Amazing Spider-Man #584 to 585 - Character Assassination Parts 1 & 2

Credits
Writer: Guggenheim
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inks: Klaus Janson
Colors: Dean White

Backgrounder
The mayoral race for the city of New York will be up in two days. It is a tight race between Randall Crowne and Bill Hollister.

Bill Hollister is the new mayoral candidate after the original candidate Lisa Parfrey was killed by Menace. He's a standup guy and has kept a clean campaign and is supported by Frontline -- an independent newspaper headed by Ben Ulrich.

Randall Crowne, on the otherhand, is a wealthy businessman with some shady business. A recently discovered illegal sweatshop is under Crowne Industries which also has ties with Oscorp. Not surprisingly, Crowne is supported by Norman Osborn and Dexter Bennet, owner of the DB.

Until recently, the attacks on Crowne's mayoral opponents damaged his reputation. But his recent actions -- like taking a stance to capture Spider-Man whom, he says, is obviously behind the spider-tracer killings -- improved his chances of winning, especially with the scare of the Spider-Tracer killings all over the city.

And thus begins the character assassination storyarc...

Amazing Spider-Man #584
This is one of the "busiest" issues ever, with so many scenes involving so manhy people. Ever since the start of the Brand New Day saga back in issue 546, the Spider-Man is being blamed for the so-called Spider-Tracer killings. Several murdered bodies have been found all around the city with Spider-Man's tracer.

The latest victim is the Bookie, aka Johnny Ladue, a compulsive gambler who had a business of taking bets on the outcome of superhuman battles. Recently, though, he was hell-bent on finding out who is the real Spider-Tracer killer. Apparently, he finally figured it out and was dealt with accordingly -- check epilogue in issue #582.

In the Two-In-One show, the hosts announce that with the mayoral race becoming a tight one, the only way Hollister can secure the seat is by the immediate capture of Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is injured after being chased by the police and taking some lead. He retreats to a building and escapes capture through the elevator shaft. Upon exiting, he loses consciousness.

Carlie Cooper, bestfriend of Lily Hollister and CSI, manages to get Julian Beck to create a prototype for tracking the Spider-tracers. With this, she believes she can finally track down the whereabouts of the Spider-Tracer killer -- which at this time she believes to be Spider-Man.


Meanwhile -- yep, another meanwhile here -- Harry Osborn takes Lily Hollister up into the Statue of Liberty. With barges suddenly appearing and shooting fireworks, Harry drops down to one knee and proposes to Lily for her hand in marriage.

Later, Spider-Man returns to his apartment to tend to his wounds. Almost immediately after hitting the showers, Carlie, using the prototype tracker, finds a bag full of spider tracers under the bed of Vin Gonzales, NYPD officer and Peter's roommate.

Amazing Spider-Man #585
Lily Hillister turns down Harry's proposal and promptly leaves the scene.

Back in Peter's apartment, he overhears that Menace is attacking one of Hollister's rallies, prompting him, bandaged arm and all, to go and take him out.

While Peter swings to Menace's location, Carlie confronts Vin about the spider tracers found in his bedroom. Although Vin insists that he's just doing his job, it is eventually revealed that Vin's partner, Alan O'Neil, and Vin are both involved in a bigger conspiracy with the spider-tracers.

In the show Two In One, guest J. J. Jameson offers his commentary condemning Spider-Man as the spider-tracer killer.

Back to Spider-Man. His injured arm proves to be a liability, causing him to be brutally pummeled down. He eventually passes out and falls crashing down on top of some weakened scaffolds. Menace descends on him to beat him up some more. He decided to left the weakened Spider-Man once the policemen arrive. Spider-man was collared with power-inhibitors and placed under arrest.


Menace flies to Bill Hollister's Campaign Headquarters. Menace sneaks in then undergoes some change. Shortly, Harry Osborn arrives at the same building to try and convince Lily to reconsider. To his surprise, he finds Lily wearing Menace's costume.

Double Takes: Punisher #1 and #2

Credits
Write: Rick Remender
Artist: Jerome Opena
Colorist: Dan Brown

Punisher #1

Frank Castle, the Punsiher, is back! And he's not happy with Norman Osborn now in-charge. In what appears to be Times Square after the Skrull attacks, Norman Osborn is addressing the crowd in a press conference. Four miles away, Punisher climbs on top of a building, aims his recently acquired Skrull sniper rifle at the noggin' of Osborn, and fires. Inches away from his head, the Sentry catches the bullet between his fingers.

In seconds, the Sentry is now face-to-face with Frank. Frank runs down the building leading Sentry, trying to slow him down with a bomb and a tank of acid. Cornered and and punctured deep on his side, Frank handcuffs himself, and threatens to blow up a hospital in five seconds.

