What I Bought 12/31/2011 - Part 2

Today it's four mini-series, each at a different point in their story. One is wrapping up, another just starting. There's two in the middle, but of those one is set up for the climax, and the other seems to still be ramping up.

Annihilators: Earthfall #4 – As none of the Avengers can bring themselves to kill the people possessed by the Magus, as as no one can figure out how to turn off the belief font, things get desperate. Gladiator attempts to absorb all the faith energy himself, to deprive the Magus of its power. Or to trick the Magus into confining himself to a single (immensely powerful) body, since that’d be easier to kill. In theory, anyway. Instead, Iron Man and Ronan work together to create a trap to house the Magus’ energy, then the Annihilators whisk it away, to the Avengers’ annoyance, as Quasar has to make explanations I don't think Captain America bought. But the Annihilators are based at the edge of the universe, so what's Cap gonna do about it? Nothing, that's what. In the back-up, Rocket and Groot learn a truth about this particular Mojo, and make a decision that doesn’t seem terribly heroic, but will certainly be lucrative for them.

My major problem is both endings came out of left field. That slow build I mentioned with Atomic Robo yesterday? Not happening here. The solutions for both stories appear at the 11th hour. It bothers me less with the back-up, since there was less space to work with, 20 pages total, but Abnett and Lanning had 80 pages for the main story, maybe something about the capacity of Sentries to contain psychic energy, or the faith energy receptors of the Cardinals’ armor could have been mentioned sooner? As for the art, nothing’s changed. I still like Tim Green’s work on the back-up, and still feel Tan Eng Huat was not the right call for artist of the main story. The action is awkwardly posed most of the time. I don’t think the story played to his strengths, or else he was sorely rushed.

Avengers Solo #3 – Hawkeye and Alicia Guzman (in the Trace armor) square off with the solider-types and the Trapster, and beat them handily. There’s some discussion afterward about the study they were a part of, and how it gave the appearance of being backed by the Avengers, or at least Captain America. Which is not a possibility Hawkeye wants to contemplate, but he’s cautious enough to keep all this to himself. Chance gives them a lead in exchange for a set of playing cards, and then Trace lets herself get captured to help them find this group’s primary research facility. Which is entrusting a lot to Hawkeye’s tracking capabilities, but play the hand you’re dealt. In the back-up, Alkhema - Ultron’s other wife - is behind the robot versions of the old West Coast Avengers. Why? No idea, but I can’t say I like Finesse and Striker’s odds against someone who fought an Avengers lineup that included Thor and the Scarlet Witch.

I have a feeling van Meter’s story is going to end sadly for the people Hawkeye’s trying to protect. The strange look Steve Rogers gave him as he left the mansion. The question of whether Stark uses Hawkeye’s bike to monitor his position without permission. The concern people who have unwillingly developed powers from this study might be registered or locked up. Al Barrionuevo was the artist this month. In some ways, it’s an improvement. The Trace armor seems more like armor now, and they’ve changed colorists, which has made things much less murky. Thank you, Fabio D’Auria. On the other hand, I think Roger Robinson drew Hawkeye’s costume better. It had more texture, less of that “painted on” look. So it’s a mixed bag.

Legion of Monsters #3 – I’ll get around to posting covers eventually, and then maybe someone can explain why Elsa’s holding her pinky out while being attacked by crazed monster cops. Sure, she’s British, but this is hardly the time to be concerned with proper etiquette.

Speaking of the monster cops, they’re falling apart. The Living Mummy’s dust, Jack Russell is dying, Morbius is withholding, and that is how we get Elsa Bloodstone attacking Dracula’s castle for answers. Morbius follows, but can’t stop Dracula from explaining who was behind the outbreak years ago at Angel Grove, and how much of a sucker Morbius is. Par for the course. Even worse, he realizes how it is the virus started infecting the citizens of Monster Metropolis, and surprise! Also his fault. Not the living vampire’s day.

Every time I see “Angel Grove”, I think Power Rangers, which Power Rangers meet Elsa Bloodstone, along with either the Legion of Monsters and/or NextWave? I’d read that. Also, the idea of Elsa dousing her hair in holy water, then using her pony tail as a deadly whip against the undead is fantastic. That’s the kind of creativity I’d expect from GrimJack, the highest praise I have when it comes to monster killin’. On the negative, I hate this new look for Drac. That’s not Juan Doe’s fault, and he does the best he can with it, but Drac’s old look had style. Now he looks like the bad guy out of a Final Fantasy game or something.

Villains for Hire #1 – Purple Man’s out to acquire a piece of evidence from an armored truck, and he has the villains to do it. Only problem is someone else has lackeys prepared to steal it from his lackeys. After some fighting, the mystery player’s hirelings get the prize, leaving Purple Man rather miffed. To my surprise, and a little disappointment, the secret mastermind isn’t Headhunter double-crossing Purple Man.

There isn’t much else to the issue besides villains fighting each other, except Purple Man proving he’s really not very good at being an executive type, given his rapid resort to threats and hysterics. It’s nice to see villains not getting along rather than the heroes for once. Could have done without Crossfire. That guy irritates me, and I wasn’t sad when Hawkeye ripped out his cybernetic eyepiece about a year ago. Well, i was, but more because it felt like some attempt to make Hawkeye "hardcore". Fortunately, it was ultimately presented more as a sign Clint had lost his way. At any rate, one might thin Crossfire would take the hint, but bad guys never learn.

Renato Arlem’s art is OK. His version of Tiger Shark seems huge when he first appears, compared to Death Stalker, certainly. Maybe he’s supposed to be that big. Arlem does do better at avoiding some awkward positioning in the fight scenes this time, but the characters are fighting in an open area, so there aren’t the same concerns as with the previous issue’s fight in the subway. I can’t decide whether Arlem is using photo-reference. I keep thinking his Purple Man reminds me of someone, maybe Tommy Lee Jones, but I’m not sure. It could be he uses real people as a sort of outline, but then adds his own touches from there.

Offhand, I were t0 pick a favorite, it'd be Legion of Monsters. The story isn't necessarily that much better than Villains for Hire, for example, but I enjoy Juan Doe's art much more than any of ther other primary artists. Tomorrow, 2 DC titles, and the start of a Marvel ongoing I'm already questioning picking up. Swell.