep and "With It") turns traitor. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 4, 2020 2:06:31 GMT -5
Justice League of America #77"Snapper Carr -- Super-Traitor!"Cover Date: Dec, 1969 Writer: Dennis O'Neil Artist: Dick Dillin Featured Character(s): Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, The Atom, & Black Canary) Villain/s: John Dough (The Joker in disguise) Guest Stars: Snapper Carr Official Plot:When Snapper Carr is recognized as a friend of the Justice League by a group of malcontents, they attack him in the street until he is saved by John Dough, who is proclaimed as "Mr. Normal" and is hailed as the "Most Normal Man in America." Dough manages to convince Snapper into joining his cause to make America "more normal" and help him in his campaign to get rid of super-human "freaks." Astonishingly, Snapper begins to believe in Mr. Dough's words and agrees to help him. At Justice League headquarters, Green Arrow and Black Canary are on monitor duty when suddenly Snapper's distress signal goes off. Because Batman and the Atom are closest, Green Arrow has them sent out to check it out. There the two are betrayed by Snapper who gases Batman for Dough to take prisoner and leaving Atom. Dough has Batman tied up in a steel room filled with poisonous gas, but straps the Caped Crusader in a oxygen mask and forces him to watch a monitor that displays Dough's plot. Dough would then disguise himself as Batman and infiltrate JLA's headquarters telling the Justice League (after hearing the Atom's account of events) that Dough has invited them to see his rally and answer for themselves. Dough makes a mistake when he doesn't recognize Black Canary, as she hasn't been revealed as a member to the public yet. During the rally, through secret micro-chips in the JLA's tickets and a special ray cannon, Dough manages to make the JLA go temporarily berserk during the rally, and Black Canary is the only one lucid to fight off the crowd. Meanwhile, Batman breaks free from his confines by breaking the TV monitor and using its wires to cause a spark which ignites his oxygen tank causing an explosion that blows open his trap before he can be effected by the poison gas. Realizing that he's been stashed in the Trump Satellite he deduces who John Dough really is and rushes off to stop him. While at a congressional hearing, Dough is once more posing as Batman and telling those gathered that the JLA is planning to overthrow the government. Just then the real Batman bursts in and unmasks Dough who manages to escape the Justice League by tossing a grenade at the crowd, forcing the Justice League to save the crowd from harm. Green Arrow manages to nab Snapper Carr and they confront him with the fact that he betrayed the team. He reveals that he actually believes in John Dough's ideas and that he's quitting the Justice League to figure out who he really is. Returning to their base to try and figure out how to track down John Dough, they are taken by surprise when they find out that he's been hiding out in their base the whole time. Armed with Kryptonite ray guns that can effect Superman, the Justice League are outgunned until the Black Canary manages to control her sonic powers enough to use them on Dough knocking him so the JLA can subdue him. After Batman briefs them on the clues of their adversary's identity, "John Dough" is unmasked, revealing Batman's old foe the Joker. With the secret location of their base now compromised, the JLA decides that it's time to find a new secret base. Brodie's View:We jump ahead six years and some change to sit right at the end of the 1960's, and it's pretty clear that around this period DC realized that it was going to have to make some major changes with it's books to catch up to where Marvel was, both in sales and fan reception, at this point. Cue Dennis O'Neil, who among other writers and artists, started to make some drastic changes in the major DC books around this period. Part of this change was introducing social commentary into these new stories, and making the heroes, who had long been pretty one dimensional (as had the stories) into the multi layered characters they would eventually evolve into by the time we reach the 1980's. When O'Neil took over writing the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA comic, it was pretty clear that some shake ups had to happen, and getting rid of "Hep" side characters like Snapper Carr was just the first part of that plan. Carr was introduced to the DC Universe during that period where the publishers/writers felt that teenage sidekick characters were needed to appeal to what they felt was their audience at the time. I can say that DC wasn't the only party guilty of this thinking, as Rick Jones was the obvious Marvel version of a Snapper Carr type of character. However, I will say that Marvel at least tried to do more with Jones than DC did with Carr (Carr would eventually get super powers during the late 80's/90's period, but few cared), as they did give Jones super powers a few different times during his existence as a character. For most of his existence, Snapper Carr was just kind of a corny sidekick character that spoke the slang at the time (which dates him pretty horribly; as horribly as a character, written today, would be saying things like "Lit" and "Fam" when looked at 20-30 years later). Anyways, in this story, Carr comes under the sway of a man calling himself John Dough, who advocates for "being normal," which automatically suggests that he is against anything that isn't considered "normal." Snapper instantly jumps on his bandwagon (made worse by the revelation that Carr was not brainwashed in any kind of way by Dough, and did this all because he felt inferior to the super powered...well, other than Green Arrow and Batman...JLA), and helps this suddenly very "Un-Normal (in the sense that he has all these gadgets and devices at the ready to take down the JLA; something Carr is evidentially too stupid to think about)" Joe take out his supposed friends. Dough kidnaps Batman, and puts him in a deadly, yet escapable trap, forcing him to watch as he dismantles the rest of the League. Of course, Batman escapes, and helps stop Dough, who we eventually find out to be The Joker in a mask. This is interesting to note, as this is the last appearance of the classic Joker. When he makes his comeback in the next decade, he will be the darker, more murderous Joker we've come to know and love today. Anyways, this all leaves the situation between Carr and the League, and Dennis O'Neil using Green Arrow, of course ( ), as his mouthpiece to make a social statement about how we shouldn't villainize those who are different. Snapper leaves the team for good (at least in any kind of permanent role), and the JLA end the issue realizing that they need a new base now. This will end up leading them to the JLA Satellite (actually in the very next issue), and our next era of the team, which we will be tackling in the next story, as we jump to a most pivotal year in comics history; 1975, and "The Great Identity Crisis." I will say, before moving on, that this was definitely more like it, story wise, compared to the last story, and I personally really dug the social message, as it's one that always bares repeating....especially in these volatile times. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 6, 2020 2:08:02 GMT -5
Justice League of America #122"The Great Identity Crisis!"Cover Date: Sept, 1975 Writer: Martin Pasko Artist: Dick Dillin Featured Character(s): Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, The Atom, & Aquaman) Villain/s: Dr. Light Guest Stars: Ira West & Andy Official Plot:Invading Superman's Fortress of Solitude in one of his light-disguises, Dr. Light uses Superman's store of amnesium and one of his special weapons to pluck the knowledge of their secret identities from the heroes' minds and cause them to believe that each is actually the other. Green Arrow thinks he is Ray Palmer, Batman thinks he is Oliver Queen, Green Lantern believes himself to be Barry Allen, the Atom becomes Hal Jordan, and Flash assumes the identity of Bruce Wayne. Only Aquaman, who has no secret identity, and the invulnerable Superman are unaffected, and they set out to rescue their comrades from Dr. Light's death-traps. In their confused states, the heroes are easy victims, but Superman and Aquaman (working undercover under his real name, Arthur Curry) extricate them from their difficulties. Returning to the Fortress, they fight a pitched battle against Dr. Light before overcoming him. The amnesium is destroyed, and the heroes agree that all members be told about the secret identities of everyone in the team in future, to prevent the recurrence of this dilemma. Brodie's View:We jump from the late 60's to the mid 70's, and deal with a now all male Justice League (yup, even the "one woman" rule didn't happen here; the mid 70's League is a sausage fest) who end up inadvertently (as he's hidden within what appears to be a