Not willing to call his bluff, Sentry flies to the hospital. No explosions occur. By the time Sentry returns for him, Frank already uncuffed himself and is on the run. Frank retreats to his van, then a guy on the van's communicator warned him to leave as it is only seconds before the Sentry finds him. The mysterious guy guides him through the subway and streets, and managed to reach his destination before he finally passes out from the loss of blood and pain.

Punisher #2

Frank wakes up and finds himself stitched up and is in the bunk of a techie/nerd Henry. After the initial scuffle, Henry offers to help Frank wage his war against Norman Osborn. He offers his expertise to hack into online cameras, satellite stations, internet feeds, etc. to help hiim get the skeletons out of Norman Osborn's closet.

First mission: Frank enters a gun store which is just a front for a safehouse of high-tech weaponry. After dispatching the guards, Franks gets a hold of said high-tech weapons and is very, very, very happy.

Armed with his new toys, Frank then goes after the leads of Henry. He uses his recently acquired exploding arrows to kill off the armed guards of a batch of prostitutes, kills off the the foreign terrorists and Osborn's men doing a trade, and, gets the jump on a heroin crime ring. In all, he shot photographs of these.

After that, Henry -- clearly shaken and vomits after seeing the pictures for the first time -- arranges the pictures so they can get published on the media.

With the initial reports that crime is on a sharp decline after the Skrull invasion is questioned, Norman calls on one of his new allegiance to deal with the Punisher -- the Hood!

Reaction/Review

It's good to see the ol' Punisher back in business and gets his dibs into the mainstream Marvel storylines. The new volume promises a strong storyline with his involvement with the current Marvel saga. And, with him going one-on-one against one of Osborn's new inner circle of sorts, this shows promise of him becoming a leading figure in this saga -- hopefully.

Art for the new series reminds me of the old 1990's X-Men. I like it. The great attention given to details gives off that classic slash rustic look. Personally, I judge the comic art as follows: if it looks great without the colors, then it's truly great art. Nuff said!

All in all, I can't wait for the Punisher to go up against the Hood and -- most probably -- against his entire gang. Yipee!

X-Men: Magneto Testament - Index

Credit

• Writer: Greg Pak


• Artist: Carmine Di Giandomenico


• Color Art: Matt Hollingsworth

X-Men: Magneto Testament is a five-issue limited series that details his life as a young Jew in Europe during World War II. This is a long three-year project by Greg Pak and Warren Simons. They intended to one present the young Magneto as how he would have lived in World War II Europe while staying true to history.

They said actors making Holocaust movies get the awards. I won't be surprised if the same becomes true for this limited series.

With this, we get a glimpse of how Magneto lived... and ultimately what made him Magneto as we know him today.

Btw, in each of the parts, I'll be including the actual captions regarding actual historical events taken verbatimly from the comics; no paraphrasing, no shortcuts. I decide it best to let history tell how some of the events turn out.

So here are the summaries for each issue:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

X-Men: Magneto Testament #5 of 5

Don't let this ever happen again.

Max approaches the fence to give Magda some bread. He tells her about getting more rations by going to a certain Nurse Shulman. As it turns out, Max manages to bribe guards and make arrangements to make life at least easier for Magda.

May to June 1944: Two months after German tanks roll into Budapest, trainloads of Hungarian Jews begin to arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In just six weeks, 300,000 men, women, and children are selected at the platform and then killed in the gas chambers and burned in the crematoria or outdoor pits.

While working, Max overhears that the Nazis are now slowly emptying the labor camps, including the gypsy camp -- where Magda is held -- by the end of July.

Later, within the Sonderkommando barracks, they speak of the upcoming revolt which will be delayed to August -- two weeks to late for Magda and the gypsy camp. With this in mind, Max arranges again for Magda to meet with him.

Max tells Magda of how relatives of frontline soldiers and herself are going to be transported to a work camp before the liquidation of the gypsy camp. But in case something goes wrong, she has to hide in the corpse pile; he bribed the Leichenkommando -- the body carriers -- to take her to him.

With enough bribes, Magda gets on the transport out of the gypsy camp. The train goes to Buchenwald then to Ravensbruck where, the bribed Nazi guard reveals, human experiments are done.

August 2, 1944: "Zigeunernacht" or Gypsy Night. The Gypsy family camp is liquidated. 2,987 people are gassed and burned in the outdoor pits.

October 5, 1944: Max and the others receive a message from the resistance about the impending revolt. The revolt will take place on the seventh, where there would be fewer guards. For it to work, though, they have to wait until dark and wait for the signal.

October 6, 1944, Nurse Shulman informs Max that Magda and half of the transport are carried back to the gypsy camp and not given food and left to die.

October 7, 1944, the Liechenkommando brings the corpse pile from the gypsy camp to the Sonderkommando's custody. Within the pile, there Max finds Magda, in a very sorry state. He brings her back to their barracks. Not everyone is happy that the girl is there and wants to bring her down to the Nazis before they find her there. The argument is settled shortly and not long after that, a signal was sent -- the crematorium explodes, signifying the start of the revolt. The work detail turn on the Nazi guards and escape as far away as possible.

