"Mark Bagley"

Fantastic Four #1 Review

It’s a new era for the Fantastic Four, although you might not entirely notice at first (and maybe that’s a good thing).

Avengers Assemble #8 Review

And so Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley wrap up their run on Avengers Assemble…

Avengers Assemble #7 Review

Thanos has a Cosmic Cube and he knows just what to do with it in Avengers Assemble #7!

Avengers Assemble #6 Review

The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy take the fight to Thanos to recover the Cosmic Cube!

Avengers Assemble #5 Review

The Guardians of the Galaxy come to help the Avengers get rid of Thanos in Avengers Assemble #5!

Avengers Assemble #4 Review

Thanos is on the scene and he’s not screwing around!  Check out our review of Avengers Assemble #4!

Avengers Assemble #3 Review

In Avengers Assemble #3, the Avengers face off against the whole of the Zodiac!  They also find themselves in a surprise ending that feels awfully similar to their recent big screen adventure…  Spoilers ahead!

Avengers Assemble #2 Review

The new Zodiac has revealed itself.  Now it’s up to the Avengers to stop them in Avengers Assemble #2!

Avengers Assemble #1 Review

If you thought you couldn’t use yet another Avengers title, this one might just surprise you… Especially if you’ve enjoyed their exploits for longer than Brian Michael Bendis has been writing them.

Justice League of America #48 Review

Justice League of America #48

The Dark Things, the multipart crossover between the JLA and the JSA, concludes this week in JLA 48. Basically, the assembled heroes fight against the strange Jade/Obsidian hybrid being and the Starheart-possessed Alan Scott. Back on Earth, Mr. Terrific has come up with an explanation about how the Starheart is affecting metas, and has Supergirl and Power Girl build a gizmo to give them, Lightning, and Congorilla at least temporary immunity. There’s a scene of Dick being surprised at how Jesse can fight (more on that later) as the battle rages on. Dr. Midnight manages to heal Starman by reuniting him with the gem the Starheart tore out of his chest. Jade suddenly shifts to White Lantern mode and manages to separate her and Obsidian (as well as briefly getting what is far and away her ugliest costume ever). Jade is charged by the White Lantern with “Balancing the darkness,” the words being accompanied by a vision of herself, Obsidian, and oddly, Eclipso.

Jennie realizes she needs to keep herself separate from Obsidian, who is already succumbing to the power again, and she re-charges Kyle’s ring to allow him to carry Obsidian off. Kyle also seems to be massively backpedaling, suddenly claiming he would never kill Alan no matter his orders, which is not at all the way he was acting in the previous two chapters. Batman figures out the Starheart fears Jennie, and uses her powers to defeat it and allow Scott to control himself again. Just as the fight starts tipping in the heroes’ favor, Supergirl, Power Girl, Congorilla, Lightning, and Mr. Terrific pop up to help wrap it up.

Jade siphoning off some of the power is enough for Alan to regain control of himself, and he is described now as “the most powerful human alive” since the Starheart is now even more powerful than before, with so much more of it on Earth. We then have an epilogue wherein Batman invites Jesse to join the JLA, although his recruiting technique needs work (“The JLA needs a speedster?” Really?), and she instantly accepts. Apparently there is lingering instability from the Starheart mess, and Jade and Obsidian can’t go near each other, which presumably leads to her also joining the JLA, completing what some have been calling the League of Stand-Ins. Supergirl patrols Metropolis, also about to join, wondering why she was never possessed, and as she flies by a window, we see the reflection of the dark Supergirl she briefly became in the past.

The back up wraps up as well, as the fight between Cyborg and the nanite possessed Red Tornado concludes. Vic figures out a risky maneuver, and taps into the imprisoned consciousness of the Construct, an old JLA foe that has tried to take over the world several times. The Construct allows Reddy to stabilize, and all seems to end well. Until the last panel, when we see a nebulous cyberspace, presumably inside Reddy, and something starting to form “thoughts” on a binary level. My guess? At some point in the future, the Construct will emerge and start screwing with Red Tornado again.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

The battle was handled well enough, and some characterizations were good. Dr. Midnight being more concerned with saving Starman’s life than with fighting made perfect sense, and Jade having some lingering resentments, if only subconsciously, about her relationship with Kyle ending, also work, even if she is the one that cheated on him. The story had the epic feel of the JLA/JSA crossovers of old, even if it was stretched out a bit (in my view, this could have been at least one chapter shorter, maybe even two). Batman adding more power to the League is a good step, and his recruiting Jesse evoked serious deja vu (back in the Titans days, Dick was responsible for recruiting Jesse on to that team as well).

The bit with Dick commenting that he never realized what a fighter Jesse was is a bit odd- as I said, they’ve been teammates before. Kyle comes off wishy washy (I’m not here to help Alan, I’m here to kill him… oh wait, things are ok… I never would have killed him). Mr. Terrific’s pseudo science for figuring out what happened to people under the Starheart’s influence still has a hole in it. It gaining control of magic types, I can see. Screwing with elementals… well, I guess that’s close to magic. Influencing Kryptonians via their link with the sun is pushing things a bit. And why was Lightning effected? She’s not magic, her powers are inherent/latent (she’s a mutant, but I understand DC isn’t supposed to use that term anymore), and she’s never been described as an elemental before. I’m also getting a bit sick of White Lantern power as the source of random visions and an almost dues ex machina effect, but I suppose if they didn’t do that, they couldn’t slap “Brightest Day” on the cover. Robinson also continues his inability to grasp detail, by having Power Girl call Dr. Midnight “Charles” (the name of his deceased predecessor), and more disturbingly have Jessie call her husband “Rex,” the name of not only the previous Hourman, but her husband’s father. That’s just… disturbing.

Overall, I think Robinson is still showing signs of improvement, but still has a ways to go to get back to the quality he’s capable of (Starman, Golden Age).

Justice League Of America #45 Review

Justice League of America 45 is called “Prelude to the Dark Things,” and is billed as the lead in to the upcoming JLA/JSA crossover, as well as part of the Brightest Day crossover.