giant ice monster) bringing Dr. Light back to Superman's fortress of solitude. Once there, he uses a special stone to steal the League's secret identities (other than Superman, who is immune to the stone's effects, and Aquaman, who doesn't have a secret identity), and scramble the identities of most of the League's non Superman/Aquaman members. What this leads to is kind of like the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode, "Tabula Rasa," expect here the memories are shuttled off to different people. In other words, Batman thinks he's Green Arrow; Green Lantern believes he's The Flash...and so on. Eventually, things get settled out and Dr. Light is defeated, and the League decide to avoid future situations like this and just tell each other their secret identities and be done with it. This is, I guess, the most historically important part of this story, and I'm assuming the reason it was included in this collection, as it's kind of similar to what happened in the first story, at least in the sense of the hero's secret identity being the main thrust of the plot. Otherwise, there really would be no reason, as for being a story written in the mid 70's, this very much feels like a story that should have happened ten years earlier, as there is none of the social commentary we saw in the last review, nor the high drama that we would see from the JLA (and to be honest, most superhero stories from this period) during this era. It's just kind of a simple "one and done" story. That's not to say that there isn't anything to note, though. I will say that the biggest thing involves the villain, Dr. Light, who, as we learned in the mid 2000's IDENTITY CRISIS story, will eventually (a few years from this story) rape Sue Dibny aboard the JLA satellite. This will lead to his being mystically lobotomized by Zatanna, as he had learned the secret identities of all of the League members at the point, and had bragged about revealing them. He would spend most of the next two decades being a mentally slow "Jobber to the Stars" bad guy for various teams to beat up, until having his memory fixed during the period after IDENTITY CRISIS, making him a decent level threat for teams like the JLA again. For our next review, we will start our longest story in this trade; a three parter that happens at the tail end of the 1970's, as we will learn about "The League That Defeated Itself!" GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 7, 2020 1:37:10 GMT -5
Justice League of America #166"The Long Way Home"Cover Date: May, 1979 Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: Dick Dillin Featured Character(s): Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Black Canary, Elongated Man, & Red Tornado) Villain/s: The Secret Society of Super-Villains (Wizard, Star Sapphire, Floronic Man, Blockbuster, & Professor Zoom) Guest Stars: Traya, & The Justice Society of America (Doctor Fate, Doctor Mid-Nite, Flash (Jason Garrick), Alan Scott, Huntress, & Star-Spangled Kid) Official Plot:While the other members attend Sindella's funeral, Red Tornado is ambushed in the JLA satellite by the Secret Society of Super-Villains, who materialize in the transporter following their escape from Earth-Two. In order to rescue their souls from limbo, they need to use an artifact from the Bronze Age -- a statue of a Griffin, to switch them with the JLA. When the Justice League heroes attack, the Secret Society members are able to switch bodies with them, using an ancient griffin statue with mystical attributes. The Wizard becomes Superman, Blockbuster becomes Batman, Reverse-Flash becomes Green Lantern, Star Sapphire becomes Zatanna, and Floronic Man becomes Wonder Woman, while the defeated heroes take on the appearances of the five villains. Brodie's View: Another switcheroo story to close out the 1970's era of the Justice League, as we enter the first of a three part story that comes off of another multi part story (which ended with the death of the mother of the JLA's newest member, Zatanna). In this case, however, the League aren't being switched with dream versions of themselves, but rather an actual group of supervillains, who materialize in the League's transporter after being stuck on an alternate Earth. They quickly take out the android Red Tornado, who was on monitor duty while the rest of the group attended Zatanna's mother's funeral. They then steal a magical statue, and lure the League to a specific location in order to enact their plan. Eventually, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Zatanna arrive, and are jumped bu the Secret Society, who are able to subdue the group long enough to make the switch. This ends this part of the story with the supervillain group now inhabiting the bodies of some of the most powerful JLA members. This was a pretty decent story (and I guess this version of the issue didn't include 4-5 pages that ended up winding up the last story, so, I'm judging on only 3/4's of an issue) for what it was, but it does kind of crack me up that DC was still doing these types of stories, when Marvel was kind of re-inventing the wheel when it came to their superhero teams at the time. I mean, this story, as decent as it was/is, was happening at the same time the Proteus story was happening over on the X-Men's book. Talk about being MILES apart, as far as what was possible for a comic book story can do goes. Not to crack on these stories. They've all been decent, but if this is the BEST example of a Justice League story during this period....yeah, I'm glad I stuck with Marvel (I'm still going to give this story a decent grade, though, as like I said, it was good for what it was...it just wasn't being very groundbreaking at a time when major changes were happening in the other company). In the next review, we will continue with this story, though, as the five heroes that have been thrown into the bodies of villains must try to escape and prove their innocence before this group of villains posing as heroes take out the rest of the JLA....and RULE THE WORLD!!!! GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 8, 2020 0:46:01 GMT -5
Justice League of America #167"The League That Defeated Itself"Cover Date: June, 1979 Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: Dick Dillin Featured Character(s): Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Black Canary, Elongated Man, & Red Tornado) Villain/s: The Secret Society of Super-Villains (Wizard, Star Sapphire, Floronic Man, Blockbuster, & Professor Zoom) Guest Stars: Ernest Sloane, Hi-Jack, & Ultraa Official Plot:Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna, now in the bodies of the Secret Society members, escape imprisonment aboard the JLA satellite, and attempt to return to their true forms. Using the super-villains' powers, they overcome Red Tornado (who naturally: mistakes them for the real villains) and learn the location of the Secret Society headquarters from an incarcerated former member, Hi-Jack. However, their attack is foiled by the appearance of the remaining Justice League heroes, who have been alerted by the five villains masquerading as members. All the heroes-turned-villains are captured, except Zatanna, who escapes in the guise of Star Sapphire. Brodie's View:That's the thing I like about multi part stories/runs with the same characters. It makes it much quicker and easier to do this, as the main facts/credits of the issues are pretty much the same; just some additions and subtractions here and there. Anyways, this is the middle part of a three part story that takes place in 1979, although, it really does feel like the type of story that would have taken place 15 years earlier. In fact, even though this story is spread out over three issues, it really does follow the same format as the first story we reviewed from this trade, which was written in 1963. In the last issue, we saw the Secret Society of Super-Villains use a mystical trophy to pull the old switcheroo on five of the JLA's most powerful members, and now the heroes are trapped in a special prison designed for....well, the SSS if they were in their rightful bodies. However, the team are able to use their new powers well enough to break out of said prison (as Superman had noticed a slight flaw in the design of the prison, that they exploit to escape). They try to revive Red Tornado (who was taken out by the SSS at the beginning, or where we came into, of the story), but seeing that they appear to be enemies, tries to fight back against them. This forces Zatanna, who is in the body of Star Sapphire, to use that villain's power to freeze them in place. They then try to get information about where the SSS could possibly be, when they are again attacked by the villains (and the rest of the JLA) and laid out (much like the JLA dream versions did to them in the 1963 story), except for Zatanna/Star Sapphire, who had fallen back earlier. Once again, I hate being too critical on this story, as it is very solidly written and drawn, and perhaps if I hadn't reviewed a few stories in this trade that had pretty much the very same arc, I probably wouldn't be as hard on it. It very much feels like the type of story one would have seen on an episode of SUPERFRIENDS, which was kicking ass on Saturday mornings at the time, and perhaps that was very intentional. DC seemed to run a bit later than Marvel, as it related to their product being geared toward a more mature audience, and I really shouldn't hold that against them. This was fun for what it was, and in the next issue, we will see this story wrap up, as now the JLA members who haven't been involved in the story so far must figure out what's going on and try to stop it before the villains controlling, as I said earlier, the most powerful members of the JLA (and make no mistake about it, that group of five, even discounting Batman, could take over the planet VERY quickly) decide to take over the planet. Then, we move on to the 1980's, and my favorite issue of this entire collection. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 9, 2020 2:05:43 GMT -5
