More Sorry Farewells

Once again I have to mourn the passing of another great title that was well written, critically well recieved and yet bought by no-one. I speak of She-Hulk, yes, nits not new news, but I was working myself up to a post.

I started on SHe-Hulk at the start of Dan Slotts run (Yes, I have been loving all things Dan Slott recently) where he put the focus on Jen Walters and her job as a lawyer for a firm specialising in superhuman law. It was a fun look at the Marvel Universe from an outside perspective with a good dollop of humour and heart. It was axed once but brought back, and eventually Slott left the title, although as a parting gift he threw in a sly explanation for any unusual behaviour and continuity variances. I woudl like to think that the recent episode of Heroes having Ando and Hiro visit a comic shop tofind out what to do next is at least ins ome way a nod to She-Hulk using her law offices supply of Marvel Comics to find legal precident and superhuman weaknesses.

After Slott there were some big shoes to fill, but tehre was also Peter David to fill them. Dropping us in at the deep end She-Hulk is now a bounty hunter and working with a skrull sidekick called Jazinda. Over the course of his run he's build Jaz into a character I care about, taken a different but still fun tack with She-Hulk and made the title one which really should have enjoyed more success.

Sadly it is not to be, so goodbye She-Hulk. You'll be missed.

Dark Reign, Speculation

Well, the solicits are finally declassified and we can now see the shape of the Marvel Universe in the upcoming Months. Osbourne is basically in charge of whatever replaces SHIELD as well as the Avengers and the Initiative. And he's assembled his Dark Illuminati and he appears to have a plan.

This looks interesting, I'm going to guess that we can expect to see the worst excesses of the SHRA, with everything getting more totalitarian. And we now have 4 Avengers books. From what we've seen in the solicits here's what I'm expecting

New Avengers: Well, they've always been the avengers on the run, so the heat will be turned up a notch, particularly as I reckon Osbourne is going to have a bit of a mad on for Spider-Man. Looks like Cap is joining their team though, wonder how well Bucky will play with the others and if he'll bring his support staff of Black Widow and Falcon to the team, possibly not since both are registered and could be insiders, but then again once caught aiding and abetting? who knows. A later cover shows Ms Marvel and Spider-Woman as well, could they be new additions? I'm guessing that the thrust of this series will be searching for where Skrull-Jarvis took Baby cage.

Mighty Avengers:Well, Dan Slott is writing so its got a lot going for it. He has been pretty vague about some aspects of the book and lineup, so far confirmed are Hank Pym, Jocasta and The Scarlet witch, Which is a shock. Possible other members include Hercules, Iron Man and US Agent. Slott has dropped hints that these avengers will be looking at worldwide threats, and may not be based in the US (I'm thinking the old Hydrobase perhaps) in order to stay clear of Norman Osbourne's reaches. Dan Slott says they will be the ray of light in Dark Reign.

Dark Avengers: The Wild card. My money is on this lot being Osbournes personal avengers, but the solicits don't seem to match what I say. Looking at some of the clearer shots we definitely Have Ares and Noh-Varr (marvel boy, possibly now Captain marvel) a woman in Ms Marvel's old outfit, Now I remember one of the Initiative taking to that suit (Power Woman or something, an old New Warrior regardless) The two mystery men, Someone in Spider-Man's black costume and Someone in Hawkeye's old suit. Shot in the dark but as the Thunderbolts lineup looks like all change and if my hunch on this lot ultimately being Norman Osbourne's avengers, could they be Venom and Bullseye? Finally we have the Iron patriot, or Iron man suit painted like Captain America, if so, WHo is in the suit, Normie himself? Abe Jenkins aka Beetle? The 1950s Cap?

Thunderbolts looks like a completely new, and mostly unrecognisable lineup but the writer impressed me last issue so I'll stick with it. The initiative is also on a new writer and will feature the return of Clor. One worry I have about this series, aside from can any writer live up to Dan Slott's run, is that from those cover solicits, it looks like Humberto Ramos on art. I really don't like his stuff and it may well be a deal breaker if the writing and stories aren't up to much. A shame as The Initiative has been a great title so far.

Overall, the future is dark, but looks damn interesting

Secret Invasion

Well its all wrapped up, and there will probably be a few more posts on Dark Reign and my hopes for it and various other musings.

Regardless, if you are waiting for the trades or something, this is spoilerific so look away now.

Reactions to issue #8, good issue, but it was more wrapping up than anything else. This looked more like it was setting things up for the future, with Hulkling saddened by the plight of the skrulls, baby Cage taken, and obviously Wasp dead. I also liked the reference to the minor trinity in Avengers of Thor, Cap and Iron Man, and how this is still very much broken. I hope Dark Reign does something to repair the bonds between those three. Finally, the twist at the end? Wow, didn't see that coming, and I've seen Norman bigging himself up in Thunderbolts. It is a bit shaky, because unless a side effect or Peter's ever popular deal with the devil was that people also forget that Osbourne had a nasty habit of dressing up like a Goblin and killing blonds. Of course the other possibility is that people know he has dressed up as a Goblin, but he's better now and has pills, hence why he was so worried that Songbird had footage of him merrily killing his way through Thunderbolts Mountain. Regardless, this is probably not a good time in the Marvel Universe to be called Spider-Man.

So, SI as a whole, wasn't bad. But it could have been better, I think what it all comes down to is the bit in the savage land, how basically it was pointless. Re-Reading and it was filler, or a distraction, like they intended if you believe Bendis. It is probably the thing that drags the series down a fair bit.

So, the future sees Norman Osbourne and a secret Cabal of Villains, well a She0Loki, The Hood, Namor, Dr Doom (yay) and White Queen (Who's presence will be explained) in charge of the Initiative, the Avengers and whatever replaces SHIELD. Iron Man is on the run and you can bet that whatever unofficial support Cap got will be similarly gone.

Bring Dark Reign

War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD

Well, War Machine was back for 3 issues of Iron Man: Director of SHIELD as part of the Secret invasion crossover, and he rocked.

The three part Story focused on War Machine and what he did during the invasion after he left Camp Hammond following a mysterious message from Tony in Avengers: The initiative.

Well, turns out Stark made the War Machine suit for Jim as part of a fail safe should Starktech be compromised, and also provided Jim with a big stealth satellite which could transform into a Giant robot. Tony, nice chap he is also called in Suzi Endo, who in an alternative future was Cybermancer, and has since then take up the Cybermancer name, sort of and presumably without the evil. Well, its confusing because its a Force Works reference and a link to the Very confusing Crossing storyline.

Anyway, War Machine blows up loads of Skrull ships, has a sort of Team up with Russia's Winter Guard (Who I may blog about later) and ultimately wins the day, and an ongoing series.

Yes. News has been out for some time but there will be a War Machine ongoing, frankly life doesn't get much better.

My mate, and sometimes only reader Reilly2040 blogged about it Here http://reilly2040.co.uk/blog/2008/11/12/greg-pak-talks-war-machine/
And some guy called Greg Pak has also made some comments about it here
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/110810-War-Machine-Pak.html

It looks good, taking the Worldwatch idea but with much more focus on it being a One man operation. To an extent Jim will be becoming a bogeyman to all evil dictators, best not commit that genocide or War Machine will get you. Oh yes.

Needless to say I am a bit excited.

Now, will Century turn up in War of Kings?