Marvel Mondays: The All-New, All-Different Avengers #2 by Waid, Kubert and Oback

It could have been written as 1 comic, but I'll give it to Marvel to try and make a buck wherever they can.

The story continues with The Vision showing up and helping Tony Stark bust out of his car-Iron-man. The Warbringer goes to Jersey City, where Nova tracks him and he is dreading meeting Ms. Marvel again more than battling his old foe. Ms. Marvel is concerned about her town and the damage that Nova is causing due to his focusing on the Warbringer.

All the Avengers arrive and meet up with Nova and Ms. Marvel, and Nova does not want to admit that the Warbringer is back due to his first incident of being dropped into the sun. The Warbringer wants immortality, and low and behold, Thor arrives to help the Avengers, or the group that do not want to call themselves the Avengers, take down their new enemy.

It's a great story, but again, I wish it was meatier. It feels even though there are a lot of characters involved, since they are making an "All-new, All-different" Avengers team, but it's just... lacking in action. Spider-man had more action than the new Avengers comic does.

I hope it picks up, and I hope that Josh buys the next month's addition. However, I do have a bone to pick with this headline... it's not completely all new, is it, if Tony Stark and Spiderman is still there, right? Aren't they part of the original Avengers? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, MARVEL?

Good read, but don't expect it to be a long one. It goes by quicker than usual.

The All-Different, All-New Avengers # 1 by Waid, Kurbert and Omack

The Avengers are incredibly famous now since the movies. I was wondering what they were going to do with them since they are rebooting all of their new number 1's. I was pleasantly surprised with the familiar superheros they kept and then added a few new ones to the mix.

It opens up to Sam Wilson saving someone, and no matter what he does, cannot catch a break. Tony Stark arrives and provides a needed distraction while they separate from the masses who want Captain America to buy some girl scout cookies.

Tony Stark is poor now? I'm not sure what the deal was, but he sold Stark tower to... someone that looks evil, who discovered Warbringer hiding in one of the boxes they were moving. He technically teleported, but hiding sounds funnier. Spider-man (Oh, Spider-man), was eyesdropping, but since I know that he pays Hobie Brown to be his stand in, I wonder if it's him? Anyway, he's caught by the random evil guy and Warbringer, and tosses him out the window. Tony's car is turned into an Iron-man, and Captain America save Spider-man and help save the day.

The comic then cuts to a girl who is in the midst of an argument with her teenage friends. A side note here, I love the awareness of diversity in the new comic books. It's such a simple thing to have a friend who wears a hijab in a comic book, but with all the anti-muslim rhetoric, anything that can be used to show that muslims are people too is beneficial.

Anyway, Ms. Marvel is a teenage girl who witnesses a large beast in her neighborhood and Nova battling it. She goes and change, and of course, Nova is smitten at first by the citizen, then by the changing Ms. Marvel. I don't know a lot about her, but I already think she's rad. The pair of them bicker as they take down the beast, and Nova reveals who he is in desperate attempt to get her to like him.

It does not go over well.

There are 2 more characters that haven't been introduced that will be introduced next issue: Thor and The Vision. We knew The Vision from the movie, but we'll see how they interpret him. I'm interested in reading his comic, The Visions. Finally, they changed the gender of Thor. I'm not sure how or why, but I think there is also another all knew comic about the change.

I'm excited to read the second issue of the The Avengers with the spin on it.

Also, side note, I'm excited that the new Hulk is Asian. That's pretty cool, right?

Marvel Mondays: Captain America #1 by Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuna

OK... Chris Evans as Steve Rogers who is Captain America is hot. There, I said it. He's gorgeous and he has a heart of gold. Sure, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers is not really in the comics but I enjoy him all the same. I haven't read the other comic books with Steve Rogers, but when my husband informed me that he does give the mantel up, I was devastated.... but Sam Wilson is a pretty good follow up. I loved how Anthony Mackle played him in the movies, so I'm glad that his character stepped up to be Captain America.

