The Heroes Return Era of the Avengers

[Mister Mets]

Iron Man #18-20

Former business rival/ romantic interest Sunset Bain wants to hire Tony Stark as a consultant, which works for him because he suspected her of shenanigans with War Machine a few issues back. He finds Warbird fighting some of her deep cut enemies, although she’s not as effective as she could be thanks to her drinking. Rhodes is concerned that an old war buddy may be the new War Machine, which may be dangerous when he’s hired by Bain to take out Iron Man, helped by artificial intelligence Jocasta.

The big and small moments are satisfying. I like little details like a bad guy with military training not being all that impressed with Iron Man, figuring he would be much more effective as Tony Stark’s bodyguard. Rhodes’ pain and history is effective even if this is a type of story that’s been done often (Superhero’s associate wonders if someone sketchy he used to know is part of a new effort involving a new villain.) What works here is how his story has similar themes to Tony’s, with both considering they may have been betrayed by someone they used to know.
References to events in the Avengers work to connect Warbird’s role in that story to her arc here, and sell the idea that the different titles are part of a larger story. At the moment, I’m also reading Bruce Jones’s run on the Hulk, which is in its own world and that’s to its detriment especially when there’s a guest starr appearance from Iron Man. I know the Avengers titles are going to see stuff like that, especially when Kang takes over the world, but I generally like Marvel and DC embracing the shared superhero universe.

There is something odd about the comic, which is quite prescient about technology. Things that are futuristic (AI consultants, filters for video-screens) in 1999 are common-place now to the extent that a reader can easily think it’s not that impressive, or that a character who is supposed to be decades ahead of everyone else is following contemporary (circa 2024) trends.
B+

[Mister Mets]

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #12

Steve remembers a few adventures he had with Bucky, including how they met, how Bucky sacrificed himself to stop Baron Zemo and everything in between. Some of this material has been covered many times in the comics, but I don’t think it’s ever been better.
Bucky was a notoriously difficult character to get right. Stan Lee killed him off, and he’s been treated as a joke. Brubaker, Lark and Epting changed him a bit to turn him into the Winter Soldier, which obviously worked out but didn’t necessarily play fair with the original comics that were meant for an all-ages audience, so that soldiers would enjoy Captain America and kids would enjoy his sidekick. And this may be the best regular Bucky comic. It shows why he’s the most important person in Steve’s life.
The idea that he was the guy who could get access to all sorts of contraband is just a nice fit, and I like the development of his friendship with Steve, and how he’s simultaneously fun and tragic. This story has some laughs, decent action sequences and legitimate pathos. It earns the spot as Captain America’s defining tragedy.
A

I’m thinking a bit about why Marvel went with this series at all. I enjoyed most of it, but a Legends of the Dark Knight series with Captain America was never going to be an easy sell. The stories were accessible, so maybe part of it was easy entry points. But it didn’t really make sense given the comics market at the time. Ten years later, it would make sense as material for trades to coincide with the new movie, but best I can figure maybe this was just a comic book that other people at Marvel wanted to read.

This and Busiek’s Iron Man seem to be the most underrated Marvel comics of the Heroes Return era.

Thunderbolts #31-32

The Thunderbolts discover that young teammate Charcoal has been kidnapped by William Taurey, head of the Royalist Forces of America, former Captain America enemies who think the nation’s founding was a mistake. Taurey is trying to lead a new movement encouraging people to give up control to the elites. His forces include mutants and armored henchmen.

I think William Taurey is a great villain for this type of story. He’s got an interesting pedigree coming from one of the weirdest Jack Kirby Captain America stories, but one that’s mentioned often enough. And I like the idea of a villain with two sets of Henchmen- Brute Force and Shocktroopers. It’s a ridiculous plot, but if this happened in the real world, someone would be on Joe Rogan explaining that Taurey has a point. And it’s also a decent challenge for a super-team, and connects well to several ongoing stories, with links to US Agent as well as Baron Zemo.
B+

[ComicNoobie]