Justice League of America #168"The Last Great Switcheroo"Cover Date: July, 1979 Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: Dick Dillin Featured Character(s): Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Hawkman, The Flash, Black Canary, Elongated Man, & Red Tornado) Villain/s: The Secret Society of Super-Villains (Wizard, Star Sapphire, Floronic Man, Blockbuster, & Professor Zoom) Guest Stars: None Official Plot:The Secret Society's body switch is uncovered and reversed, thanks to Zatanna. Brodie's View:^ Back to the one sentence sum ups, I see. I'll try to do my best to sum up the story a bit better. This story begins with four out of the five JLA members that were switched with the members of the Secret Society of Super Villains (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern---Zatanna, the fifth, wasn't in on the other four trying to fight the SS members hiding out in their bodies, but were overwhelmed by the full might of the JLA) at the mercy of the SS...and the rest of the Justice League, who are oblivious to the fact that they've just helped their enemies take out their allies. That is, until "Superman and Green Lantern" combine powers to toss the "SS Members (and yes, I know that I'm making them sound like Nazis, but I hate to have to type that whole name out each time...you know who I mean)" into space (actually aiming them at the sun, but the other JLA members don't know that. Green Arrow, ever the cynical old hippie, however, does freak out at the fact that they did that, and harbors a suspicion that something isn't right here. The fake JLA members, however, are able to calm them down enough to get back to the JLA satellite, however, Professor Zoom (posing as Green Lantern) ruins all of that by trying to put the make on Black Canary, who promptly sonic screams the shit out of him, and the fight is on. However, the fight doesn't last long, as the five JLA'ers in the bodies of the SS members (now with Zatanna and Red Tornado, who has realized what was going on), show back up and tilt the odds back in the favor of the heroes, and soon, the villains are subdued long enough for Zatanna to reverse the spell, and everything is five by five once again. However, later we'll reveal (once again, in IDENTITY CRISIS) that this is where Zatanna first did her memory wiping thing, as the villains, while in the bodies of the JLA members, took a look at themselves in the mirror, sans costume, to learn the secret identities of the heroes whose bodies they were inhabiting. Shortly after this, Dr. Light would break aboard the JLA satellite while the team were on a mission, and would rape Sue Dibny. A chunk of the team would return, witnessing this act, and they would mind wipe/lobotomize Dr. Light. Batman would happen to witness this, protest, and would also have his memory erased of all of this. All of this would come back to haunt the team in IC and beyond that, but that's all stories for another day and time. For now, we end things off for the 1970's with a STACKED ASS Justice League (serious, take a look at that line up above...all that's missing is 2-3 names, and you would have one of the most stacked rosters of the team in that team's history). However, that wouldn't last, as eventually those team members would drift away, leaving Martian Manhunter and a few names to try and keep the Justice League legacy going. They would bring a bunch of young heroes into the team, but that team wouldn't last (as a few of those young heroes met their deaths during the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS era). Shortly after that, DC would do a soft reboot of its universe, and a new JUSTICE LEAGUE would be formed from the ashes of the old one. That's where we pick up at in the 1980's (87, to be exact) for our next review, as the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA would simply become....the JUSTICE LEAGUE (later INTERNATIONAL). GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 11, 2020 1:23:12 GMT -5
Justice League #1"Born Again"Cover Date: May, 1987 Writer: Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis Artist: Kevin Maguire Featured Character(s): Justice League (Batman, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, Doctor Light, Martian Manhunter, & Mister Miracle) Villain/s: Terrorists (John Charles Collins & Schrick) Guest Stars: Maxwell Lord (1st Appearance of), Oberon, & Rudy Giuliani Official Plot:Guy Gardner is the first member of the latest incarnation of the Justice League to arrive for work. As each of the new members file in to their headquarters, Guy snaps off offensive and smart remarks to each of them. A brawl breaks out between them until Batman enters the room and silences Gardner with just a few words. He calls their first official meeting and tells them of his desire to keep a low profile until they establish themselves as a more cohesive team, but circumstance has other plans. Elsewhere, entrepreneur Maxwell Lord watches the media coverage and is both delighted and intrigued. A group of terrorists takes control of the United Nations General Assembly and holds them hostage. One of the people in the assemblage is Kimiyo Hoshi, the new Doctor Light. She uses her recently acquired Justice League signal device to send an S.O.S. The object was given to her by Lord, unbeknownst to the other JLers. Batman receives the call and mobilizes the team with Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate going ahead to scout. The remainder take Blue Beetle's Bug to the UN to find that Fate disappeared and the rest surreptitiously sneak into the building. Batman immediately realizes that something is wrong with these so-called terrorists. The League easily defeats them, but the terrorist leader has a bomb grafted onto his chest. Batman calls the leader's bluff, leaving him alone in a room, where he kills himself with a bullet to the head. The terrorists are actually low-rent thugs (an amalgam of former Weathermen and Black Panthers, save the leader) hired by Lord, knowing that they would be easily defeated by the Justice League. As Max watches the television footage of the affair, he gloats while holding the firing pin to the terrorist's suicide bomb. Brodie's View:Aw yeah! I would say this, along with THE NEW TEEN TITANS were probably two of the best DC runs of the 80's, at least where it concerns the mainstream superhero stuff, and this first issue is a great start to that run. Unlike the Justice League teams of the past, this team (formed out of the ashes of CRISIS OF INFINITE EARTHS and then the LEGENDS mini series that followed it) only had a few "superstar members" anchoring the team (and neither Batman or Black Canary would stick around very long). The rest of the team was made up of odd ball characters who had never stepped foot on the team before, or new variations on old members. The second leads us directly to one of the strange "glue members" that would stick with the team throughout this entire run, and that's Guy Gardner. One thing that kind of annoyed me in the past, especially where DC superhero comics were concerned, was the idea that all of the good guys were basically pals, and conflict throughout the team was always at a minimum. Oh sure, you'd get a Green Arrow who would occasionally pipe up as the conscience of the team, but for the most part, everyone got along almost like interchangeable parts. Not so in the Marvel team books, as there always lots of conflicts and fighting among team members, and that's what I loved about this new direction DC took things during its soft reboot in 86/87, and Guy Gardner was a perfect example of this. I personally always loved the fact that the Guardians ended up making a total dick head a Green Lantern, and for this short period of time, the MAIN Green Lantern, as Hal Jordan had temporarily hung up his ring. And yeah, Guy's dick-ishness has kind of been softened over the last 30 or so years, but