Secret Warriors 23

This title has been a favorite of mine since its inception. While this book doesn’t offer many jumping on points, it has provided many satisfying twists and turns for followers. Secret Warriors has always provided an espionage themed tour through the factions of the Marvel U. Even with the end of the title only four issues away theres plenty of excitement to come.

Back in 2008, during the Secret Invasion crossover, creators Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev introduced us to the idea of Nick Fury and his ‘caterpillars’, super powered youths that have yet to be discovered or compromised by anyone else. After the aliens the Secret Warriors got their own book, with words by Jonathan Hickman and art by Stefano Caselli. Recently Alessandro Vitti subtly stepped in on the art, and he’s dishing out some exciting climatic fight sequences. So how’d we get to this point in Hickman’s secret agent, super hero story?

***there’s totally SPOILLERS below***

But it’s just a comic book, so keep reading.

After the Skrull invasion Nick Fury still had plenty of wars to fight. His team of young warriors partnered up with what’s left of the Howling Commandoes, Fury loyalists and former S.H.I.E.L.D.agents, to take on Hydra, terrorist organization extraordinaire. Cold war Soviet espionage organization Leviathan recently resurfaced, but of course Nick Fury has planned for that. Now after meeting the key members from each of these factions, it’s boiled down to a battle royal between Hydra, Leviathan, and Fury’s forces.

Recently it’s been discovered that JT (Hellfire) has sold out his fellow Secret Warriors to Baron Von Strucker of Hydra. This betrayal coupled with the climatic explosion of Hydra headquarters led to young Phobos (that’s right, the god of Fear) being stranded and forced to duel Gorgon, a Hydra leader with an equally mythic epic katana. The Secret Warriors witness their team mate get struck down by the Hydra samurai. Caught in a secondary explosion from the chaos, JT’s life rests in Fury’s hands. A man who lives by a code, Fury cannot allow a traitor to live.

After the recent twists and bummers of the recent battles, this recent issue starts off with an uplifting fresh story of a forgotten warrior. Sebastian Druid was a pudgy slacker whose powers were but a weak flicker of what his father, the late Avenger Dr. Druid, once wielded. Well way back in issue 13 Fury gave Sebastian the pink slip due to ‘being a liability.’

Of course Fury didn’t give up on one of his caterpillars. When Sebastian was dismissed he was met by John Garret, one of Fury’s Howlin’ Commandoes. Garret was sent there to whip the young Druid into a self sustaining secret agent. After some pushups and pep talks, we get see the new and improved Sebastian on some solo missions of varying success. It all leads up to the two meeting up right where we left off with the rest of the Secret Warriors.

Sebastian saves the crew and they get a clean get away. Back at HQ Fury debriefs Daisy (Quake) on the recent events with her love interest JT. Enraged, she destroys the table in front of her in a super powered fit and Fury leaves the room. Can the Secret Warriors be over just as Sebastian has returned?

At last year’s C2E2 Hickman said there was an end game planned for the Secret Warriors title. Then he estimated 32 total issues, now it’s been released that it’ll be 27 issues all together. That’s alright though if it keeps producing gems like this. This series has slowly introduced the reader to a loveable new cast of Marvel heroes, and I’d be interested in anything these characters or creators spin off into.

Jonathan Hickman’s other works out on shelves right now are also amazing. The recent S.H.I.E.L.D. series has been an interesting journey through the history of the Marvel U’s most clandestine underground society. Hickman’s also been brewing up excitement with Fantastic Four, which looks to soon be the Fantastic Three! No news on what’s next from Caselli, but we’ve seen his pencil at the throat of many Marvel crossovers. Vitti obviously has his hands full with the remainder of this series, but after seeing his work in the Brother Voodoo trade as well as this book, I can’t wait to see him pen more characters.

There you have it. That concludes the long winded rant on another favorite of mine. As cheesy as it is, I find this story stirs up inspiration in me. It has perfect timing with all those New Year’s resolutions and what have you. I was trying something different with this long winded explanation of the whole series. Hopefully there’ll be more to come. More reviews. More changes. More comics!

Invincible #75

This milestone issue was the most anticipated book in my stack, and it did not disappoint. Truly an amazing comic worth checking out. We're waist deep into the Viltrumite War, the cosmic event that has been building from the beginning of this title. Mark Grayson and the Coalition of Planets are mounting a final assault on the retreating Viltrumites. Just a few pages into this book and the outer space brawl has already begun, and the action only continues to grow. At the high point of the battle there's six back to back double-page spreads! Twelve straight pages of Ottley's most amazing work yet.

