What I Bought 11/4/2010

I know today is the 5th, but I picked these up from the store yesterday. Yes, I picked them up directly from the store, which means weekly (bi-weekly) comic reviews have returned. For how long, I don't know. In other news, this is a spotty Internet connection, so trying to post will likely be a challenge. I'm not going to review it, since I reviewed #4 two weeks ago, but I also found Black Cat #3 at the store, so I've happily finished collecting that mini-series. Now I need to read it the whole way through in one sitting.

Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet #3 - The cover's by Grummett and Delgado, and I'm wondering if that's Tom Grummett, because if so, I'm having a hard time recognizing it as his work. Ms. Marvel's nose looks how I'm used to Grummett's noses looking, but the rest not so much. It looks more cross-hatched, sketched, in places than I'm used to seeing. It's not bad (though it's not an interesting or exciting cover), the art's just different. It doesn't say whether Delgado inked, or finished an illustration Grummett started, but I guess collaborative effort is the explanation.

As to the plot, the heroes defeat Baron von Zeppelin, then Wolverine defeats marauding astrocrows, because he has a grudge with them, then they reach Thanos, and are roundly thumped. As far as defiant stands against Thanos go, Spider-Man's on the final page isn't up there with Captain America's during Starlin's Infinity Gauntlet, but Cap does set the bar pretty high.

The story is a bit sparse in this issue, but Clevinger (and Lee Black, whose name doesn't appear on the cover for some reason) and Churilla are using that as an opportunity to fit in several jokes, one-liners, and amusing visuals. There's the Hulk sitting around, bummed out because the space pirates aren't worth smashing, Ms. Marvel's disinterest in Zeppelin's motivations, the team's wait while Wolverine works out his issues with the astrocrows, and Dr. Doom in a apron that says "Galaxy's Best Mom". The way his shoulders are hunched as U.S. Ace's mother berates him into making sandwiches works perfectly at conveying how unprepared he was for her force of personality. Also, Thanos has a lovely evil smile as he makes Logan's attack futile.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #6 - I meant to drop this book after last month and start buying Avengers Academy, but the store seemed to be out of those, and this is the last issue, so I'll wait until next month, when Hank Pym begins another slide into nervous breakdown territory. What? He's changing identities, and past Avengers runs have told me that's a bad sign.

Here, we see Clint Barton troubled by what he did to Crossfire, ripping out his cybernetic eye. He observes Crossfire at the Raft, then gets chewed out by Steve Rogers for having lost his confidence, or trust in himself, or something, which apparently pisses Hawkeye off enough he gets back to his old self. Steve then asks Clint to rejoin Mockingbird's group. Through all this, Mockingbird's in the Savage Land with Dominic, and she sees the result of Barton's freakout from Secret Invasion, and learns the truth about Dominic Fortune. The end of the issue is leading into the Widowmaker mini-series, which doesn't interest me, but will probably be of interest to some of you reading.

Maybe the point of the series was the toll covert work takes on a person's ability to have healthy relationships, or demonstrate much kindness towards others, but it was too much. Dominic didn't come by her old work by entirely square means, but that she's willing to consider just letting him die was troubling. I wasn't particularly happy with Steve Rogers' approach with Hawkeye, either. It felt like Tony Stark-style manipulation. He needs Hawkeye on Mockingbird's team, so tell Clint her life is in danger. In other stories, this sort of thing doesn't bother me as much, GrimJack for example, but here it did. Probably because the characters didn't act the way I expected.hoped they would.

Secret Six #27 - Yes, it's the cover with Bane riding a dinosaur. It even accurately reflects the story within! As you might guess, that means Bane didn't die of his neck wound received last issue. It's magic, or a mutant. Close enough. The two teams cease fighting for awhile, thanks to Jeanette, but by the end of the issue they're back at it again. The only difference is most everbody has changed their wardrobe some. Not sure why Catman thinks his teammates might laugh at him. He's wearing more clothes by the end of the issue than he was in the beginning. Don't worry ladies, it's not that much more. In other developments, we learn what Spy Smasher is really up to with all that talk of nuclear strikes in the U.S. It's not a bad plan, but she's up against Amanda Waller, and you just aren't going to win against her. Batman couldn't do it, neither can Spy Smasher.

One thing I found strange was Scandal telling Jeanette she didn't mean to kill Bane, she simply flashed back to her training under her father. The strange thing is the way Calafiore drew the sequence at the end of the previous issue, I didn't think Scandal had any say in it whatsoever. It appeared Bane grabbed her wrist, and guided her blades up to his throat, helping her kill him, rather than fight her. Her flashing back to her training wouldn't seem to make much difference.

Also, I love Deadshot's attempt at sweet talk to Jeanette. 'Um, sweetie-pie cookie-puss' coming from Floyd Lawton's mouth? I'm amazed all the others present didn't burst out laughing.