Welcome as at all times, True Believers, to a different Wednesday installment of The Beat’s Marvel Rundown! It’s time to provide thanks for an additional batch of terrific comics criticism. This week, the Avengers embrace the infinite summer time of the California coast in Gerry Duggan and Danny Kim’s West Coast Avengers #1! However that’s not all, stick round after the (spoiler free!) principal assessment for the Speedy Rundown, together with check-ins with Unbelievable Hulk #19, Iron Man #2, and Uncanny X-Males #6!
The Beat desires to listen to from you, True Believers! Inform us what you consider this week’s Marvel Comics! Shout us out within the remark part beneath or over on social media @comicsbeat, or @comicsbeat.bsky.social, and tell us what’s good and what’s not so good!
Excelsior!
West Coast Avengers #1
Author: Gerry DugganArtist: Danny KimColorist: Arthur HesliLetterer: VC’s Joe CaramagnaCover Artist: Ben Harvey
The pitch on West Coast Avengers is ideal. Take one excessive profile Avenger, stick them on a crew with a bunch of second and third-stringers who can’t hack it as supporting gamers on the flagship Avengers, and simply go nuts. Loads of memorable, weird tales come from West Coast Avengers through the years, together with nearly the whole lot individuals keep in mind about Scarlet Witch from her imaginary twins to her psychological instability, and few writers right this moment are higher fitted to the offbeat weirdos of the WCA than Gerry Duggan, who has confirmed himself adept at balancing humor, pathos, and motion.
This new take is anchored by Iron Man (solely loosely and unconvincingly tied into the established order of Spencer Ackerman and Julius Ohta’s new sequence) alongside Spider-Girl, Iron Man’s trusty buddy Warfare Machine, mutant outcast Firestar. The crew is crammed out by former villains Blue Bolt and Ultron (clearly not a mistake that can value them dearly within the first 6 points). The aim is to offer the villains a chance for redemption and mentoring whereas conserving the West Coast protected. There’s a proactive streak to Iron Man’s mission on this, which is smart for Tony Stark the futurist and downside solver.
The story here’s a direct extension of Duggan’s work on Iron Man and X-Males and Tony’s new openminded ideas on reforming dangerous guys is credited to his experiences and actions there. Firestar arrives wallowing in her standing as a double agent and perceived traitor to her personal type. Her introduction is introduced with some humor however is clearly one of many darkest locations she’s ever been in emotionally. And that’s the enjoyment of a Duggan comedian. He doesn’t undercut the drama or story with humor however as an alternative finds moments of levity in human frailty and brokenness.
It’s a clunky first situation although, with heavy narration upfront to elucidate the ebook’s idea. Duggan’s tries to get previous all that exposition by concurrently throwing us proper into superhero motion scenes with the entire crew however it’s at the price of actually exhibiting us why it exists. There’s no rationalization given for who Blue Bolt is or why Ultron is sweet now. It could have been good to get extra perception into Iron Man’s resolution to construct a crew round Ultron’s reform, significantly given his present cashflow and know-how issues.
Fortuitously, artist Danny Kim’s type is expressive, dynamic, and thrilling and picks up lots of slack so as to neglect these questions concerning the who and why and revel in Iron Man knocking some punks round and driving off on an electrical scooter. He does an awesome job with the web page building and layouts, centering the characters over the massive spectacle. One web page consists of solely 4 panels: a midshot adopted by a detailed up picture of a most cancers affected person sharing her expertise dominates the web page, then a small insert of Tony Stark reacting, overlapping a panel of Spider-Girl leaving the room within the backside proper that sinks proper off of the web page. There’s an intimacy to the give attention to her face, and the stark vacancy of the white area surrounding the girl’s heartfelt emotions forces us to sit down together with her emotion, earlier than we’re uncomfortably shuffled out alongside the aloof Spider-Girl. This type of format–the formally inflexible rectangular field organized in unorthodox methods provides the ebook a well-recognized however unfastened sensibility that fits the center floor between massive superhero drama and oddball characters. It actually sells the dysfunction of this slapdash crew and Kim’s artwork has excellent comedian timing. Arthur Hesli’s coloration casts the difficulty in a heat orange gentle that evokes the infinite summer time of Los Angeles. With that washed out sunlit orange there’s no mistaking the setting for New York Metropolis. Marvel stalwart Joe Caramagna’s letters are clear and readable with daring, enjoyable SFX which are positively retro and provides the difficulty a pop of enjoyable.
Probably the most attention-grabbing elements of West Coast Avengers are its final handful of pages as the ultimate crew member and its principal villain enter the scene. It bodes nicely for the larger story even when it makes this primary situation really feel a bit shallow. However there’s promise right here, particularly for Iron Man followers who may be in search of one thing that scratches the itch for Robert Downey rapid-fire quippage.
VERDICT: It’s a good begin however gentle in energy with out the entire story. Give it a BROWSE.
The Speedy Rundown!
