Brave New Worlds

New Avengers: Civil War TP Volume 5

Collects New Avengers #21-25

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Artist Howard Chaykin, Leinel Yu, Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, Pasqual Ferry, Paul Smith, Jim Cheung

What It’s All About It’s brother versus brother, hero versus hero as in a frakking Civil War Yo with Iron Man and Captain America on opposite sides. While the war raged on in the main book, New Avengers took a look at how it impacted certain heroes – Cap, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Sentry and lastly Maria Hill and Iron Man.

First Up Bendis and Chaykin teamed up to take us through Cap’s head as he gets caught not once, but several times by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s new “capekillers.” When all is said and done, Cap along with his long-time partner Falcon decide to start “le resistance.”

Line in the Sand Cap and Falcon pay a visit first to Hank Pym and are surprised by his response. Best scene during all this is a maneuver they pulled against the Serpent Squad. Look out Giant Man.

You Say You Want a Revolution Luke Cage is the focus of the next issue, and he along with his bride Jessica Jones get into a great philosophical debate with Iron Man and Ms. Marvel about what the heck is going on. Cage has a line about people coming for him in the middle of the night to take him from his home. Real powerful stuff that shows why the “Civil War” hit all the right buttons when it was initially released.

Hail Hydra! The third issue is the best of the group in my opinion as Jessica Drew is taken into S.H.I.E.L.D custody after Stark reveals her triple-agent identity. She gets pissed and Stark reveals in a classic Tony moment that he was only tolerating her because Cap believed in her.

The Great Escape Of course Drew does not stay in custody, but it will surprise you who actually springs her. Reading this again all these years after Secret Invasion allows us to enjoy different layers to Jessica’s decisions and actions.

Deja Vu? It’s real funny reading the Sentry’s entry into the Civil War stand alone features as Tony goes to the moon to talk Bob into coming back for the good of the war. Look at the words he uses to manipulate Bob into doing what he wants. Tony seems a lot like Norman Osborn in this moment.

Both Sides of the Story The last issue of the trade features the tale from the “good guys” pov as someone breaks into Avengers Tower and shuts down Tony and his Iron Man armor. It’s up to Maria Hill to save the day, and she does even more than that especially with her poignant “A Few Good Men” reference.

Does It Hold Up? Even more so after the events of the past few years. There was a great bit of foreshadowing in the Sentry issue when the Inhumans’ psychic says they have no idea of what is coming. And really they don’t – World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign.

In The Year 2000 Again in the Sentry issue, Stark pleads with Bob selling the future of the world will be so much brighter and peaceful after they have won. Wow, was he wrong. And listening to Cap speak to Luke Cage with similar selling points of “The Heroic Age,” I wonder what’s in store for the Marvel Universe now.

Justice League #26 (Volume 2; May, 1989) Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis (w), Ty Templeton, Joe Rubinstein (a)

Not Your Father’s Justice League When Giffen and Kevin Maguire relaunched Justice League post-Crisis, it was the “B” team with Batman being the lone holdover. What readers received instead of Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern was Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner and lots of jokes. Believe it or not, it worked for its time.

Fast Forward 2010 The current Justice League Generation Lost squad is made up of the original members of this Justice League group sans Batman and Ted Kord. As he did over 20 years ago, Max Lord hand picked the members. It’s real interesting to see how casually Lord used his mind-control powers to manipulate heroes.

Coming This Fall Giffen writes the book like a typical prime-time comedy complete with hijinks and puns. In fact even during all the serious action, there is a little goofiness in every scene. Luckily the new series did not take this page out of the playbook. Again, it works for the late 80s.

Payback Do you think the reason Max Lord killed Ted was because Ted had a nervous breakdown in this issue and stabbed him. I mean no one remembers that Ted instigated this fight. I’m not saying he deserved to be killed for it, I am just saying they have some history.

Enter Stage Right Before she became a full-time member (thanks to the aforementioned mind push from Maxwell), the Huntress jumped in to save Max’s life from an off-balance Blue Beetle, who decided to add Master Culinary Cutter to his resume.

Jumping to Conclusions Huntress saves the day, takes out Beetle and is about to get Max to the hospital when she is stopped by a current member of the JLI who only sees the evidence and wanders why she did what she did. Oops. You are never going to believe who it is that finds and accuses her.

Late 80s Bats Its old school Batman in this issue, complete with the yellow-chest insignia with the black bat in the middle. The good old days. But I digress.

Can I Purchase This Awesome Issue? But of course, it is currently in the back issue bin at BNW Willow Grove and also in volume four of the the collected Justice League International trade paperback at both locations.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley One-Shot Jane Espenson (w), Karl Moline, Andy Owens (a)

Answers The best part about this issue is it fills in some of the blanks re: Riley’s involvement with Twilight during the just completed story arc.

Kudos to Espenson whose “Retreat” story arc was less than stellar. She rebounds with an awesome tale and really captured the two characters voices, especially Marc Blucas’ intonations as Riley. I know that sounds impossible with a comic, but while I was reading it, it sounded like him in my head.

