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Heroes Reborn: Avengers (1996) Retrospective!

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Avengers #1, written by Jim Valentino and Rob Liefeld, art by Rob Liefeld, Chap Yaep, Jon Sibal, Marlo Alquiza, Ashby Manson, and Extreme Color, lettering by Steve Dutro

Get on your pleather pants and floral print tops, losers, we’re going back to 1996. Mainstream comics were undergoing a strange, tumultuous time in the aftermath of the creator-owned explosion of Image Comics. Trying to stay on top of the sales charts had led to some pretty cringeworthy stunts, and frankly, what’s one more among friends? The X-Men’s long-building threat, Onslaught, had just seen most of the publisher’s non-mutant hero populace transported to a pocket dimension created by Franklin, the occasionally terrifying child of Sue and Reed Richards. In this world, many stories that had once taken years to build and deliver were smooshed into a much smaller number of issues. After a quick introduction, plots were completely derailed, and within about a year, we were back to the 616 with a general “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” attitude about the whole event.

Heroes Reborn: Avengers undergoes at least three major creative lineup changes in twelve issues, which may give you a decent idea of how disjointed and weird this series is, even when completely divorced from the greater Heroes Reborn context. It might also go without saying that this series, which barely manages to eek out a single coherent plotline over the course of a year, doesn’t age great, but it still somehow isn’t the worst thing printed in 1996 (here’s looking at you, Amalgam Universe). [Read more…] about Heroes Reborn: Avengers (1996) Retrospective!

Batman’s Infinite Frontier: The Bold New World of Gotham

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With Infinite Frontier in full swing, there is a new era at DC Comics, and no group of comics has seen its benefits more than the Batman line of stories. Each book has taken characters we’ve always loved in bold directions and put them in new places. From Nightwing’s new sister in Nightwing #81 to Jim Gordan’s “solo” comic in Joker, the Bat-Family is creating a bright, distinct new era of Batman.

Infinite Frontier has challenged the way Bat-Family stories work together. New 52 and Rebirth were periods that captured how Batman used to be. Both eras tried out variations on what had been done before. Characters maintained (or slowly returned to) the status quo without much character growth to show for it. For example, the most significant thing to happen to Bruce in his last story was that he still didn’t marry Catwoman. Fundamentally, the Gotham at the beginning of New 52 is the same Gotham that exists throughout Rebirth. Similarly, the Bat-Family failed to expand or change in any noticeable way, with the only major additions being Duke Thomas and Harper Row, two characters who only appear once in a blue moon. Compare that lack of expansion to Infinite Frontier, where the Bat-Family has already added Ghostmaker, Clownhunter, and the Gardener to the list of “heroic” characters. [Read more…] about Batman’s Infinite Frontier: The Bold New World of Gotham

Venom Retrospective: Donny Cates & Ryan Stegman’s Venom Never Became the Man He Was Destined to Be

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Years ago, in 2018’s Venom #1, Eddie Brock was told “God was coming” for him. He — we — took the threat seriously. Here was the promise that an all-consuming threat, a unifying evil for all of Symbiote-kind and for the numerous heroes that had crossed paths with it, was coming with ramifications. Ramifications for one of Marvel’s most storied and beloved characters. Knull, one-dimensional as he is, was meant to be a catalyst for change in Eddie Brock’s life.

In many ways here in 2021, having introduced a new god, a secret history of the Symbiotes, and a son now poised to take the mantle of Venom, it’s fair to say that over the course of the 35 issues of the main title (not to mention numerous events, tie-ins, and spinoffs), Eddie’s life was changed. The problem is that by the end of the run– one of the longest in the character’s history — Eddie never became a man capable of accepting that change as his own.

Why? Because while Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman successfully reinvented the Symbiote, they failed to make a case for Eddie both inside of or outside of it. In fact, here at the end of all things, potentially Eddie’s own life, it is a series that is, as a whole, characterized by his reactions to things, rather than by actions. By growth in scale, but not by growth in impact. Successes and failures that are in direct opposition to each other, and ones that really only make sense with further investigation and interrogation.

Venom by Ryan Stegman

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“The Tradition of Radical Strangeness”: Britain a Prophecy Interview

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Britain a Prophecy is an upcoming urban fantasy digital first comic set in the height of Thatchers England. What follows is an interview with its writer, Elizabeth Sandifer, and artist, Penn Wiggins.

Before we get into the meat of the interview, I think it might be a good idea for you two to introduce yourselves and the comic we’re going to be talking about to the CBH readers who might not be familiar with either of your work.

El Sandifer: Well, I’m El Sandifer. Up until this point I’ve been an independent critic writing for my site Eruditorum Press, where I’ve done a lot of work on both Doctor Who and British comic books. But recently this charming gentleman and I found ourselves going “wait, one of us writes, the other one of us draws, we both love comics as a medium… why don’t we make some?” And now here we are.

Penn Wiggins: And I’m Penn Wiggins. I’ve bounced around a few things, but a few years ago settled back into being an artist, and recently this delightful madwoman suggested we should do comics, so I’ve been doing that. [Read more…] about “The Tradition of Radical Strangeness”: Britain a Prophecy Interview

U.S. Agent: American Zealot Review!

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Described by writer Christopher Priest as, “a morality play in five acts” U.S.Agent: American Zealot, follows the adventures of John Walker, the titular U.S.Agent after he’s been booted from the role and demoted to government contractor status. Deployed as a joke, Walker is tasked with securing a top-secret facility hidden beneath a destitute former coal town.

What should be a routine ‘bag and secure’ mission, quickly spirals out of control as Walker is confronted with his estranged younger sister, Kate – lost in the witness protection system after the murder of their parents – now a goverment agent, and April Manning, a billionaire who has used his wealth to purchase himself access to real power: a new iteration of the super-soldier serum and with it, the ability to reshape America into his perfect vision of the country.

The series is framed using the device of residents of Ephraim, West Virginia, being interviewed about the aftermath of John Walker’s visit to the town. Ephraim is a town devastated by the closure of its coal mine. A glimmer of hope arises in the building of a Virago Distribution center (our tale’s Amazon stand-in) – but the conglomerate flies in its workforce and builds its own private power plant. None of the wealth it generates flows back into the community.

Some residents take matters into their own hands and blow up the distribution center’s power plant, unaware of its top secret status. They’re overjoyed when Walker arrives – he’s dressed in the flag, he’s got the shield, he’s Captain America. And they sincerely think he’s going to help them take the fight to the man. [Read more…] about U.S. Agent: American Zealot Review!