MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Night of the Living Deadpool #4
Part 4 of 4, so yes the last issue of this surprisingly interesting mini-series. Not that Deadpool is ever a boring story, but the fact that the story turned into a series that isn't just Deadpool slaying zombies left and right was actually a shock. So now we're following up from the last issue when Deadpool went all zombied out and completely destroyed the town that took him in. Until his healing factor finally kicked in and rejected the zombie virus.
He eventually finds a laboratory where he sees many different super-healing formulas, much like the ones he has. There's even a greenish-yellow color to it, very distinct from the black and gray palette. Foreshadowing? Or just for effect? In various tubes and tanks, there are also clones of Deadpool, likely from AIM's experiments trying to duplicate Deadpool's healing factor. Soon enough, the entire laboratory is surrounded by zombies. And with no way out, Wade drinks on of the healing formulas out of desperation. He goes into a flashback/monologue about how he meant to set out for a cure but that didn't work out as planned, so his plan B was hoping that the serum overdose would help him become a zombie killing machine. Instead, he let the zombies eat him alive. Similar to what happened in the previous issue, the infected bites mess with Wade's healing factor, but with the extra serum he drank, he still manages to stay alive.
Then the unexpected happens. A twist that Deanpool can't admit to have seen coming. The zombies that take bites out of Deadpool, start believing they are Deadpool. After they took a bite of him, their hunger for human flesh would disappear. In a more artistic sense, you can see these zombies start to develop more color, which by this point in the mini-series we've grown to relate with either Deadpool or the pre-apocalyptic world. Again the changes in color, or the presence of color actually, play a key role once again. The healing formulas were giving off a greenish color, a color extracted or at least related to Deadpool. Now, these zombies who start ingesting pieces of Deadpool, start changing back to a more colorful palette. Not exactly evidence that it's a cure per say... but they're not exactly just zombies anymore either.
Interesting twist. One of the most interesting story-telling tools used is the creative use of color to equate with Deadpool and pre-zombie world. The background is still gray in the closing panels, evidence that the world is still very much filled with zombies, but one by one, this new Deadpool infection is spreading as the old zombies start biting into these Deadpool zombies. It's as if the healing factor mixed in with Deadpool's body as a matrix turned into another type of infection in a way. Although there was no sign of Deadpool physically at the ending panels, just his subconscious speaking through a bunch of walking zombies.
Deanpool isn't particularly fond of this ending, but hey it had to end someway or another. Whereas the second and third parts of the story brought int more of a sense of tragedy, this fourth one lacked that. Despite Deadpool's little sacrifice play. Overall, 7/10 un-Deadpool zombies. Hah good one Deanpool.
Forever Evil #6
Easily the most anticipated issue of this batch. Just by looking at the cover, it appears we'll finally learn what the big surprise is with Nightwing's fate. Again realizing this review will be coming out 2 weeks+ late, the spoiler has probably already been floating around the net. But here's our review anyways.
Starts off with Lex in a little monologue about how he would never picture himself working with Superman. And Batman would probably be the second person on that list. Lots of banter between the two, continuing the power struggle of it being Lex's team of supervillains and Batman wanting to take the reigns from Lex.
Elsewhere, the Crime Syndicate are worried that Power Ring's ring (who's dead now) is acting as a beacon that is signaling their "destructor." These are some powerful characters but even they seem worrried that their "destructor" is attempting to break through the multiverse, explaining the red lightning from the last installment as actually a tear in the multiverse.Lex, Batman and the rest of the Injustice League are surprised that the Crime Syndicate aren't at the Watchtower (which they have used at their own base of operations). Sinestro uses his ring to analyze that two beings from Earth-3 are in the Watchtower, but size are elsewhere (observing the red lightning/tear). But they also note that Grid shouldn't have a heartbeat or frequency since he doesn't have a heart. As readers, we know one of them is Owlman's Alfred aka the Outsider. Who's the other? Some readers may remember the masked prisoner the Crime Syndicate keep in the Watchtower, but it's not clear if this mystery person is for sure the other heartbeat. Meanwhile, inside the Watchtower, Grid tells Outsider that he has left Nightwing unharmed, but placed in an inescapable device due to orders from Ultraman. It's contraption called the Murder Machine, made to imprison Doomsday.
