I didn't count on being happy: A quick look at Batman: The Widening Gyre

Say what you will about his films and the eternal lateness of Daredevil: The Target issue two, but Kevin Smith can spin a yarn when he wants to. His love for the Bat is no secret, as fans of his Fatman on Batman podcast can attest, and his love for a certain run in particular is what drives today's selection, Batman: The Widening Gyre.

In the late 70's, writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers produced a short run of Batman stories centered around Bruce Wayne and Batman's love affair with a woman named Silver St. Cloud. Collected in trade paperback as Batman: Strange Apparitions, this all-too-short run of issues sees Batman dealing with the likes of a post-Denny O'Neil revamped Joker, Dr. Phosphorus (who would go on to be the inspiration for the character Blight in Batman Beyond), crime boss Rupert Thorne, and the now-in-a-major-motion-picture hitman Deadshot. Stylistic ripples from this run could be felt for decades to come, even as the majority of Batman comics in the next decade would follow in the footsteps of Frank Miller and Alan Moore.

Smith and his artistic collaborator Walt Flanagan clearly hold that run in high esteem, as this series sees not only the return of Silver St. Cloud to Bruce Wayne's life, but a reflection on a "simpler" time, before uzis replaced death rays and eating hearts became the new trend among Gotham psychos. As Bruce Wayne considers giving up the cape and cowl life to be with Silver, his alter ego takes a new young crime fighter under his wing.

The character Baphomet is a bit of a cipher. We know he looks up to Batman, but he doesn't seem intimidated or even especially beholden to his style of righting wrongs. Baphomet's true identity and motivations remain a mystery right up until the final, devastating two page splash of the last issue, and once that genie is out of the bottle . . . well let's just say Smith and Flanagan have their work cut out for them when and if the sequel, Batman: Bellicosity ever comes to be. (I'm not going to spoil it here, but yeesh . . . if you've read it, you probably had the same reaction.)

I'm putting the cart before the horse here. And the horse is a fun read. Each issue jumps back and forth in time between the grim avenger of the current Bat-status quo and an earlier (and usually lighter) version. Smith's Bruce Wayne is a little more candid than the usual portrayal, and a bit more human. We get all kinds of intimate secrets about both Batman and Bruce's private lives and once you learn the origin of Silver's nickname for Bruce, "Dee Dee", you'll be one hundred percent certain you're reading a Kevin Smith story.

There are guest stars galore, from Aquaman to Etrigan, and a bevy of classic Batman villains, all rendered competently by Flanagan. His figures might seem a bit odd at first, but I found his illustration style growing on me as I read on. He clearly relishes the chance to draw the grotesque and horrific, and Smith's diversions into the darker side of Gotham give him ample opportunity.

Overall, it's a satisfying six issues with a cliffhanger ending that will either leave you scratching your head or filled with nerd rage. Either way, I think its safe to say this comic will get a reaction out of you.

Also, I guess it bears mentioning that the run by Englehart and Rogers that I cited at the beginning of this post did in fact get a sequel miniseries from DC in the early 2000's, but that's a back issue dive for another time!

Thanks for reading!

Twitter: @ChrisBComics
More Batman Stuff: Gotham Animated

You leave when I want you to stay: A short lived Thor comic by Langridge and Samnee

He's the hunk of thunder, the himbo with arms akimbo, the mighty Thor! Marvel's version of the mythological deity had risen to prominence over the last several years, thanks to being front and center in a few Marvel crossover events, as well as starring in two successful films and aiding the Avengers in two more. This might be the biggest the son of Odin has been in out pop culture lexicon since Dawson from Adventures in Babysitting.

Unfortunately, Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee's magnificent Thor: The Mighty Avenger series just missed the mark.

Yes, Ragnarok came waaay too soon for this fantastic comic book collaboration. Langridge was hot off The Muppet Show comic and Samnee was a new name for me. I was drawn in by his clean line work and simple character designs that looked prepped for animation.

Nearly a year before Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth played Jane Foster and Thor on the big screen, Langridge gave us a story about Thor as an outlier, tossed out of his home in Asgard by Odin and left to wander the streets until fate intervenes and he ends up rescuing a woman from Mr. Hyde and crossing paths with Foster. Thor has a lot of baggage to deal with, but Jane is really the star of this series.

The way I describe this series when I recommend it is, "imagine the usual Superman adventures, but viewed from Lois Lane's perspective." Rereading this series in its entirety recently, I'd say I still agree with myself. (And if we can get along, why can't you, America?) Jane Foster's plight as a working woman just trying to make ends meet and be taken seriously in her field give her a nice foundation as a character.