Whereas Spider-man had me eye rolling so bad that I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my skull, I really liked the new direction Captain America is heading. It opens up to Sam Wilson getting on a commercial airline, and is wedged between two bros, who discover that Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, is sitting between them! They ask why he is sitting in coach, and Wilson, almost kind of breaking the fourth wall, goes into how he got the mantel, and why he was sitting in coach.

At a time in America where there is social upheaval, outraged voices and the presidential primaries looms near, it makes sense that Marvel has an outlet to address these issues. Young people are either angry, confused, aloof, or a combination of all three, and there needs to be something that makes sense of all of what is going on, and someone that they can relate too.

Steve Rogers has always maintained an air "above it all," concentrating on being Americans, and coming together to support each other, no matter the disagreements. He keeps his political beliefs close to his chest, choosing to endorse liberty and freedom, believing the constitution and government should protect all, no matter their beliefs.

Sam Wilson, on the other hand, realizes who he is. A man of color who has been given the most notable shield in the entire world. He recognized that he couldn't just remain a symbol, but rather become a voice for those whose voices get lost in the protests, or dismissed because of a few violent outbursts. However... he is punished by the big wigs, and he decides to go on his own, to varying results.

It's a great first read, and I'm relieved that this comic is much better than Spider-man. Spider-man felt juvenile, like instead of paying attention to real issues, they just wanted to write about a poor man's "get rich" story... who happens to be Spider-man. Which, I'm not knocking silly stories... but in terms of silly stories that work, Spider-man isn't it.

I also love the inclusion of other lesser known characters. Misty Knight seems awesome, with her bad ass nature and afro, I really want to read more about her. Dennis Dunphy is also another character that I've never read about before. He's a ginger man with a beard... I definitely do have a type.

I'm excited to read issue 2 and 3! Stay tuned for next week!

Marvel Mondays: The Amazing Spider-Man #2 by Dan Slott

I'm not sure why I was surprised, or even a bit disappointed. It was much of the same as Spider-Man 001. Peter Parker is still a poor-man's Tony Stark, a quip that other characters joke about in the comic books. Even though it's meant to be meta, funny and lighten the mood, I just found myself rolling my eyes some more. There are just other characters that are rich and smart, why does he have to be?

Anyway, the board of director's at Peter's company are confused and upset that the Zodiac is after them and is perplexed that Peter gave the Webware to the enemy. In the next few pages, Peter and Hobie Brown go on a mission to recover the Webware. Peter is super cocky and states that it's encrypted and there is no way that they'll be able to hack it by the time Peter and company get there.

Side note. I had no idea who the fuck Hobie Brown was. I asked my husband and we had a 20 minute conversation about D-list Marvel characters that are getting a huge push in the comics because Marvel are putting characters they have rights to in future movies. Oh right.... because in the beginning, before Marvel became a movie studio, they sold some of their rights of some characters to other movie studios. Okay then. So now I have to read about Hobie Brown. Spider-man's "body guard."

How did he get suckered--oh yeah... money. Peter Parker has money now and paid Hobie Brown to dress up as Spider-Man every once in a while. I mean, I guess I'm glad that Hobie Brown, a man of color, is getting a push to appear in things more. Unfortunately he's collateral.

Alright, so Spider-man and the Prowler find the Zodiac base to get back the piece of tech Peter gave up. You guys, this is the hammiest, cheesiest villain writing ever. I love a good hammy villain, but the Zodiac is literally a team of people who call themselves by different astrological signs and say things like, 'hey, I'm a Pisces. I'm a born leader' and 'Calling this Aquarius Base makes no sense.' There are also more jokes about how Spider-Man appeared and how one of the lackeys wished they stayed in Hydra.

