Posted by Richard Pulfer on Feb 5th, 2008
You remember in G.I. Joe: The Movie, where Duke takes one to the chest, only to have one of his comrades say something to the effect of “And Duke’s going to be okay!” some time later? Well, it looks like Marvel did that . . . with Professor X.
He’s not dead. He’s just in a coma.
It looks like Messiah Complex was almost a red herring for Marvel. For all that hype, the real story begins soon in the form of “Divided We Stand”, which will encompass the relaunch of the X-Titles. In a way, Messiah Complex never really ended.
Cliffhangers are also started to wear thin on my Marvel fandom. The Inhuman comic Silent War ended with Maximus taking over the Inhuman kingdom of Attilian, and just last week, X-Men: Emperor Vulcan ended with the villainous third Summers brother capturing the Starjammers. What’s frustrating is there is no indication as to when these issues will be resolved, or even dealt with. Marvel is beat DC through the grace of fringe characters like Nova, Deadpool and even X-Factor, so why are they so busy thrusting their other promising cult hits back into an even temporary limbo? If Marvel’s not careful, it may alienate the very fans - and characters - which gave it a solid over DC’s crossover-crazed delusion of grandeur.
The big news of last week of course was found in Captain America #34, where Bucky Barnes took over Captain America’s shield and costume - and brought a gun to the mix. While the news media jested about this darker turn in the Cap mythos, they still treated the entire experience as a campy one, and never noticed the issue’s premise - of Captain America struggling to stop Red Skull from plunging America’s economy into ruin - was a reality-rooted plot that could give Jack Bauer a run for his money. The issue is pretty good - I like in particular how Tony Stark begins his own road to redemption by supplying the unregistered Bucky with intel and back-up. As for the gun, don’t worry - this isn’t Punisher-Cap, and Bucky only uses it to wound, not kill, several AIM agents.
Still, if you’re unconvinced about the latest turn in Captain America, I’d recommend Young Avengers Present Patriot - also written by Brubaker. The issue finds Eli Bradley, grandfather of prototype Captain America Isiah Bradely, contemplating his mantle amid registration and Captain America’s death. The issue ends with soulful meeting between Eli and Bucky - still the Winter Soldier - as they discuss Cap’s legacy. This issue - not Captain America #34 - really lays down the thesis of Captain America’s death, that Captain America doesn’t have to find modern America, but rather, modern America has to re-discover Captain America.
We see more signs the rift between the pro and anti-registration sides of Civil War are healing in The New Avengers Annual, when SHIELD agents under the command of Ms. Marvel reluctantly look the other way so Luke Cage and the New Avengers can escape after a major brawl between the Hood’s criminal syndicate. Still, with Dr. Strange apparently leaving the team and Jessica Jones registering for government protection, things are going to get worse before they get better.
Deadpool teams up with Ka-Zar in the penultimate issue of Cable and Deadpool. In about a month, Cable goes solo, and I’m not quite sure where Deadpool goes. This issue wasn’t as solid as previous issues, but the one-panel-moment where Deadpool gets right back up after Ka-Zar slides a knife through his head is priceless enough. It also ends with Venom Dinosaurs. What more can you ask for?
I also recommend the Star-Lord mini-series from Annihilation: Conquest. This is the Dirty Dozen of the Marvel space crossover, which puts the titular Star-Lord in command of a plethora of obscure spacers ranging from Captain Universe to the infinitely awesome Rocket Raccoon. Definitely worth a read in either the pages of Conquest or his own mini-series.
Countdown to Mystery #5 was the only DC book I picked up, and either too much or not enough happens. For Eclipso, Bruce Gordon keeps control of his evil alter ego for all of about five minutes while fighting Russian mutates. On the other hand, Plastic Man, Creeper and Ice have fallen under Eclipso’s influence and attack a military base looking for something, while the new Spectre gets knocked out - and no, don’t ask me how to explain that last part. On the much-better Doctor Fate start, we see the twisted indy comic Inza was working on before she died, providing all sorts of clues into the character. Meanwhile, Kent V. Nelson FINALLY learns about the original Dr. Fate, having apparently gone the whole past four issues entirely ignorant of the mystic superhero’s past.
On the Marvel side this week, Spider-Man faces off with Jackpot in Amazing Spider-Man #459 - a pro-registration hero who may or may not be Mary Jane Watson.
Annihilation Conquest #4 has Star-Lord captured by Ultron as well as a whole lot of vaguely ominous events running through the solicitations.
The X-Men relaunch starts again in Uncanny X-Men #495. The issue finds the X-Men picking up the pieces after Messiah Complex. Not much is known other than that, but apparently Rogue and Gambit will play bigger roles in this story as opposed to Messiah Complex.
Justice Society of America is probably the shining light for DC, and issue 12, the team gets bigger with new members in the form of Mr. America, Amazing Man, Judomaster and Jakeem Thunder. With art by Alex Ross and plenty of tie-in’s to Kingdom Come, this one just can’t be missed.
There’s also Teen Titans: Year One by Amy Wolfman. I forgot to pick up the first issue, but this series - focusing on the early days of the Titans - looks every bit as engaging as their current adventures - and more refreshing than more things going on in the DC Universe today.
That’s all for this week. See ya later!
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Devin de Gruyl
February 5, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Ugh… you had to bring up the Duke thing. That still irks me all these years later. (Of course, after Optimus Prime tasted of the Reaper’s blade in the TF movie and all the backlash that generated, you can’t blame Hasbro/Marvel/Sunbow for getting cold feet about doing the same thing to Duke.)
Not that I believed Xavier was really dead anyway. What’s this, now, the fourth or fifth time they’ve done a take-back on killing him off? (Besides, it’s Marvel, where death is as common as a cold and just as easily recovered from.)
Good to hear they didn’t do the Punisher thing with Cap. Vigilante-style heroes who have no compunction about killing certainly have their place in pop culture, but Cap is Cap (even if he isn’t Steve Rogers at this particular moment).
And when I see “Amazing Man” I can’t help but think of a comedy superhero title from DC circa 1987, Mazin’ Man…
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Richard Pulfer
February 5, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Well, Duke is definitely not Optimus Prime. I’d even go so far as to say he’s the anti-Optimus Prime, which makes me more and more worried considering in one draft he was the main character of the G.I. Joe live-action movie.
Anyway, I expected 13 issues of Messiah Complex to end with SOME finality. Obvious, X would be back, but he was “dead” for all of two weeks - if that.
Bucky works well as Cap - don’t worry - he’s definitely not the replacement Azrael was to Batman a couple years back. But, running the numbers in my head, its entirely possible Marvel brought Bucky back for the express purpose of having him take up the mantle, which leaves his future otherwise if Rogers comes back in doubt.
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