Black Panther #1-12 (The 2008 'Dark Reign' run)

This Bank Holiday weekend, I decided to use the additional day off and read another series from my Comixology unread list.

The series in question was the 12 issue Black Panther series by the creative teams of Reginal Hudlin, Ken Lashley, Jonathan Maberry and Will Conrad. This series, taking place (more or less) in the aftermath of the Secret Invasion and as Dark Reign was in full swing saw the technologically advanced nation of Wakanda rocked by an assassination attempt on their King T'Challa, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, without a Black Panther to protect and lead them, Queen Ororo (a.k.a. Storm) Princess Shuri and Queen Mother Ramonda must find someone to take up the mantle of Wakanda's protector while weathering political and economic upheaval as well as monsters at their door.

I remember this series coming out at the time and felt there was a lot of promise to it based on the cover (and, I know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover). However, I opted against it in favour of Secret Warriors. Now though, after taking the opportunity to read it, I have come to realise how accurate that initial cover was and how enjoyable the series ended up being.

This run had immensely strong writing (although, admittedly, the Hudlin/Lashley portion felt stronger than the Maberry/Conrad half), with the characters feeling incredibly detailed. From Shuri's desire to prove herself to T'Challa's trauma, recovery and need for revenge, the characters had seemed to have some real depth to them, making them truly compelling protaganists to follow. While the story itself did feel a little convoluted (I have to wonder if this was to stretch out to a 12 issue run) and maybe a little samey (I'm sure I've read a version of the final events somewhere previously), the journeys the characters took were engrossing enough for me to forgive the more technical piece movements across the board.

I loved how Hudlin and Maberry perfectly found all of the characters voices, from T'Challa's regal but stubborn resolve to Doom's purely superior evilness, although the appearance of Namor did seem off as he didn't quite come across as the arrogant bully I've come to expect. In fact though, as I read this I did start to wonder if this run was what was use to influence the script of Wakanda Forever given some of the similiar notions and players appearing in both.

I thought the art was solid work throughout, looking very in keeping with Marvel's common 'house style' at the time. Again, much like with the writing duties, I personally found Lashley's work to be more appealing than the Conrad's just simply down to a more gentle pencil and lighter colour scheme from Paul Mounts. That said though, Conrad's style isn't exactly a minus point as his work reminded me of Mike McKone's work on Fantastic Four from just before Civil War. Therefore, it was still strong work, only a close second behind Lashley.

(I should also note that all twelve covers for this run from J. Scott Campbell and Paul Renard are gorgeous!)

This run of Black Panther felt like a bit of a game of two halves. With a strong start from Hudlin and Lashley, the series took a knock when Maberry and Conrad came on off the bench, but still managed to hold the ball for the whole team to take the win.

Simply put, this rendition of Black Panther was a really enjoyable read which is only upset at the end by the fact that it continues into Doomwar. Fortunately for me, I happen to have that run on my Comixology 'to read' list and after this run, I sure am looking forward to Doomwar, which will be my series next time I decide read off of my Comixology account.

Fantastic Four Annual #1

This might be a short post as, going into it I'm not sure what to say.

On the Wednesday just gone, I picked up Fantastic Four Annual #1. The Contest of Chaos tie in by Zac Gorman and Alan Robinson saw Johnny Storm, participating in the high octane pastime of finding Ben Grimm shoes, suddenly finds himself transported to He'll (or certainly something like it). It is there that he encounters the Ghost Rider, leading to a little fire vs fire action.

Now, I said this might be a quick one and, simply put, that's because I'm really not sure what I can say about this annual. Zac Gorman has cobbled together a quirky and light-hearted (which I certainly unexpected given some of the content) fight issue which seems to know exactly what it is. In fact, the choice of Johnny (Storm) as the primary protagonist while Johnny (Blaze) takes a more villainous angle certainly makes sense as it utilises the Torch's more acerbic sense of humour rather nicely.

Meanwhile, the artwork by Alan Robinson is solid, with it feeling very similar to the New Fantastic Four mini from earlier in the year. Its not a style which is my thing but it isn't inoffensive or anything and so it isn't a deal breaker.

When all is said and done, this annual is much most annuals I gave read in that it is an ok waste of time. I'm a little disappointed that Marvel had A. charge it at nearly £5/$5 and B. attempted to put it inside some larger 'event'. However, I'm certainly able to ignore the latter and just enjoy for how I thought it was; a chilled put use of 15 minutes.

Uncanny Avengers #1

It's been a week since I picked up Uncanny Avengers #1 and, up until now I've struggled to find either the words or enthusiasm to write something about it.

However, today i thought I'd give it a go.

