The Heroic Age Round Up

So the Siege of Asgard has ended and from its ashes the Heroic age has risen like a silver age pheonix ridden by Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Valhallahan and I felt it was time to take a look at what's new to the Marvel U, what's different and what we think is gonna work well in this so called Heroic Age.

Valhallahan
I enjoyed the Enter the Heroic Age one-shot, although it was an advert break disguised as an anthology, I felt it was a good representation of what the other books would be like and I could see myself trying them out off the back of it. I must say though, the Academy vignette really made me want to stay away. Who on earth designed Reptil? I'm flabbergasted. From what I gather, he's a teen in a scuba suit, who can turn parts of his body into those of a Dinosaur. Dinosaur parts! Not a whole Dinosaur, mind you, that would be fucking silly. I am all for nonsense in my comics but, well, I just... Dinosaur parts? C'mon Marvel! Hawkeye & Mockingbird looks like fun, sort of Mr &Mrs Smith but with Spandex. Not something I'd pick up regularly, but an entertaining romp.

Action Ash
This was a great one shot to pick up. First off let me say Reptil is a totally wank character and I agree with everything you've said there. I thought this issue did just what it was meant to, it raised my interest in upcoming series (except Avengers Academy) and had me curious about things I wouldn't previously have bought e.g. Hawkeye and Mockingbird.

Valhallahan
The first issue of Age of Heroes didn't fare as well, Most of the issue was spent with a believable, but dull JJJ story from Busiek and Djurdjevic, and a fun but pointless Dr/Brother/whatever Voodoo story. Put together they're a story about an old Republican ranting to himself and a middle aged man trying to pull. Not really what I was looking for in a superhero anthology. This left 3 pages for all the cool stuff to happen. Captain Britain and America interact, and Spidey pwns the Griffin (who is fucking everywhere at the moment). At least Reptil wasn't in it.

Action Ash
I couldn't agree with you more. Who wants to read about J. Jonah Jameson? What a pointless strip. Doctor Voodoo was disappointing considering his mini series was quite good. All the stories in this were pointless. Just a way to make more money out of Marvel fans. Don't even get me started on Spidey. Did they just put that one page piece of crap in so he could be on the cover?

Valhallahan
Of all the 'new' titles, Prince of Power and Atlas are really just continuing their stories where the last of their respective series' left off, albeit both with newbie-friendly jumping on points and a tweaked Status Cho. The Art on Prince of Power is not necessarily something to write home about, but it's dynamic, and it's a darn sight better than some of the lacklustre artists Incredible Hercules has had. I can't recommend Atlas enough; it's such a consistently satisfying read; a wonderful mixture of pure nonsense and genuine emotion. So is the ongoing saga of Herc and Cho for that matter, but Atlas clinches top spot for having consistent art (and Gorilla Man). Top marks all round.

Action Ash
The new Thunderbolts lineup was a pleasant surprise. I was sceptical when I heard they were putting Luke Cage in it because I love Luke Cage and thought they were trying to push him into the background. Then I heard that they were relaunching New Avengers with Cage as Team Leader and realised that Thunderbolts was pretty good. So I'm cool now. Avengers and Secret Avengers were awesome! Only expecting the best from those two from now on.

Valhallahan
You see I hated Avengers, but I loved Secret Avengers; I was expecting the other way around - Avengers had Kang, Secret had... Nova? Moon Knight? War Machine? the douche-bag Ant Man? I was expecting Force Works 2, the X-TREEME Avengers, but it totally flipped my wig daddy-O; The Beast back where he belongs was great to see, and I'm sure I don't need to explain how cool it is that they're after the fucking Serpent Crown on bloody Mars! That's an Avengers story!

New Avengers: Finale

Valhallahan
I’ve been reading New Avengers since Action Ash was in nappies, “but it’s only been running 6 years!” I hear you cry. Yes, Action Ash has issues.

I liked Chaos/Disassembled and was a big fan of New Avenger when it came out, I loved the banter and the intrigue. I gave up on NA around the time it was being drawn by the eminently average Billy Tan and consisted solely of crossover tie-ins and underwhelming fights with the Hood and his Handbook of the Marvel Universe army of Goons.

Well this series certainly ends as it became. In Finale, we’re treated to a pointless fight with the Hood that ties into Siege. Great. At least the art’s a darned sight better than Mr Tan. We have Bryan “Ultimates” Hitch giving us Ultimates-Lite. Now on his worst day, Hitch draws rings around his peers (literally - it’s a mental health issue) and this isn’t his finest hour, but is still head and shoulders above competitors, and several stories above Billy Tan. His Wolverine does look like a sex-offender though.

Action Ash
Although a lifelong Marvel fan I had never actually bought an Avengers comic until New Avengers #51 (I know, weird right?). I've loved the series, and to Val's disgust, I liked Billy Tan's art. Maybe not enough shadows, noir and misery for him? Maybe if Luke Cage got depressed went on a drinking binge and tried to solve a murder he'd of enjoyed "what it became"?
Anyway the Finale issue is, I agree, pointless, but it's fun. Some super heroics and cheesy dialogue about superhero camaraderie.
The artwork is alright. I'm not a massive Hitch fan but I know he can do better than this. His Ultimates stuff reigns on this.
All in all I think a nice little ending to the run

p.s. Hitch's Wolverine does indeed look like a sex offender

Freebie Jeebies!

Valhallahan

Origins of Siege One-Shot
(I know it’s hopelessly out of date, but I only just picked up a copy)

Usually these things are just prolonged adverts, with reading lists or Handbook entries and a preview snippet that has already been printed in the back of that month’s comics and been online for God-knows, but this freebie was a very pleasant surprise. Along with the Siege preview pages (that must have been reprinted more times than the picture of the tennis player scratching her arse by now) and a few pages of atmospherically painted conversation between Osborn and Loki, it had some really nice one page introductions to all the main players of the MU. With well chosen artists they make this a really nice package. This would have made for much more satisfying back-matter in the main book as opposed to the crap they did put in. Thor by Esad Ribic (Loki, Sub-Mariner: The Depths) and Guiseppe Camuncoli’s (Hellblazer) contributions are highlights.

4 bottles of snake-oil out of five (for what it is). Pick it up if you get a chance.

What I got and Why 14/05/10

Valhallahan

Wolverine #900 - I'm a fan of Wolverine, and enjoy anthologies in general; this book was proper shit though. More on it later.

New Avengers: Finale - I got this for closure, then I realised it wasn't being cancelled, so now I'm just confused.

Daytripper #6 - Loving this series. Hopefully we'll be doing something on it here in the near future.

Siege #4 - Though my interest is dwindling through Crossover Fatigue, I am still a fan of the Marvel Universe as a whole, so I feel I have to keep up with current events. I’ve enjoyed the series so far?

The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 - I'm not a fan of Grant Morrison's recent work on the character, but I do like Batman, so I got this to see what the current direction is and if it’s worth my time - Jury's still out.

Heroic Age Preview - To see how much money Marvel are attempting to leech out of me in the coming months.

What I didn’t Got:

Prince of Power #1 - The shop I was in didn’t have this in stock. They had it in Action Ash’s shop though. Bastards.