This thickened issue dives even deeper into this enriched universe Kirkman has penned for us. A new female Viltrumite fighter was an exciting start to the battle. Finally there's a name for the Viltrumite Emperor we've seen the past few issues. We've also gotten a taste of Thagg's strength as well. Plus, fan favorite Allen the Alien gets his hands dirty with some Viltrumite gore. Our heroes have lead a devastating attack on Viltrum, but at what cost?

Oh, and if all that Invincible action isn't enough, there's also a Science Dog and Tech Jacket back-up.

The creative team behind this book is truly amazing. Invincible is truly one of the best superhero books out there. Robert Kirkman is one of the most enthralling story tellers of this decade. He's constantly got multiple books for Image, including the popular Walking Dead series. Ryan Ottley's artwork gets sweeter with every issue. The team brought on Cliff Rathburn to help out with the burden of all that inking. Him and Ottley made a seamless transition. Colorist Fco Plascencia really blew this issue away. The desaturated scene of space juxtaposed with the vibrant colors of blood and battle. Plus seeing Corey Walker's art in Science Dog was awesome. Hats off to anyone who's ever made Invincible possible. It's truly an amazing title worth checking out. Issue #75 here is a shining example of why this book is "The Best Superhero Comic Book In The Universe."

The Invincible Iron Man #31

The most recent issue of Invincible Iron Man is filled with electrifying suspense. The reliable action you'd expect from this award winning title doesn't stop. Tony Stark is locked into a high-tech corporate war with Hammer Industries. Stark Resilient hasn't even taken off and already Stark's prototype arc reactor car has been sabotaged. Last issue ended with a cliffhanging explosion, and as the smoke clears on the first page of this book our hero stands unscathed beneath his armor. Tony has one last chance to make this company work, and his enemies haven't even revealed their trump card yet. Hammer Industries has launched a phone app that uses naive gamers to pilot military droids that will aid Detroit Steel against Shell head. Next issue is hopefully the exciting conclusion between Detroit Steel and Iron Man.
Fraction and Larroca have been working on this award winning title from the beginning, and it's only thickened with excitement. Every issue offers a new glimpse into Iron Man's ever changing suit. Each additional antagonist brings more gadgets and another crippling blow to Tony's life. Where will these guys take us from here? Fraction just started up writing duties on Thor, which is another solid book I'd recommend. So if you're looking for high-tech, electrifying, award winning excitement, check out Invincible Iron Man.

Heroic Rage

Been busy. Comics have been good. I've really enjoyed the idea or theme of Heroic age. I've been wanting to write that for awhile.

Now that our feet are wet it still seems like a lot of fun. Heroic Age is a perfect jumping in point. This should go without saying as we know any good comic strives for this almost every issue. Well most characters have been tied up in Civil Wars, Secret Invasions, Sieges and now, it's time they get back to their usual titles. Like any event there's plenty of new titles (Young Allies, Secret Avengers) but also a renumbering and variations of former books. (New Avengers, Atlas)
I'd recommend Age of Heroes for a jumping off point. It's just a collection of random stories kicking off many of the stories under the Heroic Age banner.

Thunderbolts instantly jumped out at me. I've been following the T-bolts for awhile, and this arc brought a fair share of nostalgia and new fun. Kudos to Jeff Parker. I haven't always been a fan, but his Savage She Hulk has won me over as a solid and smashing tie into Hulk's stories. Parker also did the two part Hulked Out Heroes story, a fun little Hulkpool (that's right, Hulk + Deadpool) tale of the Gamma infused Merc with a Mouth time traveling through the Marvel U.

This does brings about that not everything is under the Heroic age Banner. Hulk and X-men are both deep within their own crossovers. Both have been great and deserve a mention.

Other books that I'd recommend:

Invincible Iron Man- Enjoy the new installment of Iron Man in the theaters? This book will offer some familiar names, as well as more robot tech fun. Creators Fraction and Larroca got an Eisner for this title, and justly so.

Nemesis - Did you see Kick-Ass? Well, of course Millar has a new Icon title on the shelves for you to follow. Teamed up once again with McNiven, this super star team has offered up two gruesomely fun issues so far. Concept? Think sinister, evil Batman.

In closing, go visit a comic book store. There's plenty of sweet stuff worth checking out. geek out.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

If you can find a copy of this book, go out and get it. Jonathan Hickman has been blowing me away in Fantastic Four and Secret Warriors. I was eager to read this title after seeing the many ads for it, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was surprisingly spectacular. I hear there wasn't a lot of these books printed but if you can find it, grab it.
How can I describe this book? Leonardo DaVinci, secret society, Galileo saves the world from Galactus. This is going to be a great series. read it.