Magda and Max are among the lucky ones to escape with their lives.

On October 7, 1944, the Sonderkommando in Crematorium II and IV rise up, destroying Crematorium IV, killing three S.S. men, and wounding a dozen more. 200 Sonderkommando are killed in the camp during and after the battle. Another 250 who escape the camps perimeter are shot and burned to death in a barn near Rajsko.

Crematorium IV is never repaired. But on October 9, the killings resume. 4,000 Jews are killed in Crematoria II and V. And on October 10, the 800 Gypsies who had been transferred back to Auschwitz from Buchenwald are killed in Crematorium V.

The Allies never bomb the death machinery of Auschwitz. But in November 1944, as the Red Army draws near, S.S. Reichsfuhrer heinrich Himmler orders the dismantling of the crematoria.

January 26, 1945. The S.S. dynamite Crematorium V.

January 27, 1945. The Red Army liberates the camp and the 7,000 prisoners who remain.

Altogether, the Nazis killed approximately 6 million Jews and many millions of other innocent civilians.

At least a million people died at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In September 1948, Max returns to the Auschwitz grounds and unburies the jar containing his letter. "Please. Don't let this ever happen again."

THE END.

X-Men: Magneto Testament #4 of 5

Just stay alive...

September 1942, Auschwitz: the train carrying Max reaches its destination. The Nazis tells them to separate themselves from men and the women and children. By some chance, his former teacher, Herr Fritz Kalb, wearing the zebra stripes spots him and tells him to give him anything small and valuable (obviously to bribe some of the Nazi guards) and to tell the Nazis that he is eighteen and wants to work.

Doing so, he and the others are led to the concentration camp, where they are stripped of their clothes, shaved nearly bald, tattooed, and given the same zebra stripes Kalb is wearing. Afterwards, the Nazis enters their barracks and asks for anyone below sixteen who are included in the group. Three of the kids show themselves, despite Max's pleading, and are shown the way out -- and then promptly executed.

Later, when rations are being given out, Kalb tells Max how he is planning to get him transferred into the Kanada Kommando, the best work detail in camp. But until the bribe is put together, Max has to stay alive. The Nazis will "kill you if you break the rules. But do everything just as they say, and you'll starve to death within a month."

Later, Kapo -- apparently someone who has the privilege to give out work assignments -- approaches Max who will be transferred to Kalb's group. Unfortunately, though, a ranking Nazi officer, notices Kapo and hints that he needs one man to replace one lost in another work detail. Left with no choice, Kapo gives Max to the Nazi.

He learns shortly that he is now part of the Sonderkommando. Jewish women and children are told to strip down their clothes and belongings and will be taking a shower to be disinfected of a bogus louse infection. After all fo the women and children gets in the showers, the door slams shut and the Nazis release toxic gas at them.

The Sonderkommando are then told to gather up all of the belongings to a wagon and haul it off to one of the Kanada warehouses, where Kalb is holed up. There he sees a room piled up with eyeglasses, spoons, and other shiny, metallic objects. Imagine, if you can count the number of things in there and assume each one there belongs to one person... well, just look at the picture...



What follows is Max's letter (or confession) to whoever finds it:

My name is Max Eisendhardt. I've been a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years. I watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. I pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. I dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. And I carried them to the ovens, where I learned how to combine a child's body with an old man's to make them burn better. I saw thousands of murdered people burning in giant outdoor pits. I have seen at least a quarter million dead human beings with my own eyes and I couldn't save a single one any more than they could save me.

To whoever finds this, I'm sorry. Because I'm dead and now it's up to you. Tell anyone who will llisten. Tell everyone who won't. Please. Don't let this ever happen again.

He puts it inside a jar and buries it somewhere within campgrounds.

Max, almost losing sanity and doesn't care if he gets shot for stepping out of line and getting close to the fence suddenly finds hope when he saw a familiar glimmer of necklace from the past -- it's Magda and she's just one barbed-wire fence away.

Perhaps for the first time in years, Max smiles...

X-Men: Magneto Testament #3 of 5

You can make things happen.

September 1939, Poland, the Eisendhardts and other Jews and/or Polish are running for their lives as Nazis gun them down. Max's family fled to the woods, but not before realizing that their pursuers are not taking prisoners: the Jews/Polish who stayed behind to surrender are promptly executed.

The German army invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Following the main German forces, Nazi Einsatzgruppen, or "operational groups," hunted down Jews and Polish intellectuals.

In September and October 1939, Einsatzgruppen and other German forces killed over 16,000 Jewish and Polish civilians.

Two years later, Einsatzgruppen followed the German army into the Ukraine and Russia, slaughtering Jews everywhere they found them.

By the end of the war, the Einsatzgruppen and their auxiliaries had killed 1.3 million Jews.

