semi-kind of victory

drive-by readings

Thor #614 (Marvel) "The Fine Print Part 4" Kieron Gillen Doug Braithwaite John Rauch Andy Troy June Chung Joe Sabino Mico Suayan/Laura Martin (cover)

what we learned: Loki's treachery is revealed! Thor realizes the breadth and width of his half-brother's machinations, and with Loki not in Hel's books, he'll have a devil of a time putting him down next time. well, no one's going to learn from this anyway. soon, they'll be back welcoming him with open arms and mugfuls of mead.
oh shit moment: Thor stabbing Kelda (relax, its because Loki put malware in her to break the Asgardians' morale and as an added bonus, assassinate Balder). also when Thor gets the Eir-Gram free and cuts down the Disir - that's mythic.
what's next: get ready for more action, 'cause here comes Matt Fraction!


sometimes, just sometimes, you still need violence against women.

ragin' asgardian

drive-by readings

The Rage of Thor (one shot) (Marvel) "The Rage of Thor" Peter Milligan Mico Suayan Matt Milla Joe Sabino

what we learned: Mico Suayan gets his shot at a companion piece to Thor #7-8 (drawn by The Awesomeness, Marko Djurdjevic). Thor, abandoning Asgard because of a frame-up (Loki, is that your hand in it?), lives as a warrior/farmer in Midgard but is forced to return to battle Surtur because of injuries to his dad Odin. eventually Thor has to temper his rage for being accused in the first place and grit his teeth at the normal Asgardian way of life - the three W's (warring, wining and wenching).
oh shit moment: Thor, despite his goody-two-shoes image, probably bedded a lot of women before Jane Foster. duh.
what's next: since the successful Straczynski reboot of 2007, i love the idea of Thor one-shots, and this should continue even if ever the main title gets cancelled (i said "if ever").


what, a Norse god with a conscience? perish the thought!

the devilish details

drive-by readings

Thor #612 (Marvel) "The Fine Print Part 2" Kieron Gillen Doug Braithwaite John Rauch Andy Troy Joe Sabino Mico Suayan/Laura Martin (cover)

what we learned: Thor and Tyr descend into Hela's (rented) realm to find out that they would need the Eir-Gram blade to control the Disir, and the blade has been placed in Mephisto's Hell. someone has to get it, and Tyr's not feeling up to the task (unmanly!). so, looks like Odin's favorite son is coming for the pickup.
oh shit moment: face-off between Thor and Mephisto. Thor just playing the grim-lipped god and holding back his anger. priceless.
what's next: will Thor ever know of Loki's deal with Mephisto? i want the Thunder God to beat it out of the devil.


"a simple request, Asgardian ... free tickets to your movie next year?"

drive-by readings: Captain Britain and MI-13 #15

Captain Britain and MI-13 #15 (Marvel) "Vampire State: Conclusion" Paul Cornell Leonard Kirk Jay Leisten Brian Reber Joe Caramagna Mico Suayan/Frank D'Armata (cover)

its just unfortunate that when "Excalibur" has its most diverse and intriguing (dare i say, best) configuration ever, economics didn't agree with critical opinion (or just me) and we get a cancellation notice in two years. maybe it was the long title, maybe the former Excalibur readers fled because there weren't much mutants left in the title. but in 15 issues, writer Paul Cornell, bless his British heart, has assembled a great cast anchored by Pete Wisdom, whom he wrote in a 6-issue MAX series earlier. among his other moves were bringing back Meggan, moving Dane Whitman to the English shores, and masterfully blending British fantasy elements and straight up superheroics. throwing Blade into the mix seemed weird, but made sense in the final story arc against Dracula (yes, really). Leonard Kirk provided the art for the whole run, a solid and steady contributor that's a rarity these days.

hopefully, somebody would come to their senses and relaunch this title anew (preferably with Cornell and Kirk). godspeed, mates; see you all again soon.

drive-by readings: Immortal Weapons #1

Immortal Weapons #1 (Marvel) "The Book of the Cobra"/"Caretakers, Part 1" Jason Aaron Duane Swierczynski Mico Suayan Stefano Gaudiano Roberto De La Torre Khari Evans Victor Olazaba Michael Lark Arturo Lozzi Travel Foreman Nate Piekos Edgar Delgado Matt Hollingsworth Jelena Djurdjevic Jodi Wolff June Chung David Aja (cover)

screw the DC Universe Kobra, or the G.I. Joe Cobra. make mine Fat Cobra! it may or may not make them a bushel of money, but Marvel's Immortal Weapons, a spinoff series of the popular characters from Iron Fist (thanks to Messrs. Brubaker, Fraction and Aja) make for great reading. we can all figure that Fat Cobra has an eating problem, but who knew he had a semi-Forrest Gump streak in life, hanging out with Elvis, fighting side by side with Nick Fury, and siring Skrull children? holy humongous hogs! Fat Cobra has the most star power among the Weapons (save Danny Rand of course), but i hope the others will be fleshed out just as entertainingly.

Iron Fist fans (like me), fear not! a backup story is included in each ish (Caretakers). Danny goes back to his roots trying to save regular folk on a daily basis (nice touch with Misty co-teaching in his dojo). they may not be Heroes for Hire in that sense anymore, but they're "heroes" with a fuller meaning.

drive-by readings Capt Britain & MI13 #14

Captain Britain & MI13 #14 (Marvel) "Vampire State, Part 4" Paul Cornell Leonard Kirk Ardian Syaf Jay Leisten Craig Yeung Brian Reber Joe Caramagna Mico Suayan / Morry Hollowell (cover)

along with Guardians of the Galaxy, this title does not disappoint month after month. kinda reminds me of early-Grant Morrison JLA. this month we learn that Dracula has not really taken over the Earth yet, and our heroes have laid such an elaborate trap, with writer Paul Cornell using previous plot devices to their clever advantage. a great aspect of this rebuilt Excalibur is the inclusion of B-list characters that make sense (Blade, the Black Knight, and now Killpower), and this is the team that it should have been years ago (no dis to Chris Claremont and Alan Davis). and with another cliffhanger on hand, i hope it draws in more readers than before.