Showing posts with label Jimmy Cheung. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Cheung. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2010

war is a many-tentacled thing

drive-by readings


Secret Warriors #12 (Marvel)
"Wake The Beast"
Jonathan Hickman
Stefano Caselli
Sunny Gho
Dave Lanphear
Jimmy Cheung/Mark Morales/Justin Ponsor (cover)

i don't know if other readers of this book kind of feels it like it ran out of steam in its last few issues. i like that Nick Fury took it upon himself to try and save the world on his own terms, recruiting his Secret Warriors and reforming the Howling Commandos. but there's too much going on, and this title is no longer "just" the Secret Warriors anymore. it was manageable when it was just Fury and his kids. now they're taking on Hydra, Leviathan and good knows who else, and with it the inevitable bureaucracy that running an organization entails. it doesn't help that Nick Fury sits there, lectures and he has like 46 scenarios running through his brain and you know he'll win eventually. for someone who went underground, his presence is practically everywhere - he recently helped Bucky Barnes get a new hand but hasn't renewed ties with Steve Rogers yet. i await the eventual sitdown between Fury, the resurrected Tony Stark, the two Captain Americas, Thor, and the rest of the Avengers. if this doesn't happen, i will protest in front of the Marvel offices until they do.

oh wait, what happens in this issue? Leviathan captures Viper in search of the "Box" (maybe they should go to Utopia and look up Madison Jeffries?), and Hydra thinks there's a traitor in their midst, which would work well for Fury. both also have secret weapons to be unveiled. there's also a sidestory with Stonewall and Yo-Yo visiting Stonewall's Supermax-resident dad - Crusher Creel, presumably which happens after he got his ass kicked in Mighty Avengers #33. but again this thread is overshadowed by everything else that's going on.


cue in Guns N' Roses: "i used to love her ... but i had to kill her ..."


Gorgon wassn't too enthusiastic about this new acupuncture technique.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

drive-by readings: Secret Warriors #7/Thunderbolts #135



Secret Warriors #7/Thunderbolts #135 (Marvel)
"God of Fear, God of War"/"Black Widow vs. Thunderbolts"
Jonathan Hickman/Andy Diggle
Alessandro Vitti/Miguel Sepulveda
Sunny Gho/Frank Martin
Dave Lanphear/Albert Deschesne
Jim Cheung/Justin Ponsor/Francisco Mattina (cover)
Marvel's improving somewhat in keeping their stories straight in recent years, and these two are a nice example of that (thank the editors). after the revelation that the Thunderbolt Black Widow Yelena Belanova was really the original, Natasha, the rest of the Thunderbolts have come after her and erstwhile T-Bolt leader Songbird. a crossover with the Secret Warriors was necessary because ol' Nick Fury himself put Natasha in that position to spy on Norman Osborn. unaware they were being trailed by the always-heinous Ant Man, Black Widow demonstrates to Songbird why the new Yankee Stadium is one overpriced magilla. too bad, Fury appears and they're all captured in one swell foop by the T-Bolts and presented to a gloating Osborn (previously hired by now-i'm-dead-now-i'm-alive Baron Strucker to kill Fury). but don't despair, True Believers! prior to this, Fury activates Agent John Garrett, and if we know Papa Nick, he's always two or three steps ahead of everyone else. even if he gets shot in the head. wait, ... what?!?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

drive-by readings: Secret Warriors #5


Secret Warriors #5 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/span>
Jonathan Hickman
Stefano Caselli
Daniele Rudoni
Dave Lanphear
Jimmy Cheung/Justin Ponsor (cover)
well, this is what the S.H.I.E.L.D. gig turned out to be. Nick Fury goes into paranoia overdrive, manipulates a few heroes to take out Latveria, gets disgraced and quits, comes back with new super recruits to repel the Skrull Invasion (like that helped), sees his old outfit decommissioned and rebuilt into Norman Osborn's public army, and now all this time he's been fighting a regenerated Hydra. if he got paid by the hour, that's USD35M @ $1K/hour in back pay, not counting medical benefits. he's still underpaid by Wall Street standards.

speaking of renumeration, how is he gonna pay the salaries of some twelve hundred ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists, whom he just deployed to attack a former base to retrieve their helicarriers. of course he knows this is also to draw Hydra into the open, thereby multiplying their opponent-to-good-guy ratio like around 10 to 1. make that 20 to 1 'cause Hydra's guys are kinda superpowered too. hazard pay? what hazard pay? its easy for Fury to say "if it was gonna be easy, it wouldn't be any fun now, would it?", because he has the goddamn Infinity Formula running through his veins. prick. maybe we should change the title of the book to Nick Fury: Secret Warrior, as Daisy and the gang are only shown in one panel all issue.

i'm guessing Stefano Caselli's strength is not splash pages that need some detailed backgrounds. he's done a great job with Avengers: The Initiative which netted him this gig, and i like his action shots, although sometimes the faces look alike from one to the other, giving you the sense that it was rushed. otherwise, this is still a solid issue (and series overall), with Marvel making good use of its rich library of (albeit perpetually-resurrected) characters.

Monday, May 5, 2008

cliffhanger of the week #14

there can only be one!!!

Queen's Gambit

who is the Skrull Queen? well, you better buy the damn comic!!!
New Avengers #40 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Jim Cheung/John Dell/Justin Ponsor/Albert Deschesne/cover: Aleksi Briclot

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

the shape of things to come

the Illuminati have gathered one more time, despite the Civil War and World War Hulk (since that series isn't over yet in real-time, we know from looking at these pictures that the principals haven't died - or even mangled badly). this time, a blast from the past is brewing and it may tie in to the events just concluded.



the Elektra Skrull has been brought to Tony's attention, and now they may have a bigger problem than the two previous crossovers. yes, its another invasion, and may even trump the previous Annihilation arcs (i wonder how those two barely crossed with what happened on Earth, save the one time Nova came over to visit his parents).



why don't you shut up, Tony ...


... because Black Bolt has something to say.


yes, i cringed as well. you know what was coming.



shoot. now everyone could really be a frakking Skrull. take that, Cylons!

after dispatching the Skrulls with a couple of nuclear power plants, Tony resumes his its-the-end-of-the-world lecture again. of course, he immediately ruled out the hiring of Gaius Baltar to create a Skrull-identification machine.



of course, Prince Namor will always try to have the final say.


i know who you can trust: the original Super-Skrull. he's fighting on the side of the angels now; get him down here and ask him questions. if he's part of the whole thingamajig, then just send him off to the Negative Zone.

Thor's around, so maybe they can call on him. hey, they need the Hulk here too! it worked in the Ultimates.

-----
New Avengers: Illuminati #5