C2E2 Aftermath.

It's been an exciting weekend full of panels, signings, and low priced loot. If you follow my twitter you were probably overwhelmed with the amount of updates that came in this weekend. It was an awesome weekend and I'd like to thank everyone involved from Reed Exhibitions, to the exhibitors, vendors, industry professionals, and anyone else who showed up.
Friday was a pretty casual day. This was my first time ever at this convention hall, but it was a pleasant experience. The night before my accomplices and me went to the midnight release of Kick-Ass. The movie was great, no complaints here. Over the top fun. To make things even better though Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz were doing a signing at the convention early Friday afternoon for the first 100 people to get a free ticket. My girlfriend managed to get a ticket and nab three awesome movie posters and get them to sing my hardcover of Kick-Ass.
The next few hours were spent criss-crossing the convention floor. Purchased a couple books from the Image booth, where Richard Starkings was generous enough to sign and sketch inside of each book. After exploring the web comics section and a few vendors, we made our way to the Mondo Marvel Panel.
The stage was crowded with Marvel talent, and they hinted and teased at the many fun things to come such as the Heroic Age and Shadowland. There was a lot of fun questions, but it felt like a fun introduction to the many Marvel panels held over the weekend. After the panel we explored artist alley thoroughly, and headed home to make plans for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday morning started off with 4 hours of different lines for signings. It was a great time getting to meet the Breitweisers, Khoi Pham, Adam Kubert, Joe Quesada, Peter David, Stuart Moore, the Dodsons, and the other creators signing around the Marvel booth. While hanging around I was able to watch Marvel Charades, and interesting game show style prize give away. I finally pulled myself away from the booth for my first panel, another Marvel event.
The Marvel Animation panel proved to be quite interesting, where Joe Q and Josh Fine showed bits of the many awesome things to come. The most exciting had to be the announcement of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, a cartoon coming this fall to DisneyXD. Also announced was an Ultimate Spider-man cartoon in the works, as well as a Marvel Knights series, and a second season of Super Hero Squad.
After a quick meal, it was back to the panel room for Cup O' Joe, which was full of excitement. Joe Q spilled a lot of neat stuff on the upcoming Secret Avengers, the return of Scarlet Witch in Children Crusaders, Quesada returning to Amazing Spider-Man concerning the events of One More Day, a few Icon announcements and some other news. You would think that'd be everything they'd have to offer, but even more fun came out in the questions, and there was still news for the next day of panels.
The night continued with more signings and purchases on the convention floor. I managed to catch the Marvel giveaway hour toward the end of the day, and it was an entertaining time. I managed to get a couple neat books to top off the end of a fun day.
After the show we took a cab to Three Happiness, an awesome restaurant in China town. I would recommend it to anyone near the McCormick Place. The fatigue of convention joy was setting in, so I called it a night early, eager for the next day.
Sunday started off fairly casual. Took advantage of the price cuts many of the vendors start on the last day. Met a lot of neat artists down in artist alley, got some signings, then made my way to the Hulk Smash Panel. It was a surprisingly awesome panel, but I've been knee deep in the Hulk series for awhile. The Intelligencia consisted of Jeph Loeb, Pelletier, Van Lente, Pak, and editor Nate Cosby. There were fun videos which can be seen at BannerKnows.com This summer will provide answers to all your Rulk questions, and smash up the status quo of the Hulk titles.
Hours later was the X-men panel, features x-perts Marjorie Liu, Peter David, Jeanine Schaefer and Dark Wolverine artist Camuncoli. Peter David stole the show, coming in with a Bishop style 'M' painted on his face. He then showed off his mutant ability to start and stop the applause of the audience. There was exciting images of what's to come, but Second Coming seemed to be in the way of showing off much more.
The day finished with some shopping, and a few more signings in artist alley. I felt reluctant leaving the convention hall, but I was more than satisfied, if not surprised by how fun the weekend had been. Since Sunday ended earlier than the previous nights, we met friends for a cook out, and shared our geeky stories of the weekend. Overall it was an amazing weekend and I can't wait for next year.
I hope this update doesn't seem too jumbled. I've been fairly tired due to the constant fun this weekend. Want other news on these events? I'd check out C2E2.com, Marvel.com, and the many tweets from con goers. Tired Fanboy, over and out.

C2E2

It`s the start of the second day of C2E2 and it`s already been an amazing weekend. Check out the twitter for more news. Expect an exciting fun filled post tomorrow night. www.twitter.com/ryan_mears