he's in full dick mode in this issue, and it causes instant strife on the team, which is GREAT (and pretty damn funny to boot). In particular, his conflict with Batman (who tries to assume control of the team; control that would eventually move over to Martian Manhunter for a majority of this run (#1-60, for those wondering). The main story of this issue is the coming together of this team, which is manipulated into becoming THE Justice League (and without any of their knowledge...well, at least for now) by a character making his first appearance here, but will go on to major importance, not just in this run, but in the years beyond, and that's Maxwell Lord. He manipulates the main conflict the team must face (a group of rag tag terrorists that try to take over the United Nations) in order to reintroduce this new team to the public, as well as giving them a decently easy foe to beat. Lord's actions and motivations will grow a bit darker over the course of the run (and then FAR darker beyond it), but he plays an interesting and entertaining "behind the scenes" leader of the team for a good portion of the run. I won't go into too much more detail on this issue though, but I will say that it's the most entertaining story in this trade so far, and I will also say that if one is looking for a pretty great run on the JUSTICE LEAGUE to read, this is probably one of the major ones I would consider, especially if one enjoys a more light hearted approach to superhero books (not saying the team doesn't face serious threats, but that sense of wit and humor is always an underlying thread). There's characters I couldn't have given a rat's ass for before reading this run (Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, who will later join the team, for starters) that those sixty issues made pretty damn endearing to me. As I said before, this run would last five great years (and spawn a spin off, JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE) before slowly going to shit as the book would change itself to reflect the EXTREEEEME 90's. However, eventually a point would be reached where the JLA would once again be rebooted by Grant Morrison, who would go back to the idea of the JUSTICE LEAGUE being an "All Star Team," and that is where our next review will take us; to the second half of the 1990's....and Grant Morrison craziness. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 12, 2020 2:26:16 GMT -5
JLA Secret Files #1"Star-Seed"Cover Date: Sept, 1997 Writer: Grant Morrison & Mark Millar Artist: Howard Porter Featured Character(s): Justice League (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Wonder Woman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, & Aquaman) Villain/s: The Star Conqueror Guest Stars: The Spectre, Big Sir, Captain Marvel, Catwoman, Green Arrow, Impulse, Kobra, Nightwing, Robin, Steel, Supergirl, & the Thangarians (all but the first are cameos) Official Plot:The JLA must find a way to combat Starro the Conqueror. The Spectre warns them that they are destined to fail, and any interfefence with Starro's plans would actually enable the alien to conquer the universe. The JLA ask the Spectre to remove their powers to prevent Starro from taking advantage of them, and they succeed in preventing the alien's takeover of the planet. Satisfied that the future is safe in the hands of the new Justice League, Spectre returns their powers. Brodie's View:Our next stop in the history of the JLA takes us from the late 80's to the late 90's, where a lot had happened, not only with the Justice League, but with comics period. The industry had a HUGE boom and then a bust during the ten year period between the last issue we reviewed and this one, and a part of that was a burn out with all the attempts by Marvel and DC to emulate what was the hot trend at the time; dark "extreme" comics that usually involved characters with claws and big guns spouting macho dialogue while eviscerating/blowing away their enemies. Around this period of time, the EIC's of both companies realized that a return to basics was needed, and no where was that more evident than what had happened to their main superhero team books. Marvel undertook the task of revamping The Avengers and Fantastic Four by returning to the classic formula, and DC did the same here with The Justice League. Unlike the 1987 reboot, however, the decision was made to forgo trying to add new and different characters to the team, and the classic seven members of the team (listed above) were chosen to spearhead this new incarnation of the team. However, where DC did think outside the box was their choices with who would write this new JLA. Grant Morrison (who is aided by a then up and coming Mark Millar in the writing of this story; however, he would write the ongoing that would follow by himself) had slowly become a writer to look out for due to his stuff on the Vertigo imprint throughout the 90's, and he was/is an interesting choice in returning the team to its glory days. However, his run proved that he was a fan of the old Justice League, and he would use a great many threats and characters from the Pre Crisis JLA, but adding his own insane twist on them. He also was a fan of making his superhero books more like big budget movies, with both the threats and heroics being massively huge, and this particular story is the perfect example of that. Reunited after the last Justice League unceremoniously bit the dust, the original seven members of the team (with the only new additions being the younger characters taking up The Flash and Green Lantern mantles respectively) are forced to deal with the threat of The Star Conqueror, with The Flash already being taken over in the opening pages of the story. The rest of the team is visited by The Spectre, who warns the team against trying to storm in and take out the giant alien starfish. He shows them a possible future, where they are ambushed and taken over by Starro, and because of that, allows the Star Conqueror to conquer the entire universe. Thinking outside the box, Batman goes to try and save The Flash, reasoning that his lack of superhuman abilities makes him a low risk for take over. However, Batman being Batman, tricks the Star controlled Flash to follow him into a room that he had lowered the temperature for drastically, which causes Starro's influence to weaken. This brings The Flash back to the good guy side of things, and with the team assembled, they are able to disrupt TSC's control, ending its threat. The Spectre leaves, confident that he had done what was needed to bring THE Justice League back to being Earth's main defenders. I would say this story is equal to the last one I reviewed, but for different reasons. While the 87 JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 was a lot of fun conflict and action, this works like, as I said earlier, a Big Budget Action Movie version of the Justice League, and that high octane approach would be the one Morrison would take for his entire run. However, eventually that run would end, and a new writer would see the team into the next millennium. In the next issue, we will finish up our trade with the first issue for that new writer (Joe Kelly), as we jump five more years to 2002. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 13, 2020 1:10:13 GMT -5
JLA #61"Two-Minute Warning"Cover Date: Feb, 2002 Writer: Joe Kelly Artist: Doug Mahnke Featured Character(s): JLA (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Wonder Woman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, & Plastic Man) Villain/s: Abra Kadabra & Various Monsters Guest Stars: Oracle, Lucius Fox (both behind the scenes), Lois Lane, & Linda Park Official Plot:Two Minutes Ago on The Moon Martian Manhunter awakes from his slumber in the form of a lifeless ball to the panicked sound of the JLA alert signal. J'onn morphs into his more common appearance and dashes off. Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic a U.S. aircraft carrier is being pounded by abnormally large waves and carrying 30 experimental warheads is in danger. Superman and J'onn brave the elements to rescue sailors and lift the carrier to safety. Two Minutes ago in Japan Clark Kent enjoys an unscheduled visit with his wife Lois Lane. Lois has been traveling the world with her mother since her father's death and Clark and Lois haven't seen much of each other in that time. Just as things start to get intimate the JLA alert signal flashes and Clark is forced to rush off and save the day. Two Minutes Ago in New York City Kyle Rayner struggles to come up with exact change to pay for his coffee. Enduring taunts from the twerp behind the counter Kyle fishes through his pockets. Wally West dashes in and out just before the JLA alert sounds and Kyle flies off in his Green Lantern uniform. Now miles above New York City Kyle uses a giant ring construct in the form of a heavy lifter to raise the island of Manhattan out of the sea and prevent a devastating tsunami from hitting. Though the strain on Green Lantern is intense he manages to hold his own and divert the tsunami, saving the day. Kyle comments on how the JLA is finally facing an aquatic menace but Aquaman is missing. Two Minutes Ago Miles Below Sea Level Fish of all kind flock to the once regal throne of Aquaman and leave a shimmering sea shell or other ocean floor trinkets in remembrance. Back on the surface, Martian Manhunter, Superman and Green Lantern congratulate on a job well done. Then they proceed to trace the abnormal ocean water disturbances back to their source. The source, unfortunately, are two mammoth beasts doing battle. A cyclops and a kraken, they are harbingers of the apocalypse as Wonder Woman explains. Using her lasso to discover the creatures' pressure points she makes short work of the kraken and leaves the cyclops to her teammates. Two Minutes Ago on The Moon Wonder Woman and Batman engage in a training session. One would assume that it would be hard enough for a mere mortal like Batman to hold his own with the Amazonian Princess. But Batman makes it all the more difficult on himself by engaging in several different conversations at once via the phone in his bat-cowl. Just as Wonder Woman gains the upper hand in the battle the JLA alert signal rings throughout the training room. Now back out in the mid-Atlantic Superman holds the Kraken at an angle so Batman can examine it. Batman notices the fish below the sea and the clouds in the sky all seem to be migrating in the same direction. Just as the Flash arrives Batman adjusts a bat-torpedo to home in on the disturbance that has altered the sea life, the clouds in the sky and awakened apocalyptic titans. Flash is strapped to the torpedo and meant to ride it to its destination and then report back to the rest of the team. If he survives the ride of course. Two Minutes Ago ... Everywhere The Flash defeats a super-villain, eats some cereal, stops a shoot out, saves a falling kid, visits Kyle in New York, reads a book, stops by to see his girlfriend, does some laundry and just as things start to get busy his JLA alert goes off and he's summoned to duty. Now Flash leads the charge into the area of space and time the bat-missile discovered as being the center of the disturbances. Monsters, devils, and demons work together all under the beck and call of Abra Kadabra. Kadabra uses advanced science from the future disguised as magic but this attack is too large for him. Two Minutes Ago in Chicago Plastic Man makes his way into his home security office while talking away on his cellphone. Before he can get any real work done he's summoned by the JLA. Now back at the center of the disturbances Plastic Man has his fore arm shoved up Kadabra's nose. Unfortunately for him its not until he's almost shoulder deep that he finds what he's looking for. As it turns out Kadabra was under the influence of some small worm like mental parasite. The parasite took control over Kadabra and allowed him to control the monsters and magical creatures the way he did. Later back at the Watchtower, it's obvious that the JLA haven't heard the last of this parasite or those that came to Earth with it. J'onn securely imprisons the parasite and returns to his restful slumber. Not so restful as it turns out as the JLA alert sounds again and the team must launch back into action. Brodie's View:We reach the end of this particular trade with the beginning of a new run on the JLA, but I will issue a correction here to something I said in the last review, as the new writer, Joe Kelly, was not picking up the torch after Grant Morrison's run ended, as that was #41, but rather after Mark Waid's year and a half run on the team. That all being said, one can tell that Joe (and Mark) did his/their best to follow in the blueprint of Morrison's "Big Budget Movie" approach to writing the League. Of course, being that Joe Kelly's first major successful run, comics wise, was DEADPOOL (and still the BEST run of that book/character, IMO), this story shows that Kelly was not above throwing in quite a bit of humor into his stories, as we have the various JLA members spouting one liners and banter (but in a different way that the 87-92 run, as this humor was meant to be more hip). I will say that as enjoyable as this issue was, and as much as I like Kelly's stuff, sometimes the juxtaposition of the Big Budget action with all the humor seemed kind of off putting at times, but for the most part it works. Basically this story is trying to do a few things at once: reintroduce both the characters and the team (with Aquaman, who apparently was dead/missing at this time, being touched on with a one page depiction of various sea creatures putting various treasures on an empty throne), while also setting the stage for what one of the new threats were going to be (or perhaps I'm wrong; I've only read parts of Joe Kelly's JLA run, so, I'm not sure if this was meant to be a one issue threat or an ongoing one). I will say that while Joe Kelly starts off with the basic group (but with Plastic Man, who was a Waid addition, substituting for Aquaman), but he quickly starts to add newer members, making the team quite different than Grant Morrison's original "All Star Team" concept. Still, from what I read of his run, he does a decent job on the book. I particularly like the fact that he followed up his Authority like Elite group storyline from his Superman run with a brand new Elite (now being run by Manchester Black's sister, who was VERY much meant to be a Jenny Sparks like character, Sister Superior), which will eventually become an offshoot of the Justice League. This issue was a nice opening shot for Kelly's run; I wouldn't put it on the level of either the 87 issue or Morrison's first story, but it's mighty fine all the same. This trade was a decent mix of Justice League stories from various decades, and was worth the $4 I paid for it. In the next two reviews, we will cover the new issues of X-MEN and NEW MUTANTS respectively, and then we will move on to whatever the next trade will be (I have a few ideas, but you'll just have to tune in to see which trade I end up choosing). GRADE: B+
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Post by MrElijah on Jan 13, 2020 8:15:55 GMT -5
Man, Guy was/is hilarious. He's a Marvel character in DC, which is fitting considering the JLI felt more like an Avengers team(Oh you have East and West Coast teams? Cute, here's Justice League Europe) Also watching Guy grown up from raging dickhead with a ring to cocky badass was fun.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 14, 2020 2:45:43 GMT -5
X-Men #4"Global Economics"Cover Date: March, 2020 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Leinil Francis Yu Featured Character(s): Quiet Council of Krakoa (Professor X, Magneto, & Apocalypse) & Great Captains of Krakoa (Cyclops & Gorgon) Villain/s: Reilly Marshall & his henchemen Guest Stars: Ma Mingyu, Hodari, Daniela Gentile, Frederico João de Cézare, Ludovic von Bergen, Banhi Gahlot, & the World Economic Forum (1st Appearance of all but the first two) Official Plot:MUTANTS ARE THE FUTURE! The Krakoan leaders attend an economic forum to show the humans what real power looks like. Brodie's View:That's the only bummer about reviewing these new issues; no solid synopsis to work off of. However, the blurb does kind of tell the main story of this issue, which is three of the most powerful members of the Quiet Council (Xaiver, Magneto, and Apocalypse) having dinner with a group of people representing other countries, some of whom wouldn't mind them being food for worms. However, good luck with that, as we have seen that mutants are basically immortals now; hell, Xaiver himself was recently killed, and now is back as if nothing happened (which I'm assuming happened in the pages of X-FORCE, as that's the one book from this run that I haven't delved too deeply into....yet). Things are going somewhat well until Xaiver realizes that there is a bunch of armed guards (not too well) hidden in another part of the building, ready to bust in and kill the three mutants should anything goes wong. He sends Cyclops and Gorgon to take care of the problem, and they do, while the three mutants (but mostly Xaiver and Magneto; Apocalypse merely pipes up with cryptic threats at times) proceed to completely kill the idea that the humans are in any kind of control over what is going to happen both at that particular dinner, and beyond. While Xaiver kind of tempers his cynical statements with a bit of kindness, Magneto straight gets real with them, while also remaining pleasant and eating his dinner; it's a fantastic moment, and a highlight of the main X-MEN book so far, at least since the relaunch. This really was a great issue, and allowed the "Big Three" of the Krakoan group to look like MAJOR bosses at a time when they probably needed to, while also making a couple of the "rank and file" X-Men look pretty kick ass as well. As I said above, both Magneto and Xaiver kind of lay the law down in the most casual way possible, but they send the message to the human representatives that they are not the ones to get served on, and they are willing to play the long game to get what they want; using their money and leverage to basically legislate out human prejudice. This is the issue I've been waiting for since the relaunch of the main X-MEN book, and Hickman delivers on this like a MFer. I've heard that Hickman enjoys playing the long game when it comes to his stories, and I'm really digging where he's going with things, as I have a feeling that these various new characters that he's introduced into the X universe will play a HUGE role in where he's going with all of this before he's done. Speaking of Hickman, our next review will take us to the other major book he's writing (when we don't have to deal with a fill in crew), NEW MUTANTS, as we finally pick up with our group in space. Then....another trade. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 15, 2020 0:49:42 GMT -5
