Mysterio! The Gauntlet! Dan Slott! Oh my!

After not reading comics for almost two months, I finally went and picked up all of the comics I hadn’t bought and in this monstrous stack was Amazing Spider-Man #618. Penned by Dan Slott with art by Marcos Martin, this was the issue I have been looking forward to for months (since I heard word of it back in August) that was apart of Spider-Man’s “The Gauntlet.”

In case you haven’t been keeping up with Amazing Spider-Man, what’s been happening is this: all of Spidey’s old villains have been coming back… with a vengeance. The thing is, they’re not coming back to get Spider-Man, but they’re coming back to do what they do best: do selfish things. So far, we’ve had Electro, Sandman, Rhino (2.0) and this weeks baddy–Mysterio.

It’s been all very good so far, but this week’s issue… I wasn’t feeling it so much, which is a huge surprise since I have an absolute love for Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But let’s talk more after the break.

*some minor spoilery after the break*

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If you judged this book by its cover, you'd be absolutely right: it kicks ass.

For the last few months, Marvel has released a series of one shots, collectively called “The List,” in which Norman Osborn enacts devious plots against various heroes in the Marvel Universe. Each issue has been a self-contained story, and for the most part, they have all been rather enjoyable. This week saw the release of the best one to date, which stars Wolverine.

As novel an idea as it may be for Wolverine to star in a comic </sarcasm>, I was more intrigued by the guest stars of this issue: Noh-Varr and Fantomex. Both characters were created by Grant Morrison, and have either been mishandled or ignored completely since Morrison left for DC a few years ago. It’s good to see writer Jason Aaron take these characters (as well as other concepts from Morrison’s X-Men run) and use them to craft one of the most fun comics I’ve read in a long time. This comic has tons of action and is funny as hell. All of the characters get some great lines, particularly Osborn.

Not only does this comic contain a great story, but like a good DVD, it has plenty of bonus features, including Marvel Universe entries for Fantomex and Marvel Boy, and a short Wolverine story written by Aaron earlier in his career.

Highly recommended. You get a lot of bang for your 4 bucks here.

More info about the comics reviewed after the break.

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More info about this video after the break.

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More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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Nothing with the name Fantastic Force has ever come to anything good. Franklin Richards as the ludicrously over/under powered Psi-Lord, along with other never-weres and also-rans, pretty much murdered the idea of a logical, plot-driven progression for the Fantastic Four. The new Fantastic Force reinforces this point on more lateral lines and comes to the same conclusion: drek.

i am barely restraining the obvious pun here, folks

This four part series spins out from the hit-and-miss Mark Millar Fantastic Four run that wrapped a couple months ago, taking characters only seen in that particular arc of that particular run who haven’t been mentioned again. That arc takes the groan-inducing concept of Nu-World, a deliberately constructed cross-dimensional Earth, and eventually populates it with the denizens of a five hundred year forward future Earth that has twenty-two seconds to live, so to speak.

This mini-series deals with the fallout of that arc. Was it very good? Not in my opinion. Was that arc very popular? I frankly haven’t checked, though it must have been to warrant the creation of this mini; someone must have been curious to ’see what happened next’, but who? And if it was so popular, with so much potential, why was this mini so colon-burstingly awful?

In both concept and execution, Fantastic Force is a lobotomized simulacrum of the Millar arc; it tries too hard and does too little. The art, by Steve Kurth, is a Chinese fast-food mess of slightly incorrect perspectives, arid action sequences, and heavy handed details; the framing renders everything into the same flat, stuttering voice. Writer Joe Aheame does little to alleviate the situation with one note characters (oh look the android is lusty; he is a lusty android), too many ideas, and zero breathing moments.

In an era of strongly built characters with serious emotional responses, calm character notes before heavy plot storms, and thoroughly expressive art, this volume of Fantastic Force hearkens back to the early 90s, making us appreciate what we have now…except, of course, for this volume of Fantastic Force.

More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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He's keeping a running tally of all the continuity mistakes...

What has come before: Norman Osborn (formerly the Green Goblin, now the Iron Patriot) pretty much runs America. Clint Barton (formerly Hawkeye, now Ronin) seems to be more upset about this than anyone (even Spider-Man, oddly enough).
This comic dredges up some mixed emotions in me. I’ll get into it further after the break, as there are some spoilers contained herein.

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Remember way back when and I was ranting and raving about how much I loved Kick-Ass?

Well, those times are back because after a long, long, long, long, long flipping waiting period, we’re finally given a comic that seriously rules all others: Kick-Ass #7.

If you don’t remember what happened last time, let me lay it on the line:

Kick-Ass, aka Dave Lizewski, has been trying to be a super hero. He’s had his ass kicked multiple times, has been hospitalized for along period of time, has had a metal plate put in his head and all the while he’s trying to live a regular nerdy life. Then enter Big Daddy and Hit Girl; heroes who kick ass and have been inspired by Kick-Ass. Add Red Mist to the mix and you have a great combo of heroes. Right? Wrong. Red Mist was working for the mob who’s been hunting Big Daddy and Hit Girl and they’ve been set up, along with Kick-Ass, to be slaughtered.

That was up through issue #6. More on this month’s issue after the break. (spoiler images after the break)
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What has happened before: The Kree and the Shi’Ar went to war again, this time lead by Earth-born conquerors (Black Bolt and Vulcan, respectively). The Kree won when Black Bolt set off a doomsday weapon that appeared to kill both Vulcan and himself.  While all this was going on, the former Shi’Ar empress, Lilandra, was assassinated by what appears to have been Darkhawk.

If the War of Kings miniseries had a failing, it was that the ending was rather abrupt. Thankfully, this issue provided a much needed epilogue for this epic crossover.  Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning maintain their high level of quality output here, as does artist Paul Pelletier. Like their Secret Invasion: War of Kings one shot, this issue concisely sums up the previous crossover, tells a self-contained story, and provides all the necessary set up for the next crossover event. My only problem with it is that it makes me want to follow the upcoming Realm of Kings crossover, despite my crossover fatigue and rapidly shrinking comics budget.

Of course, if Marvel continues to publish transitional one-shots of such high quality, I may just skip the crossovers altogether and buy these every few months…