The Iron Man impostor, Pt. 1

The third movie comes out today and we should all go see it and love it and go see it again!  To blatantly try to increase my view count by cashing in on the movie’s release, I figure we should enjoy an Iron Man adventure today.  Instead of a lengthy beginning where I get readers caught up or explain origins, let’s just jump right into it.  Like movies start with explosions before getting into exposition.

We delve into Iron Man #86-89, volume 3, written by Mark Ricketts and drawn by Tony Harris & Scott Kolins.  We start right after Tony Stark lost his mind and screamed at ambassadors during a United Nations speech.  Check out a previous article for that whole debacle.

Meet Rumiko Fujikawa, Stark’s on-and-off love interest for the past eighty issues or so.  They’re currently off, but after the public meltdown, Rumiko figures she might be useful in curing the rainbow of Iron Man’s emotional explosions.  But first, we cut to Stark Industries headquarters.  More problems arise than just stock prices:

Never a good sign when a superhero murders his own employees.  At minimum, that’s piles and piles of paperwork to fill out.  But let’s be fair — that’s obviously not Stark.  With incidents popping up everywhere, Stark’s life goes quickly down the drain.  You know that adage of “the bigger they are, the harder they fall?”  Well, considering Stark’s billion dollar company, his position as Secretary of Defense, his career as an Avenger, and dozens of personal relationships — the man has quite a fall ahead of him.  Everything sort of stems from no secret identity and a multitude of enemies.  More on that in part two.

While Stark has the capacity of romance not unlike many small children, all signs point to his genuine love of dear Rumiko.  Though they did treat each other terribly, with Stark’s neglect and Rumiko’s infidelity leading the pack of complaints.  Maybe that kind of dysfunction’s necessary for their chaotic lives, but the relationship still remained very much real.

Wonderful, right?  Despite their major faults, the two of them possess a real chance at happiness in the comic book world, which rarely allows its characters to experience long-lasting joy.  So of course, this happens:

With Rumiko’s death, Stark now has to battle his impostor both overcome with grief and in his underwear.  It goes as you expect.

Luckily, Stark’s in fantastic shape — at least enough to survive a two story fall.  In the current Iron Man series, he just fought in an alien gladiator tournament without any of his armor.  He did well, if just because the guy still has over a decade of combat experience and training.  No doubt that Stark could hold his own against even seasoned villains without actually being Iron Man, but he’s outclassed when battling himself.  Or at least, his technology.  Time to even the playing field.

Next time, we’ll have that exciting Iron Man vs. Iron Man fight you’re totally expecting.  Plus some cool plot twists and revelations.  Here, I’ll throw you one of them right now:

Now go see Iron Man 3, because nothing makes for a better movie than robots and superheroes.

Jailbreak: Daredevil

In the 2000s, no one had it rougher in the Marvel universe than Daredevil.  His identity was revealed as Matt Murdock, he watched his girlfriend die and another wife divorce, his career ruined, etc.  He even got set on fire at one point.  Eventually, the poor guy ended up in prison, because that’s the next logical step in misery.  Today, as we cover Daredevil #82-87, written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano, all the loose ends of Murdock’s life combine in a whirlwind of sad chaos.

We pick up about halfway through the arc, and so far, prison hasn’t been kind to Daredevil.  First, his enhanced senses don’t do well in the stinky, noisy cells.

Then, his best friend and law firm partner gets stabbed.

All the crime bosses he put away want to have some words.

Next, his psychopathic arch-nemesis Bullseye arrives.

Plus, he spends almost every day fighting for his life.

And finally, the big man himself shows up.

All the decks are stacked against our hero.  You know what would be really nice right now?  Someone at Ryker’s Island prison who wouldn’t enjoy watching the superhero have his guts dragged outside his body.

Y’see, I adore superheroes-in-prison stories.  The man or woman has to use all his or her resources and skills in an unfriendly environment, a closed environment, and with none of the luxuries battles on the street would provide.  Luckily, a few good guys feel right at home in a cesspit of mischief and evil. Like this guy:

As you may have read in a previous article, Daredevil and the Punisher are not friends.  Actually, I don’t think the Punisher has friends.  But they’re technically on the same side, and Frank Castle gets irked when the bad guys win.  Also, he takes glee in Daredevil’s misery.

Of course something’s going down.  Riots tend to erupt when Daredevil, Punisher, Kingpin, Bullseye, Hammerhead, Owl, and hundreds of henchmen share the same small box.  But as much as Daredevil hates the other five, he likes being alive more — unfortunately, the Kingpin’ll provide the best chance. Also, the big guy has info on Foggy’s attacker.

