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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Despite a small (and rather sad) contingency of Marvel people at this year’s Chicago Comic-Con (you may know this as Wizard World Chicago), there are still a couple of Marvel panels to report on. The first of which happened on Friday afternoon – the Marvel Ultimate Panel – involving news and discussion of the Marvel Ultimate Comics line. In attendance were Jim McCann, Marvel’s PR guru, Lauren Sankovitch, Associate editor (formerly with the Ultimate line), Mark Paniccia, Ultimate line editor, and Mark Millar, writer of many Ultimate books and co-creator of the Ultimate Universe.

The panel started a little late, as Millar walked in and said that he was “taking a poo”. To which McCann replied that they are only 3 minutes late, like many of their books. This pretty much set the tone for the rest of the panel, which was as much filled with witty banter as with actual news on the Ultimate U.

As the laughter died down, McCann said that this is the first panel where they can actually talk about a lot of the Ultimate stuff, now that Ultimatum #5 has finally shipped. The first book coming out with be, as many of you know, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man this Wednesday. Paniccia said that these are his favorite books and Sankovitch said that they are resetting the bar even higher now after Ultimatum. The panel members said look for some huge surprises in Spider-Man from the very first issue. There was also a general praise for David LaFuente’s art on the book.

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Bullseye gets a Hawkeye mini, and Ms. Marvel’s title has been taken over by Moonstone. Ares is conquering various books and has his own three issue Dark Avengers tie-in on the way. Hell, even Wolverine Jr is series-jacking one of his old man’s titles.

the sinister spider-crotch

In all these offshoots, the titular hero saves the mission, if not the day, and makes the other Dark Avengers who show up in that scene look like chumps.

But what about poor ol’ Mac Gargan, aka Venom? He doesn’t have any beef with the jerks he works with; all he wants to do is punch who he’s told to punch and maybe do a little good in the world. Sure, maybe get the girl. Maybe show some people that you can’t keep a good Gargan down.

Maybe eat your face.

I’ve been too busy getting bingo on my celebrity death pools to watch the recent solicits, so Sinister Spider-Man #1 was a welcome surprise. Chris Bachalo‘s cover really does drag your face in and nibble on it quit a bit. Once inside, it’s mean and fun mean and whispers creepy promises of fast, modern, pulpy goodness.

The first issue delivers the goods while still setting us up for the rest of the four-issue run. This oh-so-Sinister Spider-Man has all the set pieces of his Amazing counterpart – JJJ, Osborn, Six goons who are fairly Sinister in their own right, and lots and lots of girls.

Well, ok, skanks and whores. This is Mac Gargan, after all.
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I don’t know how many of you were really worried about Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ baby at the end of Secret Invasion but I personally was freaking out. I think that Bendis has been doing a simply wonderful job building Luke and Jessica’s relationship throughout New Avengers, Civil War, and Secret Invasion and now I can honestly say that I care about them and their child (and to think that a few years ago they were floating in relative B-list hero obscurity). Which brings me to issue 49 of New Avengers. Luke has found the Jarviskrull.

Unfortunately Luke had to go to the most deplorable man in the MU for help; a deal with the devil most certainly. He went to Norman Osborn and in exchange for the goblin’s help Luke agreed to be Norman’s man whenever he was needed. Given his sordid past I was a little disappointed with Luke after issue 48. You’re a hero Luke, act like one. But he redeems himself in stellar fashion and proves that he deserves to be an Avenger. Out of all of the heroes I’ve watched grow in the recent past, Luke Cage seems to be the one whose changes actually feel substantial, tangible, and hopefully, lasting.

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Two grown men playing 52 card pickup

I’m a big Marvel fan, though you wouldn’t know it by my previous DC based reviews.

Moon Knight #24 came out last week, guest starring the Thunderbolts; I’ve been a T-Bolts follower since their inception, and I really like their current line-up and story line, so I figured “Let’s give Moon Knight a shot!”

Gentle reader, I warn and beg you! Please learn from these, my mistakes.

Please proceed to read on after the break.

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Hello everybody and thanks for checking out my first article here at Destroythecyb.org! Back in July 2007, New Avengers #31 revealed that the Hand had been infiltrated by the alien race know as the Skrulls and Danny Rand asked the question, “What does this all mean?”

One year later, it all comes together in Brian Michael Bendis‘ new series, Secret Invasion. While it’s only been a few months, this truly epic saga is so vast that, before I review the latest issue, I’m going to bring everyone up to speed on the whole series.

After the break, my synopsis of the Secret Invasion plot so far. Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS.

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As I slowly dip into more recent comics to pad out my endless list of must-buy classics, a few big names constantly crop up. Mark Millar is one of those names. In an attempt to both get into his stuff and try to somewhat get a handle on Marvel’s continuity so I could read Secret Invasion, I read Civil War, which I went on record as having liked it but not been wowed. Then I read the Superman Elseworlds tale Red Son, which is savagely brilliant. My interests finally piqued, I started picking up back issues of the titles he’s put out this year, which is no small task since the man apparently isn’t bothering to sleep or eat given the number of issues he’s written. Now that I’m finally caught up, let me try to explain why Mark Millar deserves every drop of praise he’s getting.

**spoilers and more after the break**

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Wolverine #68 Cover

Remember last month when I told you to go out and get Wolverine #67? And remember the month before when I said to get Wolverine #66? Well, guess what I am going to tell you this month? GO GET WOLVERINE #68!!!! Unless you are a masochist and don’t want to do what is good for you, you really should heed my advice. Honestly, you don’t even really have to read the rest of this review, I’ll tell you right now: I loved it. But if you are interested read on.

In the last issue, Logan and Hawkeye made it to Las Vegas, where they found out that Hawkeye’s daughter (who happens to also be Spider-Man‘s granddaughter) is being held captive by the new Kingpin. This month, we pick up from that point and continue to follow the adventures of this unlikely pair of geriatrics. So, with a belly full of beer, just like Logan (seriously, I was just at the pub), I’ll have my full review following the break!

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Another month and another Wolverine comic. As I previewed on Tuesday, this is the second issue of the Old Man Logan arc by Mark Millar and, as expected, this is a great comic. I continue to be impressed by Millar’s ability to create a complex and deep story, and yet make it interesting to read.

Despite the extra wait for reasons that I don’t know and my need to read this comic this month, I endured the wait and didn’t pull the hair out of my head. Lucky for me, the wait was well worth it and I was able to recover some of my sanity after turning the pages of this issue.

*Spoilers Ahead*

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It’s that time of the week again when I tell you what to look forward to at your local comic shop (or at least what I am looking forward to. You can do whatever you want). Some interesting stuff this week, including Wolverine as an old man, a one-shot featuring Newuniversal, and those little kids with the big punch, The Power Pack, fighting some Skrulls. Here we go, comic previews coming at ya!

Wolverine #67

It’s been awhile since I talked about the Old Man Logan arc by Mark Millar that is going on in Wolverine right now, but let me say, it is still awesome and it IS finally coming out this week. It’s been over a month and this book as been delayed a couple of weeks, but trust me, it is going to be worth the wait. If you don’t remember (or didn’t read it; shame on you!), Old Man Logan takes place in the future with a – you guessed it – older Logan. Last month, we found out he was having money problems, was being bullied by Bruce Banner‘s kids and goes on a road trip with a blind Hawkeye (ironic, I know) to deliver a package to the east coast to get money for rent. Two reasons why this book is awesome, if you couldn’t guess from the above description: Mark Millar is writing it and Steve McNiven is penciling it. Good enough reason for me to pick up a book.

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