Movie Review: The Avengers

Now, some of you have probably been wondering why I haven't posted a review of The Avengers yet. And the answer is pretty simple: I've been too busy seeing The Avengers over and over again for the past several weeks to write about it. But now that I've finally exhausted my life savings buying disposable 3-D glasses, I've found a little free time to write up a review for you. You're welcome.

Before we get into the details, let me put out a disclaimer: The Avengers has been my favorite comic book series since 1986. It's no exaggeration, therefore, to say that I have been waiting for over a quarter of a century for this movie to come out. So I am not an unbiased viewer. On the one hand, this means that I am predisposed to like The Avengers, assuming they do it right. On the other hand, I am also probably a lot pickier than your normal moviegoer as this material is close to my heart. So you can consider those facts when reading my review.

Because, honestly, I loved the damn thing. It might not have been perfect, but it was as close to perfect as I could possibly have hoped. And not only is it an excellent comic book movie, it's also an excellent summer popcorn movie. You'd think those things would naturally go together, but often they really kinda don't.

So what works with The Avengers? Well, let's start with the basic concept, which is probably the trickiest part to pull off. After all, Marvel has been carefully (some would say ponderously, slowly and tediously) laying the groundwork for The Avengers for years, setting up plot threads in every one of their previous films. That sort of thing could lead to an exposition heavy, continuity clogged data dump and could easily derail the entire film.

Instead, director Joss Whedon and company manage to intertwine all the elements and all the characters as seamlessly and organically as the situation allows for. And the result of that is that, while knowing all those earlier bits of setup help make The Avengers a more interesting experience, being up to speed on every niggling detail isn't necessary at all to enjoy the film. In other words, it stands on its own.

Much of that credit, of course, has to go to the cast, which is uniformly excellent. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans, as the leads of individual franchises, are very strong, as they each manage to maintain the integrity of their character while still fitting into the smaller role called for by the team environment. It's a tricky balance that everyone manages to pull off just right.

Even better, though, are Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner as Black Widow and Hawkeye, characters who could have been throwaway space fillers but who instead manage to come to life and be vital pieces of the Avengers puzzle. And best of all is Mark Ruffalo, who somehow actually made me enjoy a Hulk appearance, which I literally did not think was possible. Ruffalo's wry and bone dry humor was a perfect match to the character here and worked superbly within the context of the team.

The upshot of all of this is that The Avengers doesn't just satisfy all the expectations that were created by the years of buildup in Marvel's previous films, it actually justifies Marvel's previous films. Iron Man 2, for instance, felt at the time like a bit of a bloated mess, with a bunch of Avengers stuff shoehorned into the action to the detriment of the film. Now, however, it retroactively gains entertainment value thanks to The Avengers.

Not that redeeming their few missteps is Marvel's primary goal here; entertainment is the top priority, while setting up even bigger future blockbusters is clearly a close second. Which may be the best news of all about The Avengers, because if you liked this one, well, trust me: There's going to be a whole hell of a lot more where this came from.

My Grades: The film as a whole gets an incoherent fanboy squee, which roughly translates to an A+. All of the actors get an A, with the exceptions of Mark Ruffalo and Tom Hiddleston, who both get an A++; and Scarlett Johansson, who was mostly really good but did flatline a couple of bits, so I'm just going to give her an A-. The post-credits teaser for the upcoming Avengers arc gets an I for incomplete only because the character teased has had far more crappy appearances than great ones, so even though Marvel has a really strong track record, I'm still not entirely sold yet. But here's hoping.

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April Answers From the Vault

Welcome back to another edition of Answers From the Vault. You may recall that last week I canvassed the vast Vault community for questions, queries and general mysteries of the comic book world, all in the name of providing you with the most kick-ass clump of knowledge ever to be dumped in your grill. After receiving over ten trillion questions, though, I narrowed it down to just two worthy of answering. So without further ado, let's all embiggen our brains and get some fresh Answers From the Vault.


Can you think of a creative team's run that would have worked better if attached to another project? For instance, I liked Karl Kesel's Daredevil run, but it might have been better as a Spider-Man run. Erik Larsen's Defenders run was pretty bad, but might have worked better if he was doing it attached to the revamped Heroes for Hire book. And actually, come to think of it, that HfH run (was it an Ostrander book?) would probably have worked better in the Defenders. -- Mark

Thanks for the question Mark. The answer is no, I can't think of any. Next question!

No, just kidding. The funny thing these days is that mainstream superhero comics have become so self-referential that a lot of writers seem to be writing archetypes more than actual characters. Maybe that's just the influence of Alan Moore and Watchmen, but because of this, there are a lot of books that could pretty much have the characters completely swapped without any real effect on the stories at all. And that's not even getting into characters that are specifically created as proxies for other characters, such as Planetary.

Plus, with DC's New 52 and the constant shakeups at Marvel, characters are being reinvented so frequently that it's hard to really figure out what stories make sense for a character anymore anyway. For instance, in terms of traditional Marvel, there's no question that Bendis' New Avengers would have made more sense as a Defenders series, specifically post-Civil War. At that point the team was underground, doing either street level stuff or combating secret menaces the rest of the superhero community was ignoring, with a roster comprised of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange and Hawkeye. That's the Defenders, people, even if it has an Avengers logo on the front in order to boost sales.

But having said all that, I'll say that while I absolutely love Ed Brubaker's Captain America, it really reads more like a modern day SHIELD series than a traditional Cap superhero story. I can't say it would have worked better as a SHIELD story per se, since it worked so darn well as it was, but it would arguably have worked about the same if the lead was Nick Fury instead of Cap.