Using his sharp eyes, Max leads his family through the woods all the way to Warsaw where the other Jews are at least being held and not killed outright.

Spetember 1939: In the wake of the Nazi invasion of Poland, a flood of refugees swells the Jewish population of Warsaw from 350,000 to almost 500,000.

In the Jewsish sector of Warsaw, entire families live in Single rooms. Radios are confiscated. Coal becomes scarce enough to be called "black pearls."

October 1940: The Germans officially establish the Warsaw ghetto, forcing all Jews to live within an area less than two miles long.

November 1940: Overnight, the Germans complete the construction of ten-foot walls around the ghetto, topped in places with barbed wire and broken glass.

Over the next few months, the Germans drasticallyreduce food allotments to Jews.

By 1941, the official ration falls as low as 699 calories per day for Poles and 184 for Jews.

By June, 2,000 people a month are starving to death in the ghetto.

December 1941, Max exits a hole in the hole to do his usual smuggling business. A Jewish kid -- whom Max helped out earlier after being beaten for stealing rations -- exits the same hole, only to walk crawl out within sight of Nazi guards. The Nazis promptly kills the boy and throws his body over the wall. Seeing this, he would have tried to kill the Nazis if his Uncle Erich did not stop him immediately, who is also in the smuggling trade.

Max searches the city outside the walls and is lucky enough to spot a coin -- good enough to buy a half pound of beef for his family. Once again -- either his sight or his then unknown mutant affinity with metals -- pays off.

July 1942, Umschlagplatz, Warsaw ghetto: Nazis announces that food and shelter will be given to Jews who will ride the train to do hard labor. Although rumors of the Jews actually being killed in the trains are rampant, the promise of food is attracted many Jews to go anyway.

Max scopes out the inside of the trains and saw blood and scratches on the floor and walls. Max tells this to Jakob and Erich. Erich confirms a story from an escapee: the trains lead straight to a village Treblinka. The people are then told to be getting their baths. Then the Nazis gas them in the showers.

Using Erich's connections, they smuggled the family and arranged a meeting with Cecilia at the bank of the Vistula (a river). Everyone except Erich went to meet wiht Cecilia.

After a short boat ride, they walk right into the hands of the Nazis. Cecilia set them up as the Nazis are holding her mother hostage. They walk a while to a pit where the prisoners are told to line up in front of -- including Cecilia and her mother.

The Jews seemed resigned to their fate. As the Nazis fire, Max's mutant power fully manifests: he deflects the four bullets coming towards him. Whether he unwittingly redirected the bullets to his father or not is anybody's guess. Just the same, the shot prisoners all fell into the pit, on top of the other corpses.

Everything seems a blur to Max after that. He made his back to the city only to be hauled off by the Nazis into the death train -- the very same train where he sees the blood and scratches. The train chugs down the track and arrives to its destination...

X-Men: Magneto Testament #2 of 5

Fight back, and they'll stomp in your head.

1936, Max and his father, Jakob, rides a train to meet with his old colleague Major Jurgen Scharf, whom Jakob saved before. He wants to ask him to return the favor and to give him another job within the government.

Evening comes, Jakob finally meets Scharf as he was getting on his way home. Shortly, German police have approached them looking for the Jew that is "making trouble in his office" the whole day. As Jakob tries to go away, a German soldier stops him and beats him down. Max, trying to go to his father, is thrown down by Scharf, nearly knocking him unconscious. Jakob is taken in Scharf's office while Max lay sprawled on the sidewalk.

Later, Jakob is thrown out of the building and Scharf declares that he could have been killed - and now, they are even. Jakob and Max rides a train back home.

As the train passes by the Marzahn Detention Camp, it is reavealed that Magda and the other gypsies are being held there.

1938, Nuremberg. Max gets in trouble with some of his former classmates and is beaten badly for it. Back home, the Eisendhardts once again discuss that they should go immediately - a German attache in Paris is shot by a Jew. That night, thanks to Max spotting the soldiers outside, they barely escaped as Nazis started burning down the Jewish homes in the city...

November 7, 1938: Merschel Grynszpan, a teenager whose relatives were among the 15,000 Polish Jews deported from Germany but refused entry to Poland, assasinates the German attache Ernst vom Rath in Paris.

November 9-10, 1938, Nuremberg: Across Germany and Austria, Nazis unleash attacks on Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues. At least 91 Jews are killed and 30,000 Jewish men are arrested and sent to concentration camps. Approximately 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses are smashed and looted. Within days, the Nazis begin passing legislation to enforce "Aryanization" of Jewish businesses. Jews throughout Germany are forced to sell their businesses to non-Jews, usually at enormous losses.

November 12, 1938: The Nazis announce a one-billion-mark fine to be levied against the Jews to pay for Kristallnacht.

1939, Poland, the Eisendhardts arrive in Poland. They are going to stay with their realtive Cecilia's barn for the time-being. Suddenly, the Polish cavalry dashed down the street on their way to the border. With their superior armored tanks and firepower, the Nazi invasion of Poland starts...

