Marvel Comics Presents #149

There are no multi-part segments in this issue. It's all one-and-done's as the editors have something massive planned for the upcoming 150th issue!

Vengeance, the newest headlining feature in MCP, is on a quest to find a missing boy.

Fan-favorites Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, the Daughters of the Dragon, take on a case that involves domestic violence.

The Starjammers, led by Christopher Summers, try to quell a squabble on an isolated planet before it turns into a huge intergalactic incident. 

Finally, a crippled former Soviet submarine learns that despite Prince Namor's distaste for how humanity has spoiled the seven seas, there's a little bit of human blood beating in the heart of the Sub-Mariner.

I really liked both the Daughters of the Dragon story and the underwater adventure with Prince Namor. The detective story was masterfully written. I hated to close the book on the Sub-Mariner. Wonderful art and storytelling.

The character of Vengeance; I could take him or leave. Mostly leave. The dialogue of his human identity, Michael Badilino, is like that of a terrible 80s cop movie. And when in demon form, this version of the Spirit of Vengeance is just too hardcore for my liking. I honestly think Vengeance likes that the flames of Hell are always licking at his feet. At least Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch seemed repentant of the mess they got themselves into.

Lastly, that Starjammer story. My feelings on it are kinda mixed. I thought Kelly Corvese's (Spider-Man) story had good writing but a script that seemed too similar to the Vance Astro story from a little ways back. The only character I liked was Corsair. And I thought the artwork by Alexander Morrisey (Punisher Back to School Special) just wasn't that great. 

An okay issue that has a couple great stories. But I think the real fireworks are being held for the next issue which will be an anniversary giant!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #136

 

All 3 multi-part stories come to a close in this issue.

The Iron Fist/Daughter of the Dragon adventure finally sees some action. In the vein of Jackie Chan's Rumble in the Bronx, Marvel's resident kung-fu fighters take on the Yakuza and Sabretooth among the tenements of the Big Apple.

The Wolverine/Cyber story has two results. One unexpected- a death! One expected- Cyber double-crosses Logan with typical Marvel fisticuffs!

As for Ghost Rider and Luke Cage. We get all the poop on why Darklove betrayed Mephisto and decided to become a demon of love instead of hate. It's a pretty good ending to a story that was fairly ridiculous. 

The one-shot tale involves Daredevil. I'm a few weeks behind on reviewing that which I've read. But in the case of this story, I just can't recall anything about it. Truly a forgettable story starring the Man Without Fear.

A better offering of MCP. Maybe because 3 very long stories are coming to a close finally. But still not the best issue I've read. Not even close.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #135

The one-shot story stars the Black Widow. Widow's Soviet secret agent past comes back to haunt her when a former KGB operative who did a lot of very things behind the Iron Curtain comes to the States. This butcher is afraid that the relatives of his former victims are out for revenge. So he plans on killing them first! When he starts killing friends of Natasha Romanoff, things get deadly personal. 

As for our 3 multi-parter team-ups, not really much is happening.

The uneasy alliance between Wolverine and Cyber is still in effect as they attempt to flee an island full of blood cultists. 

Ghost Rider and Luke Cage are still atop the World Trade Center battling an ancient evil. This chapter does delve a little in the origin of the former follower of Mephisto now known as Darklove. But in current time, there's very little happening except for posturing. 

As for Iron Fist and the Daughters of the Dragon vs. Sabretooth and the Yakuza. I'm starting to get bored. For 2 chapters now, it seems like the good guys have been putting together a plan of attack. Do something already! 

A ho-hum issue that felt like a waste of 15-20 minutes of my life.

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #134

There's not really much happening in the Wolverine/Cyber unlikely team-up story. Same thing goes for the Iron Fist and Daughters of the Dragon Vs. Sabretooth and the Yakuza crime thriller. 

The one and done story stars Lance Astro of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. He's on a mission to save the crew of a crashed ship. In the year 3000-ish, Astro and his teammates are at war with the Badoon. But in this story, Lance learns that not all members of that bloodthirsty race are natural born killers. Some are lovers and the Galaxy Guardian must help this intergalactic Romeo & Juliet survive a Badoon terror squad that looks to eliminate those 'pure bloods' who fall into inter-species love.

Then there's the Ghost Rider/Luke Cage adventure. I'm still not a fan of it. But this chapter is of note because of it's locale- atop the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. It's just so hard to imagine that we've been without those buildings for going on 22 years now! Anytime I come across images of those buildings in a comic (or other type of media), my mind just can't help but go back to that tragic day in September. 

The one-shot story was amazing while all three of the team-up multi-parters weren't really all that impressive. Only the setting of the Ghost Rider epic is what's really all that memorable. 