What are the 5 Worst Resurrections in comics? I would have to think Aunt May's return would have to top the list. Is there a worse one? -- David Wright

Thanks for the question, David. At this point, death is essentially meaningless in mainstream superhero comics, to the point where it's pretty hard to narrow it down. Off the top of my head, though, here are a few really egregious examples, including Aunt May:

1. Aunt May -- Officially killed the concept of development in comics, specifically in the Spideyverse. Good buy character progress, hello neverending stasis.

2. Captain Marvel -- This gets a special mention, because his return fromt he dead was retconned away before they even explained it. During Civil War, Captain Marvel showed up, suddenly alive again even though The Death of Captain Marvel is one of the most famous, acclaimed and beloved comics of all time. But no matter, even that can't stand up to the fact that Marvel has to publish a comic called Captain Marvel every so often to retain their trademark. so they came up with this asinine story where Captain Marvel was transported forward through time from before the moment of his death, meaning he was now alive in the present only knowing he would eventually have to go back and die.

The worst thing about this, though, was after hyping this up as some kind of giant event -- Mar-Vell is back!!! -- and publishing a one-shot to return him from the grave, a couple months later they just said, "oh, that was a skrull. Just kidding." It was hands down the most blatantly manipulative scam Marvel's ever run, because they knew in advance that this story wasn't his return at all, but they hyped it up anyway to sell a bunch of comics. Just a complete fraud perpetrated on the comics community. An all-time low point for Marvel. The comic itself sucked, the idea sucked, the reasons for publishing it sucked and the liars and con men who called themselves Marvel's editorial staff sucked most of all. What a joke.

3. The Green Goblin -- Hey, there goes three decades of continuity out the window. Because Spidey doesn't have any other good villains they could use instead, right?

4.  Mockingbird -- Okay, this is maybe just me. But Bendis spent years putting Hawkeye through the ringing, killing him off, resurrecting him in an alternate universe, leaving him somewhat morose and dealing with existential angst. It's not where I would go with the character, but it at least opened the door for some new character development. And then, after all that set-up, instead of exploring any of that they instead brought back Mockingbird in Secret Invasion so they could try and revert to a mid-80's status quo that nobody was a fan of anyway! Except for one guy who happened to be a writer at Marvel. It's just asinine.

5. Barry Allen -- See above. Don't get me wrong, I like Barry, but he was dead for a quarter of a century and nobody under the age of 55 wanted him back. Wally West is one of the most popular and successful "replacement" superheroes in comics history and is still much more popular than Barry Allen. I have to think they did this because of some kind of future movie tie-in. But then again, the fact that they made such a big deal about this to the point of building entire crossover events around his return, only to scrap the entire DCU before the story was even finished, kind of shows how little direction anybody at DC has these days.

You'll note the absence of two characters from this list, namely Jean Grey and Bucky. I don't think Jean Grey should have been brought back form the dead and in many ways her return is the key moment where death stopped having any meaning in comics for all time. But I still have to give her a bit of a pass because she was, after all, the Phoenix. Returning form the dead is an inherent part of being the Phoenix. Bucky, on the other hand, gets a pass because the story has totally been worth it. I know, it surprised me too, but Winter Soldier has become one of my favorite Marvel characters and Burbaker continues to do great stories with him. And that's what it's all about after all.

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Movie Review: Thor

Hey guys, what's up. It's been a while since our last fandango, but I've been pretty busy -- you know, training for top secret missions in Pakistan, sorting through my fan mail, that sort of thing. Only, totally different. Yet even with my busy schedule, I've still managed to find the time to slip out to the theater and catch this month's biggest superhero blockbuster: Thor.

And I have to say, this film is exceedingly difficult for me to review. That's because Thor is a pretty idiosyncratic comic to begin with and it has become even more idiosyncratic up on the big screen. Though Thor rubs shoulders with his fellow Avengers in the pages of many a superhero comic, the character and the stories in his own title aren't really related to the superhero genre at all. Ever since Stan and Jack introduced Tales of Asgard to the series back in Journey Into Mystery #97, the series has been much more of a combination of high fantasy and epic science fiction than a traditional superhero comic.

All of which makes judging Thor the movie pretty hard to do considering there's not a whole lot to judge it against. As a superhero movie, well, it's downright weird. As an epic fantasy, though, it's almost weirder, because it exists within the framework of Marvel's interconnected superhero universe, meaning film fans will see characters and ideas from the Iron Man franchise pop up right in the middle of what otherwise is a fantasy movie.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Thor can only really be judged under one criteria: how good a Thor movie is it?

The answer? Pretty good.

What Thor gets right outweighs for the most part what it gets wrong. Here's a quick overview that isn't much of a spoiler since it's based very closely on comics that came out nearly 50 years ago: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) gets himself in hot water because of his hot head, so Odin banished him to Earth to learn some humility and prove his worthiness. Once he does so, he regains his godly powers, returns to Asgard and fights some monsters.

And all of that is handled pretty well, though there were a few things I thought they could have done differently in terms of pacing. It was wise of director Kenneth Branagh to begin the proceedings with a quick look at Earth, but I think things would have gone better -- especially for newcomers to the Thor milieu -- if the story had just stayed on Earth for the first half instead of immediately jumping up to Asgard for 30 minutes. Not that I minded what was happening in Asgard, but there's no question that the scenes on Earth, where Thor meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), contain much more humor and, you know, fun, than the portentous action sequences in Asgard. As a result, I think the film -- which is inherently harder to get into than most superhero or action films anyway -- becomes even more difficult for newbies to get into than it had to be.