As the series progresses, Jane finds herself getting sucked into Thor's shenanigans more and more. The epic scale of Thor's power means stories can take place all over the globe, and the creative team uses this to their advantage, having Thor bump into all kinds of guest stars like Namor and Iron Man. This is also kind of a "Thor: Year One" kind of series, so these encounters are treated like the first of their kind and the usual misunderstandings and fisticuffs ensue.

Thor's struggle to regain his lost memories and recall why he was banished to Earth are the main plot through the series. You probably know who's responsible for at least some of Thor's plight, but if you need a clue: it rhymes with Pokey. I really began to feel for the big lug over the course of the eight issues that comprise the series. He is dejected and often wistful, using his bravado in battle to mask an inner loneliness.

Chris Samnee wasn't on my radar back when this series started, but he's one of my favorites now. His work with Mark Waid on Daredevil was pure genius, month in and month out, and now they're tearing it up on Black Widow together. I have to throw him some kudos, because it's his covers that got me into this series in the first place, and even if the story doesn't blow you away, this is a damn fine comic book, just from a visual storytelling outlook.

Due to what I have to assume were low sales, Thor: The Mighty Avenger was canned after only eight issues and a Free Comic Book Day special. A sequel series about Captain America in a similar vein was in the works, but was quickly scrapped and reduced to a measly one-shot called Captain America: The Fighting Avenger. But hey, what we got here was damn good and if nothing else, showed us the potential for great "All-Ages" comics.

Thanks for reading! And if you ever find yourself on the other end of the Bifrost, you can contact me on Twitter @ChrisBComics.

New releases for the week of 8/10/16

Back issue diving returns tomorrow! For today, here's some notable new issues hitting the stands this week:

All Star Batman #1 (DC Comics)
Scott Snyder returns to the dark knight after a pretty great run on the main series. This also sees the legendary John Romita Jr. tackle Batman in an ongoing series for the first time ever, unless I'm mistaken. The solicitation copy promises a road trip story with Bats and the duplicitous Two-Face as fugitives on the run. The preview art looks a notch above what Romita was doing on Superman, in case you had any fears that JR Jr. was losing his touch.

Deathstroke: Rebirth #1 (DC Comics)
Christopher Priest of Quantum & Woody and Black Panther fame brings his signature style to mercenary Slade Wilson's latest ongoing endeavor. This is the obligatory "Rebirth" issue before the ongoing series kicks off in a few weeks. Preview pages have already revealed that Priest's white-text-on-black-background scene transitions have carried over from his other work, hinting that DC might just let Priest take the ball on run with it. The man is a modern master at character work and dark humor, so ol' one-eye might be a good fit for him.

Superwoman #1 (DC Comics)
Big ups to DC this week for putting talented folks in charge of what sound like pretty interesting new reads. Phil Jimenez introduces us to the new Superwoman, Lois Lane, and the notion of turning the Superman paradigm on its ear intrigues me. The breathtaking cover art alone was enough to give me pause.

Sec One-Shot (Alternative Comics)
Sarah Ferrick's series of comic book love letters may be coming to an end, but there's plenty of time in this dreary life to rediscover them. Don't let the strange, pointy-nose figure on the wraparound cover throw you off, within that cover is sure to be a collection of heart wrenching, beautifully rendered vignettes.

Rochelle #1 (Antarctic Press)
A Kafka-inspired fever dream with a high school backdrop? Maybe. A gender flipped Spider-Man style story about what it takes to be a survivor? Perhaps. A mind-altering science fiction epic that spans all of time and cyberspace? Who knows? To be honest, I'm not sure what to expect from writer John Crowther and artist Dell Barras, but it looks like it could be fun.

Black Panther #5 (Marvel Comics)
Ta-Nehisi Coates begins his second arc with T'Challa, teaming him up with fellow Avenger Manifold in an effort to stem the tide of destruction paguing his home of Wakanda thanks to a rellious faction called The People. Chris Sprouse steps into Brian Stelfreeze's shoes for this month (and maybe this whole arc, I'm not sure), but if you're going to have a fill-in, Sprouse is a hell of a good one. Just thought I'd throw this out there, in case you were looking for a place to jump on with this series.