X-Men: Magneto Testament #1 of 5

The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

1935, even then, Max Eisendhardt shows his skill of metal. Max is a Jewish teenager in Germany with apparently inherited skill in making metal jewelry and a very good eyesight. He collected scraps and made a necklace for Magda, a girl working on the grounds of a school Max is attending to.

In school -- consisting of mostly Germans not sympathetic to Jewish -- Max is on top of the class in almost all subjects except in physical activities. In a sports event, he ends up last in all of the events except the last one. The German kids make sure that he gets humiliated at every turn. When he finally does speak up, he is publicly humiliated by the headmaster saying how he's small, weak, and vicious, and his intelligence to be nothing more than degenerate cunning. During the final event, the javelin throw, perhaps inspired by Magda, or the fact that the javelin is metal, or both, he manages to throw the javelin farthest, thus gaining first place and getting a gold medal for it -- much to the chagrin of everyone except Herr Kalb, the only teacher -- apparently also Jewsih -- who seemed to care for him. He warns him to be careful about standing out saying "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down."

After school, he managed to give the necklace to Magda in the midst of a crowd. It turns out to be that his uncle, Erich Eisendhardt, somewhat of a ladies-man, is bound, battered, and bruised by the police with a sign saying "I have shamed a German woman".

It turns out that it was September 15, 1935, the day when the Nuremberg Laws are announced by the Nazis:

A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich. Marriages between Jews and German or kindred blood are forbidden. Extramarital intercourse between Jews and nationals of German or kindred blood is forbidden. Jews are forbidden to hoist the Reich and national flag and to present the colors of the Reich.

Back home, the Eisendhardts contemplate on what to do next. Erich wants to pack up and run. Jakob, Max's father and head of the household, wants to stay.

Next day, the headmaster declares that the javelins used in the event yesterday were defective and, therefore, Max was told to return the gold medal which the headmaster declares belongs to a German boy, unless he can throw the javelin the farthest again with a regular javelin.

Event day. The javelin is obviously made heavier to ensure he cannot throw it like before. Despite the disadvantage, the metal javelin still flies the farthest. But instead of a medal, the headmaster announces that he cheated and immediately expels Max from the school. Herr Kalb is also beaten, apparently for showing more sympathy to the Jew than the German kids.

After being expelled, the German boys chase down Max and beat him (with gold medals on their hands) to a bloody mess.

Avengers Initiative #20 - Dark Reign

Credits

• Writers: Dan Slott & Christos N. Gage


• Pencil: Steve Kurth


• Ink: Drew Hennessy

Being a post-Skrull Invasion issue, this is a must-read for the Dark Reign saga. This is the springboard for many of the succeeding issues in this Saga, most notably, Might Avengers, Skrull Kill Krew, and Thunderbolts.

So let's get on with it:

Synopsis
Gauntlet and his convoy could not pass through the gates of Camp Hammond where a lot of civilian protestors are blocking the way. Using his powers, Gauntlet pushed aside the people and his convoy enters the campgrounds. After these, several scenes follow:

Post Skrull Abduction Readjustment. Meanwhile inside the base, Doc Samson and Alicia Masters are debriefing all of the former Skrull prisoners for their "post-abduction readjustment". Of them, Dum Dum Duggan, had the hardest time being a part of the group, who would rather go and take command of the grounds, being a former SHIELD subdirector.

Gauntlet in Charge. In the War Room of the grounds, the Gauntlet and the rest of the Initiative discuss Hardball's defection. They managed to trace his location but, unfortunately, is in foreign soil. As such, they needed deniability which means it's the Shadow Initiative's job. As it turns out, the highest-ranking officer who is 'mentally fit' on the entire base is Gauntlet himself.

Hank Pym and Jocasta. Hank Pym is dealing with the loss of Janet Van Dyne with the help of the android Jocasta -- whose brainwave patterns were based from those of Janet. In the conclusion, they both leave for good. (Hank Pym's storyline continues in Secret Invasion Requiem then continues on to Might Avengers #21).

Tigra and her litter. In the cafeteria, Hellcat found out about the pregnancy of Tigra who then promptly went to her appointment with Trauma. Tigra's baby is fathered by the Skrull-Hank Pym and is terrified of what her baby/babies is/are gonna be like.

The old and New Skrull Kill Krew. 3D-Man is released from the stockade and cleared of any wrong-doing -- the killing of Gauntlet, a Skrull Initiative member. Althrough cleared of all charges, Gauntlet's former team are not happy with it. Only Ryder is happy to see him and is the only one sympathetic to him. Before they go, they bury the heads of the original Skrull Kill Krew and, after being told it's alright to let go, Riot reverts back to her human form and dies as well. 3D-Man and Ryder set off, intent on tracking down and killing all remaining Skrulls on Earth.