Released under the 'Fall of X' banner and from Gerry Duggan, Javier Garron and Morry Hollowell, Uncanny Avengers picks up from the FCBD teaser as Captain America, on the heels of his failure to capture 'Captain Krakoa' and with faith in the Mutant Nation now at an all time low thanks to Orchis, reforms the Avengers Unity Squad with Rogue, Quicksilver, Psylocke, Deadpool and Monet St. Croix (going by Penance now, apparently) in order to fix both problems.

I won't lie, after reading the teaser from FCBD, I was really looking forward to this mini-series (I mean, I assume it's a mini-series). However, this first issue felt like a completely different story from that teaser. I mean, it isn't but the opening is so reliant on the FCBD issue that it feels that should have been issue 1 and this issue 2. Not to mention that the issue relies too heavily on what feels like a hefty knowledge of the current X-Men storylines.

That said, it also feels like a completely different series in terms of the writing, with the tone, tempo and all round vibe feeling completely darker and slower (not to mention the art, which looks way more Scott Kolins here than the Jim Cheung-esque look in the free issue).

By the end, I think it was fair to say that Uncanny Avengers was not going to be a comic which was for me.

Which is a shame really because I was really expecting good things here. I guess this is proof that a book can't always be judged by a sample read.

Damage Control #1 - 4

This weekend, after what feels like years of debating over it, I finally made the time to read all four issues of the late Dwayne McDuffie's (first) 1989 Damage Control run.

This mini-series followed the Marvel Universe's premier superhero related restoration and reconstruction company as they went about the daily goings on of Marvel New York. From moving giant robots, to repairing houses turned into glass and even repairing their own image, Damage Control went about completing it all.

I have to confess, I wasn't sure what to expect from this series. Having read the World War Hulk aftermath mini some years ago, I did think (given its creation date) something a little more serious and darker.

However, despite this being the case, McDuffie expertly married the ideas of serious and silly quite nicely in this series. Damage Control read very much like satire, as it commented on both the ludicrousness of the tasks the team has to handle as well poke fun at the heroes and villains who cause these situations (exhibit A, the early appearance of the Wrecking Crew's Thunderball, as an example).

Meanwhile, I never really gotten on with the silver/bronze age styles (a consequence of my late arrival, i guess), but the art by Ernie Colon (as well as inker Bob Wiacek) feels particularly fitting for this run. The art, which imbues that silver/bronze age sensibility (the latter more so than the former, naturally) looks particularly in keeping with the idea of Damage Control, this Mad Men-esque office with stereotypical yet unique characters. Therefore, Colan's style and flair is very in keeping here.

Damage Control is a fun little comic that, while isn't deep or the cause of tremendous ramifications, is a good yarn to chill put to for an afternoon.

It certainly makes me wish that a more modern series could be creates in order to compare it to.

Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More

My third and final holiday read was Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez and Lee Loughridge.

Taking place back when the Captain's now iconic look was new, Carol Danvers journeys into space to find new adventure and return a crash landed alien girl, Tic, to her people. However, when she arrives, Captain Marvel must work to stop said people from being forcibly relocated by a galactic power.

I'm not sure what to say about this trade. While the first issue felt a little slow and monotonous, the plot soon ramped up on Action and captivation. Kelly Sue DeConnick really seems to form a while new character for Carol Danvers, who always felt a little two dimensional from the (limited) times I read her appearances prior. However, here she's not only heroic and no nonsense, buy also quirky and, most importantly, a big nerd.

Lopez and Loughridge's artwork seemed to match the essence of the story. It's colorful, light, clean and energetic, which is all very much in keeping with the story DeConnick was telling.

If there is an issue with this trade for me, it is that it felt too light and humourous for my liking (if that is even such a thing). DeConnick is telling a story about finding your place and fighting for it, but I feel it really skirts those ideas in exchange for a little brainless fun.

That said, maybe I'm just wanting my cake and eating it too. After the seemingly balanced read of Black Widow, followed by the dense Captain America, this is certainly a move to the other end of the spectrum.

In the end though, this was still a fun read which helped pass 90 minutes (or there abouts) of lull as my holiday wound down.

Captain America: Winter in America

After finishing Black Widow, my holiday reading continued with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Yu's Captain America: Winter in America.

Taking place in the aftermath of Secret Empire, Steve Rogers struggles to find his place in an America that was conquered by Hydra, whose Supreme Leader shared his likeness. Now, distrusted by Government and public alike, Cap goes it alone (well, almost) when copies of the villain Nuke begin their attacks.

I enjoyed this series, which felt like a spiritual successor to the Winter Soldier (my favourite MCU film) in terms of its political thriller vibe. Coates, best known as a political journalist, once again (as with Black Panther) leans into what he knows best crafts an intriguing story focused on the ideas of trust in Government.