All-New All-Different Avengers Annual #1 (Marvel Comics)
Kamala Khan might be the biggest breakout character Marvel has produced in quite a while. (Sorry, Gwenpool.) This issue sees the junior Avenger and current Ms. Marvel torment her fellow heroes with her . . . wait for it . . . FAN FICTION! As a former fanfic dork myself, I'm looking forward to this one. It also reminds me of Kitty's fairy tale, for all of you old-school X-Men fans out there.

That's quite a pull this week! What looks good to you for this week? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) or on Facebook (Chris Bearden, the one with the Captain Boomerang avatar). Tomorrow I'll return to diving into back issues with a look at a short-lived Marvel series from a few years ago. Thanks for reading!

Linda Danvers, Gone But Not Forgotten

Supergirl: Many Happy Returns

Written by Peter David

Art by Ed Benes and Alex Lei

As if Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow weren't enough to sate me as a superhero-loving couch potato, I decided to jump into CBS's Supergirl series as well. For the most part, the series contains the same strengths and weaknesses as the other three DC shows, but seems more sincere in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Kara (Supergirl) is a genuine cape and skirt heroine who honestly wants to do a little good in the world. I can see the issue a lot of viewers might have with the plucky protagonist: she's just too damn nice. It's a strange complaint, but with comics being what they are and what they have been for a couple of decades now, her innocence probably rubs a lot of folks the wrong way. In the age of Edward Snowden and the NSA, a flying character with x-ray vision comes across as an alien overlord keeping tabs on all of the little people.

Supergirl's sweetness didn't turn me away, but it did get me thinking about a previous iteration of the character. The Peter David-written Supergirl series from the 1990's featured a very different protagonist than the one we have on TV now. For starters, she wasn't Superman's cousin, but rather an everygirl from a small town who may or may not have been an angel or something. It's been a while, her origins are fuzzy. David built an entire world within the DC Universe for Linda Danvers to explore, complete with a rogues gallery all her own. The series lasted eighty issues, the last six of which are collected in the trade I picked out of my back issue bins.

The cover to the trade tells the story. Linda Danvers, the Supergirl we'd been following for nearly ten years comes face to face with the "Pre-Crisis" Supergirl, Kara Zor-El. Kara's emergence from the rocket ship on the cover is a throwback to the very first appearance of Supergirl back in the good ol' Silver Age. In the story, Kara is written as a complete Polly Anna, innocent and naive enough to even attempt some of the feats she would've tried back in a Silver Age Superman story. Linda even makes fun of Kara for trying to push the planet out of the way of a meteor, citing the catastrophe that would result and making reference to the de-powering of the Kryptonian characters after the Crisis.

(Actually I think that started with Denny O'Neil, but it didn't really take effect until John Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries.)

Stranded on our version of Earth, Linda shows Kara the ropes and even gets her enrolled in the high school where she is an art teacher by day. I guess that's another difference I should point out; Linda should really be called Superwoman at this point, as she is a few years older than Kara and displays a much more down-to-Earth, "been there, done that" personality type. There is some debate between the two Supergirls as to how to approach crime fighting and world saving, with Linda trying to teach Kara a lesson their mentor Superman learned long ago: You can't save everyone.

The story rolls on with the Spectre getting involved and a cosmic-level baddie named Xenon hunting Supergirls across the Multiverse. The Spectre explains Kara's role in the Crisis and that she is destined to die. Events in the story compromise Linda's civilian life and she decides to switch places with Kara and go on to die in her place. Linda is transported to Kara's version of the DCU, and gets to live out all of her Silver-Agey adventures. There's a confrontation with Xenon involving both girls and a touching tribute to the series as a whole at the end.

This was the first Supergirl comic I ever purchased and judging from my age at the time and Ed Benes's depictions of the female form, it might've been spurred on by nothing more than my adolescent hard-on. It turned out to be so much more than a thirteen year-old's spank bank however, instead leading to my discovery of the Pre-Crisis/Post-Crisis concept of DC's canon and increasing my appreciation for the wacky stories of the Silver Age. Later still, I'd come to love Peter David's skill as a writer. The characters feel real, or about as real as comic book characters are allowed to feel in between fist fights.

The juxtaposition of the two Supergirls reflects the changing attitudes toward super heroics in general. The late nineties and early 2000's weren't far at all from the gritted-teeth and paramilitary gear of the Image heroes. Writers like David clearly missed the fun and frolic of older stories, and were irked by the idea that bright, colorful characters like Superman were incapable of real pathos and moral quandaries. It wasn't long after this that my own taste in superhero comics began to change, as I traded my love for Spawn and The Punisher for more "traditional" superheroes like The Flash and Superman.

