The Great Scott Avengers...

Okay that was a really bad title, but I swear it does relate to what goes down in this comic that I am looking at today. It was either that or "That Time Iron Man was Turned into a Naked Killer Robot Lady". You know we all have that one that got away, an idea that at the time might have been awesome, especially if everyone was passing around some green and/or booze was involved, but once done and finished is actually a pretty terrible idea. Kevin Smith did it with Tusk, and I have to say Brain Michael Bendis would probably want to take this one back. Or not, he makes millions, so f*ck you. I have to believe anyone who makes boat loads of money today can look back and not really care about past mistakes or flops along the way. But if I am wrong, that would totally be cool. (After all, Mark Wahlberg knows The Happening was awful) Regardless, I can't help but feel like this arc in The Mighty Avengers is one that most comic book fans want to bury and forget about for sometime. And here I come like a grave digging jerk face to bring it back into the light and talk about it. A book with a new team of heroes after a massive world event like Civil War against a classic Avengers foe like Ultron, how can you mess that up? And is it really that bad? Even a strange plot can have some great moments and is worth another look. So with that said, let's take a look at The Mighty Avengers issue 2 from Marvel comics.  

From the creative team of Brain Michael Bendis and artist Frank Cho, we get a new team of Avengers. Though some may call them the "sell-outs" Avengers team, this is the team that sided with Iron Man during Civil War, the other team of cool kid "rebels" Avengers became the New Avengers. This is still a very strong powerhouse team, led by Ms.Marvel, with Iron Man, Wasp, Black Widow, Wonder Man, Sentry and Ares. You would think this team could handle practically anything, and then Iron Man gets turned into a naked robot chick who looks exactly like Wasp...because creepy. Yeah, that goes down in issue 1 and issue 2 picks up right there, Mole Man and his critters are also there but they run away pretty quickly as soon as the shit hits the fan. We see a bunch of flashbacks to the recruitment of most of the team members, except Ares, who actually is probably the most curious one of them all, being a God and all that. And the team is trying deal with the now naked lady Iron Man villain that they are trying to take down and figure out what the waffle is going on. Though Janet has an idea about what they might be dealing with, it becomes clear by the end of the book. But we get to see plenty of Avengers tossing about and being thrown all over the place, good times. 

So let me make one thing clear here, Bendis and Cho are very talented individuals, that really goes without saying. And who could say otherwise, unless your Joe Quesada or Jim Lee, you don't really have a platform to dump on anyone making money in the industry. Anyone who makes it, is there for a reason. That being said, do I feel like this book and this particular arc is pretty weak all things considered. While some really interesting stories were going on in New Avengers, which Bendis was handling at the time and planting seeds for Secret Invasion, this feels like it needs to be strange for the sake of being strange. Can you just have Ultron come back and wreck some havoc, just like that. Sure, why not? I know you always need to up the ante, but this just comes as a little forced. Shock for the sake of shock, no substance. And comics do this all the time to stir the pot, I get that. But after the shock is gone all that is left are feelings of embarrassment and sadness. These are the books that become ghost stories of stupidity, like no one would actually do that in a comic...would they? Yeah, they would. Could this same story have been done properly? I think so. This Ultron here feels like a killer sex alien. Instead you could've had the bad robotic villain waking up as Janet and believing that it is Janet, not Ultron. A sleeper agent, a wolf in sheep's clothing. You work an angle of mistrust and confusion in the team, and have them conquer Ultron and grow as a team overall, especially if this is the first challenge for The Mighty Avengers. Just an idea, but you get the point. 

This is one of those if you happen to find it at a good price, check it out, but you know be warned. But if you are a pretty new to comics, you'll probably want to read something that isn't so bizarre. This is the comic book your librarian warned you about. 

And just like that, another book reviewed and gone. Feels good to be writing again, had to get that out of my system. There is actually a lot I want to talk about recently, been going to therapy and been looking around for a new job, all the while doing my best to bust out as much art work as possible while trying to learn more and more art techniques. Not to mention the constant feeling that life and most people are leaving you behind, not a great feeling. But you know what, I am here now and I am going to do my best to bust out as much work as I can. It's the only thing I can do, so let's shoot the shit and talk some comics. Let me know what you thought about this issue and this run of Mighty Avengers. Are you a fan or did you hate it? Let me know in the comments below. Going to try and write something up more and more, but I might do some more personal ones, trying to make sense of it all and what not. But the Storm is back, so as I said before, stay sassy n classy and until then, keep chasing the storm.

Speaking The Unspoken...

Something to be said about those Inhumans, they always leave their mark. And sometimes that takes form in new Inhumans on the Earth or sometimes it can be a banished Inhuman king, like the main villain in this story, The Unspoken. A character so bad, so crazy and so powerful, Black Bolt and the royal family took it upon themselves to erase his name and all his history from Attilan. Damn, that's harsh. So needless to say, he wakes up more then a little bit cranky and ready to take over the world with his banned Inhuman machinery. With an omega level threat on hand, you need only one team...and the help of as many other teams as possible, but mainly, the Mighty Avengers! From the creative team of Dan Slott (Amazing Spider-man), Christos Gage (Avengers:The Initiative), Khoi Pham (X-Factor) and Sean Chen (Nova) comes The Mighty Avengers: The Unspoken! This hard cover collects the five issue of this story from Mighty Avengers #27-#31 and also includes various different Avengers making an appearance as well, including one of my personal favourite teams, the Young Avengers! This book takes place during the Dark Reign in the Marvel universe, and this Mighty Avengers team is led by Hank Pym, with team members; Quicksilver, Stature, Vision, Amadeus Cho, US Agent, Hercules and Jocasta. And also infiltrated on this team is Scarlet Witch, who is actually Loki, up to no good as always. Every now and then, you want something different. That's what you get here on this Mighty Avengers team, a very diverse cast of characters who don't get enough panels or pages, it's a nice welcomed change from the usual Avengers cast. But more importantly, is it any good? Let's find out..

