Saturday, January 3, 2015

2000's Avengers Titles Issue Summaries: New Avengers +Mighty Avengers + Invaders/Avengers+ Young Avengers+Thunderbolts+Captain Britain and MI-13



Secret War
This arc introduces Quack and we also get a Nick Fury that is pushed to work off the radar leaving SHIELD
Nick Fury goes rogue and creates a taskforce to kill the elected leader of Latveria, Lucia von Bardas that has been financing technological villains in the US

Characters:
Heroes: Nick Fury, Captain America, Wolverine, Cage,Black Widow, Spider-man, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men

Antagonist:

Villains: Lucia von Bardas, Killer Shriek, Tinkerer, Scorcher, Lady Doc Ock,  Boomerang, Constrictor, Crimson Dynamo, Diamondback, Gold Bug, Grim Reaper, Hobgoblin, King Cobra, Mentallo, Mister Fear, Scorpion,  Man Droids, Shocker, Spider-Slayer, Paste Pot Pete, The Wingless Wizard

Supporting Cast: Jimmy Woo, Jasper Sitwell, Maria Hill, Condesa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine.

Issue Summary:
·         1 Shield discover that Lucia von Bardas, the elected leader of Latveria, has been financing the Tinkerer, the man that builds the tec for marvel  street villains, but when Nick goes to the White House and presents his plan to take her down, they shut him down, a year later someone attacks Luke Cage and nearly kills him.
·         2 Nick goes rogue and forms a task force (Spider-man, Captain America, Wolverine, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Black Widow and Quake) to take Lucia down, but the team has no idea what Nick has planned this for them that is to assassinate Lucia, which he does with help of Quake.
·         3 Captain America finds out what happened to Luke and is pist at Fury, because he's the only one that remembers that black ops mission a year ago, while in another place Spidy and Daredevil are attacked.
·         4 Spidy, Daredevil, Captain America and Fury are attacked by an army of b-list tec villains, when the FF appears to help, when a Cyborg Lucia von Bardas reveals that she the one behind the attack  wanting to take vengeance of Fury.
·         5 Lucia von Bardas plans to kill herself and her minions in a colossal nuclear explosion to kill Fury and company, in vengeance for the failed assassination attempted.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         This story arc sets the ground work for New Avengers.
·         Introduction of Quake a major member to the future  Secret Warriors.
·         Nick Fury leaves Shield and goes underground.
·         Maria Hill takes over as the head of Shield.




New Avengers 1-6

A massive prison break leads to the reformation of the Avengers.  

                                     
Characters:                                                    
Heroes: New Avengers (Spider Woman, Captain America, Iron man, Luke Cage, Spider-man, Wolverine and Sentry), Daredevil
Villains: Electro, Sauron, Purple man, Armadillo, Brother Grim, Controller, Mr. Hyde, Jigsaw, The Slug, X-ray, Blood Brother, Carnage, Fool Killer, Crusader, Cut Throat, Hydro man …
Supporting: Foggy Nelson                    
Issues Summary:
It actually took me a while to get use to this new line up, Marvel really mixed it up with this line up.
·         1 Electro is hired to break someone out of Raft, a high security super villain prison. Meanwhile Matt Murdock arrives with Jessica Drew and they are accompanied by  Luke Cage to visit an inmate on behalf of Reed Richards, the Sentry, when there is a massive black out in the prison. Spidy observes a large electrical explosion at the prison and goes in to see what has happened.  He meets up with Captain America and they confront a massive prison break. Electro releases everyone to cover his tracks.
·         2 All hell breaks loose Sentry bolts into action and kills Carnage, Iron man joins in the fight. Purple man tries to take control of Luke Cage, but he gets clobbered, heroes take control of the situation but 44 villains get away.
·         3 Cap reforms the Avengers, Stark Tower is their new base.
·         4 Investigation to find out who Electro freed from prison. After hunting and interrogating Electro they discover he freed Sauron.  
·         5 Avenger head to Savage Land there they cross paths with Wolverine who joins them but they are Captured by the Savage Land Mutants.
·         6 Heroes escape and defeat Sauron.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         The Avengers Reform
·         Carnage gets killed for now
·         44 Villains escape from prison.
·         Stark Tower becomes the Avengers new base.
·         It looks like there is a Shield cover up in Savage Land, what’s Black Widow II doing there.

The Good:
·         Really interesting line up, but the best part is to finally have Spidy and Wolvy on their roster.
·         The Resurrection of so many B, C, and D list Villains.
·         The Mystery of Sentry.
·         The First ark goes in a direction that the Avengers have never gone before which makes the title exiting.

Rating: 10

Young Avengers
I really like this team I always wondered why this title had such a short life span.
Issues 3-6
Plot:
Iron Lad, who is really young Kang, travels back in time to form the next generation of Avengers with the help of Vision’s programming that he has downloaded into his armor. Now after the team has gone public in stopping crime they are confronted by Captain America, Iron Man and Jewel and in the middle of the lecture that they should not be super heroes and it’s inherently dangerous, the Kang drops in for a visit.         
                                                        
Characters:                                                    
Heroes: Young Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Jewel and Vision.
Villains:  Kang
                                          
Issues Summary:
·         3 The kids are confronted by Captain America, Iron Man and Jewel, and that they should stop super heroe’ing, for their own safety, when out of the blue Kang drops in.
·         4-5 Kang clobbers Captain America and Iron Man, and tries to force Iron Lad back to the future. The Young Avengers combat Kang, the battle ends with Iron Lad killing Kang (technically he commits a time displaced suicide, that’s good comic book writing).
·         6 Iron Lads presence in the present is wrecking the whole time space continuum, so he realizes that he got to go back to the future and become Kang.
Repercussions and Lasting effects:
       
The Bad:
·         Too bad Iron Lad is gone, he was super cool and had tons of potential.
The Good:  
·         A new Vision is born
·         Cassie Lang becomes Stature
·         Kate Bishop be becomes the new Hawkeye (she doesn’t take that name in this issue).  
·         Eli Bradley revels that he’s the grandson of the first Captain America who was black.
·         Mystery behind Hulking’s and Asgardian’s power sets.
                                                          
Rating: 10



New Thunderbolts 7: filler issue presents the team members
Rating: 2

New Thunderbolts 8: Speed Demon still leads a life of crime, even though he’s a member of the Thunderbolts, Blizzard tries to stop him but fails. Blizzard leaves the team.
Rating: 7

New Thunderbolts 9: Radioactive Man has some major issues with Namor, and Captain Marvel changes his name to Photon.
Rating: 7



New Thunderbolts 1: The Bolts are back saving New York from a group of Atlantian Rebels.