Coates depiction of Cap is possibly my favourite part of the trade, as he struggles to deal with the fact that he is seen as immaterial after his views (and face) were twisted to a place where they effectively consumed his country. As a result, it was refreshing to see Cap on the back foot, attempting to prove an allegiance he never wavered from to those who now see him as a pariah.

That said, while the story is an entertaining one, there were some things about it which just felt like they went over my head. While the core concept of the trade made sense to me, I struggled to understand the villains' goal in all of this. Also, while it added an additional layer of conflict, the appointment of certain villains to positions of power over Cap also made no sense. I guess this is Coates attempting to reflect a sense of corruption and incompetence within government. However, I must admit it just made it a little too bleak for my taste.

Leinil Yu's artwork is solid stuff throughout and his rough, scratchy style helps convey a sense of the titular winter darkness into the plot. However, I have to admit that it took time for me to get on board with his work, as felt his style had an too much of an almost horror look for my liking. As I said though, I did get used to it and it ended up working rather well, especially with the cold colours Gerry Alanguilan (I assume) provides.

All in all, this was a good read, even if it was maybe a little too politic heavy for me to follow perfectly. However, with a final twist (which I hope is a feint) revealed at the end, I'm intrigued to see what happens next and so might add the follow up to my wish list.

Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted

I've gone on holiday for a few days and, per my tradition, I've filled my tablet with a bevy of comics and graphic novels to fill my time.

Well, it seems I have a bit of time to fill because on my first night, I read Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'S Most Wanted.

This trade follows The World's Deadliest Avenger as she is forced to steal from her own agency. Now on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha Romanov must find a way to get herself out from under the villainous 'Weeping Lion' in a tale of action and espionage that sees her cross paths with a new incarnation of the organisation that made her: the Red Room.

I don't remember when I picked up this trade (I wanna say that it was a freebie during the early days of COVID) but, suffice to say, it's been a while. Yet, despite the fact that the team of Waid and Samnee, creators of maybe the best Daredevil run I've read, are behind it, I've never felt the urge to sit down with it.

However, now I know that this was a mistake because Black Widow is a fantastic, action-packed espionage story about the ghosts of out pasts always haunting us.

Waid and Samnee (who did joint writing duties here) have (spy)crafted a story which has all of the wit, charm and depth of their Daredevil run, but with a lot more darkness and brutality to reflect the Widow's tragic origin.

Indeed, Mark Waid, who I said previously seems to hold one of the greatest encyclopedias of knowledge in comics, again uses an abundance of Widow's canonical backstory and merges it with that of others to add another layer of her life before the Avengers in a real shocking twist.

Meanwhile, Chris Samnee, pulling the art duties alone, applies his style perfectly to make Black Widow and truly beautiful comic of almost Darwyn Cooke proportions. As with Daredevil, Samnee applies the action scenes fantastically, giving an almost living aspect to this set scenes and showing off Natasha's ballet skills with some fantastically kinetic fight scenes.

And then there is Matt Wilson's colours which I love as they give the art a bit of a Francesca Francavilla flair (reminds me of Black Panther: Man Without Fear). I also think that his colours enhance the tone to better show darkness of the story.

By the end, I'm annoyed with myself. Not for reading this trade but for waiting so long before I did. Black Widow vol. 1 is quintessential Waid/Samnee storytelling. I was captivated, amused and entertain in equal measure and I have to get volume two to see how the conclusion to thus story plays out.

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #6

I've reached the end of a week of Pull List comics today by reading the second of the two comics (so far) for ugust; the Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #6.

From Tom Taylor, Clayton Henry and Jordie Bellaire, the finale of the Son of Kal-El's six issue jaunt to the Injustice universe comes to an end as Jon attempts to rescue that Universe's versions of Batman and Harley Quinn, both of whom are facing execution. However, to do so, he'll first have to get take on the Justice League.

Whereas almost all of the issues prior to this have been incredibly quiet and slow reads, I felt that this one really ramped up the action. However, Tom Taylor certainly put a wonderful Superman spin to it as he showed that, for Jon Kent, being Superman is about more than throwing punches.

Unfortunately, that is really the only positive I took away from this issue as the ending felt rushed and the art from Clayton Henry, while solid, didn't really wow or resonate with me (although his depiction of the aforementioned twists certainly elicited something of 'go Superman' feeling).

I do wonder of reading this series as a whole rather than piecemeal might connect with me better, if only because the 'It's a Wonderful Life'-esque moral that's hinted at the end certainly intrigues me that I want to give it another chance.

However, while the final page hints at another mini-series to come, for the moment I think I'll probably be giving it a miss.