New Mutants #5"Endangered Birds"Cover Date: March, 2020 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Rod Reis Featured Character(s): The New Mutants (Magik, Mondo, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Chamber, Mirage, Cypher, & Karma) Villain/s: Oracle & The Shi'ar Death Commandos (Black Cloak--1st appearance of, Shell, Warshot, Sega, Hypernova, D'evo, Colony, Offset, Flaw, Krait) Guest Stars: Cannonball, Imperial Guard (Smasher, Gladiator, & Mentor), Deathbird, various Shi'ar solders, Frelson and Blurdock (Murd Blurdock), & Josiah Guthrie Official Plot:The team has reached the Shi’ar Galaxy only to find the empire in turmoil! Deathbird returns and she won’t let Bobby and Sam get in the way of what she wants! Brodie's View:Actually, both the blurb and the cover are kind of deceiving. Deathbird isn't the one causing the main threat...at least not as of yet. The threat is actually coming from inside the Shi'ar itself, as there is a faction that is very much NOT happy with the sister of Lilandra being given the throne temporarily under Lilandra's daughter is ready for (now...granted, I don't see Deathbird giving the throne up in that case, as it's what she's wanted since she made her first appearances), and they're willing to kill her and anyone protecting her to make that happen. Unfortunately, one of the people on that Anti Deathbird side of things is Oracle from the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and unbeknownst to anyone else on the ship, she gives a Shi'ar hit squad the in to take out both Deathbird and her protectors, which seems to happen at the very end of the issue ( ), as their ship is blown up, leaving things with the entire group floating in the void of space, seemingly dead. Before all that, though, we get our usual fun and funny writing, with Sunspot (who has been kind of the focal point character for this entire part of the story, as the recaps have always come from his perspective) trying relentlessly to hit on Deathbird, who seems...somewhat receptive to his advances. Of course, once again, I'm sure it won't be long until we see the potential ulterior motives for Deathbird's half interests in Sunspot's advances, but then again....maybe not. We also see that while the original New Mutants share a bond that will allow the others in the group to look past each other's bad points, that view is NOT shared by the two 90's Generation X characters, Chamber, and Mondo, who secretly admit to not really liking the rest of the group that much. When the big fight between the New Mutants and the Shi'ar Death Commandos starts, they decide to keep out of it (although, they probably should have, as their lack of wanting to help out the rest of their team contributed to how they all ended up at the very end of the issue). I will say that I was happy to get back to the main story, team, and writing/art team, as while the side story is decent, it definitely is lacking compared to the main story and all it involves. I hope that the Hickman side of things sticks around, and it isn't all left to the B Crew and Characters once this initial story arc is over. That will make this go from a MUST BUY book to one I'll end up dropping from my pull list real quick. This was, as issues 1-2 were, a really kick ass issue, that would have once again taken the prize of "Best X-Book of the month," had this new issue of the main X-MEN book not actually delivered on the promise set up by HOUSE OF/POWERS OF X. However, I will say that not counting issues 3-4 (and I'm assuming #6, as it looks from the "Next Issue" ad that we're heading back to story/crew B for the next issue), the Hickman/Reis NEW MUTANTS has been, by far, my favorite book of this X-relaunch so far. However, for the next review, I'm going to tackle another trade paperback, which will give us some room to make way more for new X-MEN/NEW MUTANTS issues. I'm still not sure which trade I'll be picking, but I promise it'll be a cool one. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 16, 2020 2:25:32 GMT -5
Ms. Marvel #1"This Woman, This Warrior!"Cover Date: Jan, 1977 Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: John Buscema Featured Character(s): Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Villain/s: The Scorpion & Kerwin Korman (1st Appearance of) Guest Stars: J. Jonah Jameson, Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker, Robbie Robertson, & random bank robbers Official Plot:A new super-hero has appeared in New York City, Ms. Marvel, who has been seen breaking up a crime in progress being conducted by the Scorpion. Carol Danvers, former NASA chief of security has also come to New York and has been plagued with a series of black-outs, and unknown to her, she is really Ms. Marvel. She has taken up a new job as editor of the Daily Bugle's Woman Magazine, a magazine which publisher J. Jonah Jameson doesn't care for overly much. On the job she meets with Peter Parker and his girlfriend Mary Jane, whom she invites over before having another fainting spell. Changing into Ms. Marvel she arrives back at the Bugle just after Jonah was kidnapped by the Scorpion who has come to get revenge against the publisher for his role in the creation of the Scorpion. Ms. Marvel arrives and easily defeats the Scorpion and rescues Jameson from sudden doom. The next day, as she reports to work as Carol Danvers, Carol finds that Jonah hasn't been enriched by his experience of being rescued from a female super-hero. Retiring to her office, Carol begins to wonder which is more of an enigma -- Carol Danvers with her blackouts and headaches, or Ms. Marvel the new super-hero she's been charged with writing reports about for Woman Magazine. Brodie's View:I know I recently did a run featuring ONE Captain, Britain, but now I'm about to start the run of another Captain. Of course, this Captain has become one of the most hated major Marvel heroes, which is in part inspired by recent writing that hasn't done the character any favors, and the other part inspired by a statement made by the actress playing the character in live action movies; a statement drastically misinterpreted and twisted to fit a certain narrative, but that's neither here or there. The point is, there's a lot of male comic book fans that have grown to HATE Carol Danvers, so, I'm sure this run might not be as greatly received as some of the others that I've done, but f*** it. I'm doing it anyways. Anyways, for this run we're jumping in the time machine and heading back to 1977; the time of disco, Jimmy Carter (actually, he would have JUST taken office around the time this issue was published), and the beginnings of complex story telling being introduced into Marvel comics. This really isn't an example of that, but it does try to be a more "modern" spin on the classic comic book origin story. Of course, perhaps the writer (Gerry Conway, a classic Marvel writer) lucked out in making Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel suffer from a kind of amnesia during this period, as he was basically able to use Spider-Man's (a book he was writing at the time, hence, the ease at being able to use those characters) supporting cast (at least Mary Jane and the Daily Bugle crew) as Ms. Marvel's supporting cast right off the bat. Hell, he even uses one of Spidey's villains in this story and the one following, The Scorpion, who still hasn't forgiven J. Jonah Jameson for the part he played in Scorpie's creation. Of course, I'm sure before this run is done (I'm reviewing the MARVEL ESSENTIALS for Ms. Marvel, so, it will contain the original run of her book, plus some follow up's the happened after her book had been cancelled) Carol will develop her own supporting cast/villains. I will say, though, that this was a pretty solid introduction to the Ms. Marvel character (Carol had been a reoccurring character in Captain Marvel's book, which is where, at least originally, she got her powers from in the first place); so much so that I was able to overlook some of the cornier elements of some of the writing. After all, there is much made of the mystery of both Ms. Marvel and Carol Danvers' blackouts and amnesia, Conway acting as if it isn't perfectly obvious, even with a child reading, that the two are one and the same. Plus, the over explaining of things and characters making sound effect noises at times (such as J. Jonah even spitting out a EC comics-esque "Choke!" when about to be lowered into a vat of acid by the Scorpion), but as I said before, 1970's, and being written by a LONG time writer, who was more used to that style of writing. However, Conway only really sticks around for the first few issues. After that, we move on to a writer VERY familiar to long time readers of these reviews, Mr. Chris Claremont. In the meantime, though, we still have an origin story to finish. In the next issue, we get the finish of Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel's origin story, which will hopefully finish up setting up what the status quo of the book will be. Oh, and we get Ms. Marvel vs. The Scorpion....Round Two! GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 17, 2020 1:43:03 GMT -5
