Welcome to a week of interesting firsts! We’ve got the first issue of Fearless Defenders, Marvel’s new all-girl team of heroes. We’ve got the first issue of Winter Soldier written by incoming writer Jason Latour, who’s taking over for the legendary Ed Brubaker, the man who resurrected Bucky in the first place. Those are some mighty big shoes to fill. Brubaker wrote a nice letter at the end of his final issue of the series, about how humbling it was to go from trying to convince his editor that resurrecting Bucky would be a good idea to finding out that the ‘Winter Soldier’ would be the title of the second Captain America film. I hope that happens to me someday.

We’ll also see the first issue of Jeff Lemire’s take on Green Arrow. As well as the first times I’m actually happy with Avengers and New Avengers. In fact, New Avengers #3 wins Comic Book of the Week!

Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #7, Avengers #5, Fearless Defenders #1, Green Arrow #17, New Avengers #3, Superior Spider-Man #3 and Winter Soldier #15.

All-New X-Men #7

All-New X-Men #7
Writer: Brian Michael Bendes
Artist: David Marquez

I can’t remember the last time a comic book series felt so meaningful and important. Usually it’s just the same characters I’ve always read about going on their latest adventure. But Bendis’ focus on the young X-Men gives this book a unique importance. I highly doubt these characters are going to become a permanent part of the Marvel Universe. Which means their story is going to be relatively self-contained, likely with a beginning, middle and end. And knowing that, it means everything they do takes on a greater importance, because their story will have a conclusion. Their character arcs will actually matter. At least I think so. Bendis and Marvel might drag this story on for years until its lost all meaning. But for now, it’s like Bendis is writing an X-Men story that actually matters, and won’t just be eventually fed into the grinder of ongoing X-Men continuity. If that makes any sense…

Young Cyclops visits his bank and looks at an old safe deposit box, which has some money, a new pair of ruby glasses and a fancy envelope. Wolverine shows up to collect him again and keep him from getting arrested, though Cyclops still doesn’t want to go with Wolverine. So it’s a good thing that Wolverine is really Mystique in disguise! She and Cyclops have a nice, frank chat about the state of the world. Though I can’t tell if Mystique is being legit or if every word is a lie. In the end, she urges Cyclops to do something about both his older self and about the Jean Grey School, which she says is just a cover so that Wolverine can train an army of savage killers.

The real Wolverine eventually finds Cyclops and takes him back to the school, with Mystique slinking away into the shadows, confident that she has lit a powder keg. Back at the school, Cyclops hands Jean Grey the fancy envelope, which contains an invite to their wedding.

Comic Rating: 5/5: Great.

I really liked the conversation between Cyclops and Mystique, and I hope she wasn’t lying through her teeth the entire time. Bendis has a strong grasp on her character, and using Mystique to stir up some trouble with the young X-Men is a great idea. The X-Men don’t have a lot of their classic villains left, so Mystique definitely works. And Bendis continues to make Cyclops one of the true stars of this series. I can’t wait to see what he does with regular Cyclops in the relaunched Uncanny X-Men. But then I also can’t wait to see what he does with young Cyclops in this series. Bendis has definitely got something great going on here, and I’m glad I gave it a chance.

Avengers #5

Avengers #5
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Adam Kubert

This is a very frustrating series. None of the issues seem to have anything to do with one another. All of a sudden, this issue is the origin of Smasher, a character who has maybe appeared in a handful of panels so far. I’m starting to think that Hickman is writing some kind of epic prank, where all of the issues are purposefully out of order. Then in the end, he’ll reveal the proper order in which we were supposed to read this series. Basically what I’m saying is, if you’re not a fan of non-linear storytelling, then Avengers is not the book for you. It also makes the book hard to recommend. If someone came to me and said they enjoyed The Avengers movie and wanted some comic book recommendations, I would definitely tell them to stay far away from Avengers.

Still, this is a good issue, and it introduces someone who could be a pretty fun character.

