Secret Warriors #4
Story by Jonathan Hickman and Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stefano Caselli
Colors by Daniele Rudoni
Letters by Dave Lanphear
Cover by Jim Cheung and Justin Ponsor
In this issue of Secret Warriors, Hickman makes your brain meat sizzle with four ongoing plot lines. Daisy and Sebastian search Kata Tjuta, Australia for a Yo-Yo replacement, Nick Fury meets up with Dum Dum Dugan and Gabriel Jones in Juba, Sudan, J.T. and Alex search through Fury’s secret files inside of Fury Secret Base #8: The Playground, (which is located nearby Jerusalem according to the map in issue #1) and finally we get the leaders of Hydra declaring war from Gehenna. (i.e. the Valley of Hinnom, which is in Jerusalem! Whew.)
Other reviewers have mentioned the historical and mythological connections that these locations have. If you don’t know the stories behind the locations, (especially Gehenna) Wikipedia is your friend. Hickman is definitely adding lots of juicy subtext to this already exciting story.
Daisy and Sebastian find their Yo-Yo replacement in an Aborigine man named Eden Fesi. He only appears on three pages of this issue, and he’s already one of my favorite characters. He’s a wanna-be rockstar who can bend reality and wears a diaper. How can you not like this guy?
If you haven’t been reading this book, now is the time to start. Next issue: Howling Commandos vs. Hydra vs. H.A.M.M.E.R! It’s no secret that this book is bad ass.
– Freddie
THE GOOD, BETTER, BEST of the Week
By: Arthur
The Unwritten #1
Unwritten #1
Debated on starting off with either this or Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1, and as much as I love Ivan Brandon’s work and the fact that I’m digging his homage to one of the best show’s on television (The 1960’s cult classic, The Prisoner), I got to give it to Mike Carey & Peter Gross for making a Harry Potter-esque story (a series I never particularly cared about) worth the price of admission.
Thirty-two pages of story for a dollar.
That’s alone should be enough to pick this up the next time you’re in a comic shop, but if it’s not, Carey & Gross turn out a well-written, well-drawn tale about a son who’s author father wrote him as the star of a fourteen volume series of novels based on the aforementioned Harry Potter books who, while getting by on the convention circuit signing autographs and collecting appearance fees, gets thrown into a fantasy tale of his own.
Also it’s thirty-two pages of story for a dollar, so based on everything above, there’s no excuse not to get this.
(And if you don’t have a dollar, borrow one.)
Captain Britain and MI:13 #13
Captain Britain and MI:13 #13
So, save for Captain Britain and Blade, everyone’s dead? Wow…definitely didn’t see that coming, Paul Cornell.
But that’s why I love these types of books — this, and Avengers: The Initiative, and Incredible Hercules — the stakes are high because these characters don’t have that kind of immunity that every A-Lister does.
Now thinking back on the opening sentence, Count Dracula and his obviously awesome vampire army are on top now, but it’s not gonna stay that way…doesn’t mean there’s no drama, though.
Balancing the main plot (Dracula secretly teaming up with Doctor Doom in order to take over England) with the smaller, lighter character moments (like Faiza Hussain preparing for war, while worried about her kidnapped father) is like second nature for Cornell, and more people should take stock of that.
Unthinkable #1 (of 5)
Unthinkable #1 (of 5)
Here the pitch: It’s a story about a writer, a microbiologist, and four other specialists working for a government Think Tank to come up with the worst, unthinkable catastrophes that could happen in our nation. Then nine years later, those same scenarios that they concocted quickly take the country by storm.
And here’s a fact: It’s also another hit for BOOM! Studios.
Wolverine #73
Wolverine #73
Story #1 Written by Jason Aaron / Art by Adam Kubert
Story #2 Written by Daniel Way / Art by Tommy Lee Edwards
Alright here we go! The end of Old Man Logan yeah!!!!! I have been waiting so long to see how this end’s, I’m so excited…wait….what’s that…that says # 73. Isn’t this supposed to be #72…wtf Marvel?
Well I guess Marvel didn’t want to release 72 so instead we get a two stories in one book. The first written by Jason Aaron, who knows Wolvie pretty well by now with working on Wolverine: Weapon X and all. The second by (in my opinion) the “so-so” writer of Marvel, Daniel Way .
So how does it stack up when you have one of the best story tellers in comics today (again in my opinion) and the “so-so” back to back? Meh.
The first story with fantastic art by Adam Kubert was a fun little read. It was told in a very clever way and addressed the question asked by many Marvel fans, “Why the hell is Wolverine in so many books?” With the first part of this story it seems that there is an answer, and I’m very curious to see how it ends. Though short, it keeps the reader interested and with some nice little cameos it’s a great story to get you through your week.
Now with the other story, Way had his heart in the right place, but it still felt flat. I like the idea of Wolverine with a biker gang and all that but something about it didn’t stick. Same goes for the art; while I appreciated what Tommy Lee Edwards did, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
So over all it’s a nice little distraction till #72 till comes out, but not by much. I wish Jason Aaron would have written the whole thing, but his half was still worth the price of admission.
– Jesse
The Fourth Wall 