C
Captain America: Allies & Enemies
featuring Rob Williams, Kathryn Immonen, William Harms, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Kieron Gillen
(Art by Rebekah Isaacs, Ramon Perez, Declan Shalvey, Greg Tocchini and Renato Arlem)
Five stories focusing on some of Captain America's supporting cast of heroes and villains, including the Falcon, Peggy Carter, Crossbones, the Secret Avengers and Batroc the Leaper.
These are pretty much all solid one-shot stories starring some of Cap's closest friends and most persistent enemies. The WWII one with Peggy and the Secret Avengers one with Sharon Carter and Black Widow were the least engaging, but they're still fairly fun (even if the 1940s Steve Rogers is a bit too period-accurate to be comfortable). The story starring the Falcon was nice because it shows him trying to figure out how to make the most difference in the neighbourhood he grew up in; as the one-time street hood Spikes or as an Avenger.
Interestingly the two stories I enjoyed the most here were the ones focusing on Cap's foes, and not even foes that I've ever particularly liked. The Crossbones story shows him being put on a black ops mission by the US government but refusing to play by their rules. It's actually got quite a strong anti-hero vibe to it, which is surprising given just how villainous Crossbones has always been (we even see him hero-worshipping neo-Nazis in a flashback). By far the best on offer in this book, very much to my surprise, was Kieron Gillen's tale of Batroc. Batroc has always been a pretty silly C-list villain but here we get to explore not only his surprisingly strong sense of honour, but also the deep respect he has for Captain America, something which remains in play even though he knows this isn't the original Cap (it's Bucky).
4 out of 5
Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel/Marvel Spotlight On Captain Marvel
featuring Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman and Doug Moench
(Art by Gil Kane, John Buscema, John Romita, Wayne Boring, Dan Adkins, Frank Giacola, Frank McLaughlin, Pat Broderick and Bruce Patterson)
Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 38. These stories star the Kree warrior who became Earth's defender, trapped in the Negative Zone and only able to return to Earth as a protector by bonding with the human teenager Rick Jones.
Okay, clarification first; this isn't the original Captain Marvel, who DC have since rebranded as 'Shazam', and it's not the current Captain Marvel, who got her own movie starring Brie Larson; this is Marvel's first run at the character, whose name is actually Mar-Vell. He's probably most famous for the fact that the story of his death was the subject of Marvel's first-ever Original Graphic Novel and, reading this book, I quickly realised not only why he's not known for anything else and also why they killed him off.
In short, this is a boring and tedious series of stories which have none of the flair, drama or fun of Marvel's usual output. Captain Marvel is an entirely generic hero, with little or nothing to make him stand out in a crowd and even going toe-to-toe with the Hulk doesn't make his story any more engaging. I was briefly excited to see Carol Danvers (who is the current Captain Marvel, who got her own movie starring Brie Larson) appear, but she does nothing and disappears from the story after a couple of pages.
Also, I know Marvel and DC have a long history of ripping-off each other's characters but the fact that this Captain Marvel is such a clear rip-off of the original was still shocking to me in how brazen it is. Sure, the original Captain Marvel (actually created by Fawcett Comics before DC later bought the rights) was out of copyright at this point but that doesn't make it okay to basically nick the idea. Here a young lad, Rick Jones, drawn and coloured to look exactly like Billy Batson, has to call on and swap places with Captain Marvel to save the day. This time, however, instead of shouting "Shazam!", he has to bash his bracelets together and make them go 'Ktang!'. *Eye roll*. It's jarring to see just how much Marvel have stolen.
And finally, on the subject of Rick Jones, if this arrogant, jive-talking little jerk is actually what 17 year-olds were like in the 60s and 70s, then I am eternally grateful that I wasn't born until the 1980s, because he is just insufferable from start to finish.
1 out of 5
Celtic Weird: Tales Of Wicked Folklore And Dark Mythology
featuring Elizabeth W. Grierson, Dorothy K. Haynes, Robert Aickman, Katharine Tynan, Rosalie Muspratt, Mary Lavin, Count Eric Stanislaus Stenbock, Edith Wharton, Eleanor Scott, Bill Billy, Billy Pheric, Nigel Kneale, Ann of Swansea, Arthur Machen, Leslie Vardre, A. L. Rowse, Rosalind Wade, Frank Baker, Donald Cameron, Eachann MacPhaidein and Reverend Lauchlan MacLean Watt
Twenty one tales from, set in or inspired by the 'Celtic' lands of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. Tapping into the ancient storytelling traditions of the Celtic peoples, these stories range from the whimsical to the mysterious and into the truly horrific.
First off, I need to be clear what this book is, since it was a misapprehension I had myself going in. I thought, from the title and blurb, that this was a collection of retellings of Celtic myths and folklore but that is not the case. Instead what we have here is a, frankly somewhat random, collection of short stories inspired by those ancient traditions but, in some cases, having few connections to them. I'll admit to a bit of disappointment on discovering this myself (my girlfriend bought me the book as a gift because of my love of folklore and mythology), so I wouldn't want that same disappointment to tarnish another reader's experience.