Izzy Dare is a farm girl living in Iowa and helping out on the family farm, even though she has a bigger interest in astronomy. She’s sticking around to help her ailing grandfather, who just happens to be Golden Age comic book war hero Dan Dare. One day in the field, Izzy finds a pair of goggles from a Smasher agent that crashed. The Smashers are a league of agents in the Shi’ar military, and Izzy is transported to the capital planet of Chandilar to begin her training. When she later returns to Earth, Dan Dare uses his old friendship with Captain America to get Smasher into the Avengers. Later, Smasher brings the Avengers along when she goes to help the Shi’ar repel an alien invasion. Thanks to their help, the day is saved, and Smasher is invited to join the Imperial Guard as its first human member.

Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.

There’s nothing wrong with introducing new Avengers, it’s just the way in which Hickman has gone about this series as a whole that bugs me. Maybe if Smasher had actually done something in the series so far then she’d deserve an origin issue. But she’s barely appeared. What about the origin for Captain Universe, who Dues ex Machinaed the bad guy in issue #3? Where’s her origin? And why suddenly tell Smasher’s origin in the middle of his bio-space-jungle story? Anyway, oddness aside, it’s a strong origin and I think Izzy could prove to be a fun character. There’s very little fanfare behind her becoming a superhero and an Avenger, but perhaps Hickman has some good stories in mind. Yet again, there is no way I would recommend this series to anyone who isn’t already steeped in their knowledge of all corners of the Marvel Universe. And that seems counterproductive considering the publicity push behind Marvel NOW!

Fearless Defenders #1

Fearless Defenders #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Will Sliney

I was excited to try this series when it was first announced, even though I have zero interest in any of the characters who are going to be on the team. The comics industry these days is trying really hard to prove they’re not sexist, and I’m going to support those efforts however I can. Will Fearless Defenders be the next great breakout series? Probably not, at least not after reading this issue. Everything here is utterly generic, and Cullen Bunn goes a little too far to try and entice male readers. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need the promise of hot lesbian action to keep me reading a comic with an all-female cast.

Misty Knight invades a cargo ship carrying ancient Asgardian relics, and survives an attack by trained mercenaries, fleeing with only a single mysterious statuette. She takes it back to her friend and employer Dr. Annabelle Riggs, an archaeologist working at a dig site in White Mountain National Forest. Riggs looks it over and unlocks a secret switch, turning the statuette into a music box that plays an eerie tune – one that wakes the dead! Soon the dig site is filled with viking zombies, and Misty Knight must fight them off. She’s joined by Valkyrie, and together they banter while they take out the viking zombies. Valkyrie eventually stops them by destroying the statuette, but not before Dr. Riggs gives her a kiss in the heat of battle. Valkyrie then decides to consult the All-Mother about what has happened, and Riggs and Misty Knight decide to tag along. Valkyrie warns them that it will be tough, since the song sang of the rise of the Doommaidens!

Comic Rating: 3/5: Alright.

Marvel does not have any strong female characters. That’s a fact. All of their biggest female characters are either derivatives of male characters (She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel), or are better known for being on a male-driven team (Storm, Scarlet Witch, Wasp). So while I applaud Marvel’s efforts to create an all-female superhero team, they don’t have a lot of options. There is no way that a book starring Misty Knight, Valkyrie and Dani Moonstar is going to succeed in this market. It just can’t. There’s already talk that the female-led Captain Marvel series is headed for cancellation and it hasn’t even been a whole year. And that title is actually very good. So I doubt Fearless Defenders is going to go anywhere. It’s a shame, but not a surprise. Based on what I saw in this debut issue, Bunn doesn’t really have anything unique or interesting to say.

And like I said earlier, I don’t need the promise of the female cast members making out to get me to buy this series. If Bunn had wanted to create a romance between Dr. Riggs and Valkyrie, or at least some sexual tension, there are a lot better ways to approach such a story element than by having them share a spontaneous, passionate and utterly pointless kiss in the first issue.