Bonus The story does not just take place from Riley’s POV but from another character’s as well (a certain vampire w/a soul) that also assists in understanding the “Twilight” story from another perspective.

Married Life Remember when Riley returned in Buffy’s life, with a wife in tow? Well Espenson does a real nice job of giving us the witty back-and-forth we have come to expect from an episode or issue of Buffy with Riley and his lady.

New Avengers #3 Brian Michael Bendis (w), Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger (a)

It’s the Power Girl of the Marvel Universe It’s the best way I know to explain how much fun I have when reading New Avengers. Granted it is a different kind of fun than Palmiotti and Gray’s run on PG, but good times just the same.

Mystics This story has its roots before the Siege storyline in the first volumes of New Avengers, but continues in the latest title with Doctor Strange, Voodoo and Hellstrom trying to keep the Eye of Agamotto away from the big bad – wait until you see who this is.

Banter I love the nonsensical conversations they have during battle, like everyday they are turning away demon spawns in the middle of NYC as Spidey, Thing and Ms Marvel have a conversation about Ghostbusters while saving the day.

Clobberin … Oops. The Thing does not want to use his trademark moniker with his new squad, much to the disappointment of our Friendly Neighborhood web-head.

Wolverine Weapon X #16 Jason Aaron (w), Davide Gianfelice (a)

Say Goodbye to my Little Elf This is Wolverine’s goodbye story to Nightcrawler. It was really well done.

Faith Aaron really writes the Wolverine-Nightcrawler relationship well taking us back to key moments in their lives together with new scenes that make sense and build layers to their already strong friendship.

Top of the Hill Kurt’s will is the spur to action in this story, taking Wolverine to the top of a mountain where he gets another lesson in life and faith from his furry, blue buddy. The story is not about getting there, but the journey to get there.

So Ex Machina #50 comes out tomorrow and thus ends another series of which I have every issue in my collection (including the free version of #1 and the behind the machine issues) and that I have been reading since college. Let’s look at that and another series that ends tomorrow as well…

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Birds of Prey #4 Gail Simone (w), Ed Benes, Adriana Melo, J.P. Mayer (a)

Awesome Flashback The entire issue has Black and White Canary doing the fisticuffs tango, however early in battle Dinah flashbacks to her early days with the JSA and Benes pencils this awesome moment with Adam Scott. It was really cool and just wanted to share it with all of you. You are welcome.

Chick Fight Speaking of the aforementioned fight, damn those two are kicking the bloody shite out of each other in this book. Good times.

Smashing Good Time Of course Dinah can’t be using the sonic scream the entire time, because where is the fun in that. However she does get a chance to use it and when she does, let’s just say the pictures say a thousand words.

Fitting In There’s a moment where the Penguin has the rest of the lovely ladies (and Hawk) of Birds of Prey right where he wants them. Dove does something uncharacteristic for her which forces Huntress to respond with a great line – “ You know, for awhile, I wasn’t sure you were going to fit in.”

Superman #702 Michael Straczynski (w), Eddy Barrows, J.P. Mayer (a)

At First I thought this week’s issue was going to be a little lame, the entire concept does not excite me. However in JMS I should trust because Wow, this was a really good human issue.

Keep It Simple We have experienced this type of story telling from Straczynski before, a very simple pace which has translated into really excellent story telling. The second issue of the “Grounded” arc is more of the same awesomeness that we really have come to expect from JMS. Whether he is writing Spider-Man, Thor or the big guy, it seems to always translate.

Pretty Cool Superman comes across an old guy with a cough who is guarding an old, out-of-service car factory. He seems to take Superman’s appearance in stride and just asks him to fly because he has never really seen that before, for real. Barrows does an amazing job of showing the emotion in the man’s face when Superman comes off the ground.

E.T. Even though he is on a walkabout across America to get in touch with the everyday man and Joe the Plumber, Superman still has some time for other beings I will say in this issue. It was actually a really cool way to execute the story in my opinion.

Wait For It I have this feeling that this arc will become legendary very quickly. Issue two of Grounded was even better than the first and I have a feeling that it will continue to top each previous issue in the months to come. In JMS I Trust.

A small peak into the future of what I will be reading tonight (and you will be able to get your hands on tomorrow when your favorite Brave New Worlds location opens it’s doors for business!!! )…

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Amazing Spider-Man #639 Joe Quesada (w); Paolo Rivera (a)

Getting Closer To answers that is as the second issue of One Moment in Time starts to connect the dots as to what exactly went wrong between MJ and Peter, in this new Mephisto reality.

Just Add Some Zombies OMIT does not have zombies really, but I love the storytelling device Quesada uses to alter and add scenes that have already occurred. It just feels natural, as if that is what characters would have said.

Styling Blending the distinct styles from two different eras could have gotten really confusing but Rivera’s classic art makes the shifts seamless.

Family MJ reveals what she hoped to get out of marriage to Peter, a glimmer of what we saw (and flashback to) in One More Day.

R.I.P. The issue comes back to the moment where Aunt May is about to die from One More Day. She codes, and then … fade out – grrr argh. Of course she does not die.