What I did enjoy about this book, was seeing all the characters I love in action and working together. I am a really big fan of characters like Quicksilver, Speed, Kate Bishop and pretty much the entire Young Avengers team. But even seeing characters from Avengers: The Initiative was really cool as well, and you even get to see a Chinese super hero team that includes Radioactive-man, though he doesn't look as cool as he did back in that Warren Ellis Thunderbolts team. It was a really refreshing read to see these characters in action, because it's a shame when they collect dust or get written badly. The book does have a classic Avengers feel to it, especially having Jarvis back and with a new Avengers Mansion headquarters as well and plenty of team up kind of attacks. This is a great fan for the classic and new teams, it has something for everyone. When I think on how I would approach an Avengers story, this feels like it should be, lots of characters teaming up together against a great threat to the planet. So I was pleasently surprised by Dan Slott's writing, especially since I know him mainly for solo character books, like both Superior and Amazing Spider-Man. The art in the book while not mind blowing or anything like that, it does a good job with all the battle scenes and collections of the various different characters on a page at a time. It reminds me of John Romita Jr's run on the Avengers title, and it plays well in the whole classic feel to it all. By no means does it damage the story or legacy of the Avengers. But I also need to say, the look on the covers is absolutely fantastic work, Especially issue 29 ans issue 31, the Scarlet Witch/Loki one looks gorgeous!

So a great Avengers adventure, that doesn't feel weighted down by gloom and darkness but with enough battles and clashes to remind us what we love about super hero team ups in the first place. And while the collection is cool, check it out if you get the chance. By no means however is it a must read, but it's a fun little collection. If you do find a copy of Mighty Avengers #29 though, pick that one up, the cover alone is totally worth the price.

Well that's all the time I have for now, I am still working away on Glass Prison, so be sure to follow me here and all social media for small and big updates and everything in between. It's not easy balancing work and trying to make a comic book, but I do my best. And I do have fun sharing these reviews with you guys, whenever I go to my local shop and pick up my titles, it's great to look through all the classic books and pick some of these up. I highly suggest everyone do that, because as great as the new stuff is (AXIS is pretty hype and holy crap did you read Batman #35), it's always cool to give older titles a shot. You never know what you might find. Well that's me for now, keep chasing the storm.

Shuma Mighty

There is a lot that can be said about the current and new Mighty Avengers team that is now part of the current Marvel Now of comics. Another Avengers team, I thought we already had like 10 of them. Or hey, a cool new multicultural team of heroes kicking ass on the streets. Or why not just call them Marvel Knights? But of all the things out of the first arc here of Mighty Avengers, my personal favourite part of all this is that during the Infinity fight that is taking place in New York, we find these heroes fighting off no other then the God of Chaos himself, Shuma-Gorath. Can you say, hells yes. 

We start issue 3 with the currently released Shuma-Gorath wrecking havoc on Times Square. If you don't know much about this one eyed monster, well he is a classic villain of Doctor Strange. A being of absolute power, he generally has to be summoned by some evil magic user, or in this case a mind controlled Doctor Strange. But gamers may remember him from plenty of the Marvel vs Capcom games, and I for one, always thought he was a really kick ass character. He is a one eyed tentacle monster from a chaos universe, how is that not awesome! So with Shuma-Gorath wrecking the entire city up, our heroes are trying to work together and figure something out. We got Luke Cage, Superior Spider-man, Spectrum and Spider-hero...? It's someone relatively important in a store bought costume, it's pretty funny actually. They also get some help in this issue from White Tiger, Power Fist and Blue Marvel. This I am guessing will be the first line up to the new Mighty Avengers team. And they work really well together, especially considering what they are up against. You get to see most characters use their abilities and even help one and other out, a classic presentation of super hero teamwork. But do they save the day? Not going to spoil that for you, so you should check it out! 

It goes without saying, I like Mighty Avengers. It's a different team, but it's one that has a more human connection then the other Avengers team, and I really like that. When reading comics, I really don't want to see how godly a super hero can be, honestly I could careless about freeze breath, laser eyes and crapping gold bricks. The more powerful a character is the less I feel like I should care. And while Blue Marvel seems like a Superman, I like the fact that he is more brain then brawn.  We know Blue Marvel has power, but he has the knowledge and wisdom not to abuse it. So I highly suggest you give Mighty Avengers a chance if you are looking for a group of heroes that are really down to Earth. And I assure that is more then a play on words.

So go out and get your self some Mighty Avengers, they are only up to issue 13 as of writing this, so it's enough time to catch up with the current stories. Or get the collection as well, a very cool way to see how New York City and the world deals with the Infinity and Inhumanity events of the Marvel universe.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestion, let me know below or on any of the many forms of social media! That's all the time I've got, until then keep chasing the storm!