Green Arrow #17

Green Arrow #17
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino

I only read a few issues of Green Arrow when the DCnU debuted. They were alright, but very boring and generic – though they did give us Rush, the character find of the 21st century. It seems everyone else thought Green Arrow was boring and generic as well, since I think it went through several writer changes. Well now DC is starting fresh with superstar writer Jeff Lemire (Animal Man). I figured this would be a good time to try out the series again, but the problem is, I’ve already been reading this series for months. Only it’s called Hawkeye and it’s published by Marvel Comics. It is startling how similar Lemire and Sorrentino’s new take on Green Arrow is compared to Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja. They’re both about the titular archer as a normal person dealing with normal problems, with an emphasis on realistic art.

Oliver Queen’s life is falling apart. Someone seems to be targeting every aspect of his life to bring him down. Queen Industries has been bought out from under him in a hostile takeover, Q-Core and his assistants are blown up, and his business partner is murdered right in front of him, with Ollie blamed for the death. With his options scarce, Ollie fights his way past security and grabs a backup costume and his gear at a safehouse, only to come face-to-face with his mysterious foe, the evil archer Komodo. The villain easily wins their confrontation, but Ollie is saved at the last moment by a man named Magus. This new mysterious ally tells Ollie that Ollie never should have left the island.

Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.

While Hawkeye is based on humor and charm, the new Green Arrow seems to be all about superhero action. Other than that, the two comics are exactly same. Sorrentino is no David Aja, but the influence is obviously there, both in just general look and feel, but also in the stylized ways they use panels to focus the action. Heck, both Clint Barton and Oliver Queen are thin white guys with short blonde hair! I guess I can’t blame Lemire for taking this approach. Hawkeye is one of the best comics being published today, so if you’re going to write your own archer series, why not steal a little from the competition? This issue is definitely good, enough that I’ll keep reading, but the similarities are still too much to just ignore. Also, we’re only 17 issues into the rebooted Green Arrow and already he’s lost his company and all of his friends? This is another case of DC doing too much too soon with their rebooted characters.

New Avengers #3

New Avengers #3
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Steve Epting

In this issue, Captain America puts on the Infinity Gauntlet and uses it to push an alternate dimension out of his way. How cool is that? Hickman is writing two very different Avengers series, and I think I like this one best. It had a rough start with the first issue, but since then it has taken off like a rocket! Here are some of the biggest characters in the Marvel Universe butting heads and debating how best to use the freakin’ Infinity Gauntlet to get what they want. This is a series built on big, sweeping ideas,  rich in the history of Marvel. If I have one complaint it’s that Hickman is moving too damn fast. We’re only at the third issue but already the Illuminati are using the Infinity Gauntlet. That sounds to me like the kind of thing that could use a little build up so that its use actually has some oomph behind it.

When Professor X died, he left the Beast a telepathic will, granting him control of the Mind Gem and membership in the Illuminati. Beast is brought in just as the group is alerted to the collision of their universe with another – the danger they were warned about last issue. The Illuminati form the Infinity Gauntlet and Captain America uses it to push the other universe away – but the force causes the gems to shatter! This means that they don’t have a defense in case another collision occurs. Captain America is confident they are good enough to come up with some kind of machine or spell that would save them, but he’s the only one. The others mind wipe Captain America so that he doesn’t remember being with the Illuminati. This way, they can go ahead with their plan to destroy their neighboring universes to save themselves from destruction.

Comic Rating: 5/5: Great.

This is a series of big ideas. Colliding dimensions, Infinity Gauntlets, a mindwiped Captain America; and it’s only the third issue. Thankfully, Hickman is saving all of his weird pacing experiments for the regular Avengers series. This comic is very linear and straightforward, something that I definitely appreciate. I know what’s going on, I know all of the characters involved, and when they butt heads and argue, it actually means something to me. But all that greatness aside, the series is still moving a bit fast. Only last issue did we learn that universes are going to be colliding, and now it happens to our Earth within the first few pages of this issue. No build up? No greater warning? Still, Hickman has a great handle on all of these characters and he seems to know exactly what to do with them to tell an epic story.