I would gladly recommend this trade for anyone who likes their superhero stories fun and light, but with gobs and gobs of character. But if you're coming at the Peter David Supergirl with the current TV series as your only reference point, be warned: this is nothing like that show. This is a character from a time when DC's upper echelon were trying to distance themselves from silly things like the Pre-Crisis Supergirl. Now they thrive on concepts like the Multiverse, as evidenced by this season of The Flash and Barry's upcoming encounter with Kara in a crossover episode. (Which sounds pretty rad, btw)

Thanks for reading as always, and you can find me on Twitter at @ChrisBComics, where I plug all of my various blogging efforts, as well as my serialized sci-fi/fantasy novel Panic Kingdom.

"Goblin Up the Profits"

Hobgoblin #1 and #2

Published by Marvel Comics

Written by Kevin Shinick

Art by Javier Rodriguez and Alvaro Lopez

Who doesn't love a good villain story? If the current fever over DC's Suicide Squad trailer is any indication, I'm not alone in enjoying the occasional excursion to the wrong side of the tracks and letting the baddies tell their side of the story once in a while. Marvel's Axis event from a couple years back looked to not only tip the scales in favor of villainy, but reverse the poles, casting long time heroes as menaces and vice versa. The Axis event isn't of much import to today's back issue dive, except that Hobgoblin is a tie-in that has roots in the event, but I want to bring it up just because 2013/2014 was apparently the year the baddies took control of our hearts and minds. Just across the way at DC comics, the Forever Evil event was also raging on, mind you.

The "inversion" event in Axis serves as the catalyst for Hobgoblin. As to how the inversion thingamajig actually works, I'm not sure. Axis and Uncanny Avengers passed me by at the time. All I knew going into Hobgoblin issue one was that Roderick Kingsley had taken to leasing out superhero identities instead of villains and Phil Urich was living underground and calling himself the Goblin King.

The Goblin saga in the Spider-Man sub-division of the Marvel Universe has taken some interesting turns over the last couple of years, most of which I wasn't privy to firsthand. As far as I can tell, the Goblins are now a gang and the Osborns aren't even in the picture. I could be wrong about this, or not up to date, as I haven't been a regular Spider-Man reader in quite some time. Hobgoblin #1 and #2 were impulse buys, with Javier Rodriguez's simple-but-attention-grabbing covers doing more to sell me the book than any actual interest in catching up with the ol' Spidey soap opera.

The story Shinick tells here, about Roderick Kingsley cashing in on the disenfranchised by promising to reinvent themselves as superheroes, feels like a concept from The Venture Brothers. Kingsley is portrayed as a total shill, never missing an opportunity to plug his latest self-help book or stadium-filling seminar. The satire isn't subtle, or even completely original, but the humor is sharp and makes the story worth pursuing. Personally, I feel the most important aspect of a comic is its entertainment value, and Hobgoblin has that in spades.

Opposing Kingsley is the villainous self-proclaimed "heir" to the Goblin legacy, Phil Urich. Urich is scorched that Kingsley is using the once-feared Goblin name to perform half-baked super heroics and sell books (of which he is not getting a cut, I presume). Caught between them is the amnesiac Goblin Queen, found wandering the streets by Kingsley's recruiters and "rebranded" as superheroine Queen Cat. The King wants his Queen and many quips and fisticuffs commence.

There's an Axis banner at the top of each cover to Hobgoblin, branding it a "tie-in" and perhaps causing many fans to pass by, but they missed out. Ironic that a comic about brand management is hurt by the very same thing. I can't think of any other Kevin Shinick comics off the top of my head, so he's a new writer to me and I'd be interested to read some of his other stuff. The style and humor of this comic lives on in Chip Zdarsky's Howard the Duck and is reminiscent of Peter Milligan's X-Statix, if you need another comparison.

Thanks for reading! Pester me at @ChrisBComics if erection lasts more than four hours.

An Unlikely Legend

First off, a disclaimer: I'm going to spoil the heck out of the premiere episode of Legends of Tomorrow, so if you haven't seen it yet, BE WARNED. With that said, let's talk television.
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The latest in DC's ever-expanding television universe, Legends of Tomorrow is the story of Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), a rogue time traveler on a mission to stop the immortal Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) from shaping world events so that he ends up ruling the world sometime in the 22nd century. To this end, he assembles a team of heroes and villains from our relative present to back him up.

Joining him on this mission is The Atom (Brandon Routh), who is tech billionaire and genius inventor Ray Palmer by day and a size-changing crimefighter by night. Dr. Palmer, as well as the rest of the cast, comes to us courtesy of DC's other two CW shows, Arrow and The Flash. previously on Arrow, Palmer had been thought dead after being kidnapped by baddie Damian Darhk. Ray rejoined the world of the living after being rescued by Team Arrow, but he is still haunted by the notion that his "death" seemed to have little impact on the world. Whether it's his ego, or a genuine desire to do good in the world, Ray sees Rip Hunter's offer as an opporitunity to create a legacy.

I should mention here that Rip Hunter cons the heroes into joining him by promising they are considered "legends" in the future. In fact, Rip plucks these particular characters out of the time stream because they actually have NO impact on the timeline and are therefore disposable. This twist comes later in the show, and Dr. Palmer is hit the hardest by it.

Filling the role of obligitory badass hand-to-hand fighter is Sarah Lance, the White Canary, (Caity Lotz) who joins up for no other reason than she's become redundant in the world of Arrow. Okay, maybe that's a tad cruel. What I mean to say is, she's a warrior without an opponent, a soldier without a mission, and a pop tart without a toaster. I'm sure there will be more to say about her as the series continues, but for now all we need to know is that she likes to dance uninterrupted and fancies the ladies. I'm probably not doing this character justice. Let's move on.

Also along for the ride are Hawkman and Hawkgirl, played by Falk Hentschel and Ciara Renee. We learned the story of their reincarnation cycle and eternal struggle with Vandal Savage in the last Flash/Arrow crossover. They have a bone to pick with Savage, since he keeps killing them over and over throughout the ages. 207 times or so, actually. When the heroes travel back in time to 1975, they seek out a college professor who is the only living (at that time) authority on Vandal Savage. The professor turns out to be the son of a past version of Hawkgirl. Little twists like this with these two reincarnated characters make this show very exciting for me. The idea of past lives has always attracted me to the Hawk characters and I'm glad the writers are embracing it.

That's one thing I noticed about this show: everything tumbles into place exceptionally well. None of the characters seem out of place and what I once feared was going to be a poor man's Justice League has the potential to be something more interesting than the League ever was. At the root of this show is a very promising storytelling engine. But let's get back to the team . . .

One of the more interesting characters in DC's stable of heroes is without a doubt, Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. Firestorm is a hero that results from the merging of two separate beings: Aging Professor Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and the youthful Jefferson "Jax" Jackson (Franz Drameh). Professor Stein is genuinely excited by Rip's offer, as a chance to experience actual time travel is the wet dream of any physicist, I'd imagine. Jefferson doesn't want any part of it, but is roofied by Stein and shanghai'd along. To which I wonder--why does Professor Stein have roofies on-hand in his office? #problematic

Just kidding. That part was funny. If you don't think about it too hard.

Rounding out Rip Hunter's task force are the criminal duo of Captain Cold and Heatwave, regulars from The Flash. Their code names are self-explanatory. Prison Break stars Wentworth Miller and Domic Purcell reunite and, in my opinion, steal the show. Being the "bad boys" of the team, they bring much-needed levity to what could easily devolve into a tropey melodrama. They join up bedazzled by the possibility of stealing priceless artifacts from history. How long the more heroic members of the team will tolerate them remains to be seen. The inclusion of these two characters had me cocking my head to the side when the show was first announced, but now I understand what they bring to the table. Captain Cold is going to be everyone's favorite character soon, mark my words.

But let's jump back to Rip Hunter for a sec. Aside from the reveal of why he chose the heroes and villains he did, there is a second reveal that really drives the series and presents a slew of possible antagonists other than Vandal Savage for the team to deal with. At the beginning of the episode, we see Rip pleading with the other Time Lords . . . I mean Time Masters, to give him a Waverider (Time Machine) and let him deal with Savage once and for all. The episode continues with the audience assuming Rip was granted the ship by the Time Masters only to discover later that he was denied and stole the ship. We learn that Rip has a personal vendetta against Savage. Savage murdered his wife and child.

Nothing says "superheroes" like dead family members, at least if my memory of twenty-plus years of reading comic books serves.

The one weak area in the show that I can see is the villain. Vandal Savage is pretty arch, giving a weaksauce Christoph Waltz-like performance as the big bad. It's not too offensive, and Savage does some across as a genuine threat, but I worry that he won't be able to carry an entire series. It reminds me of the Purple Man in Jessica Jones. He starts out as a terrifying baddie, but as the episodes wear on he runs out of steam and the show suffers for it. Hopefully, the crew at DCTV have more surprise villains to drop on us.