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #12

Steve remembers a few adventures he had with Bucky, including how they met, how Bucky sacrificed himself to stop Baron Zemo and everything in between. Some of this material has been covered many times in the comics, but I don’t think it’s ever been better.
Bucky was a notoriously difficult character to get right. Stan Lee killed him off, and he’s been treated as a joke. Brubaker, Lark and Epting changed him a bit to turn him into the Winter Soldier, which obviously worked out but didn’t necessarily play fair with the original comics that were meant for an all-ages audience, so that soldiers would enjoy Captain America and kids would enjoy his sidekick. And this may be the best regular Bucky comic. It shows why he’s the most important person in Steve’s life.
The idea that he was the guy who could get access to all sorts of contraband is just a nice fit, and I like the development of his friendship with Steve, and how he’s simultaneously fun and tragic. This story has some laughs, decent action sequences and legitimate pathos. It earns the spot as Captain America’s defining tragedy.
A

I’m thinking a bit about why Marvel went with this series at all. I enjoyed most of it, but a Legends of the Dark Knight series with Captain America was never going to be an easy sell. The stories were accessible, so maybe part of it was easy entry points. But it didn’t really make sense given the comics market at the time. Ten years later, it would make sense as material for trades to coincide with the new movie, but best I can figure maybe this was just a comic book that other people at Marvel wanted to read.

This and Busiek’s Iron Man seem to be the most underrated Marvel comics of the Heroes Return era.

Thunderbolts #31-32

The Thunderbolts discover that young teammate Charcoal has been kidnapped by William Taurey, head of the Royalist Forces of America, former Captain America enemies who think the nation’s founding was a mistake. Taurey is trying to lead a new movement encouraging people to give up control to the elites. His forces include mutants and armored henchmen.

I think William Taurey is a great villain for this type of story. He’s got an interesting pedigree coming from one of the weirdest Jack Kirby Captain America stories, but one that’s mentioned often enough. And I like the idea of a villain with two sets of Henchmen- Brute Force and Shocktroopers. It’s a ridiculous plot, but if this happened in the real world, someone would be on Joe Rogan explaining that Taurey has a point. And it’s also a decent challenge for a super-team, and connects well to several ongoing stories, with links to US Agent as well as Baron Zemo.
B+

More importantly Songbird learned about the birds and the bees and this where we get sleeping around Moonstone! If she wasn't doing it already prior to this one. The artwork of this era was so yummy! Loved the artwork of these Thunderbolts!

Edit: Also look at how Songbird's glaring at Moonstone. I miss these two antagonistic bolt sisters.

[K7P5V]

More importantly Songbird learned about the birds and the bees and this where we get sleeping around Moonstone! If she wasn't doing it already prior to this one. The artwork of this era was so yummy! Loved the artwork of these Thunderbolts!

Edit: Also look at how Songbird's glaring at Moonstone. I miss these two antagonistic bolt sisters.

Yeah! Mark Bagley totally rules (XD)

[Mister Mets]

Black Widow #1-3

Devin Grayson and JG Jones depict a meaningful mission for the Black Widow. Yelena is introduced here, as a woman from the red room who has broken Natasha’s records. There’s a terrorist plot that forces soldiers into fatal frenzies. Natasha’s bummed out by a letter from her doctors wishing her a happy birthday; she had forgotten all about it.

JG Jones shows that he’s a star artist. It’s not a surprise he’d follow this up with major projects like Marvel Boy, Wanted, Wonder Woman: Hiketia and Final Crisis. He has an eye for detail which is excellent for an espionage story. And he’s great at action.


I haven’t read many comics by Devin Grayson. Late 90s Batman comics are mostly a blind spot for me. The story is decent. This version of Natasha is going to be familiar to readers of Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada’s run on Daredevil, which is referenced a bit. It’s kinda funny to hear a description of her adorable lack of humor, when that’s not fully the impression I had. But there is an effective sense of a protagonist unsettled by a mundane realization. And then you’ve got the spy story with decent twists and high stakes.

This one was mentioned in Thunderbolts, which is part of why I checked it out. I’ll probably skip the follow-up (which also doesn’t have the awesome art by JG Jones, although Scott Hampton is no slouch.)
B+