Let’s not waste time.  The riot explodes within pages.

After being stuck in traffic on a bridge, jailhouse cop must seriously have the highest casualty rate in the superhero world.  The revolving door for rogue galleries racks up hundreds of guard deaths a year. While the poor hourly employees certainly don’t deserve being disemboweled, what better way to tell readers how evil and dangerous you are than to massacre a horde of normal dudes wielding small firearms?

Murdock still has to deny his Daredevil identity.  A blind man jump kicking a prisoner may not be a smart move, but I guess priorities lie in other places.  Especially once this happens:

Look, Daredevil’s not above helping the Kingpin of New York escape if it guarantees his own safety as well, but despite his current rage and berserker attitude, Daredevil’s still a good guy.  And Kingpin has to realize that good guys have those pesky moral codes that landed Kingpin’s fat butt in jail in the first place.  So when Fisk decides to bring his favorite assassin into their new dynamic duo, the plan changes.

Well, only one choice now.

The main issue with abandoning his ride is that Murdock’s blindness kind of prevents him from, say, operating a helicopter..  So, in the obvious move, he stops by his close acquaintance’s cell to tap those ruby slippers back home.  And by ruby, I mean the color of blood and not the birthstone.

While Daredevil still has hordes of problems once he escapes, including that whole new fugitive status, at least his enemies will be further away than the next cell over.

I think the Punisher treats jail time as a sort of spa treatment.  When all that mobster murdering gets too stressful, nothing helps like a stint in the joint to melt all those troubles away.  Though Daredevil and Punisher are still not friends.

Daken’s actual final stand

Disclaimer before I start.  I usually avoid large amounts of pages in succession from the issues I choose mainly because I don’t understand copyright and fair use laws.  But today, I’m picking about fifteen pages or so that are basically two groups of seven or eight in a row.  If Marvel or Rick Remender or anyone associated aren’t okay with this, I’ll take it down.  But truthfully, this story needs to be shared.  It’s so good, so beautiful, and so important for the characterization of Daken and Wolverine. And now, you the reader, will promise to go and buy tons of Remender’s Marvel comics.  Maybe all of his Uncanny X-Force run?  Amazon.com always has discounts, y’know.

If you read the last article, Daken barely escaped the explosion he set off in Times Square.  Even though he was badly wounded and only weeks to live, he got better.  I don’t know how, but I’m sure his supervillain connections include some evil braniacs as well.  Because in Uncanny X-Force #33-34 (the exciting conclusion of the ten-part Final Execution arc), written by Remender and drawn by Phil Noto, Daken and Wolverine’s six-year antagonism ends.  For real this time.

As you read today, remember that even when Daken first premiered in Wolverine: Origins #5, written by Daniel Way and drawn by Steve Dillon, his motivations have never changed:

I know self-loathing has become a recurring theme lately, but flaws make characters interesting.

We pick up with Wolverine awakening from a dream and strapped to a chair in some sort of interrogation room after being captured by the reformed Brotherhood of Evil.  Like most of us do.

Y’see, this may be the first time in comics where Daken and Wolverine can have an actual conversation about their relationship without mid-fighting interruptions, ulterior motives, or last minute saves.  Just one emotionally damaged supervillain son talking to his emotionally damaged superhero father.

Daken and Wolverine both sort of argue the same point.  Daken believes by staying true to his Wolverine-y genetics, he’s acting appropriately to his own nature.  Why change his own predestined course?  But Wolverine also sort of believes the same thing, just with using their powers and attitude for the greater good.  Like a bullet, the damage comes with who it’s being fired at, not the kind of gun being fired.

I love this scene.  Both Daken and Wolverine genuinely apologize at how Daken’s life turned out, but Daken accepted his twisted path long ago.  And now, after a dozen battles or so, the game has to come a close.  One winner, one loser — with Daken planning to emerge victorious.

You can read the book for how Wolverine escapes and everything that leads up to the next issue. Finally the two settle their differences claw-to-claw, but you knew that’s how this has to go.

See what’s going on?  Wolverine would gain a clear advantage by going into his “berserker” state, where he loses control and flails way more dangerously and frighteningly than his normal mood. Daken definitely tapped into his berserker mode as soon as the fight began.

Now we get Wolverine’s clear humanity versus Daken’s primal animalism — the struggle that has haunted Wolverine in comics for decades.

It’s heartbreaking.  The reality of their horrific fighting gets mixed with the what-if idealism of a happy, meaningful life.  While not exactly Wolverine’s fault that Daken ended up the way he did, if he had just known, if he had just searched harder, if he had just reached out, and so on, then maybe Daken’s life could have been the normal, joyful life that children deserve.  Or not.  But it doesn’t matter now.