Unbelievable Hulk #19
This present run on Unbelievable Hulk by Philip Kennedy Johnson, Nic Klein, and Danny Earls continues to be top-of-the-line books Marvel releases every month. The story concocted by Kennedy Johnson with the Hulk preventing an increasing number of grotesque monsters as Banner and Hulk battle for management stays compelling. He by no means permits both Banner or Hulk to be actually sympathetic and retains readers unsure which one must be out and about. In the meantime, Klein and Earls swap artwork duties (although on this situation they crew up), with an at all times wonderful Matthew Wilson offering coloring magic. The 2 artists had been born to offer an increasing number of horrific visuals, particularly the transformations, because the sequence progresses. Problem #19 hits a turning level on this run because it closes the chapter on Hulk’s horrifying journey to Las Vegas. Charlie Tidwell, the Hulk’s new companion, simply acquired her physique again (after being was a porcelain doll) solely to be chased by werewolves. Banner offered out the Hulk to The Eldest, this run’s villain, to save lots of Charlie. There are some actually horrifying photos and Charlie actually doesn’t come out of this unchanged. Letterer Cory Petit will get to point out off with the sound results on this situation, particularly within the motion sequences. There’s a sequence the place the Hulk and Banner should get again into motion the place Petit does some enjoyable issues with typography. Because it’s an anniversary situation, there’s a few again up tales that includes varied totally different Hulk characters however actually the principle attraction is the draw right here. This continued shift of the character in direction of horror began in Immortal Hulk retains offering new and attention-grabbing locations for creates to discover.- DM
Iron Man #2
If in case you have ever questioned what concussion protocols or injured reserve for superheroes seem like, author Spencer Ackerman and artist Julius Ohta give us a front-row seat as a busted-up Tony Stark has to go to battle with out his arsenal of superior armor. After having his total armory contaminated with a mystical pc virus, as well as, he’s on the point of dropping his firm once more as Tony has to combat towards the joint forces of A.I.M. and Roxxon in a company takeover that doesn’t keep contained to the boardroom. We’ve seen Tony lose his firm and have to begin from scratch a bunch of occasions, heck his final sequence was about him rebuilding his life and armor after Orchis took management of his tech, so this Stark-Roxxon Warfare is barely acquainted territory with a twist. Retro variations or era-specific Iron Man armor isn’t new, a brand new armor is a part of the legacy, so if you consider Iron Man artwork, odds are you consider one thing slick and futuristic, however for this run, Ohta’s search for Tony isn’t a favourite, however the total artwork is a cool tackle the Iron Man tech with its steampunk vibe and its massive uncharacteristic principal weapon. I like Ackerman’s use of historical past, acknowledging current occasions like Tony’s marriage to Emma Frost or a tremendous easter egg nod to the long-lasting Demon in a Bottle storyline. To date the story is participating and there’s sufficient to maintain my curiosity in coming again. – GC3
Uncanny X-Males #6
Given the climatic brawl within the final situation and the upcoming Raid on Graymalkin Crossover, I used to be interested in the place author Gail Simone was going to take the sequence on this week’s Uncanny X-Males #6. On this situation, Simone begins to put the inspiration for the upcoming Raid, past taking again the X-mansion, with the crew being beneath assault by Dr. Ellis’ forces on the native highschool and grocery retailer. I believe the difficulty works greatest by having the Outliers go to highschool plot being the main focus of the difficulty. There are few issues crueler than college youngsters and in a world with a lot mainstream anti-mutant sentiment, the varsity setting is a fast, relatable option to promote that to the viewers. The character moments between the Outliers are okay and I discovered myself cheering them on as they stood as much as the worst bigot of the varsity. The problem I discovered with the writing was the pacing of the story. There are a pair overarching subplots being explored on this situation and I don’t assume all of them had been successfully explored. The Wolverine PTSD plot is one thing worthwhile to discover with Wolverine, however it comes off a bit stilted within the reveal with Rogue simply declaring “Wolverine you could have PTSD!” with the tact of Younger Jean Gray outing Iceman as homosexual. The reveal that Dr. Ellis has conscripted extra mutants into her strike crew comes out of nowhere past the tease that Siren was being compelled into some function for the fascist. Facet notice: the lineup of The Blob and Wildchild (!?) was a bizarre one. Javier Garron does a stable job on artwork all through the difficulty. The motion sequences are well-paced and dynamic. The characters are expressive all through the difficulty as Gambit steals the present early on and the artwork captures the vulnerability in characters like Rogue or Wolverine. The character fashions are the place issues deviate as we’re given a Wolverine that’s constructed about as vast as he’s tall. I like that design, however it’s stunning to see such a brief king. Uncanny X-Males #6 is one other stable entry into the sequence, however it does really feel like issues had been rushed to get all of the items into play for the upcoming Raid on Graymalkin. That is the character of company comics, at occasions. Oh nicely. I appreciated the difficulty nonetheless. -JJ
That’s all for this week, Marvel devoted! Subsequent week, preserve your eyes on the infinite as we check out the brand new Infinity Watch. Completely satisfied Thanksgiving!