Having said that, though, if the film hasn't lost viewers by the time Thor comes to Earth, then they are likely to really enjoy the film, because it picks up in a big way after Thor meets Jane Foster and begins stumbling around New Mexico in search of his hammer, Mjolnir. Sure, Portman doesn't have a whole lot to do, but what she does, she does really well; she and Hemsworth have pretty good chemistry and once Thor returns to Asgard to deal with Loki (the excellent Tom Hiddleston), you do feel a tug at the thought of the two being separated just as they were starting to dig each other.


There were a few other minor concerns I had about the film as well. For instance, though I love the Warrior's Three in the comic, I'm not sure they really came across on the screen for non comics fans as anything more than somewhat goofy sidekicks. And, like Iron Man 2, some of the action sequences came up a bit short, particularly the big throwdown between Thor and The Destroyer, which was okay but not nearly as epic as it could or should have been.

But those are quibbles. For the most part, Thor is an entertaining, occasionally fun and perfectly competent film that any fan of Thor will enjoy.

And if you're not a fan of Thor? Well... give it a try, because if you end up liking it, there's a half century of cool stories waiting to be discovered. But Thor is just so very, very Thor that's there's really no way of knowing if you'll like it until you try.

My Grades: For Thor fans, a solid B+. For everyone else, a random grade somewhere between A- and C-. The film has good acting and solid directing, so it's not going to go below that, but there's no way of really judging this movie outside of the strictures of Thor itself. The bonus scene after the credits gets an A+ for setting up both Captain America and Avengers at the same time while also giving Marvel fans a major woody.

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Marvel at Disney World: A Brief Review

Hello folks. I know you've been in serious withdrawal since my last post, lo, these many weeks ago. But now I am finally back from vacation and have found a few moments of free time to provide a brief recap of what I saw at Walt Disney World. No, I don't mean the rides and the characters and the tens of thousands of out of shape tourists (and that was just in mirrors around the park); no, I'm specifically talking about the presence of Marvel Comics at the Disney World resort.

Or, more to the point, the lack of presence. granted, it has only been a year since Disney purchased Marvel, so no doubt many of the strategy meetings on how to best integrate the Marvel brand into the existing Disney world are still taking place. And the theme parks and their attendant resort areas are bound to be one of the trickier arenas to figure out, because frankly, the tone and style of the Marvel Universe isn't necessarily a great match for Disney World; I have a hard time, for instance, picturing am X-Men roller coaster sharing space with the Country Bear Jamboree, for instance.

Still, Disney bought Marvel for a reason, namely the fact that Marvel's superheroes are becoming the 21st century version of Disney's animated stable; in a real sense they are creating the pop mythology for this generation as Mickey, Donald and Goofy created the pop mythology for the Depression era. So there has to be a way to integrate the characters into Disney World in a way that both utilizes them properly and allows them to co-exist with current Disney favorites without affecting the successful atmosphere that has made Disney a family destination for decades.

Putting Marvel rides in the parks, however, is likely to be the last step that Disney undertakes simply because it takes years of planning to design a ride and then build it. With this in mind, then, it makes some sense that during my trip to Disney I saw only a very minimal Marvel presence -- but still a presence that could lead to bigger things.

The only signs of Marvel that I actually saw at a park was at Hollywood Studios (the most logical place for a Marvel presence, as I will get into later), this being a small side shop that used to be devoted to Disney-themed stationery but which now is basically a coffee shop with a few books in it. Among those books, however, there was a full shelf of hardcover Marvel collections for sale. Best of all, as part of the decorations there was a poster-sized reproduction of a pre-code Atlas romance cover.

I've also learned, thanks to the folks at Robot 6 (these photos also belong to them), that I missed a big display of Marvel comics at the Villains store at Hollywood Studios.

Beyond this, my only encounter with anything Marvel during my trip was a rack of Iron Man merchandise at the gift shop inside the Port Orleans resort area. I didn't have a chance to visit the shops in Downtown Disney, but my understanding from Robot 6 is that there is also a Marvel section in the World of Disney store there that sells TPBs, clothes and toys from across the Marvel line.

While this all still adds up to a pretty minor presence for Marvel at Walt Disney World, I think they are going about things the right way. After some thought, here is my three stage plan for integrating Marvel into the Disney World experience:


1) A Marvel Store at Downtown Disney Having a section in World of Disney is nice, but in order to really maximize and promote the Marvel brand -- and more importantly, begin to get tourists used the the idea that Marvel is part of Disney and the Disney World experience -- I think they need to build a whole Marvel-only store. Perhaps they could call it "World of Marvel" or something; whatever the case, having a Marvel-themed store filled with Marvel merchandize -- including, importantly, exclusive Walt Disney World Resort merchandise featuring Marvel characters -- would be a good first step towards leveraging the Marvel brand within Disney World.


2) A Marvel-themed Resort Area Disney World already has oodles of themed resorts, including stuff like All-Star Sports and the Pop Century resort. A Marvel resort area would fit right in with this. Logically it should service Hollywood Studios, but wherever located, it could become a destination resort for Marvel fans by allowing you to choose which Marvel headquarters you wanted to spend your week in, with hotel rooms inside replicas of Avengers Mansion, the X-Mansion, the Baxter Building, Stark Enterprises and the Daily Bugle. This is an experience that Universal, even with their Marvel rides at islands of Adventure, cannot offer.