Ms. Marvel #2"Enigma of Fear!"Cover Date: Jan, 1977 Writer: Gerry Conway Artist: John Buscema Featured Character(s): Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Villain/s: The Scorpion & Destructor Guest Stars: Mary Jane Watson, Michael Barnett (1st Appearance of), Mr. Fisbein, and the forces of A.I.M. Official Plot:Continued from last issue... AIM is furious over the Scorpion's defeat at the hands of Ms. Marvel, and as they try to heal the Scorpion, they send their agent Kerwin Korman (now wearing a mind-blast helmet and calling himself the Destructor) decides to investigate Ms. Marvel's apparent Kree origins. Which takes him to the cavern where Captain Marvel had his last battle with Yon-Rogg. Meanwhile, the Scorpion breaks loose and escapes AIM, and Carol Danvers has another lunch date with Mary Jane where she talks of her experiences and adventures with Captain Marvel. After another fainting spell, Carol goes to see her doctor Michael Barnett, who hypnotizes her and learns of her being a hostage of Yon-Rogg and being pulled out of a cavern after the psyche magnatron explodes, and how she subconsciously knows that she is Ms. Marvel. Dr. Barnett doesn't believe it at first, when suddenly Carol faints and transforms into Ms. Marvel right in front of him and takes off. She is drawn to the Scorpion, who is on a rampage and easily subdues him. However, the Destructor arrives and attacks her with his mind-blasts. The fight ends with the two knocking each other out. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:We get two major fights in this issue, although, neither last very long, and the second villain, the one that's been built up over the last couple of issues, is kind of quickly owned by Ms. Marvel, although, the strain knocks her out as well. I'll come to all of that in a second, but I will say that I'm happy that Gerry Conway solves the "mystery connection" between Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel, rather than leave it like a mess for Chris Claremont (who will start to take the reigns next issue) to have to clean up. It's interesting that all of this happens while Carol is being hypnotized by her therapist, Michael Barnett, who I think might be the first reoccurring character to show up that will most likely make up Carol's supporting cast. I'm sure we'll get more once Claremont takes over, but it's nice to see Conway lay down some plot threads that can be explored at a later date. We also see Mary Jane Watson show up to remind us that Carol is kind of piggybacking on Spider-Man's shoulders, as far as his supporting cast goes. As I said before, I haven't read too far into this run, but I have a feeling the Spidey cast will eventually fade into the background as Carol gets her own supporting cast. MJ doesn't stick around too long, though, as Carol gets one her mysterious headaches that leads to her transformation into Ms. Marvel. I will say that I hope that the whole Duel Personas thing doesn't last too long, as it really doesn't fit with Ms. Marvel the way it would a literal monster character (Hulk, Ghost Rider, Werewolf By Night, Ect.). One cool thing we do get is Carol's origin story, or at least how she got her super powers. I'm sure that's all been retconned in recent years, but here it was her getting blasted with cosmic radiation while being held by Captain Mar Vell. I'm assuming the trauma of having this happen is what is causing the whole Duel Personas thing, but I hope it's something Claremont wraps up quickly when his run on the book begins. We also get our introduced villain from last issue, Kerwin Korman (that's a comic book character's name if I ever heard it....lol), who uses various technology to make himself into a villain called The Destructor. He, along with a pain riddled (after having the acid that he was going to fry J. Jonah Jameson in dumped on him) Scorpion, try to take out Ms. Marvel, but she makes kind of short work of the both of them, however, she collapses immediately after from the cumulative effects of The Destructor's mind blasts. This kind of leaves us with a unique situation, as both hero and villain are laying next to each other, unconscious, with what happening next depending on who wakes up first. How professional wrestling of Gerry Conway, as that's kind of a classic wrestling spot, and it makes for a very nice cliff hanger for the next issue. Speaking of which, in our next issue we get a rematch between Carol and The Destructor, but with new villains helping to stack the deck against the SUPER powered Ms. Marvel. Also....we welcome aboard Chris Claremont. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 18, 2020 2:19:24 GMT -5
Ms. Marvel #3"The Lady's Not For Killing!"Cover Date: March, 1977 Writer: Gerry Conway (plot) Chris Claremont (script) Artist: John Buscema Featured Character(s): Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Villain/s: Destructor, A.I.M,. and The Doomsday Man Guest Stars: Mary Jane Watson, Michael Barnett, J. Jonah Jameson, NASA (Salia Petrie & David Adamson--1st Appearance of both), United States Air Force, & various New Yorkers Official Plot:Continued from last issue.... Reviving from a knock out while battling the Destructor, Ms. Marvel resumes her battle until AIM arrives. They cause enough carnage to keep Ms. Marvel busy while they make their escape from Destructor. Ms. Marvel saves some spectators from danger before fleeing the scene and changing back to Carol Danvers. Returning to the Daily Bugle, she canceled her next appointment with Dr. Barnett and comes across a story about a female astronaut that she gets J. Jonah Jameson to agree to let her cover. Traveling to her old stomping grounds at NASA, Carol soon changes into Ms. Marvel. This is because AIM and their agent the Destructor and the Doomsday Man which have all been sent to destroy the rocket launch. Although the rocket is destroyed, Ms. Marvel manages to stop the Doomsday Man, when they both crash land on Earth. The crash however has removed the mental block on her mind allowing her to realize that Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel are both the same person. Brodie's View:Chris Claremont is here, folks(! ), and while he doesn't take over 100% until next issue (Gerry Conway supplied the plot), we can definitely feel that he is off to a kick ass start, as this issue has both lots of action and the beginnings of his own status quo. We get a longer Round Two between Carol and The Destructor until they once again stalemate (with Carol damaging his mind blast helmet at the same time he nails her with another massive blast). Once again, though, the battle is interrupted by AIM, who end up snatching The Destructor up (as we'll find out, to do the special modifications on him that they are prone to do to those who fail them, or any one really). This allows Carol to get back to her "normal life," and gear her towards the next part of the story, as AIM launch a mysterious rocket into space. Ms. Marvel flies into space after it, only to be attacked by the being inside; the deadly Doomsday Man, which destroys the rocket, sending both crashing down to the area where Carol got her powers in the first place. This crash also does something WAY more important, and Thank God it does, as Chris gets rid of the whole Duel Identities thing. In other words, Carol realizes that she is Ms. Marvel, and we no longer have to deal with the hoops Claremont would have had to jump in order to keep that whole thing going. However, it might all be for naught, as The Doomsday Man is still active, and is planning for its own Round Two. That's the main plot, although, we do get some fun little moments I forgot to mention. We got yet another appearance by both Mary Jane Watson (although, she doesn't really stick around long enough to do much but make a short appearance to remind us that Spider-Man's supporting cast could be making an appearance in this book) and J. Jonah Jameson (this is a lot more fun, as we see that in addition to hating superheros, Jonah is a MASSIVE sexist), while also touching back on the first Ms. Marvel centered supporting character, Michael Barnett (Carol's therapist, who actually learned her secret last issue), and potentially introducing two more (Salia Petrie & David Adamson, two people she worked with at NASA). Now, I haven't read too much further into this run, so, I'm not sure how much those last two names will factor in to the new status quo of the book, but I know damn well that Michael will be back. Oh, and as we'll see next week, not only will The Doomsday Man make a return, but The Destructor (now under the full control of AIM) will as well. We will then fully move on to whatever the new status quo will start to be, and with a new semi regular artist to boot. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 20, 2020 1:31:58 GMT -5