The Injustice League make their move, seeing a prime opportunity to take out 3 as opposed to 9. Alfred and Grid become alerted to the breach, and the Outsider informs Owlman instantly. Owlman shows concern only for Richard Grayson aka Nightwing, but Outsider disobeys his master, believing that the priority should be making sure their masked prisoner doesn't get loose. Then out of the shadows Black Manta comes out and kills the Outsider. Another Earth-3 member down! Batman, Catwoman, Lex, and Bizarro find Nightwing detained. Then become trapped in the room, with no way out. Deathstroke, Sinestro, and Black Adam are seen wandering another part of the Watchtower. Sinestro's ring was picking up energy from Firestorm, but it was probably the Firestorm matrix that has the rest of the Justice League members imprisoned. Until they were ambushed by the Crime Syndicate, responding to the break in.
The next couple events happen so fast and jump between 3 settings. Batman learns that a bomb is strapped to Dick Grayson, which will only disarm if Dick's heart stops. Batman is determined to somehow get Dick free, refusing to abandon him and refusing to look for somewhere to escape to. Lex shoots Batman, realizing the only way to save his life and everyone else's, Dick must die.
Black Manta and Captain Cold unmask the prisoner after killing the Outsider. All that was revealed was a man's face and his red hair. Atomica and Johnny Quick meet up encounter them. Up to this point in Forever Evil, these two have arguably been the most violent, always looking out for a fight and taking out their foes with ease. And in this scene, Black Manta and Captain Cold really shine as characters. Manta's watertight suit even on the microscopic level protects him from Atomica getting into his skin, literally. Cold matches up against the Flash doppleganger, so we already know he's dealt with speedsters before. And Captain Cold gains the upper hand on him in such an awesomely nerdy way. He self-proclaims himself the man who mastered absolute zero, but Johnny Quick uses his speed to quickly take away Cold's gun, believing he's useless unarmed. Captain Cold activates a voice trigger by saying the phrase, "Jingle bells, Batman smells." The gun fires into Johnny's leg and Cold seizes the moment by kciking the frozen leg, basically shattering Quick's leg. Cold goes on to say that he and Flash have a mutual respect. It's a nice little detail by Geoff Johns to add in to really showcase another side of these villains other than them being nothing more than rivals to super-heroes. Really showing his understanding of these characters as more than just villains.
Best voice-activated pass-phrase ever.
Back in the Murder Machine room, Batman claims he'll kill Luthor if he harms Dick. But he has to deal with Bizarro first, using a secret weapon he'd normally use on Superman, a Kryptonite ring. The things really start to get interesting. Atomica is taken back at what happened to Johnny's leg. Can't be a speedster without a leg. But then she notices the red-headed prisoner's tape has been removed from his mouth. Making a big case about putting the tape back on his mouth and shutting him up. What harm can a word do right? Well then he mutters the word MAZAHS. In case you can't see it right away, it's SHAZAM backwards. A dark lightning strikes the prisoner, in typical Shazam fashion.
Detective Comics #29
The ending of a three-parter, when in all honesty, only the first part was interesting. The Gothopia element from the first part is essentially gone, even though it was evidenced in the last issue. But Deanpool checked it out anyways.
Nevertheless, it appears that Batman is under Scarecrow's control and begins attacking Ivy. But we learn soon after that it's all a ruse. The antidote that Batman concocted with Poison Ivy makes him immune even to this new type of fear gas. Batman is simply acting like he's under Scarecrow's control, turning on Ivy was part of the plan to earn Scarecrow's trust.
Under "Scarecrow's command," Batman performs some of the fear experiments with Professory Pyg
and Merry-Maker. Doesn't seem like Batman, even if it's to learn more about Scarecrow's operation, but it's interesting that he chooses which people to perform experiments on, leading Pyg and Merry-Maker. He acknowledges that he is worried that too much exposure may lead to permanent scarring. But this is all info we already know from earlier issues. Batman explains that the exposure
to fear gas while under the prolonged effects of contentment toxin produces a
specific change in brain chemistry, which produces a power fuel for further
toxins. He learns that Scarecrow is planning on releasing these new toxins over the country and multiple states via blimps filled with the toxins. |
| Wouldn't that image drive you suicidal too? |
The clever Dark Knight admits to the reader that the people he did the experiments on were criminals
and lowlifes he’s been unable to put behind bars. Deanpool knew Batman wouldn’t hurt
people. He also reveals that he slipped one of his antidote counteragents into
one of the extractions that Merry-Maker handed over to Scarecrow. As the blimps begin
exploding, Scarecrow believes it is releasing his fear toxins. But instead, it's an antidote reversing his toxin's effects.
Left image is from Detective Comics #28. Right is from #29.
Later Catwoman appraoches Batman about what happened. Batman
knows it isn’t easy, but he tells Catwoman that the contentment serum made him only see a
safe Gotham and that’s all he wanted. Not a partnership or relationship with
Catwoman, which is what she ultimately wanted to talk about. Not easy being the Dark Knight.
It's an okay issue, with an interesting way to end it but logical.
Just sort of seemed like the story just had to reach an end. There was a lot more detective side than Batman and
company kicking butt, which is expected in Detective Comics. But still wasn't exactly a highlight. Deanpool is excited for Buccaletto to take over, hoping for some
fresh new adventures of Batman. He would be especially excited if a
Flash-Detective Comics crossover were to come up! 7.5/10 fear experiments.
Iron Man #22
It starts off with Abigail narrating why she's changed sides. She believes Tony's idea is good, but believes Tony is the problem. Siding with Tony, the two take on the two other Mandarin-ring wielders and their little army. They address right away if Arno is dead or not from the previous issue. At the risk of spoiling it for everyone, yes he's still alive. And he's seen in a giant Iron-Man like suit of his own made by himself, taking pride in making it himself instead of Tony making one for him. So there it is, the big event that concluded the earlier issue is solved within the first couple pages of this one.
The Remaker tries fleeing from the battle in order to set off more bombs like the one that was meant to kill Arno. As he is fleeing, he is attacked by a mysterious person. All that is shown is a hand with that has a Mandarin ring of its own. Though with all the hype about Malekith being the main villain of the next Iron Man storyline... It's probably Malekith's gross hand. Abigail uses her ring to search for the Remaker, making sure he doesn't get away. The Inhuman Victor Kohl had managed to slip away from Tony. When Abigail discovers the Remaker is dead and his ring is missing, the same mysterious person attacks. This time using a giant sword that can wield itself. The giant sword cuts off both of Abigail's hands, stripping her of the ring and her powers.
The panel jumps to a hospital setting, where Abigail seen with bandaged nubs from her missing hands. Abigail explains to Tony and Marc that she wasn’t able to see her
attacker despite her time-dilation power. She said that all the rings wanted to
cause chaos and despised Tony. They’ll look for anyone who’s against the status
quo and hates Tony Stark. Of course, as readers we already knew this from earlier issues, but now Tony has a somewhat better idea of who may have a ring. Though it may be easier to count friends of Tony Stark as opposed to enemies. She also refuses to accept Tony’s patronage for prosthetics.
Loki begins informing the girl, and the reader, that Lorelei is an enchantress than can even evade the great Heimdall's gaze. And she's also an occasional enemy of Asgard. In this little flashback, we see another reference to how Loki annihilated the new iteration of himself and stole this version's body. Loki tracks Lorelei's footsteps by keeping tabs on scandals and scams that he all connects to her. He goes on to say that it's all practice leading up to a bigger score, stealing money from a vault in the Monte Carlo. We see Lorelei and her crew (two other females) pull off their little magic trick to get into the vault, but are stopped. As readers, we assume it's Loki being the only one to see through the deception, but it's actually an Interpol agent. One of those elements that is beginning to become a theme in this Loki series: things aren't always as they seem. Lorelei kisses the agent and sends him into a romantic dream and giving her crew more breathing room for the heist.
The girl reveals her name as Verity Willis and claims that no one can lie
to her. She can see right through them no matter how small or well-intentioned the lie is. She doesn’t even like fictional movies, studies mathematics, programming and physics
because they’re always true. That whole deal. Loki eventualy meets with Lorelei later, telling Verity he’ll see her
again soon. He admits to Lorelei that he’s scheming against the All-Mother and tells Lorelei he’s
putting together a crew. The issue ends with Lorelei teasing Loki about the girl at the speed dating, but Loki claims that Verity is far from his mind... except the readers see Verity eavesdropping in the shadows and smiles knowing that Loki's statement is a lie.
Iron Man #22
It's the end of "Iron Metropolitan," a story that started off strong and has now lingered to a point where we just want to start the next storyline and see more of the Mandarin Rings. Recap: Tony has a secret brother, he was actually adopted,
his brother is the actual biological son of his parents. The two work on a
project called Troy: building cities with built-in defense to ensure survival
of human race. First was Mandarin City. 10 rings seeked new hosts, we only saw
3: Abigail Burns, Lord Remaker, and a new Inhuman. However recently, Abigail
has changed sides and has allied with Tony. Arno, the brother, possibly died
end of last issue.
 |
| Arno's suit is ridiculously awesome. |
Abigail goes on to say that he is the reason there is a target on Mandarin City. She admits she
loves the city, but he’s the problem. As long as his face/name is associated with Mandarin City, he puts a target on the city. Tony has a press confeence that he quits the project,
leaving it in the hands of Arno. He returns to his mansion in California where we see him break the last bottle of wine from the Stark Vintage. Signs that there are still repercussions from
him dealing with his revelations that he is adopted and not the real son of
Howard and Maria Stark. Regardless, he looks ready to take on the Mandarin rings and return back into a more offensive role.
The ending panels show Malekith with 3 rings: Remaker’s and Abigail’s.
The third being the one he had when we first saw his hand attack Remaker. Maybe
one of the rings found him originally. Malekith claims he desires the set of the
Mandarin rings. Should be an interesting storyline, bringing in a big name (at least now thanks to Thor: The Dark World) in to be a villain for the Iron Man series.
Issue seemed to go by too fast. It all had to end, but it
seemed to end so abruptly. Arno was revealed to still be alive right away. The
battle lasted 2-3 pages before Malekith ended it by taking two of the rings.
The Inhuman managed to get away. Arno taking control of Troy project and
Mandarin City sounds like a step toward a bad path for him. Another step
towards Iron Man 2020, plus his new suit just seem like the story will lead to him becoming more independent about Mandarin City. If the two brothers clash, it'll definitely be an interesting match-up since they are both highly intellectual. Also, Deanpool hopes Malekith’s story will shift a
focus back to Tony Stark and Iron Man kicking butt. 7.5/10 nubs.
Loki: Agent of Asgard #2
Arguably the biggest surprise out of last month's Marvel Now debuts and perhaps the only one worth following. Punisher makes a close second with X-Force, New Warriors, and Fantastic Four getting honorable mentions. The whimsical storytelling mixed with Loki's trademark deceit create engaging plots as we watch the God of mischief attempt to literally wipe his slate clean in his reinvigorated, youthful form.
Loki does speed dating? In traditional Asgardian clothing?
So Loki is still doing missions for Asgard. The mission for this issue is to bring Lorelei back to Asgard. We also learn that Loki has some history with this character. Not too much detail about it, just seemed like some type of playful romantic relationship. But the issue starts off with a speed dating scene from a girl's point of view. We see her reject guy after guy and she has this uncanny ability of recognizing when a guy is lying, which is why she rejects all these guys. Loki shows up next in the seat, donning his more traditional Asgardian outerwear as opposed to blending in with the scene. He sits in the seat and explains to the mystery girl his story about his search for Lorelei. And with her uncanny ability, she realizes that he is telling the truth.
 |
| Reference to Loki taking over his younger version's body. |
Not Charlie's Angels. It's Lorelei and her heist crew. Not as catchy.
It is then revealed that Loki sneakily switched one of the girl's Amulet of Invisibility with a fake, thus easily getting herself caught when she wandered back out onto the floor. This is also an example of how Loki must have acquired all the other magical items in his arsenal. He then tells Lorelei that he's actually shape-shifted himself into being the third member of the group this whole time. Again, things aren't as they seem with this trickster. He tries to confront Lorelei, claiming he's not trying to bring her back to Asgard but she still escapes through a mystic portal in her bag.
Loki with his new toy. Lorelei making her grand escape.
Back to the speed dating scene, Loki tells the girl that Lorelei
will be regrouping by looking for single types looking for love... like speed dating. Loki also points out that it’s weird that this mysterious girl can see through his disguise as a
divorced 40-year-old. Meaning he's not actually sitting there in his Asgardian look, but to everyone else in the room he's putting up the illusion that he is blending in. Yet this girl only sees Loki as he is. At this point we begin suspecting that this mystery girl is Lorelei, but Loki
reveals she was at the table before the mystery girl, where she didn’t even notice his guise. Loki tells the girl he gave Lorelei his wallet with his calling card in it, meaning she'll realize who he was soon enough.
The girl reveals her name as Verity Willis and claims that no one can lie
to her. She can see right through them no matter how small or well-intentioned the lie is. She doesn’t even like fictional movies, studies mathematics, programming and physics
because they’re always true. That whole deal. Loki eventualy meets with Lorelei later, telling Verity he’ll see her
again soon. He admits to Lorelei that he’s scheming against the All-Mother and tells Lorelei he’s
putting together a crew. The issue ends with Lorelei teasing Loki about the girl at the speed dating, but Loki claims that Verity is far from his mind... except the readers see Verity eavesdropping in the shadows and smiles knowing that Loki's statement is a lie.
Not as good as the first issue but still produces a story
that’s fitting for Loki’s character as we see his story may not be as much about redemption as we may think. And if there's one thing that's guaranteed in this series, things aren't always as they seem. It somewhat feels disconnected since it doesn’t pick up at all from the ending of the first
issue (old/bad Loki returning in front of the All-Mother). But the two possible love interests make things interesting. For the most part, a Loki scheming is
the best kind of Loki. And with all the back story on Verity, it’s clear she’s meant to play a bigger role than just an
extra character for one issue. But what is Loki scheming next?! 8/10 speed dates.
Nova #14
Following last issue, Beta Ray Bill and Nova are off in space on a mission to save Beta's people. But the issue first starts off with the two assisting a ship that was hit by Skaarn, tying everything back to the original reason Nova is involved in the first place. That is, that Sam wants to redeem himself for helping out a bad guy like Skaarn without knowing all the facts. He's still a young hero and has much to learn about superheroing so he's determined to make good on his mistake.
There are some nice light moments between the two characters when they are flying through space at cosmic speeds. They both take such joy and excitement when flying through the wonders of space, something you don't see often in comics since it's practically the only way to travel in a comic universe. The story shifts to Bill telling a story about how a Nova once saved his life. Now Deanpool suspects that the Nova could have been Sam's dad, but that connection wasn't clear or even touched upon too much. Bill also goes on to give Sam some advice about his inexperience. It's a nice couple scenes between the two as Bill acts as a temporary mentor for the young Nova, who is learning the super-hero business on his own without one. Sam's commentary throughout the whole issue continues to be fun and light, similar to Peter Parker as Spider-Man. The teenage hero point of view is refreshing after reading much more serious, darker, and/or mature heroes.
Thanks to Sam's memory, Bill figures that Skaarn and his crew must be heading towards Knowhere, the head of a celestial that was murdered and now a place where many people hang out. Starts looking like the Mos Eisley spaceport bar from Star Wars. Bill actually does find Skaarn and confronts him, but Skaarn threatens to airlock his people if he is harmed. We saw that Skaarn was in the middle of a transaction for a "war bringer" aka the big machine looking thing on the cover of this issue. The transaction was quite one sided as Skaarn took the remote for the machine and killed the seller. The War Bringer beings attacking Nova. Nova tries fighting back but once again uses his creativeness and cleverness to use wires from Skaarn's ship to make a noose for the giant robot. It worked effectively because Nova remembered he had charged it with Nova force back when he helped out Skaarn with his ship. This whole sequence was pretty awesome as far as art and the way it was sequenced. It really showcased Nova impressively.
Back to dealing with Skaarn, Bill and Nova come up with a ruse to comply with Skaarn's demand to teleport the two to the other side of the galaxy. Beta Ray Bill allows himself to be transported, but Nova simply uses his powers to make an illusion of himself appear to be transported with Bill. He actually stays behind in Skaarn's ship to try and teleport Bill back to buy some time and save his people. All goes according to plan until a psychic begins communicating to Sam in his head from inside the ship. Sam follows where the voice leads him, and it turns out to be a psychic dog named Cosmo. No not a green fairy godparent. The dog explains that he was hit by poison from Skaarn and that it has made him weak. The dog seems intelligent, but still has all the tendencies and personality of a dog. It's an amusing combo.
Lots of good moments in this issue, but the story doesn't seem much closer to being done. Not a bad thing, just didn't seem like the story moved forward much, and now it seems like there's a new element involved. Beta Ray Bill is taken back out of the picture, shifting the focus solely on Nova (which is fine, it's his series), but the team-up was one of the more exciting aspects. How does Cosmo play into the storyline? And will we still see much Beta Ray Bill next issue? Regardless, this storyline still has something to prove now that one of it's key elements may be gone, but Sam's voice for the story will likely remain entertaining. 8.5/10 psychic dogs.
Check out Magneto, Moon Knight, and Wolverine and the X-Men in a separate post, but were also picked up from this week!
Wow, so many good issues from this first week of March. Even though this post is coming out towards the end of March. A lot on my plate and Deanpool's plate lately so sorry for all the late posts (and the subsequent posts will ultimately be late as well.) Who knows when we'll catch up. But stay tuned for more! Pick of the Week easily goes to Forever Evil #6. The story is finally coming together with the biggest cliffhanger thus far. A couple "end of story" issues too: Iron Man, Detective Comics, and Night of the Living Deadpool. But Deanpool is kind of glad those ended. All 3 had their moments, but end as good as they all began. Hoping the next storylines for Iron Man and Detective Comics are stronger, and same goes for the next Deadpool mini-series (which is supposed to be Deadpool vs. Carnage!). Thanks for reading!
Wow, so many good issues from this first week of March. Even though this post is coming out towards the end of March. A lot on my plate and Deanpool's plate lately so sorry for all the late posts (and the subsequent posts will ultimately be late as well.) Who knows when we'll catch up. But stay tuned for more! Pick of the Week easily goes to Forever Evil #6. The story is finally coming together with the biggest cliffhanger thus far. A couple "end of story" issues too: Iron Man, Detective Comics, and Night of the Living Deadpool. But Deanpool is kind of glad those ended. All 3 had their moments, but end as good as they all began. Hoping the next storylines for Iron Man and Detective Comics are stronger, and same goes for the next Deadpool mini-series (which is supposed to be Deadpool vs. Carnage!). Thanks for reading!
| A little tribute to Nightwing... just in case. |
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