Superior Spider-Man #3

Superior Spider-Man #3
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Ryan Stegman

As much as I love Peter Parker and want to see him return as Spider-Man, he really needs to go away for awhile. I think Dan Slott has won over a lot of people with his idea of Doc Ock taking over Peter’s body, so now he needs to actually let that happen. Octo-Spidey is a very interesting character and I’m definitely on board to see his take on Spider-Man. He’s not going to be perfect, but he’s definitely going to be entertaining. So having Peter’s ghost around making exasperated comments about everything Otto does is getting old fast.

After a short scene mocking the bat-signal (Jameson made a spider-signal), the story picks up with Octo-Spidey tracking the Vulture and those little vulture-henchman that attacked MJ’s last issue. This involves a little reminiscing about the first time Doc Ock met the Vulture, a memory that ghost Peter gets to watch. When he finally finds the villain’s lair, Octo-Spidey jumps into battle! But, much to his horror, he learns that those henchmen are actually kids! Otto is disgusted at the Vulture for using kids, and that the Vulture made him hit a kid. His anger launches Octo-Spidey into a vicious battle against the Vulture high above the streets of New York, where Otto boosts the brightness of Jameson’s signal light to blind the Vulture, causing the feathered foe to crash in a violent, bloody heap into the signal. Carlie wonders how Spider-Man could be so brutal, and his response starts pushing Carlie into further doubting that Peter Parker is under that mask.

Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.

I’m officially a convert. I don’t want to see Doc Ock in Spider-Man’s body forever, but I definitely want to see what Slott can do with the Superior Spider-Man. The character is fascinating and new, and could be used in some really cool stories. The flashback to Doc Ock’s first meeting with Vulture was cool, as is how it impacts their new battle. I want to read more of Octo-Spidey. But Slott is definitely holding himself back. Peter Parker’s ghost is everywhere in this issue, and all he can do is either whine about what Otto is doing or state out loud what we can plainly see on the page. It’s great that Peter is still around, but it means that Slott is going to stick to the middle ground when he should be swinging for the fences. Either fully embrace Octo-Spidey or bring Peter back for good.

Winter Soldier #15

Winter Soldier #15
Writer: Jason Latour
Artist: Nic Klein

I was a big fan of Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run, but then so was everybody. I was also an especially big fan of when Brubaker had Bucky take over as Captain America. Those were awesome comics. So it was kind of a shame that Brubaker’s nearly decade-long handling of Bucky Barnes came to an end with Winter Soldier #14. Mostly because he kind of went out with a whimper. Winter Soldier has been a cool comic so far, but it got mediocre with time. Now Brubaker is leaving and this guy Latour is taking over. I’ve never heard of him and he’s got some pretty big shoes to fill. Does he succeed? Yes, I think he does. But will it be enough?

At the end of the last story, the Black Widow’s memory was wiped so that she no longer remembers Bucky at all. He’s taking that pretty hard and is getting drunk in a bar in Croatia, which is where Nick Fury finds him to put him to work. There’s a old SHIELD agent named Robards who has been in deep cover in HYDRA for decades, until the night before, when he seemed to snap and kill several HYDRA leaders at a casino. Bucky goes in to make the extraction, helping Robards fight off several henchmen who work for the Dark Hydra, the occult branch of the terrorist organization. They make their escape in the end, but Bucky has a secret – back when he was a Russian assassin, he killed Robard’s handler/girlfriend.

Comic Rating: 3/5: Alright.

This was a solid issue. Latour has a nice handle on Bucky and seems to have a good idea on what sorts of adventures we should see in Winter Soldier. There’s nothing that truly stands out as new or exciting. This is basically just the Winter Soldier being the Winter Soldier and going on a spy mission. If you’re a huge fan of the character, this series should be right up your alley. I know I wasn’t sticking around entirely for Brubaker, but there is a certain amount of disappointment that he’s gone.  But that’s what happens when a long-running, popular writer moves on. I know X-Factor won’t be the same if Peter David ever leaves the title. I wish Latour all the luck in the world. He’s definitely got a good artist at his side.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I pick up from my local shop any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments!