This week's post will be reviewing 4 issues: Batman Beyond #1, Ultimate Captain America #1, Avengers #8, and Brightest Day #17
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Batman Beyond #1
Let me preface this review with some facts: I LOVED the Batman Beyond cartoon. I thought it was a very interesting piece of work, and I loved the universe it created. Naturally, when the Batman Beyond miniseries was released earlier this year, I gave it a shot. I felt that the miniseries took the same character and universe in a slightly more mature direction, which i enjoyed. Then, it was announced that due to the success of the miniseries, the series would be relaunched as an ongoing series.
Which brings me to this issue. Don't get me wrong, it was okay, but the tonal change of the previous miniseries has been completely stripped away. Had Bruce Wayne not mentioned the events of the miniseries in passing, I would have honestly felt that this issue was set in a brand new continuity. The plot revolves around a worker in the Justice League tower being diagnosed with some sort of terminal condition. In response, he steals transmuting powers from the Justice League safe (Because EVERYONE has access to the safe, right?) and proceeds to threaten innocent lives.
The one saving grace of this issue was something that clearly pointed out the differences between the future Batman, Terry, and Bruce. When Terry informs Bruce that his mother and brother are in the building being threatened, there is a pregnant pause before Bruce asks, "...Could you treat this like any other situation, and do what has to be done?". Terry's response is pitch perfect, as he responds, "God, Bruce....could you?". Fantastic. The look on Bruce Wayne's face is priceless. All in all, this book's nostalgia factor has worn off, and needs to wow me in the next two or three issues, otherwise, I'm dropping it.
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Ultimate Captain America #1
I love(d) the Ultimate Universe. The stories seemed much more topical and relevant when compared to some of the standard (or 616) Universe. I especially loved the Millar/Hitch Ultimates and Ultimates 2. However, since Ultimatum, I read the first issue of each Ultimate book, and dropped what I didn't like.
Which is what brings me to this issue. This issue was billed as the fight between the Captain America of World War II and the Captain America of Vietnam. Now after reading this issue, I swear I had read this issue before, branded as Ultimate Comics Avengers #1. Think about it: Covert operation? check. Mystery Super-Soldier Helping the enemy? check. Mystery Super-Soldier beating the holy hell out of Cap? Check. Mystery Super-Soldier revealing his identity as someone related to Cap or Cap's origin story? check.
The only reason I'm staying on with this book is the identity of "Captain America of Vietnam". It's Agent Frank Simpson -- Nuke. For those of you who are NOT aware, in the standard Marvel universe, Nuke was a Super-Soldier engineered to follow in Cap's footsteps, and fight in Vietnam. I wasn't particularly thrilled that they just made Nuke the Cap of Vietnam in the Ultimate Universe (considering what they did with Ultimate Cable a few years ago), but I'm gonna cut them some slack. Also, considering Nuke factors heavily into next week's Spotlight post of Daredevil: Born Again, I may be giving it a few extra points.
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Avengers #8
Sorry guys, but I hate Romita Jr's art. I find it SO DAMN BLOCKY! It works great for Iron Man, but badly for most other people.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, I really enjoyed this issue. The art on this series has kept me away from it, but everyone has said it was excellent, so I decided to give this issue a try. And I was certainly not disappointed. The plot of the issue revolves around Iron Man re-assembling the Illuminati (with Medusa taking the place of the recently deceased Black Bolt) revealing that SOMEONE is going after the Infinity Gems.
The dynamic between Steve Rogers (the previous Cap) and Iron Man is fantastic. The sequence where Rogers orders Maria Hill to track Iron Man, leading to the confrontation at the end of the issue was brilliant. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next issue
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Brightest Day #17
So, what do you do when you think you've blown up the universe? Look for Shadows! Wait, what?
This issue of Brightest Day has three portions: Firestorm, the Hawks, and not-so-Deadman. In the Firestorm portion, they realize that instead of blowing up the universe, they were thrown into the centre of some Shadow Demons (the warriors of the Anti-Monitor whom Deadman fought waaaaaaaaaaaay back in issue #3). They are directed to Qward, home of the Sinestro Corps, to try and protect the White Lantern from being stolen by Deathstorm. Quick note here: Aren't Kyle Rayner, Hannu, Soranik Natu, and Ganthet on Qward right now fighting the Weaponer? Doesn't the Weaponer also wield the White Light? Ah son, it's about to go down.
In the Hawkman/Hawkgirl portion of the story, the evil queen lady (sorry, I totally forgot her name, and I hate this portion of the story so I don't care to go back and learn it) invades Zamaron, home of the Star Sapphires. After a brief struggle, she usurps the Predator entity. Yawn.
In the other story, Boston Brand (Deadman, who is now alive...and I really wanna start calling him Aliveman) meets his grandfather again, and takes him for a motorcycle ride. While they are enjoying life, the White Ring on Brand's finger states "Power Levels: 1%" || "Power Levels: 2%". So the ring is being recharged by their joy for life. But what is it being recharged for?
I'm most interested in the Firestorm story, and least interested in the Martian Manhunter story (which wasn't even part of this issue, hooray!). As long as we get some sort of interaction of Qward, I'll be a very happy camper.
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Stay tuned next week for our weekly reviews, and our Spotlight.
Next Week on Spotlight: Daredevil - Born Again. The Kingpin has figured out who Daredevil is and begins to systematically destroy his life. But Kingpin is going to learn that "A man without hope, is a man without fear."
Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback (nextlevelstaff@gmail.com) is welcome.
haha, I love your reviews. Makes me want to pick up all these comics now!! Gah! Keep up the great work<3
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