3) Marvel Rides at Hollywood Studios Finally, once tourists are used to the idea of Marvel being a major part of their Disney vacation, rides should be introduced. This is the diciest part of the plan, as currently rival Universal Studios has a deal with Marvel for rides at their Islands of Adventure park. Whatever they need to do to get out of it, though, Disney should eventually plan to have Marvel rides at their Hollywood Studios, which is the only one of the four parks that thematically makes sense for Marvel rides. And frankly, Hollywood Studios is currently the weakest of the parks and could use a bit of a boost. My suggestion would be to put them at the opposite end of New York Street from the Muppet Theater; New York is a central character in the Marvel Universe and would be a good place for the Marvel heroes to hang out and sign autographs, and right now there's really nothing down at that end of the street anyway.


Lastly, an entire Marvel-themed park wouldn't be completely out of the question, but I'm not sure how viable it would be. It has been well over a decade since Disney's last new park, The Animal Kingdom, opened, so a fifth park at Disney World wouldn't be a surprise. Whether or not there would be enough interest in Marvel characters to anchor an entire theme park, well... hard to say. But in the meantime, the previous three steps I've outlined would be a good way to integrate Marvel into the Disney World experience over the period of five years or so, something that could only help Marvel in terms of expanding their brand visibility -- and help Disney begin to realize the ancillary profits they no doubt expected when they decided to buy up the stable of Marvel characters.

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Disney and Marvel Begin Cross-Marketing

Ever since it was announced last fall that Disney was going to bu Marvel, people have been wondering just what it was going to mean for both companies. One thing has always been taken as pretty much gospel fact, though: considering how much Disney has pushed "synergy" with every other company they have purchased, like ABC and ESPN, it was just a matter of time before Dinsey began cross-promotions with Marvel. The real question was when and what form would it take.

Well, now we have at least an idea of what the future is going to look like, because Disney and Marvel have announced two new cross-promotions coming in the next couple weeks: a series of TRON Variant covers across the Marvel Universe and a series of Marvel-themed covers for ESPN the Magazine -- one for each of the 31 NBA franchises.

Of the two I have to say the ESPN covers seem like a more natural, organic fit. Yes, it does smack a little of the recent announcement that Stan Lee was going to be doing a line of NHL-inspired superhroes. But still, a comic book cover depicting each of the NBA franchises as superhero teams isn't too crazy; at best it's kind of a fun gimmick and at worst, well, what harm can it do.

Plus, some of the covers are downright fantastic, particularly John Romita Jr.'s inspired take on his father's iconic splash page from Amazing Spider-man #50. This is almost too sweet to be real:



And most important, the gimmick seems to be working on some level; just google "marvel espn covers" or some variation and you'll see ream after ream of blog and newspaper articles about the covers, with local fans for each market debating the merits of their cover. That has to be a positive thing for Marvel even in markets that don't like the covers. For what it's worth, here's my local team, the Celtics:



All in all, it's not a half bad start for the Marvel/Disney marketing team.

Less successful. on the other hand, is the series of TRON Variant covers being slapped onto Marvel books over the next two months. I just don't get the connection at all. While I'm sure on some level there was the thought that Marvel might benefit from TRON fans picking up the comics, I have a hard time seeing that happening, mainly because there's just no connection at all between TRON and the Marvel characters. I dunno. On the face of things these two marketing campaigns may seem similar, but the TRON one really seems forced to me.

That's not to say that the art isn't cool; the Ghost Rider cover, featuring him on a light cycle, is a clever idea and this Captain America cover, for example, is pretty darn awesome:



But the whole thing just seems random, like a Burger King toy tie-in instead of a natural synergy between the two companies. And actual TRON comic book? Sure. Thor drawn as though he were in TRON? That I don't really get.

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New Comic Cavalcade: Thor, Avengers and More

Hey kids, welcome back to another edition of New Comic Cavalcade. It's been quite a while since I reviewed new issues, so as you can imagine, I now have a metric ton of comics to read. So this time around we're going to go back to the ultra short, two-sentence reviews for all the new comics. Ready? Okay, here we go:


Astro City Special: Silver Agent #2
A surprisingly satisfying ending to the story we've been waiting for for more than a decade. If it is an ending -- I'm not what those final panels mean, exactly, but they sure were interesting. My Grade: A-.


Thor #613 and 614
I was very skeptical of this storyline when it started, but it ended up being a lot better than it had any right to be. I still don't have any idea why this Kelda characters exists, though, despite the writer's attempts to justify her. My Grade: A-.


Thor: For Asgard #1 and 2
At this point Thor is basically appearing in five series at once; this six-issue story may seem limited, but since another limited series or one shot will replace it when it ends, they might as just make a second ongoing called "Tales of Asgard" or "Journey Into Mystery." It's kind of annoying, but this story -- though I can't figure out if it's even in continuity or an imaginary tale -- has some great art, so I'll probably stick with it. My Grades: B+.


Hawkeye and Mockingbird #4
I appreciate the return of the once-heroic Phantom Rider at the end of this issue and I hope the storyline ends with the character finally being redeemed after 20 years in the dead rapist doghouse. But I still find the return of Mockingbird to be both contrived and unnecessary, as is the presence of whoever this new Dominic Fortune is. My Grade: B-.


Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2
Yet again, Alan Heinberg's version of the Young Avengers turns out to be, inexplicably, the best Avengers series Marvel is putting out. I'm actually enjoying the search for Scarlet Witch despite the fact that I hate the character -- and enjoying this series despite things like the totally unnecessary Wolverine cover. My Grade: A.


