She-Hulk #24 ~ With the big action intro out of the way, this issue is a bit more slice-of-life - we meet more of Jen's current associates and friends, see more of where she is professionally and personally, get a look at a new villain, see some superheroics, and new sidekick Jazinta gets some personal time for some exposition and a little well-intentioned intervention in her friends' lives. The weakness of the issue - if you want to call it that - is that there's only a small effort at a unifying plot, with a character turning up a couple of times to facilitate a brief bit of self-reflection on She-Hulk's current attitude to heroism, and how she's seen by those affected by her. It's only a minor weakness, and the payoff for it is that there's a lot of space to devote to good character-building dialogue and emotional scenes. Peter David does strong work - I imagine a lot of what we see here will play out into larger stories in future issues, but even just taken as it is, this is a satisfying issue that really lets the reader go along for the ride as She-Hulk goes about her business. Shawn Moll's art continues to impress, no matter what's asked of him by the script - I hope he likes working on this book, because I'd like to see him stay a good long time.
Madame Mirage #4 ~ I'm not really sure what to say about this issue - it's not entirely a return to business as usual after last issue's exposition-fest, as there's some intriguing interactions between Harper and MM, and a bit of further development based on what we learned last month. But there's a lot of the usual stylish beating up of bad guys, which takes up most of the issue, and the final twist... after all the bait-and-switch that's happened so far, I just can't shake the feeling that this is the bait, and there's a switch coming, which is a problem as the whole idea is that the reader is meant to believe the bait, otherwise there's no surprise either now, or when it turns out to be a ploy. I guess it's a peril of the magic trade - do enough sleight-of-hand, and even if the audience can't see how it's being done, they'll stop being surprised by it. The next two issues will conclude Madame Mirage's first 'season', and whether they can present a genuine surprise twist or not will decide whether this title has the legs to survive long-term. Figuratively speaking, of course - Mirage personally has the legs to do anything she wants, and Rocafort's art is sumptuous and stylish as always.
The Long Count #1 ~ Interesting start, but I have to say this isn't all I was expecting from a debut issue. The storytelling in the issue itself is focused and fairly evocative, but doesn't go into the overall plot of the series much at all - since this is detailed on the back cover, I'm assuming it's not stuff we as readers aren't meant to know yet (if it is, this'd be up there with Punisher appearing on the alt cover of Civil War #5 for an issue spoiling its own reveal), but it was a bit unsatisfying to get that information as a block of text, rather than it being worked into the issue itself. The art is intricate, full of detail and imagination, but not very clear in some sequences - it's not a big deal thus far, but if later issues want to rely on readers being able to tell what's going on in a fight scene in more than general terms, that may be a problem. That said, the presentation of the diablos, street-level demons, and the general mingling of disorderly street gang society with the supernatural, is quite interesting - I'm not calling this a winner just yet, but I'm definitely interested enough to see what happens next.
Justice League of America #16 ~ Odd little issue this - two stories, one a fairly standard heroes-meet-unknown-other-hero, with the usual confusion and brief fisticuffs before everything is sorted out, the other a quick Red Arrow story. The issue title 'A Brief Tangent' (besides being a nod to the Tangent universe) is a good one-line summary: after the blockbuster action of McDuffie's opening Injustice League Unlimited arc, this feels like a breather, a moment's pause before whatever's next comes around. Plotwise it's not the most satisfying issue - the lead story is a prologue to the Tangent: Superman's Reign miniseries shortly to begin, so there's no guarantee that what we see here will really be followed up on in JLA, and the Red Arrow tale - though timely in its Christmas theme - doesn't seem likely to turn up again either. On the up side, McDuffie is an experienced hand at working character into a story, and throughout the goings-on with Tangent characters and Red Arrow chasing some old villain, there's plenty of worthwhile incidental material for everyone involved, as well as the usual light-hearted sense of fun.
The Order #6 ~ This issue has its ups and downs, but overall the ups win. The spotlight focus is on Milo Fields, aka Supernaut, the Order's resident robot arsenal, and while the issue gets about quite a bit to cover all the running plotlines, and thus doesn't feature Milo as exclusively as the earlier issues did their main characters, his personality is sketched out well, with an interesting backstory that touches on very relevant themes of military servicemen and how they're used by their masters. Mulholland's past with the Black Dahlias is explained as well, but I have to admit I'm not quite clicking with her - perhaps she'll be better once she has her turn in the spotlight, and presumably a chance to really shine, but for now I'm finding myself a bit on Henry's side of the argument, that Mulholland is turning out to be more trouble than she's worth. The M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W. running plot is also not quite firing on all cylinders - I still like the goofy superspy acronyms, but the way the characters seem to know what's going on when we readers haven't been let in on what they know is turning out to be a bit irritating. Dialogue between Henry and Pepper even highlights how no-one else has ever heard of the M.A.N., and while I imagine that's meant to be self-referential, it just left me feeling excluded.
On the plus side, some groundwork is laid for the team's (hopefully eventual) move to San Francisco - I liked the early use of Los Angeles and the associated media/celebrity culture, but the scenes with the Mayor of SF and the ideas of how the team might work there are really enticing, and I hope that'll be followed through on. Plus, the city by the bay is the setting for this issue's stand-out moment, a plot twist that's entirely logical given what's happened in other titles, but which was cleverly kept secret by the Order solicitations. It's a good one, and I really hope it's not just a one-off moment, but instead the kind of thing we can expect from this book in terms of how it'll tie into the wider Marvel world.
Mighty Avengers #6 ~ And so the opening story arc, and Frank Cho's tenure as artist, draws to a close - considerably later than it was meant to. While there's no denying the delays have hurt this title (the way it should have been tying into New Avengers is plain to see from NA's current issues) but I'm still glad it was Cho who got the task of pencilling and inking this new title's debut - his bold, clean, eye-pleasing style has fit Mighty Avengers perfectly, and I think it's a wise move to be bringing on Bagley who, previews suggest, will continue in much the same vein. That said, I also think it's a good time to bring a new artist in, albeit one whose style is compatible with what Cho has done - lovely as Cho's art is, this issue shows signs of his bag of tricks becoming depleted, as techniques and stylistic devices used in earlier issues are re-used; regardless of how well Cho draws individual action sequences, perhaps he's just not yet experienced enough at the monthly grind to keep those sequences feeling fresh month in, month out.
Still, there are still some stand-out artistic moments - check Carol and Simon's meeting atop a skyscraper - and Bendis does his customary job crafting a fast-paced, action-filled story, with engaging moments of humour (Tony checking that Little Tony is still there, for instance). It hasn't been the most introspective storyline, but what it has done quite well - aside from creating visual spectacle - is to put everyone under extreme stress and watch how they react. Thinking back to the first issue and where all the newly-assembled Avengers were then, there's not a one of them who hasn't had some worthwhile moments to show what they're made of, whether it's courage, intellect, ruthless cunning, bombastic bravado, or just a simple unwillingness to stand down until the job is done. The story has had its ebbs and flows - the delays hurt it, and I think it'll read like gangbusters as a trade - but it ends up where it wants to be, and it's easy to agree with Carol as she debriefs Tony on how everyone performed: they each have their individual problems to work on (some more than others), but it's a damn good team.