There is a page where Spider-man remembers another superhero sacrificing herself so that Spider-man could get away in another mission, prompted him to save two of the lackeys when the base self-destructs. The comic ends with Spider-man and company revealing that it was all part of the plan that Zodiac sent the webware files to all the bases across the world so that S.H.I.E.L.D could track them.

My husband did not purchase the next issue and I'm glad. I found myself rolling my eyes, despite the desperate attempt to save a crappy idea by throwing in meta jokes. If I wanted to read about a rich superhero, I would have gone with Iron man. This is a comic that I won't revisit. Man, I hope all the reboots aren't this bad.

What did you all think of the Marvel reboots? Any particular favorites you want to suggest? Do you have a different opinion on Spider-Man?

Marvel Mondays: The Amazing Spider-Man #1

This idea was given to me by my husband, who does a sketch comedy show in Baltimore parodying his beloved comic books. I have reviewed some comic books before (mostly She-Hulk) but since they are coming out with new number 1s of all the issues, why not review them? He also buys them, so it's mostly him spending the money for me to read.

I randomly picked out the Amazing Spider-Man #1. There are so many movies about this character that it's hard to not know who Peter Parker is by this point. He's a high school kid who's down on his luck, lives in the poorer part of New York and has unspeakable tragedy. He has a tough time with girls but despite of that, he's a witty, snarky guy. My husband and I have had many conversations about Spider-Man and how there is a comic about Miles Morales, which would be a better match for Spider-Man. What frustrates us the most is that there isn't really much diversity in comic books. Don't get me wrong, they are trying and doing a better job of expanding diversity when it comes to some reboot of some characters, but... well, they failed when it came to the reboot of Spider-Man.

Peter Parker is a new age industrialist with branches all over the world. The series opens with Spider-Man and Agent Morse, or Mockingbird, fighting a few bad guys from the Zodiac. Spider-Man is snarky, like he usually is, but... there is something off about Peter Parker. It goes flashbacks to him learning how to drive and learning Chinese at the same time. There is some important bits about S.H.I.E.L.D, but I don't really notice because I'm perplexed to why I dislike Peter Parker so much. Finally, the chase scene ends with them capturing this dude with a lion mask on, who works for Zodiac, who is important... but for the life of me I can't remember why. All I'm concentrating on is why Peter Parker is like Tony Stark, with his gadgets and technological know how. I mean, wasn't he a photographer?

The next scene shows Peter Parker in a suit, discussing the future of his company, and the start of the Uncle Ben foundation. I guess he's using Parker Industries to help the world? Fair wages and raising the quality of life for every person that he employs in the countries his company resides in? Then Slott and company really hit the nail on the head with a reporter calling Peter Parker a "poor man's Tony Stark." Peter leans heavily into it, by patting himself on the back and stating that he's wages are that of middle management and that he couldn't feasibly give himself a pay raise above his junior executives.

...what?

Look, I get what Slott and company were trying to do. In a way, I appreciate it. It's providing commentary for greedy CEOs and Wall Street and the 1%. However... why Peter Parker? Why Spiderman? I feel like they were going to do this with Tony Stark, and at the last minute, decided to go with Spiderman. I'm not very well versed with super hero legend, or the continuity of Marvel.... but it just doesn't fit. There is already a few heroes in Marvel that own their own companies and do what Parker is trying to do (or unabashingly doesn't do it) but Parker doesn't feel like one that needs to do something like that. Isn't the appeal of Spider-Man is that he's a regular Joe that just happens to have superpowers? Wasn't that the reason those movies were so popular and one of the first that Marvel put out, because he was so relatable?

There is a smart bit of Hobie Brown also being Spider-Man to keep Peter Parker's cover intact. However, I don't know Hobie Brown from Adam, and it sort of falls flat. Oh, and there is a gay wedding thrown in there, which I also don't know from Adam. I see that Hubbie also bought the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man, so I hope it really picks up. But the verdict? Peter Parker is another rich white dude who's trying to use his money for good, which isn't a bad thing, but this trope would look better on Tony Stark.