Ms. Marvel #4"Death is the Doomsday Man!"Cover Date: April, 1977 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Jim Mooney Featured Character(s): Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Villain/s: The Destructor and The Doomsday Man Guest Stars: Michael Barnett, NASA (Salia Petrie & David Adamson), the United States Air Force, Robbie Robertson, & Doctor Kronton (the last in flashback only) Official Plot:Continued from last issue... Ms. Marvel has traveled to the cavern where she was exposed to the Psychemagnatron which turned her into Ms. Marvel. She is attacked by the Doomsday Man, while at the same time the Destructor is looking for some sort of Kree technology to use as weapon. After a lengthy battle, Ms. Marvel recalls when she met the creator of the Doomsday Man and is able to use that memory to devise a way to deactivate the robot. When Destructor attacks her, he reveals that he found a Kree device. However, upon opening it, the device inside strikes the Destructor blind. In a panic he begins firing mind blasts all over the cavern, causing a massive cave-in. Ms. Marvel just barely manages to escape, and later when the military digs her out, she has turned back into Carol Danvers and passed out. Three days later when she returns to New York, she gets a call from Michael Barnett, who tells her that he needs to speak to her about Ms. Marvel. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:We're fully into the Chris Claremont part of this run now, but we still have to tie up some of the loose ends left by Gerry Conway, and this issue serves to kind of take care of the villain part of those loose ends, as Carol's villains are the same two she had last issue: The Destructor and The Doomsday Man. She spends most of the issue fighting the first, as it proves to be a nigh unstoppable robot that gives Ms. Marvel the fight of her life. It's only when Carol remembers encountering the robot in the past (when she was working security for NASA) that she remembers the way to defeat it (it has a weakness in the back of it's neck. Finally, she topples the robot, but is attacked by her long time (well, since issue 1) nemesis, The Destructor, who is looking for a Kree weapon that will take out both Carol and A.I.M. (who captured and tried to brainwash poor Kerwin last issue; it's revealed that he found a way to escape, but it seems that his mind had been somewhat fried in the process). However, The Destructor finds that some alien gear wasn't meant to be handled by normal humans, as it basically blinds him, causing him to blunder his way into a cave, toppling it on top of both he and Ms. Marvel. However, being that there is a next issue, we know that Carol survives (she's dug out by the military, and back as Carol Danvers, which protects her secret identity), and as for Kerwin....well, he'll make another appearance here before this run is over. Barring the main crux of the story, however, there are a few things worth noting. For one, we see the return of the two NASA workers that used to work with Carol, which, I'm assuming to mean that they're going to start to become regular supporting characters for the book. That's cool, as one can only stretch those Spidey supporting players so far. Speaking of supporting characters, we see Michael Barnett at the very end of the issue, as he wishes to meet with Carol to discuss her and Ms. Marvel (remember that he witnessed Carol transform into Ms. Marvel in #2). Needless to say, that should be pretty interesting. All in all, this was a solid issue that did what it needed to do, while also providing lots of kick ass action. In the next issue, we'll start to move more into the status quo Claremont is setting up for Ms. Danvers, and, oh yeah, we get our first real Guest Appearance by a Marvel superhero (I'm not counting Peter Parker's cameo, as he basically just showed up in a couple of panels to say "What's up?"). It should be a fun time. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 21, 2020 0:39:07 GMT -5
Ms. Marvel #5"Bridge of No Return"Cover Date: May, 1977 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Jim Mooney Featured Character(s): Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Villain/s: AIM (MODOK and a robot disguised as a truck driver) Guest Stars: Michael Barnett, The Vision, Stark Industries (Abe Klein), (the following are only in recap): Captain Mar Vell, Yon-Rogg, J. Jonah Jameson, The Destructor, The Scorpion, & The Doomsday Man Official Plot:Continued from last issue... Going to visit her psychiatrist Michael Barnett, where Michael reveals that he knows that she is really Ms. Marvel. When he offers his help, she refuses and walks out. On the cab ride to the Daily Bugle she recounts the events that led her to become Ms. Marvel and the battles she has fought since. Arriving at Stark Industries where she is writing an article about the female employees that work there, Carol suddenly changes into Ms. Marvel when she senses something wrong with a super-truck that is hauling radioactive material. She is unaware that the driver has been replaced by a robot built by M.O.D.O.K. When she tries to stop the truck the Vision appears and tries to stop her. After a short battle, the two manage to stop the truck and learn that the driver was really a robot, and it's quickly destroyed. The two then wonder who was behind the whole situation. Brodie's View:Man, I hate to kind of bash Chris Claremont here (which is why I never reviewed his 2000/2001 return to the main X-MEN books ), especially since I had just celebrated his arrival, but I have to say I was annoyed with the fact that he went back to the idea that Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel are two different personalities, as he basically had that major moment where it seemed like the two personas were finally merged a couple of issues ago. However, in this one, it's back to the early She Hulk formula; pretending that the two characters are two completely separate entities, which is kind of a bummer. I hope that shit peters out eventually, as it's an unnecessary plot device that isn't needed for this character. Anyways, barring all of that, we get a decent recap of Ms. Marvel's origin/what has happened from issues #1-4 through Carol talking to Michael Barnett, her therapist (who is one of the few people that know Carol's secret, as he witnessed her transformation back in #2). However, that doesn't last too long, as Carol gets one of her premonition flashes that she will eventually be fighting The Vision over a mechanical truck. The truck ends up being a top secret Stark Industries sponsored transport of radioactive material, which The Vision is guarding to make sure no chicanery happens. However, Ms. Marvel knows that some chicanery is happening, so, tries to break into the truck to investigate, as she assumes it's some threat inside the truck. This alerts The Vision, who instantly attacks Carol, doing his immaterial to solid trick on her, knocking her for a loop. The truck ride resumes, but Carol manages to fly ahead of them, setting a trap to temporarily take out The Vision long enough for her to do what she has to do, but then she's attacked by the truck driver, who is revealed to be a robot after The Vision, who realizes that he's been played for a fool, helps Carol take the bot out. Both characters are confused about who could be behind this, but we see who is behind it, and it's one of my favorite Marvel villains of all time (YAY!!!!)....M.O.D.O.K. I'm kind of torn on what to rate this issue; it's solid, and I love the Vision/MODOK involvement, but I really do hate the fact that they're going back to the whole split personalities thing for now, so, I'll probably end up evening it out with a "B" rating. In the next issue, we let this MODOK thing simmer for a couple issues, while Ms. Marvel fights another long time (but not as cool) Marvel villain, and then....big head, tiny arms/legs time! GRADE: B
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