Amazing Spider-Man #629 - This new Captain Universe has a bone to pick with the Juggernaut. Spidey's determined to stop him, which leads to him trying to survive against the bearer of the Uni-Power all across New York. The guy eventually calms down enough for the Uni-Power to actually communicate with him about what he's actually supposed to be doing with the power (killing the Juggernaut isn't the answer). Things go well at first, but when the Juggernaut catches up, Captain Universe forgets the mission at hand and goes back to his revenge quest. I'm not clear on Spider-Man's precise motivation for protecting the Juggernaut. It's either the bit about even the villain doesn't deserve to be murdered, or he's worried this Captain Universe is too much of a hothead and will endanger people, which doesn't seem too accurate. He's fairly careful about using his power when there are civilians around.There's also a back up story by Waid, Peyer, and Todd Nauck where Pete loses a potential job interview because he has to fight the Absorbing Man. Peter being unemployed as it currently stands bores me. How has Michelle not kicked him out already? She hates his guts. Why can't he get a job as a fashion photographer? How is he going to fake those photos, and with all the makeup and favorable lighting, aren't they basically fake anyway? Certainly not an accurate portrayal of how good your average person will look. Whatever. It's a typical "Peter only has bad luck" story.
Amazing Spider-Man #630 - We learn why Captain Universe is after Juggernaut so badly. We also learn what it was like for the Juggernaut in the aftermath of his first defeat by Spider-Man, which, incidentally, is also what caused the actual problem Captain Universe is supposed to be handling. When he still can't let the revenge kick go, the Uni-Force picks someone else, and no, it isn't Spider-Man. Potentially devastating earthquake averted, Juggernaut leaves peacefully, Mr. Nguyen turns his life around, and hey, Peter and Carlie seem to be getting along well. There's a short piece at the end by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo which shows the stress Curt Conners is under at his current work, and how that's going to bring the Lizard back out.The Juggernaut story is over, and I liked it. It wasn't anything special, but I was entertained, if for no other reason than it's fun to see Spider-Man try to fight out of his weight class. Stern's dialogue felt a little clunky at times, particularly the exchanges between Juggernaut and the Uni-Force, but I like him (or the editor) don't simply trust we know all about Spidey having the Uni-Force once, or about his battles with the Juggernaut. Also, the ideas behind the story, beyond the obvious one of the difficulty in dealing with more power than you've ever had before. Looking at how Juggernaut's actions harm people other than costumed types, how actions can have long-term effects, how it's all about the decisions one makes. Lee Weeks' art is excellent, as thing flow well from panel-to-panel, and he's able to evoke a sense of other artist's style in the scene's replaying past events.
Avengers vs. Atlas #4 - I don't follow all the time stuff. I know Kang went back in time to help his slightly younger self not lose to the Avengers the first time they fought, and this was a bad thing. A potentially destroying the universe thing, so Hank tried to use Kang's stuff to find a point in time he could change things in to fix it, by tracking the Wasp, except the time period he found where things could be changed is in the current, post-Secret Invasion setting where Janet's dead, which causes problems of some kind. Anyway, the Avengers and Atlas hit the chronovirus until it falls apart, and the New Avengers come back. The more times I read the explanation, the more parts of it make sense, but it's still not completely there, which may be why I found the end lackluster. Or it maybe I was hoping for some clever technological fix to the problem, rather than simply hitting it. The mini-series still had several nice bits, from the dialogue to the fights, to the conflicts and cooperation between the teams, I'm just not feeling the antagonist.The back-up strip in this issue is by Jason Aaron and Giancarlo Caracuzzo, and deals with the fact that as Ken Hale sought out the Gorilla to kill it and live forever, other people will do the same to him. It's a bit darker than I expected for a Gorilla Man story, since Ken so often seems to be having such a good time on their missions. I could easily have seen him making the dumpling run instead of Jimmy Woo in Avengers vs. Atlas #2's backup story. Which doesn't make this a bad story, simply one that bucked my expectations. It's a good point about Hale's existence, and it reminds me he hasn't always been the wisecracking good guy/soldier he is most times.
Batgirl #9 - Batgirl stops a lunatic on a train from blowing people up. he does have a point about Gotham being a terrible place to live, but I imagine some people can't afford to leave. Steph even gets a "Good job" from Commissioner Gordon. Naturally it starts raining on her, as the universe as tends to happen in stories where the character is feeling good. Barbara is still trying to reach Wendy, without much success, and the Calculator will no doubt be trying the same thing soon, with his people controlling nanites swiped from Apokolips. He's already had one bloke leap out a window as part of a theft, a bloke Batgirl couldn't save, which has her down a bit. Probably can't afford confidence issues right now, Stephanie.Lee Garbett is back as penciler this issue, and I consider this an improvement over Caldwell from last issue. It isn't spectacular or game-changing work, but it has the smoothness I prefer, and the pencils combined with the colors make for an intimidating Batgirl at times, which is as it should be. Members of the Bat-group should be able to be spooky or scary when necessary. I enjoyed the banter back and forth between Oracle and Steph, as it contrasts with the harsher edge Wendy has in response to Barbara. Both of the youngsters will challenge Oracle, but Steph seems to do so more pleasantly.
More reviews tomorrow, including two books going on hiatus after these issues! At least, I hope they're just going on hiatus.
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