Lasting Effects:
·         Atlas almost kills Captain Marvel for sticking his nose in their business.

New Thunderbolts 2: Bolts confront Namor at the UN over the terrorist acts of his people when a group of C list Spidy villains attack.

Lasting Effects:
·         Bolts are funded by hydra.

New Thunderbolts 3: A Nuclear bomb goes off during the Bolts battle and Radioactive Man jumps in to save the day.

Lasting Effect: Radioactive man joins the  team.

New Thunderbolts 4: Swordsman is sent to kill Baron Strucker when Wolverine drops in to also kill him.

Lasting Effects: Swords man works for Purple man.

New Thunderbolts 5-6: Hydra attacks and the Bolts decide to betray their financers, stopping Strucker plans




New Avengers 7-10
Ever since the Sentry mini series came out I wanted to see this character join the normal Marvel Universe.
The New Avengers start to unravel the Mystery of who the Sentry is.

Characters:                             
Heroes: New Avengers, the Illuminati, Fantastic Four, Namor, X-men, Doctor Strange, Shield and the Inhumans.
Villains: The Void, Wrecker, The General Master Mind
Supporting Cast: Paul Jenkins

Issue Summary:
·         7 New Avengers hunt down the Wrecker who had escaped from Raft back in issue one. Iron man reveals to the Illuminati the discovery of the Sentry. Shield finds Mr. Reynolds and is confronted by Iron man and Captain America.
·         8 just about every major marvel hero confronts Mr. Reynolds, trying to help him bring back the Sentry.
·         9 The Void drops in trying to stop the heroes from waking the Sentry.
·         10 Sentry finally is back and stops the Void in the nick of time.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         The Sentry and the Void will play major roles in the future of marvel.

The Good:
·         Introduction of Characters like the White Queen or Master Mind that normally appear in Avengers titles.
·         The first appearance of the Illuminati
·         The Sentry is cool as hell.

Rating: 10

Young Avengers issues 9-11
Hulkling finds out that his whole life is a lie and that he’s the son of Captain Marvel and a Skrull Queen. The team needs more fire power because the Kree and the Skrulls are after them so Vision uses his list of next generation Avengers to find and new recruit Speed, who turns out to be Wiccans twin brother. 
Rating 10


Final battle with the Purple Man, and oh boy Zemo is going to make his great return.


Purple Rain/ New Thunderbolts 10 and 12

Purple man has a mission from Baron Zemo to test the Thunderbolts, to give the team a further cohesion as a team preparing them for what is to come. 



Characters:                             

Heroes: Thunderbolts

Antagonist: Swords man, New Warriors, Doctor Spectrum, Vulture, Young Avengers, New Avengers, Overmind and Baron Zemo.



Villains:  Purple man







Issue Summary:

·         10:  Swords man breaks free from Purple man’s control, so he sends an angry mob after him. Thunderbolts intervene and mistakenly attack Swords man.

·         11 House of M.

·         12 Thunderbolts defeat Purple Man, but we discover that Zemo was the one behind the seen using him.





Repercussions and Lasting effects:

·         Joystick is on a mission for the government planting cameras in the Fantastic Fours base.
·         Zemo slowly becomes a major character in the title.
·         Photon completes his reconstruction

The Good:
I love these super hero team battle issues,  and the best part of this one is that it actually has a plot.
·         Intriguing arc, tons of potential.

Rating: 8
 
 
New Thunderbolts 13-14: The government doesn’t trust the New Avengers and use the New Thunderbolts to draw them out so they can bug their new base. The Thunderbolts actually defeat the Avenger.
The Good: The one behind the bugging is Henry Pym, but the Skrull one. 
Rating: 9
 
New Thunderbolts 15-16:  Thunderbolts clash with Squadron Supreme, who are under Game Master’s control.

New Thunderbolts 17: Zemo saves Strucker from being killed by the New Swords man which really is his son; and enlists to him to his cause.  We discover that the Strucker in the Wolverine crossover Enemy of the State was a fake used by Gorgon to take over Hydra, while the real one was recovery from his battle with the with the Thunderbolts. We also discover that the handle of Swords man sword is made out of his sister’s skin so it can be activate his mutant powers.  

Rating: 10



New Thunderbolts 18-19: Zemo has to kill Photon/Captain Marvel, to save the Universe.

Rating: 9
 
Thunderbolts 101: Team regroups after what happens with Photon, with Zemo as the Leader.

Go Team Cap
Thunderbolts 102: Zemo’s Thunderbolts start clashing with Game Masters minions over the control of the well springs.  



Civil War and Parallel Story arcs


The New Warriors screw up big time, when during the typing of their reality show battling a group of B-list  villains cause the death of hundreds of children in a nearby School. This leads to the obligation of registration and training to all heroes by the government, and this divides the super hero community starting a civil war with Captain America against the registration and Tony Stark for the Registration and his 50 state initiative. 

Characters:                            
Heroes: Captain America, Daredevil, Hercules, Falcon, Goliath, Black Panther, Namor; Captain Marvel/Monica, X-Men, X-Force, 198, Spider-Man, Punisher, Cloak, Dagger, Cable, Storm, Invisible Woman, Young Avengers, New Warriors

Antagonist: Iron Man, Reed Richards, Thunderbolts, the Initiative, Shield, One, War Machine, Black Widow, Tigra, Sentinels, Bishop, Sabra, Micromax, Henry Pym (who actually is a Skrull), Night Hawk, Thing, Maria Hill, She Hulk

Villains: Game Master, Kingpin, Hammer Head, Squadron Sinister, Joy Stick, Nitro, Speed Freak, Cobalt Man, Cold Heart, Vulture, Reaper, Trappster, Taskmaster, Venom  

Sporting Cast: Inhumans, Captain Britain, New Warriors, Wong, Doctor Strange

Issue Summary:
Death to Stark!!!
·         Civil War I: New Warriors attack a group of B-list villains that end up killing many innocent children, leads to a back lash against the super hero community and provokes the creating of the Super hero registration dividing the Super Hero community with Captain America on one side and Iron man on the other.
·         The Amazing Spider-man 532:  Spidy take the decision to side with the registration.
·         Civil War 2:  Anti registration heroes go underground with Shield hot on their trails while Spidy in support of the registration he reveals to the World that he is Peter Parker.
·         Civil War 3: Anti and Pro registration heroes battle leading to the surprise return of Thor who end up killing Goliath.
·         The Amazing Spider-man 534-533: Fallout from the unmasking and battle Captain America.
·         Black Panther 19: Panther visits Doom, and Victor offers him an alliance to affront what’s happening with the Civil war, Panther refuses.
·         Black Panther 20: Panther visits the Inhumans and he discovers that they are in a War against humanity thanks to what happened with Quicksilver (check out Son of M).
·         Black Panther 21: Panther visits Namor, and he’s also nerves of what will happen with the registration.
·         Black Panther 22: Panther is confronted by the War Machine Sentinel and Iron man on way has he been visiting enemies of the state like Namor and Doom, Panther battles both of them and reveals that he has black knights ebony blade.
·         Civil War X-Men 1-4: The 198 leave the X-Men’s X Mansion concentration camp, the original X-Men fallow, and all kinds of trouble happens thanks to Johnny Dee and the Lazer.
·         New Thunderbolts 103: The Thunderbolts are working for the Government and they are capturing and recruiting tons of villains into the Initiative.
·         New Thunderbolts 104: Zemo plane to use the Initiative for his own objective, to battle the Game Master.
·         New Thunderbolts 105: Zemo actual strike a deal with Captain America.
·         Black Panther 23: Black Goliath has been killed and Panther is pist, T’Challa tries to dissuade Captain find another way to finish the War.
·         Black Panther 24: Panther fully joins Cap’s side.
·         Civil War, Causalities of War: Captain America and Iron man get together try to hammer out their deference’s, but they cannot find common ground.
·         Civil War, War Crimes: Kingpin plays Iron man using him to eliminate Hammer Head.
·         Civil War, The Return: Captain Marvel is back, while Sentry chooses to side with the Registration.
·         Civil War Choosing Sides/ Ultimate Civil War: Spider-Ham: a waste of ink and money.
·         Thunderbolts 106-108. Zemo unites Captain America’s and Iron Man’s force, plus the whole Initiative to defeat the Game Master.
·         Amazing Spider-man 335: Spidy uneasy with what’s going on with the registration he ask Reed to visit the super hero prison in the negative Zone and Peter isn’t too happy with what he sees.
·         Civil War 4-5: Spidy changes sides and is almost killed by Jester and Jack’o Lantern who are part of the Initiative but is saved by the Punisher.
·         Amazing Spider-man 536 and 537: Spidy changes side and joins Captain America and he’s on the run.
Front Line 7-8: Tony puts Norman Osborne on crash course in to sparking a war with the Atlanteans tricking him into taking mind controlling nanites, as the Green Goblin he takes out a Atlantean cell, while Speedball's powers go crazy after surviving a assassination attempt blinding she hulk. After that during peace talks with the atlanteans Norman shots their representitive.
Front Line 9-10:

Ben Ulrich discovers that Stark is profiting from the registration and the civil war, while Speedball decides to become Penance. 
·         Civil War 6: Thing gear up for the final battle.
·         Black Panther 25: In the final battle Cyborg Thor/Ragnarok destroys Wakanda’s embassy, Hercules destroys the Fake Thor.
·         Civil War 7:  Captain America is defeated, holy cow, I didn’t see that coming.
Front Line 10: Ben Ulrich puts it to Stark over how he made money with the registration and how he used Norman's attacks to further his agenda. 

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Zemo actual gives Cap America his stuff, the stuff that he had destroyed when he raided the Avengers mansion back in Avengers 274.
·         Death of Goliath.
·         Set the stage for the death of Captain America.
·         Death of Hammer Head, for a  while.
·         Captain Marvel come back is the prelude to the secret invasion.
·         Black Panther and Storm join the Fantastic Four
·         Hercules is back and he’ll play an ever bigger role in Marvel.
·         Doom will hold a heavy grudge against Black Panther leading to a war between Wakanda and Latveria.
·         Zemo gets lost in time
·         End of Zemo’s Thunderbolts, Norman's Thunderbolts start from here
·         General Lazer killed
·         The birth of Clone Thor/Ragnarok
·         Speed ball becomes Penance.
·         Death of the New Warriors
·         Spidy’s unmasking brings him all kinds of grief latter.
·         Birth of the Initiative.
·         Black uniform Spidy.


The Good:
·         In the X-men pluggin Caliban uses his original powers.
·         Pym, Reed and Tony lose the moral higher ground Cloning Thor.
·         This event really shacks the status quo of the whole Marvel Universe.
·         Spidy’s unmasking really takes the character into unexplored territory.
·         Goliath’s death was really messed up.
·         Captain America and Punisher have issues.
·         Captain America loses brilliant, welcome to Tony’s dystopia.
·         I like that the crossover didn’t end the way that I thought it would.
Rating: 10

Thunderbolts 109: Fallout from the Civil War and the battle with the Game Master, the return of Moon Stone.



 




Zemo: Born Better 1-4: Helmut Zemo, travel though time molding the Zemo barony. 

Repercussions and Lasting effects: Zemo is alive and well.

Rating: 6








This issue is actually waist of time because Cap Marvel is a fake and isn't Hulking's Dad
Young Avengers Presents: Patriot
Eli Bradley aka Patriot has issues with the fact that he represents the US with his costumed identity, when the country has done so little for his community. So he has chat with Bucky.
Rating: 7
Young Avengers Presents Hulking:
Hulkling meets the man who he believes to be his father Captain Marvel (which really is a Skrull). So this issue technically has no relevance whats so ever.  
Rating 1
Young Avengers Presents Wiccan and Speed
The two brothers in their search for their mother they cross paths with Master Pandemonium (I can’t believe that someone remembers this loser), who has history with the Scarlet Witch and has a great significance in the origin of both brothers.
Rating 6
Young Avengers Presents Vision
Vision seeks out Stature to tell her how he for her.
Rating 1; this issue is a big waste of pages. 




Faith In Monsters
Resultado de imagen para faith in monster thunderbolts
A change of direction for the series that I did like at first, but over time I've learned to love especially it profound impact in Marvel at the time
A new Thunderbolts team has been formed with Norman Osborn as the team leader, with a new mission, to hunt down and imprison unregistered heroes.

Characters:                 
¿Heroes?/ Thunderbolts team breakdown:
·         Norman Osborn/Green Goblin: It's great to see series focus on how obsessed and crazy Norman is, but he is able to hide this to further his search of power through the Thunderbolts.
·         Venom/Mac Gargan: Venom with Mac is a dream come true, he has no moral restraints like  Eddie did, so he's freaking dangerous chomping people arms off here and there.
·         Bullseye: He is Norman backup plan if the team screws up, ¿but how long will Osborn be able to control him?
·         Swordsman: He was on Zemo's team and he's being kept on the team with the promise from Osborn that he'll bring his sister back from the dead.
·         Penance: Speedball minds is broken from the Stanford explosion and the events of the Civil, leading him to have a very interesting miniseries tied to the Thunderbolts.
·         Moonstone: She's the teams field leader, but she has no interest in the battle field she wants to manipulate and control Norman.
·         Songbird: Basically she's the only one on the team that really wants to be a hero and do the right thing.
·         Radioactive Man: He has been sent by the Chinese government, in good will to help them with the registration. 
Antagonist:  Jack Flag, Steel Spider, American Eagle, Shadowoman


 
Issue Summary:
·         110: Norman puts together his new team to hunt down unregistered heroes, while Jack Flag defies the registration law.
·         111: Thunderbolts try to apprehend Jack Flag, but everything goes wrong, the team lets Jack escape after he humiliated them, but is captured by Bulleye which leaves the hero paralyzed.
·         112-113: Steel Spider brings unwanted attention on himself for cracking down to hard on crime catching the watchful eye of Norman that wants to hunt a Spider.
·         114-115: Steel Spider is confronted by American Eagle to calm him down in his overzealous crime fighting,  that he could spark a gang war, when the Thunderbolts arrive to apprehend both of them for being unregistered and things go to hell.
Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         This series will lead into and becomes Dark Avengers.
·         This series puts Osborn on curse to the Dark Reign.
·         Jack Flag will end up on the Guardians of the Galaxy, after they fix his back.
·         Venom ate Steel Spider's arm.
·         Bullseye's is left paralyzed for a time.

The Bad:
·         Jack Flag actual breaks Swordman's Sword, ¿but isn't covered in adamantium?
·         Bullseye's back is broken, ¿But isn't his back laced with adamantium?

The Good:
·         The characterization of this character in this series is fantastic.
·         Really good writing.



The Mighty Avengers
Issues 1-5
Plot: Iron Man is sets out to create the hardest hitting Avengers line up ever and he recruits the biggest guns he can find, putting himself, Sentry, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Wasp, Black Widow and Ares on one team. The formation of this team comes just in time because Ultron is back in a super creepy way, taking the form of a butt naked Janet Van Dyne and it basically, as usual, wants to destroy all organic life on earth.
                                                        
Characters:                                                    
Heroes: Mighty Avengers: Iron Man, Sentry, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Wasp, Black Widow and Ares.
Villains: Ultron
 Supporting Cast: Tigra, Henry Pym (he’s really an undercover Skrull preparing for the Secret Invasion we discover this much latter), Shield, Mole Man and his subterranean beasts
                                          
Issues Summary:
·         1 New team is formed, just in time it seems that Mole Man has attacked the surface world, but in the middle of the battle Iron Man’s extremis armor is hijacked by Ultron, and it’s   the one responsible for the Subterranean monsters attacking, and to the surprise of the Avengers his armor take the form of Janet Van Dyne.
·         2 Ultron mops the floor with the Avengers.
·         3 Ultron brings down Shield’s Helicarrier as a little distraction to get Sentry off his back.
·         4 Ultron has infected anything with Stark tec and it seems that Ultron has killed Sentries wife.
·          5 Pym thinks of a plan that end up successfully defeating Ultron.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         After this battle Ultron consciousness jumps into space joining up with the Phalanx starting the Annihilation Conquest crossover.

       
The Bad:

The Good:  
·         This incarnation of Ultron really wants to mess with the Avengers heads.
                                                          
Rating: 8

 The Gaint sized Mighty Avengers 1: Just a pile caca






New Avengers 37 + Annual 2



Characters:                                                    

Heroes: New Avengers

Villains: The Hood and his crew (Wrecking crew, The Wizard, Masque, Blackout, Blood Brother, Griffin, Brother Grim, Scare Crow, Death Watch, Corrupter, Jigsaw, Vermin, Cutthroat, Living Laser…)   

Supporting: Jewel, Wong and Night Nurse.

                                                              

Issues Summary:

·         33 The New Avengers clobber the Hood and his crew, and ruining his villainous plans.

·         Annual 2 The Hood wants pay back against the New Avengers, so rounds up a group of about 24 villains and acttaks the New Avengers at their base Doc Strange’s house. Pushing Strange too far, being able to defeat the villains but at a cost.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:

·         We discover that the Hood is being controlled by a Demon.

·         Doc Strange is feeling the effect of walking on the dark side.

·         The Hood having attacked Tigra has lasting effect on this character, the will last up to Avenger Academy.

·         Doc Strange leaves the team.  



The Bad:



The Good:

·         Lots of action.

·         I love how this series bring back a ton of obscure villains for the void of oblivion.



Rating: 10
  

Secret Invasion



The Skrulls have been infiltrating Earths super hero and villain communities for years; and now they are gearing up for a full on war to take over the planet.



Characters:                                                    

Heroes: The Illuminati, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Iron man, Shield, Sword, Norman’s Thunderbolts, Norman Osborne, X-men, X-force, Marvel Boy, Young Avengers, The Initiative, Shadow Initiative, Crusader, Secret Warriors, New Warriors, old New Warriors, Nick Fury, The Hood and his crew, Hercules, Snow Bird, Ajaks, Mikaboshi,  Atum/Demogorge, Amadeus Cho, Captain Britain, MI: 13., Skrull Kill Krew, Deadpool, Yacosta, X-men and X-force.




Villain: Skrulls, Nightmare

Supporting: Athena, Eternals, Maria Hill and Merlyn  

                                                              

Issues Summary:

The New Avengers Illuminati 1: We discover that at the end of the Kree Skrull war the Illuminati paid a visit to the Skrulls menacing them that Earth was off limits and they destroy their Throne Ship to get their message across, they get capture but latter escape. This set into motion the future secret invasion.
The New Avengers Illuminati 4: The Illuminati engage Marvel Boy/Noh-Varr, and explain to him the legacy of Captain Marvel, and that he should stop trying to destroy Earth, this sets Marvel on the path to become a hero, as we see in the Secret Invasion.




·         New Avengers (NA) 45 The House of M almost blows the Infiltrated Skrulls cover. And we discover that the Annihilation Wave is one of the reasons that push the Skrulls to invade.

·         NA 44 We observe how extreme the Skrulls training exercises are.

·         Mighty Avengers (MA) 18 We discover exactly when Pym was kidnapped by the Skrulls and that there was more than one Skrull impersonating him. 
 The New Avengers Illuminati 5: Stark reveals to the Illuminati the corps of the Skrull Electra and to the Surprise of everyone Blackbolt reveals that he’s a Skrull and attacks the Illuminati, heroes defeat the super Skrull attack but marks the begging of the Secret Invasion.

·         Secret Invasion: Inhumans 1; Medusa discovers that Black Bolt is a Skrull imposter, ¿but for how long has this been going on?

·         Secret Invasion 1 Skrull Electra sparks an intense investigation by Tony Stark to discover the extent of the Skrull invasion. At the same time a Skrull ship crashes in savage land and  both avengers teams, New and Mighty; go to investigate and to their surprise a bunch of Heroes emerge from the ship, the thing is  ¿are they Skrulls or are they the real deals? Meanwhile the Skrulls start their attack destroying Swords space base, hacking Tony’s Armor and all of his tec. and Skrull Pym captures Mr. Fantastic.
Deadpool 1-2: Deadpool confronts the Skrulls openly, only to let himself be captured and experimented on, and the Skrulls create their own Deadpool Skrull core.


Black Panther 39-41: Black Panther  stops the Skrull invasion of Wakanda.

·         Skrull Invasion: Who do you Trust 4 related stroies. 

Guardian of the Galaxy 4-6: A group of Skrulls that are against the invasion take refuge in Sapiensal, under the protection of Cosmo the dog.

·         Avengers Initiative 14 Crusader (a good Skrull) discovers that Pym is a Skrull. And 3D Man witch has Skrull detection power spoils the surprise of the invasion.

·         Captain Britain and the MI: 13 1Skrulls attack London, they are after England’s magic, and Captain Briton gets killed trying to stop them.

·         Incredible Hercules 116-117, Herc. And Athena travel to San Francisco to meet with the Eternals to petition a hearing with all of Earths deity pantheons to address the issue of the Skrull invasion, forming a god squad with Hercules, Ajaks, Atum, Mikoboshi, Snow Bird and Amadeus Cho to defeat the Skrull pantheon.

·         Secret Invasion 2 All hell breaks loose in savage land, because of the confusion over who is real and who is a Skrull. Skrulls start their assault on New York City.


·         NA 43 Spidy and Ka-zar battle a Skrull Captain America, and we discover how the Skrulls brainwash their agents so they really think that they are the person that they are impersonating.

·         Avengers Initiative 15, The Initiative joins in the havoc in battling the Skrulls in New York City.

·         Secret Invasion: Inhumans 2 Skrulls attack the inhuman city of Attilan.

·         Captain Britain and the MI: 13 2-4 Pete Wisdom liberates a horde of evil demons to help defeat the Skrulls and Captain Britain is reborn. 

Guardian of the Galaxy 8: Star-Lord tries to warn the Kree of the Invasion, but they have already taken care of things.  

Nova 16-18: Nova joins force with Darkhawk to stop the Skrull Invasion.


X-Factor 33,34/She Hulk 31:  X-Factor and She Hulk start battling because of an infiltrated Skrull that is posing as Longshot.


MA 18 Fury is hot on the tail of Hydra with his New Secret Warrior but the Secret Invasion side tracks him.

·         Secret Invasion 3 Young Avengers and the Initiative defend New York, but Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors save the Day 
New Warriors 14-15 Justice’s New Warriors confronts the New New Warriors, demanding Night Thrasher to reveal his identity. The two teams clash and at the climax Thrasher reveals that he’s the brother of the original and that he believes that the Night Thrasher involved in the explosion of Stanford that started the Civil War was a Skrull. Both teams break in a Shield base that is infested with Skrulls, to test the originals Night Thrasher, to see if he’s the real one or a Skrull. It turns out the real Thrasher is dead; and he wasn’t impersonated by a Skrull.
·         Avengers Initiative 16 3D Man joins force with the Skrull Kill Krew.