As with almost any short story anthology, particularly one by so many authors written across such an expanse of time (as early as 1803 and as later as 1983), this is a mixed bag in terms of the quality of the stories themselves. The worst for me, somewhat by default, were two of the stories from the Isle of Man, which are written in Manx dialect and are therefore all but unreadable and certainly impossible to enjoy whilst trying to figure out the meaning of every single sentence. But at the other end of the scale there are several stories here that are genuinely gripping and thoroughly enjoyable. Eleanor Scott's 'Celui-La' was a stand-out, and put me in mind of M. R. James, as was 'The Seeker of Souls' by Rosalie Muspratt (Jasper John), which I somewhat ill-advisedly read at night whilst being one of only two couples staying in a large medieval manor house. Ultimately, the highlight of the book for me was a story that didn't actually have too much of the supernatural about it but was nevertheless a brilliantly constructed and atmospheric tale; 'The Green Steps' by Frank Baker.
So, this collection (or most of it, at least) is certainly worth a look but don't be fooled into thinking that it has all that much to do with real-world folklore and mythology.
3 out of 5
Chaos War: Avengers
featuring Fred van Lente, Michael Avon Oeming and J. M. DeMatteis
(Art by Tom Grummett, Cory Hamscher, Stephen Segovia, Ivan Rodriguez, Danny Miki, John Wycough, Victor Olazaba, Don Ho, Brian Ching and Rick Ketcham)
A tie-in to the Chaos War event storyline, this book features three stories. The first sees deceased Avengers who are brought back to life stepping in to protect their comatose living comrades, the second follows Ares as he confronts the Chaos King in the Underworld and the third has Thor battling an alien god called Glory.
Now this is the first and only Chaos War book I've ever read, so I went into it with very little knowledge of the set up for the story. To any other readers in the same boat, be prepared to have to accept things on face value because it picks up and ends amid events of the Chaos War, so we get little intro and no real ending. Ares' story suffers in particular from this and therefore feels very disjointed. On the other hand, Thor's story is fairly self-contained but just failed to really connect with me and also was a bit too existential in its tone; trying to make serious points about prayer and God in a story about a Norse god fighting an alien god. Frankly, it just didn't work for me.
For me the highlight of this book was 'Chaos War: Dead Avengers'. I've always liked stories which feature B-list or underpowered heroes taking on challenges that should be dealt with by the A-listers and here we get a real team of misfit Avengers who all share the dubious honour of having been dead up until the Chaos War. Whilst Captain Marvel (the Mar-Vell version) and Vision aren't B-list heroes, the likes of Deathcry, Swordsman, Yellowjacket and Doctor Druid are. Each of these heroes has to face their own shortcomings, as well as come to terms with their deaths and rebirths, whilst defending the comatose Avengers like Captain America, Iron Man and Wolverine. I would've been much happier if this entire book had focused on the Dead Avengers, instead of just the first half.
2 out of 5
Civil War: Marvel Universe
featuring Dan Slott, Marc Guggenheim, Robert Kirkman, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Michael Avon Oeming, Ty Templton, Paul Jenkins, Brian Michael Bendis and Warren Ellis
(Art by Paul Smith, Leinil Yu, Phil Hester, Ande Parks, David Aja, Scott Kolins, Roger Langridge, Tom Raney, Scott Hanna, Marc Silvestri and Top Cow Productions)
A tie-in to Mark Millar's 'Civil War' which features a number of minor Marvel characters and their reactions to the Superhuman Registration Act.
First off is a story about She-Hulk. She's torn by her support of the Act as She-Hulk and her obligations as the lawyer charged with protecting the rights of superhumans. Next up is a Venom, who decides to rack up a few more bodies before signing up to serve in the Government-sanctioned Thunderbolts. The Irredeemable Ant-Man is then called to act as a hero to protect an innocent caught between the two sides of the Civil War. In the next story Iron Fist agrees to become Daredevil to fight in the Civil War. The fifth story features U.S.Agent as he too is torn, this time between his duty and his dislike of Tony Stark.
Things take a lighter tone as the irrascible Howard the Duck reluctantly queues up for registration. Then, in 'Civil War: The Return' Captain Marvel is torn from another timeline and tasked with guarding the superhero prison in the Negative Zone, whilst the Sentry struggles with both his conscience and the Absorbing Man. Finally, 'Civil War: The Initiative' shows us the aftermath of the Civil War as Tony Stark attempts to rebuild the Avengers, a new super team is gathered in Canada, the ex-villain Thunderbolts revel in their new sanctioned positions and Ms. Marvel encounters the fugitive Spider-Woman.
Overall, I didn't really like this book too much. The stories are so short that they never manage to fully develop their better elements and the characters featured (with the possible exception of U.S.Agent) just aren't ones that interest me. Also, very little of the political and moral tension so prevalent in the other Civil War books is apparent here.
It comes to something when the best story offered here is the tongue-in-cheek Howard the Duck one ("You're a duck..." "And you're a civil servant. Let's not let our prejudices get in the way of civil discourse.")