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars. 

Marvel Comics Presents #133

We close the book on a lengthy and ludicrous Iron Fist story to roll right into... another Iron Fist story??? Steve Lightle is back on art duty. But the writer for this one is Dan Slott (Fantastic Four)! 

Now it's only the first chapter. But so far, so good. Assisting Danny Rand are the Daughters of the Dragon, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. Unlike in the previous Iron Fist story, they're both being used appropriately. It's a good thing too, as they're all pitted against the Yakuza led by Sabretooth! Looks promising. Fingers crossed.

The one-shot story is a vampire tale starring Cloak & Dagger. A female vampire has her sights on Dagger- in particular that strange void-like power of his. As a kid, I always thought Dagger was a vampire. So it's interesting to see that the writer of this story, Chuck Kim (Doctor Strange) felt the same I did.

For our continuing stories- I'm in opposite directions. I love the Midnight Run sort of turn the Wolverine and Cyber story. That band of cannibal islanders has turned against Cyber. Seeing his mutant power as part of a well fortified meal, the Wolverine foe must team with Logan or else they'll both be on the menu!

As for the Ghost Rider and Luke Cage story, I've given up on it. The concept of some sort of demon that thrives on love instead of hate is just absurd. The parts where Cage is trying to solve the murder of one of his exes is great. Why writer Karl Bollers (Sonic the Hedgehog) couldn't have just stuck with that is a real head scratcher. I don't think Ghost Rider or any of his supernatural elements add anything to this story. 

A good offering with a promising introductory Iron Fist chapter.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #80

I'm a little annoyed. Not because of this issue. Instead, I'm peeved because last night I had written up this wonderful review for a good 30 minutes, only to have the entire thing lost because Blogger or my WiFi or both were temporarily disabled. I also discovered that other minor changes I had made to some other previous posts didn't save either. So, forgive me if I am just too mentally tired to do as great a job on this revision as I had on the first draft.

Barry Windsor Smith continues to fake out the readers by showing us another Weapon X escape and assault on his captors. Only this time, instead of this being all part of Logan's imagination, this is a simulation done by a virtual reality headset attached to Weapon X's head like a visored helmet. Needless to say, the professor in charge of the project is literally crapping bricks because with every kill Weapon X makes in this program, feedback seems to indicate that Logan really enjoys it.

The next story stars Captain America. But the title character, at least according to the editors is a brand new armored character named Wargod. This story has a great twist ending that I did not see coming a mile away.

Mister Fantastic challenges a troubled youth to better himself instead of wasting his time playing video games. Now if this story was done today, the kid could have made a very compelling case that there is money to be made in becoming a professional video game player. But in 1991-92, the award money for winning a video game competition was small potatoes. This was a good story. But it really was dated.

Lastly, Jo Duffy (Power Man and Iron Fist) returns with an 8-pager starring Misty Knight and Colleen Wing: The Daughters of the Dragon. I thoroughly enjoyed their appearance in issue #42. This detective style story was just as great as the first. Yet, it is beyond me why Marvel never had the insight to produce a Jo Duffy penned Daughters of the Dragon book as either a regular series or a mini. This was a major missed opportunity I think for the House of Ideas.

Even though I keep getting mixed-up and confused from the Weapon X story, this was a great issue. 3 fantastic one-and-done tales. A couple of which post some what if scenarios based on publishing choices and not the work of Oatu the Watcher.

Hmmmm... This wasn't a bad rewrite. Okay, I'm a little less ticked off now...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #42

A sacrifice makes the Wolverine story start getting decent.

Hank Pym and The Wasp join Iron Man in the attempt to redeem Wonder Man from the influence of The Enchantress. 

Union Jack is joined by the Invaders in a mission to repeal Axis forces during World War II.

But the star of this issue was the 8-pager involving Colleen Wing and Misty Knight: The Daughters of the Dragon. The kung-fu detective pair go undercover at a circus to uncover a murderer. 

I've read a few things starring the Daughters of the Dragon. It was decent stuff. But this story by Jo Duffy was really super. I know that Duffy wrote several issues of Power Man and Iron Fist. But I don't know if she ever wrote about Wing and Knight in that series. Regardless, I do know that Marvel never had Jo Duffy conduct a series starring just the duo. And they really should have!

In just 8 short pages, Duffy created a backstory, an intriguing mystery, 80s action movie level action and added a little bit of sex appeal. I might not have read such a series new as my teenage comic book tastes were rather different. But if it did exist, you could be sure as soon as I finished this issue, I would have been on Amazon or other used comics site and gotten my hands on it ASAP!

A very good issue with a great 8-page Daughters of the Dragon story!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.