Marvel Comics Presents #35

The Coldblood story by Doug Moench concludes in this issue. It was a charming little sci-fi story that had a lot of twists to it. Too bad this character never got his own series. Maybe Marvel felt that it had too many similarities to Deathlok.

With just 2 chapters left, Black Panther finally makes it to the compound holding his mother. But before he can find her, he's got to penetrate the fortress-like defenses first. 

In the Excalibur story, my favorite member is highlighted- Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler. The Loonies and their mysterious boss have put Kurt into a circus setting. This is normally Nightcrawler's forte. But as with his teammates simulated prisons, this circus is designed to play on the mutant's insecurities and fears. Usually those fears are about Nightcrawler looking like a demon with blue skin, fangs and a tail. But how will Kurt react when he discovers that at this circus, he's human and the performers are all monsters?

The one-shot story stars Her. Her is the whom the scientists if the Enclave create after Him revolted and fused into Adam Warlock. Her has taken on the monikers of Paragon, Ayesha and Kismet over the course of her 40 year plus history. Why Fabian Nicieza decided to call the character Her could be because the heroine was still known as Her in 1989. Or, the Deadpool co-creator decided to write a story during her early days. Such past stories aren't unfamiliar territory in Marvel Comics Presents. It's just not made clear whether this is a earlier set tale or not. And I don't know enough about Her's history to know further.

4 decent stories. Not perfect. But I enjoyed it.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #14

Darn You Marvel Comics! You broke my #1 rule! YOU KILLED THE DOG!

In the first chapter of Panther's Quest, a random pooch saved Black Panther from attacking mercenaries. In round #2, those same mercs killed the doggie and for a Comics Code authorized issue, the death was rather gruesome.

Thankfully, the Steve Ditko crafted Speedball one-shot and the Fabian Nicieza penned Nomad short were light-hearted and enjoyable. As with the next-to-last chapter of the Colossus story, it was about as good as I remembered it. 

So once again 3 out of 4 ain't so bad. Just try to be a little more PETA friendly Marvel!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Avengers/Thunderbolts, Vol. 2: Best Intentions

I go from the very first Thunderbolts story to one of their last. 

Baron Zemo has reformed the Thunderbolts and is on a mission to rid the world of nukes and other abnormal energy sources that he fears will result in the ultimate destruction of mankind. Of course, Captain America and the Avengers do not trust the goosestepping hero. For Capt., it's once a Nazi, always a Nazi. But for Hawkeye, one-time leader of the Thunderbolts and a former baddie himself, he sees a opportunity for good in his former teammates. 

Hence one of the most action-packed and thrilling stories I have ever read, whilst doubling as an almost to-dull-for-words morality play. There's just so much poetic waxing about human goodness with an unclear debate over nature vs. nurture and self-reform in this book. It's the type of Marvel story that could have only been thanks to the influence of Stan Lee. Too bad, The Man didn't write it...

While I was pleased with the story by Thunderbolts creator Kurt Busiek*, I thought the art was kinda weird. Baron Zemo looks like he's wearing Uggs. Anybody not wearing a mask appears to be turning into a Klingon with odd looking winkles on their head. And what's with everyone looking puffy in this book? It's like George Perez did the art and then all of the characters put on about 20lbs of water weight. Who is to blame on this- Barry Kitson or Tom Grummett?

Another thing I took issue with was the character design for a character known as Blackheath, AKA Plant Man. This character is tapped into the Earth's mystical growing powers known as THE GREEN (I thought that was Swamp Thing's thing). Formerly a costumed villain, Blackheath is now comprised of organic plant-based material. With an afro made of a shrub and fu-manchu moss, there's no other way around it- Marvel stole Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, and made him a Thunderbolt! How did that one escape DC's law department?

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I'm very intrigued to not only collect the original Thunderbolts series but to learn more of Hawkeye's tenure as team leader. However, I don't think that I need to hold on to this volume in order to feel like one day, my collection will be complete. But this was a good starting place for someone trying to decide if the Thunderbolts is worth pursing. If you've read the very first issue of Thunderbolts, there's a great moment that acts as an Easter egg to the team's first adventure. And you see a decent progression of how many of the characters have evolved,

For me, Avengers/Thunderbolts Volume 2 is Worth Consuming, I just don't feel that it's worth keeping. This one's going to the used book store for trade credit. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

*Fabian Nicieza (New Warriors) was also a writer on this book.

Marvel Firsts: The 1990s, Volume 2

The 1990s was a touch and go time for Marvel. Believe it or not, the House of Ideas almost went belly up. It filed for bankruptcy and actually needed DC's help to bail it out. So for all of you who hate DC, just remember if not for the owners of Superman and Batman, who knows if Marvel would still be in existence???

Anyways, there was just as many terrible ideas and stories coming out of Marvel as there were successes. For every Venom or Web of Spider-Man there was The Nightstalkers or Beowulf. X-Men titles dominated but there were so many different X-series, the market was really over-saturated. Yet Cable, Gambit and Generation X managed to overcome the glut of mutant related titles to give the Uncanny X-Men a run for their money. 

There were a few glimmers of hope during the 90s. Iron Man got a chance to be a legitimate team leader with Force Works. Blade got his own solo title right before Wesley Snipes made him a household name. And though not as funny or self-deprecating as he was now, Deadpool was given an early chance to shine thanks to Fabian Nicieza, Wade Wilson's lesser known co-creator. 

Some of these stories were first appearances. Some were first issues of already established characters. And a few were of either completely or partially brand-new teams of heroes or even villains. It was a wild time for Marvel and this edition captures a large chunk of some of the more bizarre works from the Bullpen.

This isn't exactly my favorite time period of not just Marvel but comics in general. Yet, I want the other volume in the series. And for historical (and money saving) purposes, I plan on keeping this volume even if it's wasn't the greatest read of all-time.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.