Avengers #4
Could be worse; the art is good and Bendis is doing a great job of writing the future Avengers kids as a bunch of complete shits, so if they die at the end of this story I'll enjoy that at least. But let's get one thing straight right now: Kang isn't afraid of Hulk in any part, future or alternate reality. Period. My Grade: B-.


Secret Avengers #4
The first arc ends solidly, but overall this story was a little bit of a letdown, particularly Brubaker's somewhat weird version of Valkyrie and the apparently pointless inclusion of Nova. I am very intrigued by the Nick Fury stuff, though, and Brubaker has earned my trust, so I'll be sticking with it. My Grade: B-.


Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #3
Not sure what the point of this series is, really, but for me it's Brubaker's weakest Captain America work ever. The Cap-reverts-to-a-weakling plot didn't help, as it pointed out how much Eaglesham's artwork looks like Al Milgrom's from the dreadful Gruenwald storyline with the same plot, which, by the way, is not a compliment. My Grade: C-.


Captain America #609
Now this is more like it, as Brubaker is still hitting on all cylinders with his return of evil Zemo storyline. I even am kinda/sorta enjoying the Nomad backup. My Grade: A.


Jonah Hex #59
Another solid story, but one of the very few in the series that seems to suffer from being a single issue story instead of an extended or multi-part arc. The big setup introducing the Grey Ghost is interesting but doesn't have any room to develop before it's forced to suddenly end amidst a different, random plot. My Grade: B.

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In-House Ad Showcase

Hey guys. You know, reprints are kind of cool in that they allow you to get access to stories that you may otherwise never be able to find or afford and with today's trade market driving the industry, the time has never been better to pick up collections of material you've been curious about. But there are things lost when you get a collection or a reprint; the lettercolumn, the advertising, really the whole flavor of the comic itself. And maybe the biggest casualty for comics fans is In-House Ads.

These, of course, are the advertisements that companies would put in their comics promoting over titles or characters in their line. Often these are little more than just a small shot of a cover with maybe a few lines of text. But just as frequently companies would whip up promotional art, graphics and other weirdness that in some cases is better or more interesting than the comics themselves. And sadly, few of these house ads have been given nearly as much attention over the years as they deserve, because really, some of these are real gems.

With that in mind, today we kick off another semi-irregular feature here at The Vault, In-House Ad Showcase, where we'll dig up some of the more interesting in-house ads from the last 75+ years of comics so that fans can get another (or often first) look at some of these rarities and gems.

And what better way to start than with the ad that inspired this feature, a beautiful full-page splash from Jack Kirby advertising Avengers #3? I found this gem in the pages of Sgt. Fury #4, and it's a masterpiece. It's also a bit of a historical curiosity due to the fact that it features Iron Man in his all-gold armor, despite the fact that he actually was wearing his new red-and-gold armor in Avengers #3. Obivously the ad was done before the armor was redesigned. Anyway, here it is:




Next up is an early gem from another classic artist, Barry Windsor-Smith, who made a name for himself in the industry with his gorgeously detailed work on Conan the Barbarian and its related titles. Check out this great in-house ad that I found somewhere on the internet (sorry, I forget where, so my apologies to the hapless dupe I stole it from):




And we'll end with a more traditional style in-house ad, this time from DC. It's got the basic in-house ad style of presenting an entire cover along with some hype text, but what's unusual here is, well, just how awesome the cover and overall effect are. This ad is from 1973, but it's so effective that I just had to guy buy this comic as soon as I saw it -- over 35 years later. And I'm betting that you'll be on ebay with five minutes of seeing this ad yourself. Here you go:




Yes, it's a romance comic about a nun! And the guy hitting on her is a tortured Vietnam Vet trying to deal with PTSD. Don't worry, though, if you can't find your own copy (which I strongly recommend getting), some kind soul has uploaded it to the internet so you can read the whole thing here.


Next time: More Kirby! More early Marvel! More of everything you love about comics!

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New Comic Cavalcade: Avengers, Thor and More

Welcome back to another installment of New Comic Cavalcade, where we here at The Vault read new comics so that you don't have to. Now, as you no doubt know, it's been a little while since last time we provided this invaluable service, so as you might expect, a large pile of new comics has been accruing, mostly due to the fact that Marvel is currently printing about 1700 Avengers titles.

In order to work our way through this slush pile, then, we're going to forgo the usual, incredibly in-depth review in favor of something a little different: concise and precise two sentence reviews. Don't worry, we'll still be providing our grades as usual along with the insight that you've become accustomed -- and addicted -- to. It will just be, you know, a lot shorter.

So why are we screwing around? Let's read some comics.


Avengers #3 (Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr.): Better than the last issue anyway, but while this was reasonably enjoyable, when it was done I still felt like nothing had actually happened. That's because nothing actually happened other than one large fight scene, but I'll stick it out to the end of this first arc anyway. My Grade: B-.

Secret Avengers #3 (Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato): Like Avengers, this was also a step up from the last issue, though it was a bit clunky in places (I'm looking at you, random robot guy). Unile Avengers, this is written by Brubaker and not Bendis so I'm willing to give it more of a chance; that's just how it works when you've earned the reader's trust. My Grade: B.

Hawkeye & Mockingbird #3 (Jim McCann and David Lopez): I'm still not sure why they brought Mockingbird back, so I'm having some trouble getting into this arc in general. The ending was kind of goofy for my money, but on the other hand, considering the basic premise of the series, overall I think they're doing pretty well. My Grade: B.