Fantastic Four #10

No sooner do I finish reading my July Pull List comics but August begins and some new entries are released.

Therefore, with a couple of new comics to read, I figured I'd start with my favourite series in the form of Fantastic Four #10.

This issue, from Ryan North, Leandro Fernández and Jesus Arburtov, takes place on an alien sleeper ship ad the most recent in a line of caretakers awakes to find his predecessor long dead, their ark ship carrying their entire race in hypersleep at a dead stop and a mysterious piece of artwork portraying four fantastical beings.

So far this series I've previously thought that Ryan North has been writing stories within this comic series which skew towards a horror/Twilight Zone kind of tone. Well, this issue feels no different as North seems to have channelled Event Horizon in the crafting of this tale. Told from the perspective of multiple caretakers over centuries (thanks to timey wimey stuff), the plot feel incredibly haunting and creepy and had me in equal parts wanting to cover my eyes (something I still do with Event Horizon at nearly 40) and being too compelled to even consider putting this issue down.

I think a major factor to this last part is the art. Leandro Fernández and Jesus Aburtov together craft a truly unnerving environment with a style that reminds me of Scott Kolins but feels cranked way up to eleven thanks to some seriously moody colours.

There are some parts of this issue which doesn't make sense to me, all of which involves the timey wimey element. However, this is barely a blip to me in an otherwise atmospheric and addictive read.

I'm glad to see that the Four are truly Fantastic again under North's. I look forward to seeing it continue for a good long time to come.

Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1

Closing out the comics from my July Pull List (as well as the first 500 posts on this blog. Wow!), this morning I read Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1 by Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch.

This story is pretty much as the title suggests when, after orchestrating a major catastrophe just to get his attention, Lex Luthor informs Superman that he is dying. However, rather than accept the impending shuffle from this mortal coil, Luthor asks for the Man of Steel's help in finding a cure, beginning a journey for the two throughout the world and beyond.

When I first saw this title announced with Mark Waid's name attached, I knew it would be something special and it didn't fail to disappoint post reading. Waid, with his rather well known encyclopedic knowledge of comics lore, has crafted a story which feels intrinsically Superman in every action, word and feeling.

The issue, while for the most part, very quiet and methodical really spoke to me with this unspoken subtext: how does the Man of Steel balance such a choice; help his greatest villain or break his very code of existing. I think Waid really hammers this home with flashbacks of a younger pair's interactions.

I've just read another comic drawn by Bryan Hitch and, once again, I struggle to see another perfect choice to get Waid's words across. Hitch's style really lends towards the detail needed to get the prior mentioned feelings across. The only difference here to Invasion is that Kevin Nowlan's Inks and David Baron's colours really change the look entirely, giving it a vibe more like (aptly enough) Brian Azzerello's Luthor series.

In the end, the only downside for me is the size of the comic, as its one of those larger formats which has no backing board nor can fit into my short box. Beyond that though, this is a truly captivating rendition of a truly classic feeling Superman and I already can't wait for the next issue (in a whole two months time, booooo).

Ultimate Invasion #2

As I moved through my pull list comics after She-Hulk #15, next up was Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Invasion #2.

The second issue picked up from where the first ended as the Maker, the evil Reed Richards from the previous Ultimate Universe, continued his plan to make a new Ultimate universe. However, even with all known threats eliminated or controlled, it seems there are still some out there who do not agree with his plans for the future.

Issue two really felt like it moved very much away from the tone of the first. Unlike that issue, which was essentially a manhunt, I thought this one felt much slower and more methodical. However, this doesn't take away from the intrigue and general unease Hickman seems to have infused into the story.

I'm a big Reed Richards fan (probably because, as a man on the autistic spectrum, like recognises like), but the way that Hickman seems to get 'the Maker' and how he depicts him is equal parts unsettling and captivating.

In fact, I think unsettling, uneasy, eerie and many words like them perfectly sum up this issue. There is so much he that feels familiar and yet isn't (one thing even 'ripped' from the past, only to discover a curveball behind it) that I gave this ominous feeling in my gut as I wonder what's going to happen to completely upend my expectations.

As a result of this though, I now feel that Bryan Hitch's art continues to be the perfect fit for this story. While previously I had set that his style being the embodiment of the Ultimate Universe gave a sense of familiarity, in this issue its inclusion just further enforces that feeling of bizarreness. This doesn't even take into account a late scene in the comic that is just downright haunting to me.

I feel I've made this issue sound like a serious no no, and that couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, Ultimate Invasion #2 is eerie and creepy in its 'not quite' similarities and some set pieces but, my God, if it isn't incredibly captivating and addictive.

I'm not sure how I can wait a month to see what happens next.