Shadow Initiative briefing. Being the big brass on camp, he meets the Shadow Initiative for their next target: Hardball. Long story short: the (irredeemable) Ant-Man gets transferred to Thunderbolts (Thunderbolts #128), TaskMaster and Komodo, aka GF of hardball, become a part of the Shadow Initiative -- at least for this mission -- Komodo due to her intimate knowledge of the subject, and TaskMaster confirms who Mutant Zero really is -- the well-known Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary!

Start of Avengers Initiative Disassembled. As revealed in the last pages, the Skrull-Hank needed to enter a failsafe code every fifteen days. When this is not entered when the time elapses, his Operation: Final Strike commences: Ragnarok aka Clone of Thor aka Clor awakens.

Review/Reaction
It seems like a logical starting point for many of the tie-in issues for the Dark Reign saga (such as Mighty Avengers) while still having a story of its own (with the return of Clor). It's a little cramp, though, jamming all of that into one twenty-two page issue -- but it still delivers. Short, sweet, and quite straight to the point.

Maybe it would have been better if it was explained in detail what Norman Osborn plans on doing with the Initiative -- aside from reassigning Ant-Man to the new Thunderbolts team. No doubt he's planning something big for this -- the number of Initiative cadets alone should be reason enough to keep this program afloat.

Well, maybe in the next few issues... Guess I just can't wait what will happen to the heroes.

Now with Clor back, well, the Skrull tricks just won't end now, would they? Hehehe. It still feels weird calling him Clor. Oh well, Spider-Man fan here. :)) Anyway, although this plan is something Hank Pym would do -- or to be more accurate, what Skrull-Hank Pym would do -- I hope this is the last time we see Clor. For cryin' out loud, just him off already.

Then again, maybe the life of Clor would not be complete until the real Thor arrives and deals with him (*hint* *hint*).

Also, can't help but note that Stingray has been consistently making appearances lately. He's been making small cameos since Civil War. Will he come to the spotlight anytime soon? Your guess is as good as mine.

Same goes for Hellcat, btw. Tigra's making waves with the baby-thing. Why not these two, right? :)

I'm still wondering, though, about the extent of the Initiative's role in the Dark Reign saga. Will they be just on the sidelines like the Young Avengers these days? Or will they step up and go head-to-head with and against the likes of Avengers, Galactus, and New Warriors? (Huh? New Warriors?)

Oh well. Avengers Assemble!

Dark Avengers #1

Credits

• Writer: Brian Michael Bendis


• Art: Mike Deodato


• Color: Rain Beredo

Synopsis
In 650 AD, Morgan Le Fay uses the magic of Avalon to search in time for her betrayer and former lover Victor Doom. She finds him in the, by now famous, meeting with Norman Osborn.

Then, cut to the present, the new Avengers are unveiled for the first time to the public. Next scenes show the week leading up to the formation of the new Avengers:

One week before: Norman Osborn meets with Victoria Hand and assigns her as the new Deputy Director of H.A.M.M.E.R., the meaning of which is one of Hand's to-do list.

Six days before: Norman Osborn invites Maria Hill to basically fire her. With Bullseye in tow, Osborn flies New York to take over the Avengers Tower.

Five days before: In Avengers Tower, Carol Danvers refuses to join the ranks of Snetry and Ares in the new Avengers that Osborn is forming. With her refusal, he finds Moonstone on the Thunderbolts Mountain where he gave her the original Ms. Marvel costume.

Also, Marc Gargan/Venom, after feeding on one of the captured Skrulls, was given a new drug by Osborn which would preserve his powers but make him presentable. After taking the drug, the symbiote becomes "placid" and Venom reverts to the original form of the black-costume Spider-Man -- he even posed in the same way Spider-Man posed in the original Secret Wars when he first got the black costume.

Four days before: Osborn, Ms. Hand, and Ares were waiting for Dakken Akihiro, Wolverine's son in a diner somewhere in New Orleans. Osborn offered him to be a part of his team.

Three days before: Osborn went to the Cube and offered Noh-Varr to become the new Captain Marvel of the new Avengers.

After assembling the team, they Osborn deduces that the team is missing something. Ares suggests that they are missing an Iron Man and Captain America - the knight and soldier.

Osborn then meets with the Ghost to gain access to Tony Stark's vault. After the vault is opened, they gained access to the Iron Man armors.

Present day, early morning: Doctor Doom is escorted by to Thunderbolts agents to Latveria, only to be greeted by a woman (whom we assume to be Morgan Le Fay).

Now: In the public debut of the Avengers, Norman Osborn reveals himself to be the leader of this group of Avengers, the Iron Patriot.



Review
The artwork is simply amazing. Deodato's sketch is my favorite style and I hope he makes more of those fantastic images in the other Marvel titles as well.

Story-wise, the issue is very straightforward and shows distinctly how the new team was formed. They wanted to show how the Dark Avengers were formed, and there you have it. Short and sweet.