Lastly, there's one critical element to this show that immediately made it a "must watch" for me--My wife liked it. She hasn't responded to Arrow or The Flash in a positive way, but this show had the right mix of humor, romance, and sci-fi to hold her attention. When you can enjoy this stuff with the people you love, I can forget about a corny villain or a predictable plot.

Good on ya, TV people. I'll be back every Thursday. And will probably write about it too! As always, thanks for reading and you can direct your slings and arrows of outrageous folly to @ChrisBComics on Twitter.

Image Credit: Jordon Nuttall/TheCW

The Old School Gives Way

Avengers Vol. 3 #37

Written by Kurt Busiek

Art by Steve Epting and Al Vey

It's amazing what a difference a few years can make. Just look at Marvel comics. A scant few years ago, a concept like The Avengers played second fiddle to 90's juggernauts like Spider-Man and the X-Men. It wasn't until the rise of Marvel's current cinematic universe that characters like Thor, Captain America, and even Iron Man would get any kind of reaction from the casual fan, much less a positive one.

Seriously, do you remember Tony Stark being nearly as cool as he is now pre-Robert Downey Jr.? Of course you don't. It took a great director and killer performance to bring that character to life in a way that a mainstream audience can digest and appreciate. The material and potential were always there, but it needed a kick in the pants in terms of presentation.

I also feel there's a point in the comics where the Avengers needed a kick in the pants. Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar would do the kicking in this scenario, however. Back in the late nineties, The Avengers was a quality comic book for sure, with Kurt Busiek writing and the living legend George Perez on art duties, but with indy books like The Authority and Powers deconstructing super-powered characters in new and interesting ways, the classic super-heroics in Avengers may have seemed stale by comparison. Busiek and Perez had a storied three year run that would've been more at home a few years prior I think, harkening back to the Roger Stern era with the constantly shifting team roster, rogues gallery of classic big bads, and the kind of storytelling bombast Stan Lee and Jack Kirby built the Marvel house on.

Despite being a favorite run of many O.G. Avengers fans, Busiek and Perez's run was not to last. Busiek himself would continue on the title as the writer for a stretch, which is where today's back issue dive springs from. And stepping up to the plate on art, with the unenviable task of having to follow George Perez, is Steve Epting.

Epting was an Avengers vet already, although his work here is leagues beyond the material he produced for the original Avengers series during the (shudder) Bob Harras run. The work here seems simpler and cleaner, perhaps the result of Al Vey's inks. Vey worked with Perez during his tenure on the book, and most likely wanted to maintain a certain visual continuity, even with a new artist jumping on. Epting is also far from done with the Marvel stable at this point in his career. Most recently, you may have seen his work in Ed Brubaker's Captain America and Winter Soldier runs. And don't forget about their image series Velvet!

Issue #37 is the conclusion of a skirmish between the Avengers and the terrifying, stories-tall Bloodwraith, as he rages across the ruins of Slorenia, a fictional third world country ravaged by Ultron in a previous arc, the classic "Ultron Unlimited". Meanwhile, a separate team of Avengers must deal with the villains Pagan and Lord Templar back in NYC. Newbie member Triathalon is on display here; secretly an agent planted by the Scientologists . . . . I mean, the Triune Understanding. With Wanda's chaos magick, Avengers Team A is able to trap the Bloodwraith within the war torn country while Avengers Team B is usurped by Triathalon. The new hero succeeds where his peers have failed, much to the chagrin of the Avengers and the crows that has gathered to watch them in action. All the while, the Triune Understanding looks on and schemes.

This particular issue is a bit of a jumble. There are many characters flying around doing things and a lesser writer would resort to simplifying the action so as not to let characterization suffer. Busiek doesn't so this; instead he's able to distill a character's personality within whatever little bit of "screen time" they're given.

I can't necessarily recommend Avengers #37 as a single issue. Not unless you want to trek further back and read the Busiek run in its entirety (or at least as far back as the Ultron Unlimited story). It is an example of an Avengers book in what I like to think of as the twilight of "classic" marvel. Joe Quesada's Marvel Knights imprint and rise to power during this time would eventually influence the entire line, and the shift to "writing for the trade" would become the go-to method of producing monthly comics. I still find the cover very striking though; it always jumps out at me when I see it in longboxes.

Thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter @ChrisBComics!