Greetings from Battleworld: Secret Wars Week 10

Welcome back to Battleworld. Today we start with Dan Grote looking at the new version of a favorite X-Men reality and at Ms. Deadpool's continuing adventures...

Age of Apocalypse #1

Story: Fabian Nicieza

Art: Gerardo Sandoval

This isn’t your father’s Age of Apocalypse.

I mean, it mostly is. A lot of the same elements are there. Strictly speaking, it’s not Earth-295, the reality in which the original 1995 story took place, later revisited in Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force and a short-run series by David Lapham. If it were, a lot of the characters in this book would be dead, not the least of which being Apocalypse himself.

That said, it IS a world (or a domain of Battleworld) ruled by En Sabah Nur in which Magneto and his X-Men are considered terrorists. AND it’s written by Fabian Nicieza, one of the architects of the original AoA. Not to mention artist Gerardo Sandoval is clearly channeling a darker shade of Joe Madureira, the artist on Uncanny X-Men during that era.

The POV character in this series is Doug Ramsey, aka Cypher, whose mutant power is to translate any language. Doug is apparently the chosen one of this story, or The Special, to steal a phrase from The Lego Movie. Because like that movie’s Emmett Brickowski, his abilities are so classically uninteresting as to be overlooked by almost everyone. But the X-Men want him on their side, and they sacrifice a number of their own in a failed attempt to save him, so there must be something to him.

Doug ends up in the hands of Mr. Sinister, who has his prelates, Scott and Alex Summers, take him to the human ghetto, where he learns by playing Alphabet Soup with the dialogue that the humans are planning to unleash a virus to kill all the mutants. Leading the humans are Carol Danvers and Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau.

Like Inferno and X-Men ’92 (still my favorite of all the Secret Wars books), this one trades in nostalgia for a time when the X-Men sat atop Marvel’s editorial heap. It’s weird that so many of these Secret Wars X-books exist solely to say “Don’t you miss us, guys?” as if it were the fans who had changed tone and direction so drastically over the past 15+ years and not the books themselves. That said, I am looking forward to this fall, when Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos’ Extraordinary X-Men hopefully restores the missing flagship in the X-line.

Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos

Story: Gerry Duggan

Art: Salva Espin and Val Staples

Last month, the big question about this book was “Why isn’t it Mrs. Deadpool VS. the Howling Commandos?” seeing as Dracula sent his monster minions to accompany Shiklah on her quest to spread her brothers’ ashes with the order to kill her.

Turns out the Howlers don’t like Drac either. How could they? He’s got that weird white hair and body armor and is not at all charming, flying in the face of everything that made Tomb of Dracula a great read. Oh, and they didn’t kill the Invisible Man; they just left him behind to spy on their master in their absence. So now we have a true Legion of Monsters team-up book.

As ever, the heart of Mrs. Deadpool remains its humor, inspired by those Looney Tunes shorts where Bugs Bunny messes with the big, furry, orange monster. Shiklah attempts to pull the Medusa trick a second time, only to find the titan’s head has been replaced with a watermelon and bananas and the real thing is hiding in the Living Mummy’s extra-roomy wrap. Marcus the Minotaur with a symbiote and manageable diabetes is an endless font of horse-related fight puns. Frankenstein’s monster smashes zombies with the joy of a psychopathic child, until his fear of fire gets him burned at the Man-Thing’s touch.

Ghost Deadpool sticks around as the book’s narrator and teller of Man-Thing jokes, and has a hard time watching his wife-in-another-reality kissing other dudes, even if it is just to hurt them and establish dominance over them. The arrival of Ghost DP’s guardian angel may be one of the book’s best moments.

At book’s end, a pair of funky and scaly (respectively) new Thors show up at Dracula’s castle with questions about “some crazy exorcist jive,” widening the book’s scope from standalone monster romp to Secret Wars-adjacent monster romp. Stay tuned.

And I'm looking at the third issue of one of the earliest Secret Wars tie-ins, Inferno...

