Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By Sam Christopher

As I was going through my list this week I noticed that most of my comics were either beginning or ending the title or the storyline, so I thought I’d put them together here (outside of the stellar Ambush Bug #7, which deserved and got its own separate mention):

First, DC has been trumpeting the return of writer/artist Tony Daniel (The Tenth, X-Force) to the Batman title and his six-issue story arc begins here in Batman #692. This is mostly a setup tale, with Dick trying to get info from Selina on the activities of the Black Mask, who is using mind control on apparently ordinary citizens in order to conduct a wave of terror. We also see the return of a Falcone family member, who evidently has a secret of his own. I wasn’t all that thrilled with “Batman RIP” but “The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” and “Battle for the Cowl” were both excellent storylines that Daniel had a hand in (he wrote and drew “BFtC”) so I’m looking forward to this one. And I don’t mind at all wading through the all the Black Mask hoo-ha but what I’m really wondering is where the Joker is and what’s he going to do when he gets back from wherever he is (we saw that he hasn’t really returned in this week’s Gotham City Sirens). Think Two-Face was unhappy there’s a new Batman in town?

Well! I’d say it’s pretty apparent that Donna Troy has seen all the Black Lanterns she wants to by Blackest Night: Teen Titans #3. And she ain’t afraid to show her displeasure. Graphically and hands on. “SQUISH!” And I’m guessing now that the bite she received from her un-dead un-son last ish will eventually lead to her dying—AGAIN! One seriously good thing for the overall Blackest Night storyline that came out of this ish is that Dove’s “Love Power” is a threat to the Black Lantern Corps. Finally! I knew hippies had to be good for something besides good music! J. T. Krul (Soulfire, JSA Classified) and Ed Benes (Birds of Prey, Captain Marvel) finish up this mini in good order, giving us another piece of the puzzle.

The end of “Solve Everything” has an unexpectedly—and decidedly welcome—hopeful outcome for the group in Fantastic Four #572. With all the doom and gloom coming from the main thrust of Marvel lately I’d really expected something more in keeping with Dark Reign; I was deathly afraid of another “showdown” with Norman (y’know, where maybe he shoots Franklin and Val in the head in front of the entire assembled FF and Sue admonishes her children not to protect themselves), or even a “Dark Reed” coming to Earth-616 who would be even worse than Osborne. Instead, Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors, Nightly News) and Dale Eaglesham (52, The Savage Sword of Conan) give us something much better, something much more in line with Lee and Kirby’s original vision for the title. The FF isn’t just a team, it’s always been a family first and the best FF stories are ones that remember that and place the family first. As this one did.

In The Last Days of Animal Man #6 we find that Gerry Conway (The Mighty Thor, Wonder Woman) and Chris Batista (Hawkman, Spiderman 2099) have ended their miniseries chronicling the end of a super-hero and the beginning of a new life with a mystery solved and a mystery on-going. Why was Buddy Baker chosen to be Animal Man? Why has his wife and family stuck so fastidiously by him, given what we’ve seen earlier in this series? And why in the world did AM smile and fly virtually powerless into the blind hatred and raw power of Prismatik and Bloodrage? All these questions and others are—kind of—answered here. A little too neat in some ways, baker’s final failure is pretty much glossed over (to be fair, I’m not sure what they could have done here with the space they had left). Overall, though, a very good and fun story.

Amadeus faces down the man who murdered his parents and then does the last thing the man expects in Incredible Hercules #137. Also, Athena tells Cho something that could change everything about our view of Herc and Amadeus’s friendship; in fact, everything about Hercules’s adventures in the Marvel Universe can now be seen in a different light (although he probably is who we thought he was, her motivations not equaling control perhaps). In return, Amadeus tells Athena something about Hera’s plan that scares the Goddess of Wisdom and War—but it doesn’t worry the reader because no one lets us in on it (why, oh why, are we always the last to know?!?). Yet. And, evidently, Spidey’s going to try and make time with Hercules’s wife, Hebe. All in a day’s work for writers Greg Pak (Battlestar Galactica, War Machine) and Fred Van Lente (Action Philosophers!, Marvel Adventures: Iron Man) and artist Rodney Buchemi (Son of Hulk, Marvel Adventures: Avengers).

Well, once again I’ve read a Warren Ellis (Planetary, Excalibur) series and once again I don’t see the big deal. Ignition City #5 was all right, as was the overall story, but nothing special. I really liked the first couple issues but by the end I was thinking more, “Meh”. Gianluca Pagliarani handles the art.

Mark gets a high-priced (that’s what the guy says, anyway) mouthpiece for free in Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #6. And this lawyer brings with him a “Get Out of Jail Free” card so Richards can face down his brother Devon. I have to say I really enjoyed this series. I had never read anything much about Mark Richards before Final Crisis but I’ve enjoyed what they’ve done with the character, reforming him, and look forward to seeing more about him. Not sure what the end of this series means exactly—the last page, I mean—but I am interested in seeing where they go next.

Queen Sonja #1 begins an arc showing how Sonja came to sit upon a throne. It seems the Lady Rosenda has a bandit problem. They’ve raided her lands, stolen her family heirlooms—and even taken the Sword of Aurora. Not sure what that last item is exactly but the sword is all Sonja wants in return for tracking the villains and killing them. Bringing back the heirlooms would be appreciated but it’s not necessary. The new creative team of Joshua Ortega (Necromancer, Savage Tales) and Mel Rubi (Backlash, Spiderman/Red Sonja) have a fine start here so we’ll see where it leads. We even get a Roy Thomas-written reprint from the Silver Age of Mighty Marvel.

The other ending for me this week was my buying Teen Titans. I’m not slamming DC for their $3.99 titles because they’re all 40 pages, with a separate story as backup, a practice I wholeheartedly support (even though I don’t care at all for the Blue Beetle backup in Booster Gold, and I haven’t even cared very much for the Captain Atom “Second Feature” in… one of the Supes titles). I just realized last issue that the only reason I’ve been buying the last couple issues of the Teen Titans title is for the Sean McKeever (Inhumans, Birds of Prey) Ravager backup and four bucks for eight pages just isn’t good math. I love Sean’s writing (and I’ve talked to him once or twice and he seems like a really nice guy) but I’ll just have to content myself with reading Nomad: Girl Without a World for now.