I Like I know there are a ton of One More Day haters, and as much as I dislike the concept, I loved the way it was written. This story is starting to reveal what exactly happened, although in the end I don’t think it will reverse One More Day.

Marvel Team-Up #4 (Volume 1; September 1972) Gerry Conway (w), Gil Kane (p), Steve Mitchell (i)

Bang for Your Buck Or your 20 cents. Storytelling has definitely changed since the 1960s and 1970s, mostly for the better. But opening this issue to the first page I am reminded how the writers used to tell a story with their words as well as the book’s pictures. Ah the good ol’ days.

Call to Arms A classic Marvel Team-Up (this one featuring Spidey and the X-Men), the book introduces our characters quickly while also getting right into the story. How’s that for economy.

Fourth Estate When was the last time the media was referred to as the Fourth Estate? Professor X does just that when explaining to his students why they must seek out Spider-Man, who was accused by the Daily Bugle (that crazy J. Jonah Jameson) of kidnapping. Bonus points to those of you who know why the media is referred to as the Fourth Estate. And a no-prize if you know no why no longer.

He’s Got the Fever The story starts with Peter Parker all feverish and sweaty, dreaming of Morbius. What’s up with that?

Foreshadowing When Spidey and the X-Men first meet, of course they battle, that’s what heroes always do in these funny books when they first met. At least that is what they used to do. Anyway, during the battle Iceman lobs some snowballs Spidey’s way, which makes our Web-Head respond with comparisons to the Human Torch.

Not Your True Blood Vamp Morbius does what all creatures of the night do and gets hungry so he feasts on an unsuspecting human. Check out page 21, this is definitely not the current batch of vamps who eat.

Only Chance This Month The X-Men’s appearance in Marvel Team-Up was their only one in a marvel book for the month, as their own book was currently in the bi-monthly rotation, often reprinting the team’s earlier adventures.

Eight Ball Corner Pocket There is a moment when Morbius has captured Jean and Cyclops must decided whether to stand down or attack. Of course he attacks, bouncing his eye beams off a mirror to win the moment.

One-Shot The Marvel Team-Ups wrapped up nicely at the end of each issue, but it did not mean its events could not carry on. The events of this issue sprung directly from the proceeding issue. Two stand alone’s that built on each other. Excelsior!

Visions of Brand New Day Maybe this is what Joe Quesada missed when he decided to take away Spidey’s marriage to Mary Jane. Pete decides to thank Jean Grey for saving his life by giving her a smack on the lips, I am not sure how Gwen and MJ would react however. What a Player.

Clothes Budget The X-Men only appear in uniform when the Professor first summons them, and in civilian attire for the rest of the issue, including their confrontations with Spider-Man and Morbius.

Mouthful Best line of the book came on the cover when Cyclops is getting ready to blast Spidey out of the sky – “Too late lady! (speaking to Jean) Scratch one Spider-Man!!!”

Hey look what I decided to to again…go thru my stack of comics and let you know what I am looking forward to reading…Hit the jump to see what I went with this week…

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Fantastic Four #258 (Volume 1; September 1983) John Byrne (w,a)

Interlude Appropriately titled, this issue was told from the point-of-view of Doom as he prepared his latest plans to defeat the Fantastic Four. How predictable.

Rise of the Silver Surfer Fans of the two Fox films should take notice the reference to one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s epic tale in which Doom stole the Surfer’s board and his power, only to be thwarted by – you guessed it, the FF.

Father of the Year Byrne gives readers an up close and personal look at Doom’s ward of the state, Kristoff, who receives several valuable lessons into the mind of Latveria’s benevolent leader.

Cameo Word Up. But seriously, Captain America and Iron Man make a brief appearance as the action moves to NYC for just a moment as the Doombots spring Terrax.

Revenge In his quest for reacquiring the power cosmic, Doom enlists the services of Dr. Hauptmann. Hauptmann however has a little grudge against Doom for killing his brother. Some people need to just learn to let things go, Doom obviously has.

Turn the Page The cover image is of Doom’s hand tearing at the yellow cover with the FF masthead on it. The tears reveal the splash page while in his glove you can see Doom’s face. Awesome cover.

Quote of the Issue It may sound like a broken record when it comes to Doom, but “No one Rivals Doom! NO ONE! Doom is supreme! There is no power on Earth, no intellect in all creation to equal mine.”

How Bad Ass Is Doom? So bad ass that he makes his own robots blow up for thinking for themselves. Whoops.

Editor’s Notes Oh how I miss these. When Cap and Iron Man are talking to one another they reference Ben Grimm’s condition. However, if you only read FF you might not realize something had happened in Marvel Two-in-One. Thanks to the editor’s note, the reader now knows, and can go find that issue to get filled in. What a concept that both Marvel and DC should seriously reconsider including in its books again.

How Can I Find This Issue? Great question. Obviously you can purchase the single issue, or grab it in its collected form – Fantastic Four Visionaries John Byrne Volume 4 TP. Both Brave New Worlds locations have these in stock, including the entire classic Byrne FF run as well.