Not sure if it's just me, but I would have wanted Marvel to have expanded the story on the formation of the Avengers. In particular, how Norman Osborn came up with the new Iron Patriot armor. I just find it ridiculous that Tony Stark left the vault with all of his armors there for the likes of Osborn to find. I would have expected him somehow remotely triggered a self-destruct sequence for all of his armors. Oh well, I guess they desperately needed an Iron Patriot to make him a hero. Only question is, is this really the Starktech armor? Or one Osborn made using his own tech and just copied the trademark appearance of the Iron Man armor? Whatever the case, the color scheme of the new Iron Patriot armor for some reason actually works. I guess I'm too used to the red-gold iron man armor, so I guess the red-white-blue armor is okay.

Can't wait for this team to come to blows with the other Avengers teams. I mean, Osborn basically stole the images of the Avengers. It's only a matter of time when they come after each other, right?

Uncanny X-Men Annual #2 - White Queen, Dark Reign

Credits:

• Writer: Matt Fraction


• Artist (Present Sequences): Mitch Breitweiser


• Artist (Past Sequences): Daniel Acuna

Synopsis:

Years ago, Sebastian Shaw invites Namor to become the White King of the inner circle of the Hellfire Club. Namor refuses but shows his liking of the then White Queen Emma Frost. He then leaves, with Sebastian seething at being humiliated and talked down to by his guest. As a plan B of sorts, he then sends Emma to seduce the Prince of Atlantis and urge him to join their group "no matter what cost".

Emma planned to have Namor come to her by contacting him telepathically and then attempted to drown herself by cuffing a metal ball and chain to her foot and jumping into the South Chine Sea. The ploy worked and he "rescued" her and took her into Atlantis.

Two weeks have passed since Frost's last meeting with Shaw. Fearing Frost betrayed him, he then instructs Donald Pierce - a mutant-hating cyborg villain - to send the Sentinels after Frost and Namor. The two survived the underwater attack and managed to track down the source of the Sentinels. Namor was angered while Frost was shocked when they realized that it was Shaw who commanded the Sentinels that attacked them.

Namor pummeled Shaw while Emma's memories of the recent events have been erased by Selene, Black Queen. Realizing he could not win this particular battle, Namor walked off, while Shaw pronounced that, being surrounded by loyal telepaths, he could not even get near him without him knowing.

Cut to the present: after the "unholy" meeting of Norman Osborn, Emma Frost and Namor talked and planned an alliance of their own within the unholy alliance with Osborn. The deal: Emma will psychically protect Namor while Namor will protect Emma and mutantkind when Osborn eventually comes after them. To earn his trust, she proposes to kill Sebastian Shaw, the one man Namor could never get his hands on. Frost also revealed that after fighting the Phoenix once, she had to rebuild her mind from the inside out, enabling her to remember the memories blocked out by Selene.

Emma entices Shaw to meet with her while Namor stays hidden to watch the events as tehy unfold. Telpathically, she convinced Shaw that he can neither see nor move. She also made it appear to Namor telepathically that she slashed off Shaw's head and presented it to him on a silver platter, as per the deal they made. With that, she secured Namor's allegiance and at the same time got rid of Shaw. After Namor departs, she contacted Cyclops telepathically to prepare the brig as she will be taking Shaw in.

My Review:

The Good. This retcon of the relationship that exists among the three main characters -- Emma Frost, Namor, and Sebastian Shaw -- is a good backgrounder for the upcoming events in the Dark Reign saga. It's interesting to know how the then White Queen will use her leverage -- both on the psychic and political arenas -- to be on top of the foodchain. She has always been a good and cunning addition to the X-Men roster. Now that she has proven that still has the White Queen guts to pull off that trick with Namor to win his support just shows how dark this upcoming Dark reign saga will be -- assuming she plays a big role in the saga -- and we certainly hope so.

The Bad. The present time and flashbacks are shown in parts and in sequence, jumping from the present to the flashback then back again to the present, without any signal or heading that this is now a flashback that happened years ago. It makes it difficult to follow the story first time you read it.

I'm also not a big fan of the art. Sorry.

Lastly, this X-Men comics focuses on only one X-Man. This may or may not sit well with everyone; most likely, if you're one of those Jean Grey supporters out there, you'd probably don't like this Emma Frost-focused annual.

The Verdict. This is a bit of a doozy. Art is forgivable, while the story is okay -- not great but okay. If it were a single issue, or a single story arc, it would have been fine. But since it is an Uncanny X-Men annual, I would have expected more from the other X-Men; an appearance of some of them would have been nice. So who should collect it? Definitely the Uncanny X-Men collector and Dark Reign saga collectors. However, if you don't like Emma Frost, you may want to stay away from this one.

