What I Bought 3/16/2011

I had four books left for the remaining three weeks of March, and three of them came out this week. That'll make for a pretty dull next couple of weeks.

Avengers Academy #11 - So Veil threw the switch to bring back the Wasp last time, but it turns out to not have been the Wasp at all, but Carina Walters. The daughter of the Collector and one-time wife of Korvac, dude who once killed the Avengers. Korvac wants her back; she doesn't want to be with him, a bunch of Avengers show up to fight him, while the cadets try to hustle Carina someplace safe (even though she's more powerful than any of the Avengers). She details her history to the cadets, then pulls a reverse Days of Future Past (she places the cadets' minds in future versions of their bodies, as opposed to Adult Kitty Pryde's mind landing in her teenage body), and sends the kids off to fight Korvac.

This was an exposition heavy issue, but if it hadn't been, I might have had a hard time following things. I know diddley-squat about Korvac, and less about Carina. Then again, there isn't that much to know. She's powerful, but has a history of being manipulated by guys who are more powerful. She's tired of it. Korvac wants to control everything, including her. I'm curious to see what it is about the cadets that enables them to defeat Korvac. Considering his power, I doubt it's him being unfamiliar with their abilities.

Who told Adult Striker that facial hair was a good thing? He looks like a complete tool. Or Tony Stark, which is the same thing.

Darkwing Duck #10 - Brass knuckles and a stick of dynamite? How does that work? Are the knucks to stun them long enough to light the TNT and run, or to defend himself with until he's ready to throw the dynamite?

DW and Steelbeak elude Eggman pursuit and make their way back into the base. They're confronted by Femme Appeal, apparently yet another F.O.W.L. agent who is against the "Raise Duckthulu" plan. The three are then attacked by a walrus robot. Gosalyn and Honker have also infiltrated the base, with mixed results, and Morgana and Launchpad are looking into rumors of Duckthulu's arrival while trying to track down Darkwing.

It's looking more and more likely that Darkwing's being duped, what with Morgana receiving messages about a "purple pawn" and all. Imagine how much more effective the heroes might be if they were all working together on the problem, rather than separately. This is why it's important to work with the allies you've developed, instead of cutting them out. It keeps you from wasting time.

Normally, I really like Silvani's artwork, and there were several nice pieces in here (the visual gags with F.O.W.L.'s top-of-the-line gear, including the alligator briefcase especially), but the double-page spread of the inside of the base was a letdown. A lot of it looked hastily-drawn, or like it hadn't been inked. I honestly wonder if we're supposed to be underwhelmed, as a joke, but I don't think so.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #26 - Kind of a blah cover, especially since none of those aliens surrounding Dox are in the issue.

Things may be falling apart for Starro on one front. Lobo killed Stormdaughter. At least everyone is convinced she's dead, and Lobo should be pretty good at killing by now, but this is comics so you never know. Smite is broken up about, Starro is not. Starro rejects Smite's plant to hit Lobo with all the Lobo clones, so Smite goes to fight him alone. Starro, not concerned, orders the clones hidden somewhere else, and he and Dox go to Rann to see how things are going there. Answer, his starfish are taking control of many people, so it's going quite well. Brainiac 3 is trying to get Tribulus up and moving again, while avoiding getting a starfish clamped on his face.

This felt like another exposition-heavy comic. Not to the extent of Avengers Academy, but there were a few consecutive pages devoted to Lobo's past, as best the characters know it. It was relevant to Smite's plan, but it didn't seem entirely necessary to rehash all of it. Daniel HDR drew the first half of the issue, and Claude St. Aubin the latter half. Their work is actually very similar; I'm not sure I'd notice a difference if the credits didn't tell me there was one. I don't know whether HDR purposefully mimicked St. Aubin, or if the credit goes to inker Scott Hanna, or colorists Rich and Tanya Horie, but it's good work.