·         Incredible Hercules 118 God Squad start their voyage and they have a little run in with Nightmare
NA 46 The Hood discovers that in his crew he has infiltrated Skrulls.

·         Secret Invasion 4 The Hood and his crew decide to join and help the heroes and Thor drops in to give a hand.

·         Avengers Initiative 17 Shadow Initiative tries to stop the Spider Woman/Skrull Queen, but they are defeated.

·         Incredible Hercules 119 It’s discovered that Kirby the puppy is an infiltrated Skrull.

·         Secret Invasion: Inhumans 3 Inhumans form an alliance with the Kree
·         Secret Invasion 5 Mr. Fantastic creates a ray that exposes the Skrulls, it helps end the confusion of who is an imposter.
·         Avengers Initiative 18 Initiative battle Skrulls all over the US
MA 19 Marvel Boy is pushed to act, in the Skrull invasion being inspired by Captain Marvel. 
·         Secret Invasion 6 Marvel Boy discovers that Captain Marvel also is a Skrull that has defected.
·         Secret Invasion 7 Gearing up for the final Battle
·         Secret Invasion: X-men 1-4 Skrulls attack San Francisco; X-men defeat them by converting the legacy virus into a weapon.
·         Incredible Hercules 120 God Squad battles Skrull deities, heroes win but Mikoboshi tricks the heroes to think that he’s dead. Skrull lose the extra power given to them by their gods.
·         Secret Invasion: Inhumans 4 Inhumans liberate Black bolt from the Skrulls. 
·         Avengers Initiative 19 Initiative heroes join the rest of the heroes in their final battle against the Skrulls.
Deadpool 3: The Skrull deadpool core turn on their masters, while Deadpool gets the special formula that will kill the Skrull queen but when he sends it to Nick Fury, Norman Osborne blocks and keeps the information. 
·         Secret Invasion 8 Heroes defeat the Skrulls, and to the surprise of many Norman Osborne is the one that finally defeats the Skrull Queen. 
Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Skrulls left a little parting gift for the Initiative activating Ragnarok.
·         Tony isn’t the head of Shield Anymore.
·         Norman Osborne Becomes the new head of Shield. 
·         The Return of Mockingbird
·         Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors.
·         The Dark Reign begins
·         Mikaboshi left for dead is given the liberty to build an army that will start the Chaos War.
·         The Inhumans make an alliance with the Kree, and they end up going into space and going to war with the Shi’ar, in the War of Kings.
·         Crystal must marry Ronan.
·         The Return of Yacosta and Darkhawk
Darkhawk will play an important role in the war of Kings.
That Durmamu is the one behind the Hoods powers 
Skrull Javis Kidnappes Luke Cage's kid
Skrull Imposters:
Electra
PYM
Jarvis
Spider Woman
Dum Dum Dugan
Captain Marvel
Magnitude
Ms. Marvel/Lady Thing
Equinox
Thor Girl
Frog Man
Grasshopper
Red Wolf’s wolf
Ahura 
Kirby
Longshot

·         Captain America (Savage Land Ship)
Ms. Marvel (Savage Land Ship)
Jewel (Savage Land Ship)
Sue Richards (Savage Land Ship)
Spider-man (Savage Land Ship)
Hawkeye (Savage Land Ship)
Phoenix (Savage Land Ship)
Beast (Savage Land Ship)
Wonder Man (Savage Land Ship)
White Queen (Savage Land Ship)
Mockingbird (Savage Land Ship)
Thor (Savage Land Ship)
Kirby
The Bad:
·         Tony got his Armor hacked again, didn’t he learn anything from Ultron.
·         Merlyn is a good guy again, when he was totally evil in a very recent Excalibur/Exiles Crossover, and Cap Brit stays dead for only half a issue
The Good:
·         Skrull Pym had infested the Initiative with Skrulls.
·         It’s great that they added some depth to the Skrulls, making the whole invasion justified by their religion.
·         Spider Woman’s mind games on Tony were just fantastic detail.
·         Night Thrasher is dead
                                                          
Rating: 10
 


Avenger/Invaders 1-12

Characters:                                                    
Heroes: New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Shield, Bucky Captain America, Nick Fury and Invaders
Villains: Red Skull, Ultron, LMDs, Despair


Antagonist: Thunderbolts
Supporting cast: Paul Anselm
                                                              
Issue Summary:
·         1 Spidy is battling the Thunderbolts when the Invaders appear out of no were and clobber the Thunderbolts, thinking their Nazi super soldiers.
·         2 Mighty Avengers engage the Invaders, to establish why they in the present, Invaders attack them, the Avengers are able to capture them but Namor gets away. Bucky breaks free from his cell in the Shield helicarrier.
·         3 Past Namor discovers that Atlantis has been destroyed and meets his future self. Rest of the Invaders escape all hell breaks loose on the helicarrier.
·         4 The New Avengers drop in on the fun on the helicarrier. New and Mighty Avenger starts battling. Bucky Cap also joins in on the fun.
·         5 Battle rages on, Doc Strange discovers that something has happened in the past that is sending a shock waves through time. Human Torch takes over the Helicarrier with its LMDs.
·         6 Both teams stop battling and start fighting the LMDs, Strange discover that the Cosmic Cube is responsible for bring the Invader from the past, due to the sadness of the people over Captain America’s death.
·         7 New Avengers find Despair feeding off the Cosmic Cube that is feed with peoples sorrow, while we discover that Ultron is behind the LMD uprising.
·         8 Human Torch destroys Ultron for manipulating him. Time Earthquake wipes out the present few heroes survive and end up in the past.
·         9 Due to a mistake Red Skull gets his hands on the Cosmic Cube.
·         10-12 Heroes battle Red Skull and his forces and barley defeat him.


Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Toro comes back from death.
Bucky Cap. joins the New Avengers after the Secret Invasion

The Bad:

The Good
·         It’s great to see how hardcore Bucky is, he’s totally crazy.
·         We see how Tony is conflicted over seeing Steve Rogers again, because he feels responsible for his death.  
·         Human Torch and Bucky gain much more dimension as a characters.

Rating: 9

New Avengers Issues 43, 44, 45 Secret Invasion
Mighty Avengers Issues 17, 18, 19 Secret Invasion


The Mighty Avengers Issues 21-23

Plot: Modred recuperates the Darkhold and sets loose Chthon who takes Quicksilver as a host body, and start wreaking havoc on a global scale.
                                                                                                                     
Characters:                                                    
Heroes: New Mighty Avenger Formation: Henry Pym, Hercules, US Agent, Stature, Vision, Amadeus Cho, Yacosta and Scarlet Witch (Loki), Iron Man and Hulk
Villains: Modred and Chthon
 Supporting Cast: Jarvis, New Avengers, Dark Avengers, MI-13, Liberty Ladies and Alpha Flight
                                          
Issues Summary:
·         21 Something is spreading chaos and destruction around the globe, so we find a mysterious Scarlet Witch selecting heroes to battle the coming threat of Chthon who has been released to the world by Modred. Chthon has taken Quicksilver as his host body.
·         22 Scarlet Witch takes the team she has gathered to mount Wundagor which seem to be the epicenter of the problem.
·         23 Pym proves to Iron Man that he’s the man, by using his Ant Man helmet in special way, altering its function using it to mentally attack Chthon affecting his capability for speaking, there for not being able to cast spells.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Pym becomes the new Wasp


The Bad:

The Good:
·         Hulk flips out when he sees Iron Man
·         Pym shows that he’s the better man and leader compared to Tony Stark
·         Scarlet Witch is really Loki, ¿Why would he want a team of Avengers?

                                                          
Rating: 8


New Avengers 48-50

Luke Cage makes a deal with Norman Osborne, so he can help him find his daughter that has been kidnapped by Skrull Jarvis during the final moments of the Skrull’s Secret Invasion.


Characters:                                                    
Heroes: New Avengers
Villains: The Hood and his crew (Wrecking crew, The Wizard, Masque, Blackout, Blood Brother, Griffin, Brother Grim, Scare Crow, Death Watch, Corrupter, Jigsaw, Vermin, Cutthroat, Living Laser…), Dark Avengers, Skrulls, Electro   
Supporting: Shield, Fantastic Four
                                                              
Issues Summary:
·         48 The hunt for Luke daughter starts.
·         49 Luke makes pact with Osborne if he helps him find his daughter, which they do ending with Skrull Jarvis’s life. But Luke screws Osborne, clobbering Venom and Bulleye and warning Norman to stay out of his way.
·         50 Spider Woman tries to set up Norman Osborne to send the Dark Avengers to attack the New Avengers, as a trap, but he end up sending the Hood and his crew. The New Avengers barely win.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Bucky Cap joins the New Avengers and the team uses Steve’s Rogers old home as a new base for the Avengers.
·         Luke finds his Daughter.
·         Osborne wants some serous vengeance over how Luke played him.


The Bad:

The Good:
·         Luke screwing Osborne is a fantastic plot twist.

Rating: 9



Free Comic Book Day: The Avengers USA
A freak asgardian snow storm that is started by a Frost giant that transports the New Avengers and the Dark Avengers to a magical snow detention where both teams have to team up to escape.  
Rating 6



The Mighty Avengers Issue 24 Loki uses Pym’s Avengers team to push Norman Osborne’s buttons, to embarrass him in front of the others in his cabal ( The Hood, Doctor Doom, Namor and Emma Frost), making him more unstable and easier to manipulate.                             

The Mighty Avengers Issue 25-26 Pym has a little spat with Reed Richars, Henry out smarts Reed. 



The Dark Reign the List-Avengers: Ronin/Hawkeye just can’t take it anymore, the fact that Norman Osborn is running his own team of Avengers, so he sets out to take him down. After defeating most of the Dark Avengers by himself Clint gets clobbered by Ares, and he’s captured.

The Good: Great to see that someone remembered the relationship between Clint and Moonstone, that was an important part of their time together in the Thunderbolts.





New Avengers 56-58
In a power move Jonas Harrow takes over the Hoods gang and in a battle with the New Avengers, he depowers the whole team and also depowers the Dark Avengers who jump in the battle, leading Norman to making a deal with Harrow.


Characters:                                                    
Heroes: New Avengers
Villains: Jonas Harrow, Dark Avengers, Wrecking Crew
Supporting: Night Nurse, Jewel
                                                              
Issues Summary:
·         55 The New Avengers get depowered by Jonas Harrow in the middle of a battle with the Hood crew, leaving Mockingbird as the only Avenger Standing because she has no powers and she hold up on her own against the Wrecking Crew. The Dark Avengers drop in and also get depowered, leading to Norman having to make a deal with Jonas Harrow. In the mean time Loki give the Hood a hand and gives him new powers.
·         56 New Avengers are able to escape, but Luke Cage is in bad shape the battle to much of a strain on his heart. With the Dark Avengers hot on his trail Luke turns himself in.
·         57 The New Avengers finally escape, but Luke is in Normans claws, ¿What are his plans for Cage?  