Inferno #3
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Javier Garron & Chris Sotomayor

While Age of Apocalypse is just getting its start, Inferno is ramping up to its conclusion. Colossus's attempts to free his sister, Illyana, from her evil other self, the Darkvchylde, have ended badly. Of his team, Nightcrawler is now a dragon monster in Darkchylde's thrall, Boom-Boom is missing, and he and Domino are working with the Goblin Queen, Madelyne Pryor, and her thrall/boyfriend, Havok. So things aren't good for our heroes. This issue is centered around a massive battle, as Illyana finally has a way past the magical dome that keeps her and her demons prisoner, namely Nightcrawler's teleportation abilities. What we get is a massive battle scene, including a breathtaking two page spread, that is just crammed with cameos of all sorts of X-Men character. Most any X-character you can imagine is in the background here, fighting demons. Javier Garron does an excellent job of making the pages crowded with demons and mutants, but never losing any clarity; you can still follow the scenes and the fights while checking out the backgrounds for cameos. Colossus and Domino are now trapped in the dome without Nightcrawler to get them out, and the two share a heart-to-heart about how Colossus needs to think and deal with Goblin Queen, as it's clear she's using him. Hopeless uses most of his Cable & X-Force team as the main characters in this mini-series, and continues to write them very well. I liked that team a lot, and it's nice to see them back. Frankly, I would love to see more of young Cable in this series. Cable makes a lot of sense as a ten year old, after all; all the padding and big guns are perfect for the mindset of a kid that age. If Old Man Logan can come back to the Marvel Universe after this event, why not young kid Cable? The issue ends with the appearance of a character who I think all X-fans have been expecting in this series, since he was central to the original "Inferno" storyline. Now past the halfway point, and with a fourth faction in place with the debut of Sinister (my favorite X-villain), Dennis Hopless has a lot of balls in the air to catch safely over the next two issues. Inferno is an exciting mini-series of high action, and I'm looking forward to the payoff.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/12

Batgirl #15
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Daniel Sampere

With one issue now left in her run, Gail Simone continues to tell the story of Batgirl's confrontation with the Joker. Having abducted her mother, Joker has asked Batgirl for her hand in marriage, something Barbara Gordon is forced to accept to save her mother's life. More than any of the other members of the Bat family so far (and I say so far since Red Hood hasn't really dealt with Joker in the crossover yet), Batgirl is dealing with thoughts about killing the Joker. As she fights her way through his thugs and then gets into a brutal fight with him, Barbara's inner monologue points out that she is more than willing to take the Joker's life. Whether that would happen if push comes to shove is taken out of her hands by circumstances, but it's interesting to read. A real inner struggle about taking a life is a complexity we don't get in a lot of superheroes. Either they have no problem killing, or they never will. To hear Barbara ruminate on it, and to come to the conclusion that she will, even though that is the opposite of her usual stand, was something worth reading. Simone also keeps developing the subplot around Barbara's serial killer brother, James Jr., and her roommate, Alysia, pulling it into the main story by having James feel he has to help Barbara for the simple reason that his mother and sister are his to deal with, not Joker's. I'm worried that, judging by the solicited cover for the issue that will now be the first post-Simone issue, the James Jr. plot won't be resolved before Simone's exit. Another real shame, as she has a great handle on this creepy character. But I will enjoy this great run while it lasts, and can only hope whoever has to pick up these plot threads is as capable as Simone.

Batman #15
Story: Scott Snyder/ Scott Snyder &James Tynion IV
Art: Greg Capullo/ Jock