From Secret Invasion to Dark Reign

The springboard for Dark Reign is "Secret Invasion Dark Reign". In case you've been living under a rock, Secret Invasion involves the shape-shifting alien race known as Skrulls who have infiltrated the Earth intending to take the earth as their new homeworld after their own world was destroyed. They have replaced several of the earth's superhero community in order to fortify their position when they launch their attack. In the end, though, the Skrulls have been soundly defeated when the world's superheroes and supervillains joined forces.

Anyway, after the secret invasion, here's the status quo:

• Tony Stark aka Iron-Man loses his Extremis powers (i.e., basically he becomes a techno-organic being, with his brain becoming more akin to a computer's CPU -- with Extremis, he can multitask control of machines such as his many armors as easily as he can breath) after the Skrulls unleashed a computer virus that specifically targetted Extremis and Starktech -- which rendered all Stark Industries, S.H.I.E.L.D., and his extremis armor inoperable. He is now a fugitive, becoming the most wanted man in the world. [Invincible Iron Man #8]


• S.H.I.E.L.D. is decommissioned because of its inability to deal with the alien threat -- in part due to the anti-Stark computer virus and in part due to many of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives were replaced by Skrull agents.


• Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasp, one of the founding members of the Avengers, dies. The Skrull YellowJacket aka Henry Pym modified her growth formula to become a biological weapon -- sort of an ace up his sleeve when things got desperate for the Skrulls -- which did. After the activation, bio-weapon in Wasp was killing everyone, Skrull and human alike, forcing Thor to finish her off. [Secret Invasion #8]


• The Inhumans - after recoving their king Blackbolt from the Skrulls - have been pushed over the proverbial edge and, launched a cosmic conquest. More on WAR OF KINGS saga. [Secret Invasion - Inhumans #3, War of Kings]


• Norman Osborn becomes the most powerful man in the world. The former Green Goblin becomes the hero in the final showdown of the Secret Invasion after the world saw he blasted the head off of the Skrull Queen. And thus, begins DARK RIEGN! [Secret Invasion Dark Reign]


• Norman Osborn formed a gathering of sorts similar to the New Avengers Illuminati. His gathering consists of Emma Frost - X-Men leader and former Hellfire Club White Queen, Namor - Lord of Atlantis, Victor Von Doom - monarch of Latveria, Loki - Norse God of Mischief, and The Hood - the new Kingpin of Crime in New York [Secret Invasion Dark Reign]


• Several Avengers teams are formed, each with their own comics line: New Avengers consisting of the fugitive heroes led by the new Captain America; Mighty Avengers formed by Scarlet Witch and led by the new Wasp, Hank Pym aka Yellow Jacket [Secret Invasion Requiem]; and Dark Avengers led by the Iron Patriot aka Norman Osborn.


• Solo heroes/anti-heroes Deadpool , Punisher, and War Machine each have their own run-ins with Norman Osborn. Osborn unleashes the new Yelena Belova/Black Widow-led Thunderbolts on Deadpool, the Hood against Punsiher, and Ares on War Machine [Deadpool #7, Punisher #2, War Machine #2].


• Ms. Marvel aka Carol Danvers is on a personal vendetta trying to get the truth about Norman Osborn and the new Captain Marvel Noh-Varr. [Ms Marvel #34-35]


• Emma Frost, perhaps in her own bid for power, secures an alliance with Namor at the expense of the Sebastian Shaw of the Hellfire Club. [Uncanny X-Men Annual #2].


• Nick Fury resurfaces with his team of Secret Warriors for the first time since his disappearance at the conclusion of Secret Wars (2005). In the wake of Norman Osborn's rise to power, he stumbles into the most shocking truth about the S.H.I.E.L.D. [Secret Warriors #1]

With Norman Osborn being handed the keys of power, he begins his campaign of solidifying his power on so many fronts -- building his public image in the media, forming a new Avengers team, hunting down the superhero fugitives, forming his own version of the illuminati, among other things.

Here's the Dark Reign checklist, so far.

December 2008:

• Avengers the Initiative #20


• Dark Reign New Nation


• Invincible Iron Man #8


• Ms. Marvel #34


• New Avengers #48


• Secret Invasion Dark Reign


• Secret Invasion Requiem


• War Machine #1

January 2009

• Avengers the Initiative #21


• Dark Avengers #1


• Deadpool #6


• Invincible Iron Man#9


• Marvel Spotlight: Dark Reign


• Mighty Avengers #21


• Ms. Marvel #35


• New Avengers #49


• Punisher #1


• Thunderbolts #128


• Uncanny X-Men Annual #2


• War Machine #2


• Dark Avengers Poster

February 2009

• Agents of Atlas


• Avengers the Initiative


• Black Panther #1


• Dark Avengers #2


• Dark Reign Files


• Deadpool #7


• Invincible Iron Man #10


• Mighty Avengers #22


• Ms. Marvel #36


• New Avengers #50


• Punisher #2


• Secret Warriors #1


• Thunderbolts #129


• War Machine #3


• Wolverine Origins #33

That's all the info I can cram in one post...