Just when you thought Wolverine wasn't in enough books, here he and the "New" Avengers come to the pages of Runaways for the East Coast/West Coast story arc.
This new arc is very much a follow up to the Cloak and Dagger arc from the first volume of the series. So, when last we saw Cloak and Dagger, they were mindwiped by the Runaways' evil parents before being able to effectively teleport from L.A. back to NYC. This issue picks up with Dagger lying in a coma in a hospital, being guarded by the "New" Avengers, because they seem to think that Cloak is behind the attack. Cloak, knowing he's innocent, teleports to L.A. to enlist the help of a certain group of teenaged runaways and explain why he and Dagger never came back to help them fight their evil parents. With explanations out of the way, the teens head to NYC with Cloak.
Part 2 finds the teens in New York, trying to cope with the weather (L.A. kids aren't so used to the snow and lack of sun, you know). It's great to see how Victor reacts to being in the city of heroes, although it makes you wonder if inside he's wondering if he's really excited or its just his programming (long story; read first arc of this volume for explanations on Victor's past). The kids split up to try and find the guy behind Dagger's attack (who it turns out was using MGH [mutant growth hormone] for his Cloak-like powers), and the spell Nico puts on Old Lace is quite a doozy. This leads to an intersting altercation between Chase and the aptly named Pusher Man.
Part 3 sees Vic and Gert not have a fight off with Spider-Man. There's more interaction with Chase and Pusher Man, not to mention a WTF moment between Chase and Nico and when Spidey tells Gert "You are totally going to be an Avenger when you grow up." It's not until Nico and Chase find Vic and Gert that there's the stereotypical "good guys fighting each other when they first meet" fight, and the issue wouldn't be right if it didn't have a Wolverine appearance where he just has to attack the wrong person for the right reason (man, I hate that douchebag). It is great, however, to see Molly's reaction to finally meeting Wolvie, and then there's the reveal of Dagger's attacker, and let's just say it's very Misery. Creepy, yo.
As for the art, I'll just say it's great to have Adrian Alphona back, having not enjoyed the very anime backup artist on the previous arc.
So with only one more issue for this arc to close, well, let's just hope the ending lives up to all the great stuff we've gotten so far. And I'm sure it will. Sweet.
X-Factor No. 1
Peter David is really a great writer. He can turn a bunch of B-list characters into stars. Hell, he did it back in the '90s with the original X-Factor series when he turned Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy, Multiple Man, Wolfsbane, and Quicksilver (not to mention Val Cooper) into a somewhat cohesive team, which also happened to have some laughs along the way. So it was no wonder that when he had is Madrox limited series last year, that he made magic again by having Jamie, the Multiple Man, form a detective agency specializing in mutant affairs, aided by his former teammates Guido (Strong Guy) and Rahne (Wolfsbane).
And here we are again; same name, mostly different cast, and some way different circumstances. Jamie's mutant detective agency has now become kind of an ex-mutant detective agency, what with the results of House of M and all.
This premiere issue sets up several different plots. First we have a now de-powered Rictor (Julio) contemplating suicide, although we do get some insight into how connected he felt to the earth via his powers. We also get to see a different aspect of Siryn's power, and how her being on the team meant Rahne had to go back to her very-short hairdo. We also get caught with how Jamie's dupes seem to just be multiple personalities. There's also a couple of panels of Layla Miller, little miss "plot device" from House of M.
But the scene-stealing, well, scenes, come from Guido telling Siryn he's "'Strong Guy,' not 'Psychic Guy' " and Rahne lambasting Julio for trying to jump off a building, which just goes to show the history these character have with each other (you really have to read it for yourself; I'd do the scene no justice by trying to paraphrase it).
One annoying thing that I found in the issue was how Jamie talks to Rictor about Siryn as if Rictor had no idea who she was, when in fact they were teammates not only in X-Force but in X-Corporation Paris, the latter where, well, Jamie was a member as well. How everyone keeps forgetting this, I'll never know.
The issue, of course, ends with a cliffhanger, and much like the end of David's first issue of the original X-Factor. This series has much promise, and I can't wait until issue No. 2 comes out. Sigh. I'm such a fanboy.
Spider-Woman: Origin No. 1
Now, I'll be the first to say that I'm not that huge of a fan of Brian Michael Bendis. He ruined the Avengers (and further ruins them with "New" Avengers). He further ruined Scarlet Witch (she was already a little ruiny when he got to her, so he can't totally be blamed). The one good thing he's done in my eyes is give the Marvel Universe Jessica Jones (aka Jewel, Knightress, Luke Cage's girlfriend/babymama, Avengers pseudo-groupie), although she was really just a reimagining of Bendis's major boner maker, Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman I), but then he had them meet over in Alias, and it was just a little confusing.
So, of course, I was a little skeptical when I heard he was including Jessica Drew in the "New" Avengers lineup, and then not only that she was getting a limited series, but an ongoing series as well. It made me feel like I had hopped in a time machine and was in the early '80s again. That was, of course, until I heard Brian Reed would be co-writing the limited series. Then it gave me a little hope that Bendis wouldn't go and ruin yet another character that I've had quite an affinity for.
After reading the first issue of the mini-series, I have this to say: the verdict is still out.
Jessica Drew has always had a convoluted origin. First she was evolved from a spider by the High Evolutionary on Wundagore Mountain. Then she was the child of a scientist that had teamed up to do research with the man that would become the High Evolutionary; she got some strange sickness, her parents died, and the Evolutionary evolved her. Both versions include her living for a while on Wundagore Mountain with the Evolutionary's New Men. Both include some good old-fashioned Hydra brainwashing and attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. Both include her dying her hair black. Both include her not being very liked by most people.
This new origin keeps some elements of the prior two, but takes away some things. No more High Evolutionary, although there is a character with his real surname. No more New Men, although there is a housekeeper-type woman named Bova. And, of course, there's still Hydra.
There's somethings I'm not too sure about. The portrayal of Jessica's father. How Jessica treats her father right before she blacks out. And, of course, her waking up and emerging from a vat of green liquid looking much older and in front of severl Hydra agents.
The art is impeccable. I've not really see much by the Luna Brothers before, but I'll say that even if the story wasn't all that great, the visuals were still not subpar.
This is the first issue, so I'm going to wait until the story gets fleshed out a little more to see how it turns out. Who knows, this first issue might just be more memories implanted in Jessica. We won't really know more until we get more issues, and thus more of the story. Let's see where this takes Jessica.
More reviews to come this week.
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