Avengers Prime #2 (Brian Michael Bendis and Alan Davis): Shaping up to be the best Avengers story Bendis has written, though there were still some odd moments here and there (such as the fact that the whole Hela-based premise doesn't seem to match up in any way at all with what is happening in Thor). Steve's sudden romance with a random elven woman was... random... and a little out of character considering he's in a committed relationship, yet I still found it kind of interesting. My Grade: A-.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1 (Alan Heinberg and Jim Cheung): Yes, there's yet another new Avengers title, this one featuring the Young Avengers in a story where they supposedly track down the Scarlet Witch to find out the truth of Wiccan's parentage. Given Heinberg's track record, I have high hopes that this will end up being better than the Young Avengers stuff since he left their original title, and the cliffhanger with Magneto showing up is a good sign. My Grade: B+.

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #1 (Ed Brubaker and Dale Eaglesham): brubaker spotlights Steve Rogers in this four issue series that adds yet more backstory to Steve's already crowded origin. I'm not sold on the art but the premise has at least some promise, so we'll see. My Grade: B-.

Captain America #608 (Ed Brubaker and Bruce Guice): Now this is more like it: not only does Brubaker really start to apply the screws to Bucky, he's doing it by re-establishing Baron Zemo as an A-level badass. The leak to the media revealing Bucky's identity as the new Captain America and his role as the Winter Soldier was a surprise that should really shake up what we thought the status-quo was going to be on this book. My Grade: A+.

Thor #612 (Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite): As I mentioned this Hela-centric fantasy/horror hybrid tale is kind of interesting but seems to clash completely with the version of Hela in Avengers Prime. Well, whatever I guess; I kind of prefer this take on Thor to the JMS version because things are actually happening, even if it took half a year's worth of disjointed Siege tie-ins to get to this point. My Grade: B-.

The Rage of Thor #1 (Peter Milligan and Mico Suayan): Marvel continues it's new tradition of pumping out Thor one-shots, though for once this doesn't seem designed to plug a scheduling hole caused by slow-ass creators. And as usual, it's actually a lot better than the main title itself, which makes me wonder why they don't just publish these good stories as regular Thor issues. My Grade: A.

Astro City Special: Silver Agent #1 (Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson): After a decade plus of wondering, fans are finally being treated to the story of Silver Agent and what exactly happened to him. It's solid as always but does feel a little bit like a (necessary) clearing of the plate in order to get to the new, fresh stuff when the monthly Astro City finally re-launches. My Grade: B+.

RASL #8 (Jeff Smith): Things are starting to make some sense, at least they were until Smith drops a potential game-changing revelation on the last page. I've learned to trust Smith over the years, but I'm worried, because this twist has the potential to be really, really stupid and possibly undo the whole series if not handled just right. My Grade: Incomplete.


Well, look at that: nothing worse than a B-! Either this was an unusually solid group of comics or else I'm still swooning from hearing Samuel L. Jackson read the Avengers intro. But not a terrible batch anyway.

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June Answers From the Vault part 1

Welcome back to another edition of Answers From the Vault, the semi-regular feature where you ask the questions and we pump your brain full of knowledge until it cries out for mercy. This time around we received such a bounty of questions that we're going to split the answers into two batches. That's going to take up a lot of grey matter, so if you need to subject your mind to gamma radiation in order to absorb these answers, now is your last chance.

Ready? Okay, here we go.


What's the best use of weather in a superhero comic that doesn't involve characters with weather-wielding powers? -- Mark

Thanks for the question, Mark. Boy, that's a really tough one. As you note in your extended version of this question, weather is usually used solely for noir/horror effect (in books like Batman, Daredevil and Tomb of Dracula) or for plot points that involve weather being controlled by people like Thor or Storm and/or by villains intent on destroying Earth through giant tidal waves or whatever. Weather just for the sake of having some variety is extremely rare, which makes you wonder just how sunny the DC and Marvel universes are. Maybe that's why those realities have so many superheroes.

But to answer your question, there are a few nice uses of weather that stand out to me. Mike Grell's Green Arrow was set in Seattle, one of the few DC books to take place in a real city, and he frequently used rain, fog and in the winter months, snow, to give the series a real sense of both place and time that few other superhero books have had. Similarly, on a much smaller scale, one memorable scene for me takes place in Avengers #197, where some boys heave snowballs at Captain America while he is having a heart to heart chat in the garden behind Avengers Mansion; it's a great little throw-away sequence that somehow ended up being more memorable than perhaps all the stories that surrounded it, in large part due to the use of weather.

Still, for my money, there can be only one choice -- Avengers #257. Now, everyone knows I am a huge Avengers fan, and this two part battle against Terminus is the first Avengers story I ever read, so there's certainly some nostalgia involved. But the end of this story still sticks with me: after terminus destroys the weather regulation system that allowed the Savage Land to exist, the Antarctic weather comes raging in, destroying the tropical paradise. In a raging blizzard, the Avengers battle Terminus until all sides are overcome by the elements. Only Hercules is able to stand up to the storm; he destroys Terminus's armor, revealing the immobile alien stuck inside it, and then leaves the beast to freeze to death in the ever growing drifts of snow that cover and finally bury him in a grave of his own making. A great ending to a powerful story. And speaking of Avengers, you had a follow-up question:


And is Avengers 185 the only issue of the run where it's raining on the cover?

Nope, though you're right hat there aren't a lot. But besides the classic Avengers #185, there's an equally awesome if not as famous cover that features rain: Avengers #41. Usually I'm not a huge fan of Buscema's very early covers, as I think his early inking and the printing process at the time often end up muddying the finished product, but that's not an issue for a dark and moody cover like this one. Top work from a master in the making.




Why aren't comics fun anymore? -- Jim

Thanks for the thoughtful question, Jim. For me, there's a pretty basic reason: most comics aren't meant to be fun. And the reason for that, in my opinion, is a residual effect of fans becoming creators back in 70's and 80's.

Sure, there were plenty of fans-turned-writers/editors that still had a lot of fun with their comics, particularly those who both recognized and embraced the more absurd elements of the superhero genre. And some of these stalwarts can still be found today, doing what is now widely called "nostalgia" work, like Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid, for instance. What these guys are nostalgic for, though, isn't a specific time period or status quo, it's a mindset -- the mindset that comics are fun and that anything can happen in them.

But this isn't really the norm anymore, and the reason lies with the more "serious" fans-turned-creators -- the second generation of creators who, determined to prove that superhero comics could be a serious genre that should be taken seriously, decided to deconstruct the fun. Take it apart, prove how ridiculous it all is, dissect the genre like a pre-med student doing a thesis. In other words, take an essentially illogical genre and try to impose logic upon it. The result: grim, gritty, more realistic stories that certainly have been taken more seriously.

But have they been enjoyed as much? Are they fun? Or have have works like Watchmen led to second rate copycat works that just depress and turn off potential readers by draining all the wonder out of the genre? And just look at what DC is trying to do these days and you'll see how the current generation is still missing the mark: they're trying to combine grim and gritty with nostalgia by bringing back all the silver age heroes, but they've missed the boat on just what people are actually nostalgic for.

All of it goes back to the mid-70's, when the fans chafing at the lack of respect comics -- and by extension, they themselves -- had been getting became creators and set out trying to prove the merit of the genre. Well, now they have some of that respect. It just cost everything they loved about comics to begin with.



What happened to that Nagel-print that hung on Peter Parker's wall?

I have to admit I don't know the answer to this, but I have a pretty good guess -- I assume that like everyone else's Nagel prints, it's at a flea market somewhere with a $1 tag taped to it.


Next: A whole batch of questions from a former member of the Marvel Bullpen. I answer them all! That's how this thing works, homeslice.

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New Comics Cavalcade: Avengers #1 and More

You may recall that last month we had a little shindig called Avengers Day to celebrate the relaunching of what seems to be upwards of five hundred new Avengers titles. We covered both the best Avengers stories (here, here, here and here) and the worst (here). We embraced and laughed and learned a little bit about both ourselves and our world. But still, one question remained unanswered: were the new Avengers titles any good?

Well, as it happens, I have some of them right here, so let's take a look, shall we? There are a bunch, so these reviews will be pretty short. But still tough. Kind of like Puck.


Avengers #1
Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr.

Yes, this is still being written by Bendis, but I went ahead and bought it anyway, being either open-minded, a sucker or both. And, actually, it's not too bad. Bendis still has some of the same flaws that always mar his team books for me -- namely, the characters all talk in the same voice (i.e. Bendis's voice) and fill arbitrary roles based on Bendis's plot needs rather than being driven by their character (see: use of Wonder Man in this issue). But this issue still manages to come at least closer to the spirit of the original Avengers title. Bendis does a couple weird things that you may either like or hate (namely, this storyline is apparently the sequel to a direct-to-video animated DVD, a fact not referenced in the comic) but while I am a bit skeptical about how he will handle Kang and Ultron, I'm willing to keep giving him the benefit of the doubt a little while longer. The JR Jr. art was solid but didn't blow me away.

My Grades: B-. This could go either way. Here's hoping.



Secret Avengers #1
Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato

This comic is kind of an old-schoolers dream, as it's essentially Steve Rogers leading a SHIELD covert ops group on a secret mission that happens to revolve around the Serpent Crown, which once upon a time was a major source of storylines in the Marvel world. And it has the Beast back with the Avengers where he belongs. It's not completely perfect -- I still don't really understand the inclusion of Valkyrie on a covert team, and sure enough she blows their cover about one minute into the mission -- but even the Deodato art seems to be a notch above the norm. It also has a great cliffhanger to boot that should have fans buzzing. Again, I'm not entirely sold on the line-up, but this is a top shelf first issue and with Brubaker's track record, it seems safe to say that this will likely be the most consistently good book among the new Avengers line.

My Grades: A-. A couple roster headscratchers (new Ant-Man? Really?) and a terrible costume for Beast prevent a higher grade.



Avengers Prime #1
Brian Michael Bendis and Alan Davis

Heaven help me, but I actually really liked this comic. There, I said it. Sure, there were a couple little details I didn't care for -- the title, for instance, is terrible, and the post-Siege argument between Cap and Tony that kicks off the issue seems forced to say the least -- but despite the arbitrary setup (the big three of Cap, Iron Man and Thor just happen to be the only people sucked through a vortex to the nine realms), I really dug it. Some of the credit goes, of course, to the always awesome Alan Davis, who provides great art as usual. But some of it has to go to (gulp) Bendis, who does a surprisingly solid job of making Steve Rogers look like a total badass. The ending was a nice twist also. I'm looking forward to the next issue, amazingly enough.

My Grades: This gets an A-. Funny how great characters and great art can inspire good stories.



Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1
Jim McCann and David Lopez

I have mixed emotions about this series. One the one hand, I love Hawkeye. On the other hand, I still can't figure out any good reason to have brought Mockingbird back from the dead, nor do I buy the explanation for her return. So, there's that. And this issue, while solid, doesn't really change my feelings about her. I've never been a fan, I don't get her relationship with Hawkeye and it just doesn't work for me. McCann, for his part, is obviously a huge fan of both Mock and the relationship (he's apparently the primary lobbier behind her return) and his enthusiasm shows, so the book has that going for it. The art is solid enough as well and it's clear that McCann has spent a lot of time studying back issues, as this first arc brings back both Hawkeye arch-nemesis Crossfire as well as the Phantom Rider. But some elements, like Mock's secret cadre of ex-SHIELD kidnapees just don't work for me (like, what's the purpose of their organization again exactly?) nor am I a huge fan of the use of Dominic Fortune here, though you'd think I would be. overall, then, this issue is just okay for me though it's solidly enough put together.

My Grades: This is probably a B+ objectively, but I can't give it better than a B- at best for personal reasons. I do like Mockingbird's new costume a lot better than her old one, anyway.



Free Comic Book Day 2010: Iron Man and Thor #1
Matt Fraction and John Romita Jr.

Okay, so this isn't part of the new Avengers relaunch, but after my review of the free Iron Man comic given out before showings of Iron Man 2, I wanted to discuss it briefly. This Iron Man / Thor team-up story was also a free comic, given out on free comic book day, which also was back in May. Unlike the comic given to theater-goers, it's actually written by real Iron Man writer Matt Fraction. Further, it features Thor (who as you know is teased in a bonus scene after the credits in Iron Man 2), meaning it even ties in better with the movie than the actual comic they gave out at the movie, which had nothing to do with anything really. Add to that the cool art by JR Jr. and the fact that this comic is totally awesome and you have a real head-scratcher for me. I can't think of a single good reason why this comic wasn't given to audiences at Iron Man 2 instead of the comic that was given out, as it is vastly superior and much more likely to bring in new readers. The story centers on a group who swipes from Stark tech to try and terraform part of the moon, which has negative impact on Earth weather, drawing Thor and Iron Man together. It's a fast paced, fun adventure -- everything a movie viewer and comic reader could want. What's not to love?

My Grades: A+. Unlike all the other comics in this review, which each cost a somewhat ridiculous $3.99, this comic was totally free, making it kind of ironic that it was also the best of the bunch hands down. Marvel, however, still gets a huge F- for not giving out this great comic to film crowds instead of the boring issue they actually gave out. It's a rare Double F- for one comic. What are you thinking, Marvel?!

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Lettercolumn Classics: Cat Scratches

Welcome back to another installment of Lettercolumn Classics, our semi-irregular look at some of the more interesting and offbeat lettercolumns in comic history. Last time out, you may recall, we explored the strange debate in the pages of Sgt. Fury about the treatment of German soldiers in Marvel comics (check it out here). Today we take a look at another hot button issue: women in comics.

Or, specifically, women in comics in 1972. That's when new Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas came up with one of the riskiest, most innovative and most progressive initiatives in comics: a whole mini-line of comics featuring female characters and written and drawn by female creators with the idea of both expanding the role of women in the industry and drawing in girls and women who may not otherwise be reading comic books.

Sounds familiar? Yes, nearly 40 years later, the industry is still wrestling with these same issues -- check out the massive drag out internet fight in the comment section of this article, for instance -- so you can only imagine how groundbreaking this concept was back in 1972 when Thomas and Marvel unveiled Shanna the She-Devil, Night Nurse and The Cat to a skeptical fan community. Just how likely Shanna (a female Tarzan knockoff) and Night Nurse (essentially a soap opera, as I've discussed before) were to succeed is questionable, but if any of the titles had a fighting chance of making it, it was The Cat, which featured a classic Marvel-style origin of a woman named Greer Nelson who comes into possession of a costume that gives her superpowers. This was seemingly right in the wheelhouse for most superhero fans, except, of course for the fact that the main character wasn't a Spider-man type nerdy loner but instead a self-possessed, modern woman.

So how did the readers react? The lettercolumn tells the tale. Let's just say that not everyone was excited to embrace the idea of equality is the world of superheroes. Case in point, this typical exchange courtesy of The Cat #3:





And this was hardly the only letter expressing these feelings; here's another example from The Cat #4:






Of course, not everyone was unhappy with the idea of a liberated female superhero, but proving just how sticky the issue is, even supporters of the idea wrote in with complaints. And the reason should be no surprise to anyone: they were complaining about the unrealistic depiction of The Cat's body. Sound familiar?






The upshot of all this controversy? Well, unfortunately for Marvel and champions of comic book equality, it didn't translate into sales. Instead, all three titles in the female creator line were canceled after four issues. Shanna ended up becoming a supporting character in Ka-Zar, Night Nurse vanished into obscurity for decades and Greer Nelson, of course, was reborn as Tigra the Were-Woman, with the only negative side-effect being the fact that her character was completely re-written and has shifted to become the high-profile sex-kitten in all of comics. Not exactly what the creators of The Cat had in mind.

Lest you get the idea that all the letters were negative (they were actually split about 50-50), we'll leave you with this positive bit of commentary from a 15-year old boy who couldn't possibly have realized how ironic his words would later appear given his own adult self's less than stellar reputation when it comes to dealing with women in comics:





Tune in next time for another... Lettercolumn Classic!

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