The Mighty Avengers Issue 27-31

                                                      
Plot: Many years ago a young Black Bolt deposed his predecessor, to become the leader of the Inhumans. This action was fundamented by the fact that this previous king had hid a colossal machine called the Slave Engine from his own people, and because of this action his name has been eliminated from Inhuman history. Now this ex king, that is called the Unspoken is back wants to amend his mistakes but he finds that the Inhumans have left Earth to travel into space as a result of what happened in the Secret Invasion. So this Nameless one starts to wonder around Tibetan region of China causing all kinds of trouble. 
                                                                                                                     
Characters:                                                    
Heroes:  Mighty Avengers, Ban-Luck (from GRAMPA), Young Avenger, Ronin (Hawkeye) and the Resistance Avengers.   
Villain: Unspoken, Alpha Primitives and Loki
Antagonist: Popular Defense Force (Chinese answer to the Avengers),
Supporting Cast: Eternity, Inhumans and Dark Avengers   
                                                              
Issues Summary:
·         27 In a flash back we see how Black Bolt comes to power and exiles the Unspoken over a mistake he had committed, hiding the Slave Engine. Now roaming southern China. The Popular Defence Force confronts the Inhumans getting their butts kicked with little effort.
·         28 The Slave Engine runs on Xenogene Crytals, and what it basically does is to create Alpha Primitives, so the Unspoken took the capability to create slave from the Inhumans. In the previous issue The Popular Defense Force are defeated by the Unspoken, US Agents and Quicksilver try to help these Chinese heroes, but they start battling each other.  Meanwhile Stature discover that Scarlet Witch is up to no good, so she ask for the Young Avengers aid to find what’s she’s up to, and Ronin tags along.
·         29 The Young Avengers and Ronin Battle Scarlet Witch (Loki). While in China the Unspoken is digging up the slave machine.
·         30 Stature and Hercules start to search for Avengers to battle the Unspoken that is causing too much trouble.
·         31 The final battle, it takes three Avengers teams to defeat the unspoken.      

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         US Agents shield get destroyed by the Collective Man.
·         Ronin starts using a bow and arrow again paving the way for the return of Hawkeye.
·         Pym becomes Supreme Scientist.
·         Quicksilver Delivers the Xerogene Crystals to the Inhumans that have become the rulers of the Kree. Quicksilver absolved of his crimes against the Inhumans, establishing that a Skrull was the one who stole Terrigen Mist Crystals (Check out Son of M).



The Good:
·         Some of US Agents dialogs funny as hell, his characterization in this series a just fantastic.  
·         The story arc shows Black Bolt and the Royal Family in a darker light.
                                                          
Rating: 8



Captain Britain and MI-13: 10-15 + Annual
Dracula tries to invade Great Britain, to establish a vampire nation.

Characters:                            
Heroes: MI-13, Plokta, Tangerine, Dark Angel, Digitek, Deaths Head II and Killpower
Antagonist: Doom, Dormammu, Pluto, Mephisto; Hela, Satannish, Black Heart and other Demons.

Villains:  Dracula, Lilith, Captain Destiny, Baron Blood and Vampires in general

Sporting Cast: Mighty Avengers

Issue Summary:
·         10 Dracula make pact of none aggression with Doom, so he can take over Great Britain. And starts attacking MI-13 to get them out of the equation so he can invade the island.
·         11 Spitfire falls under Dracula’s control, while MI-13 prepares to respond to Dracula’s aggression.  
·         13 Dracula is able to destroy a mystical artifact that stops vampires from entering Great Britain.
·         14 Dracula is tricked by Plokta to think he had already won the war, buying time for MI-13.
·         Annual: Doom recues Meggan from Hell and gives her to Dracula as a prisoner.
·         14-15: Doom and Spitfire betrays Dracula, and the Artifact that Dracula destroyed was fake stopping his invasion dead in its tracks, and MI-13 defeat the villain.

Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Return of Meggan
·         Death of Dracula
·         Death of Baron Blood.


The Bad:
·         Dracula remains dead for 15 minutes he back in a couple months, teaming up with the X-men battling his son.
The Good:
·         It’s cool to see how Dracula is depicted as a bigot, hating Muslims, and adds depth to this character that con some time be pretty one dimensional.
Rating: 8


The Mighty Avengers Issue 32-33                                                      
Plot:  Loki causes a situation with Absorbing Man escaping from prison pitting the Mighty Avengers and the Dark Avengers against each other, and latter having to team up to defeat a super powerful Absorbing Man that has absorbed the cosmic cube. The teams are able to defeat Crusher and Loki has further his psychological control over Norman Osborne.

Rating 8 



New Avengers 61-62
New Avengers battle with super powered up members of the Hoods gang. After defeating the bad guys heroes join Steve Rogers and Nick Fury in the Siege of Asgard.
Rating 6



The Mighty Avengers Issues 35-36
 
Plot: Ultron has invaded the infinity mansion, and tries to take his final vengeance on Pym once and for all.

Characters:                                                    
Heroes: Pym, GRAMPA, Yacosta
Villain: Ultron
Supporting: Jarvis, Captain America
Antagonist: Thunderbolts

                                                              
Issues Summary:
·         Two members of GRAMPA pay a visit Pym to discus some issues with Pym when out of the blue Ultron starts to attack the mansion.
·         After battling Ultron to a standstill, Yacosta decides to marry Ultron and leave for deep space.


Repercussions and Lasting effects:
·         Pym reveals that all that he has done during the past issue including the construction of the mansion is to bring back Janet the original Wasp, his ex wife that died at the end of the Skrull Invasion. And this plot line will extended into Avengers Academy



The Bad:
·         These issues are a Siege tie ins, with virtually no Siege in it.

·          
                                                          
Rating: 7



New Avengers Final One Shot



The Hood loses his powers again, and Madam Masque asks her father Count Nefarious if he can give her boy friend a hand.



Characters:                                                    

Heroes: New Avengers

Villains: Count Nefarious, Madam Masque, the Hood

                                                              

Issues Summary:

·         In the fall out of the Siege, The Hood loses his powers again, and Madam Masque asks her father Count Nefarious if he can give her boy friend a hand. But with the New Avengers hot on his trail they don’t take long to catch up. The Avengers Clash with Nefarious and defeat him, the Hood ends up with no power and in jail.



The Good:

·         It the end of a stunning comic book run, the New and Mighty Avengers were a great ride, two of my favorite series that I prize the most. 

Rating 8

 


 

                  
 

No comments:

Post a Comment