2 out of 5
Civil War: X-Men Universe
featuring Peter David and Fabian Nicieza
(Art by Dennis Calero, Staz Johnson, Klaus Janson and John Stanisci)
Two stories tying in to 'Civil War' by Mark Millar, in which the Superhero Registration Act drives a wedge between the heroes of the Marvel Universe.
The first is about X-Factor and shows how they learn that the X-Men have been lying to them about the events of M-Day. The ensuing sense of betrayal leads them to choose the side of Quicksilver, the architecht of M-Day, over that of their former allies.
The second story is the better of the two and features Cable and Deadpool. When the latter is hired by the U.S Government to hunt down heroes avoiding the registration, it brings him into conflict with his friend and ally (Cable) who has chosen the side of the rebel heroes. This latter story manages to perfectly balance the poignancy of its political statements against its madcap humour. I particularly enjoyed Deadpool's reaction to getting his ass kicked by Squirrel Girl.
4 out of 5
Civil War II: Kingpin
featuring Matthew Rosenberg and Stan Lee
(Art by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, Hayden Sherman, John Romita and Mickey Demeo)
Two stories. The titular story reveals how Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, capitalises on the second superhero civil war, rebuilding his criminal empire with the help of an Inhuman who is immune to the heroes' ability to predict future crime. The second story is a classic Spider-Man story from the 60s in which Kingpin declares war on the Daily Bugle.
I liked the premise of this book right out of the gate. In the main 'Civil War II' story (by Brian Michael Bendis) we get to see how the superhero community is divided over the idea of convicting criminals before they've committed their crimes, but this book explores the outrage felt by the criminals themselves. Kingpin is the perfect character to do that too, having always seen the actions of 'the capes' as being an infringement of the lives of normal humans. This is a very Netflix Marvel-esque story and I definitely heard Vincent D'Onofrio's voice whenever I read Kingpin's dialogue here, making it especially appropriate that the Punisher puts in an appearance to throw a spanner (and grenade) into Fisk's plans.
I have to say I wasn't a fan of the art style, which negatively affected my enjoyment of the book overall but it's ugliness is fairly appropriate to the content of the story.
The book as a whole is let down by the second story by Marvel legend Stan Lee. The style of those old Spider-Man comics feel very dated now anyway and back in those days the Kingpin was not a fleshed-out or engaging character. He was just a fat angry guy with awful dialogue. There are definitely better Spider-Man stories from that era and it's not a great outing for the titular Kingpin either.
3 out of 5
Colossus: Cry For The Children!/A Most Dangerous Game/X-Men Origins - Colossus
featuring Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Ben Raab and Christopher Yost
(Art by John Byrne, Terry Austin, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, Trevor Hairsine and Kris Justice)
Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 58. Three stories from the 70s, 90s and 2000s. In the first two stories Colossus finds himself manipulated into confronting his divided loyalties regarding his homeland by the deranged assassin Arcade. The third story reveals the story of Piotr's life before he joined the X-Men, having to hide his abilities from the Soviet government to protect his family.
The first story here, from the iconic Claremont & Byrne era of the X-Men, suffers from one major flaw that it never quite gets past; Arcade is a terrible antagonist. Although the villain is supposed to be chillingly ruthless, the fact that he builds elaborate theme parks to confuse his enemies makes him ridiculous in practical terms. Who's funding these robot-laden theme parks? How did he get planning permission? Did none of the construction contractors question the murderpark they were building? He's a nonsense character and I've always hated him. This means that the second story, by Raab, never had a chance since it is basically just a rehashing of exactly what came before but this time in Paris (maybe French construction contractors are less likely to ask questions?).
The third story, telling Colossus' origins, is much better and more engaging than the other two, but still fails to really break any significant new ground.
2 out of 5
Cyclops: Cyclops - Odyssey/X-Men Origins - Cyclops
featuring Brian K. Vaughan and Stuart Moore
(Art by Mark Texeira, Jimmy Palmiotti, Jesse Delperdang and Andy Lanning)
Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 20. Two stories, one of which sees Cyclops separated from the X-Men and facing a vengeful foe and one which reveals details of Scott Summers' early life.
In 'Odyssey' by Vaughan, Cyclops is sent on vacation by Professor X but is immediately targeted by a psychopath calling himself Ulysses. It's a pretty cliched set-up for a story, with tales of superheroes who are usually part of a team having a self-contained mini-adventure all on their own being a staple of comic books for decades. I also found Ulysses to be a totally one-dimensional villain, when he could easily have simply been misguided and therefore sympathetic.
One thing I did enjoy, however, was the way that every situation he finds himself in reminds Scott of axioms from military leaders like General MacArthur or Sun Tzu. Having this almost-encyclopaedic knowledge of historical leaders seemed very appropriate for Scott, since he definitely seems like the type to spend time seriously researching how to be a better leader.
The second story, by Moore, didn't really tell me anything about Cyclops' origins that I didn't already know. Perhaps it wasn't meant to and was just intended as an updated retelling for new readers, but for me it just felt a bit pointless. It didn't help that I had read the Marvel's Mightiest Heroes' 'The X-Men' (reviewed here) immediately before this book and Moore's story directly retells and contradicts parts of the stories told there.
2 out of 5