Every month, when I sit down with my stack, I think, "OK, this book can't keep impressing me as much as it has been." And every month so far, I have been wrong. Batman #15 is another pitch perfect move in the game between Batman and the Joker. Greg Capullo's splash page of the Joker at the beginning of the issue is chilling, a look into the eyes of a madman, accompanied by Batman's narration that gives you an insight into Batman's relationship with his archfoe; the Joker is so far beyond what is sane, so far beyond what is normal. Batman has to remind himself that the Joker is just human; this is not even a given. Joker seems to have everything planned out perfectly, easily escaping from Batman when the GCPD shows up and interferes at their confrontation at the dam. What follows is a tense scene between Batman and his family, with tempers flaring over his keeping the kidnapping of Alfred and the details of one of his earliest confrontations with the Joker to himself, details that might mean that the Joker does indeed know the identities of Batman and his family. By the end, it's clear that Batman is doing this because he is honestly afraid for the safety of the people he loves. I am glad to see a Batman who is this human; this is not a Batman who is removed from humanity. After some great detective work, Batman heads toward the place where the Joker is waiting to throw his party for Batman: Arkham Asylum. In the backup, we see inside the Asylum, where the party preparations are being made, and get the first New 52 Riddler story. Snyder pits Joker against Riddler, and Riddler proves to be clever enough to get out of the Joker's trap. Joker continues to relate to everyone he meets simply by discussing how they relate to Batman; in this case that Riddler is the smartest of Batman's foes, and that he is the "weaponsmaster" honing Batman's greatest weapon, his intellect. I wish I could remember who said this (might have been Paul Dini or Bruce Timm), but a Batman creator at one point said that Riddler is the hardest Bat villain to write, since his plan needs to be complex enough to almost stump Batman, but still fall together perfectly when the story is experienced again. Snyder is presenting Riddler as an intellect on par with Batman, and I want to see the Riddler story he has lined up for after "Death of the Family" even more now that I know how well he can handle the villain. He has the chops to really present a great Riddler story.

Batman and Robin #15
Story: Peter J. Tomasi
Art: Patrick Gleason

Damian is a character who has grown a lot since his early appearances, and has grown a lot since his last confrontation with the Joker. That doesn't mean the Joker doesn't remember the fact that Robin beat him with a crowbar, and is not one to forgive. Damian, directly disobeying Batman's order to stay in the Batcave, goes out to try to find and save Alfred. This in itself is growth, as Damian understands that Bruce needs someone to help save Alfred, and even cares about the butler, even if he would probably be hardpressed to admit it. But Damian falls into a well laid trap by the Joker, leaving him in the hands of the madman. What follows is an issue where the Joker talks. He tells Damian exactly the problems with Robin, and all the Bat family, and why Batman needs to be rid of them. It's great dialogue, and the issue is well written, but a lot of credit goes to artist Patrick Gleason. The issue is filled with a dark, gloomy air that takes the words to the next level. The Joker's little nest for Robin, full of grubs and insects, is disgusting, and the kind of thing that perfectly fits the Joker's fractured psyche. And Gleason's Joker is incredible. Greg Capullo has defined this new incarnation of the Joker, and Gleason takes that and runs with it, drawing a Joker who is all gangling limbs. His face is as horrifying as it is in Batman, and the flies that are circling him add an extra level of revulsion. In the end of the issue, Damian is left to confront "Batman" (I doubt that really is Bruce Wayne), and I am very curious to see where this battle with even an impostor father figure leaves our Robin.

Cable and X-Force #1
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Salvador Larroca

I personally think Cable gets a bad rap as a character. He is a product of the 90s, no doubt, but then again so am I, and he's evolved a lot over the years, becoming a much more complex figure. I was glad to see that he was coming back in Marvel Now!, and coming back with the team where it all started. The first issue of the new Cable and X-Force starts out with Cable and his team coming into conflict with the Uncanny Avengers, and then flashes back to show how the team came together. Much of the issue's focus is on Hope Summers, Cable's daughter, who is searching for her father. The relationship between the two of them is established well by not only how they interact, but how Domino, probably Cable's oldest friend, interacts with Hope. There's is a loving parental relationship, but one where Hope has been trained well enough to stand up to her father. I hope we get to spend more time with father and daughter throughout the upcoming issues. When I first saw the cover to this issue, I wasn't too enamoured with Dr. Nemesis's new costume, preferring his old mask and fedora look, which is how he appears in the internals for this issue. Hopeless hits all the beats with the character so right that I'm sure we'll get a good reason for this change in wardrobe, and one I hope the good doctor has something to say about; if you've been wearing the same gear while hunting Nazis for going on sixty years, there's probably a good reason for the change. I thought Hopeless made a good decision in starting the issue with a solid action scene, forgoing some of the talking heads problems we get in many modern first issues. All in all, I thought this was a great first issue, and one that makes me curious to see exactly what Cable's new X-Force is going to be up to.