No better analogy for their struggle than for Daken to drown in a small puddle.  Daken hasn’t shown up in comics since; he’s really dead.  Wipe those tears away.

Before I end, there’s one final thing I want to show you.  Five issues before this in Uncanny X-Force #29, the team has been transported to an alternative post-apocalyptic future.  There, as they say goodbye, Wolverine receives parting words from his future self.

When the series ends in Uncanny X-Force #35, the whisper gets revealed to the reader:

This means that the entire series of pages I showed you above, Wolverine knew he had to kill Daken. If he didn’t, all the innocent students at his school would die.  No other choice.  Go back and read their conversation and you’ll notice the sad resignation in Wolverine’s choice of words.  Wipe away those tears once more.

Every time Wolverine’s grumpy and drunk, know that at least he has a good reason.

Daken’s final stand

While we’re on the topic of Daken Akihiro from Friday’s article, we should cover his spectacular self-implosion as his solo series came to an end.  While never exactly a superhero, he was never exactly evil either.  Everything Daken accomplished (or tried to accomplish) was only for one reason: to benefit himself.  Look, Daken’s a merciless killer, sure, but not in the same way as like Bullseye.  Think sociopath instead of psychopath.

After becoming the crimelord of Madripoor, he decided to take on a bigger challenge: Los Angeles. Luckily for him, the city only had two superheroes (Moon Knight and Echo, who are schizophrenic and deaf respectively).  Unfortunately, once he discovered a new drug called Heat, it screwed up everything.  I mean everything.  Not only did he fail to take over Los Angeles (but still an awesome series of arcs), the drug disabled his healing factor.  Bad news.

Today, we’re covering Daken: Dark Wolverine #21-23, written by Rob Williams and drawn by Matteo Buffagni, Andrea Mutti, Riley Rossmo, & Paco Diaz.  He’s returned to New York for his final plan.

By the way, did you know Daken’s actually friends with Johnny Storm and the Fantastic Four? Like friends friends.  It takes a lot of range to be a bonafide supervillain and buddies with Marvel’s number one super-family.  Go read Dark Wolverine #75-77 for the initial friendship, but here’s a page from Daken: Dark Wolverine #4, written by Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli.

Before we jump into our main story, understand Daken’s introduction into comics provided a great step forward for diversity in comics.  He’s half-Japanese (mother’s side) and openly bisexual, hence the flirt above with the Thing.  If you check out the very first article I ever wrote, you’ll see him shack up with a supporting character from his time in LA.

We begin today with the fallout from his Heat addiction:

Grim diagnosis.  See why you don’t do drugs, kids?  Normal people would use their final weeks for redemption and reflection, but Daken’s not normal.  Also, he hits on Mr. Fantastic.

Now, what is Heat you ask?  It’s a euphoria-inducing drug that makes the art look all cool like this:

Daken never really got over his obsession with his absent-father Wolverine.  Lots of fighting and torture every time they appear together.  But this time, Daken expands the game beyond just the two of them.

Insane reasoning, but probably the most honest answer ever to an evil plan.

By setting off a few bombs and declaring a few more hidden bombs, the entire superhero community of New York (the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, etc.) sets out to take him down.  Daken gets the final stand he wants.  Oh, and also to make sure Wolverine gets set on fire:

Since Daken’s an emotional mess, he’s resigned himself to his more villainous side.  Plus, I bet you never expected a Daken and Mr. Fantastic fight.

What’s the simplest way to describe today’s protagonist?  Let him do it himself:

With this, the final act of his story begins.  Daken versus everybody.

You have to read the issue for all the fights, including a really cool moment with the Thing (that’ll be included in the next Random Panels article).  But as the brawling devolves into mindless structural danger, Daken’s Heat-influenced mind discovers an epiphany.

No doubt that Daken’s almost certainly Wolverine’s greatest failing.  The kids Wolverine that mentored (Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, Armor) turned out to be productive and respected members of the superhero community.  And even though Wolverine had no idea Daken existed, Daken’s emotional absence (filled instead by Wolverine’s enemies) created the ruined and frustrated monster that now stands before New York’s superheroes.

By the way, notice the wildly uncomfortable expression on Wolverine’s face on the second picture? So, does Wolverine make it back in time?  Does his school and students blow up into tiny mutant pieces?

Look, you can’t really hurt Wolverine physically.  He’ll recover quickly from that — but he has no healing factor for his emotions.  And with Daken’s death, that claw in Wolverine’s heart will pierce him every single day for the rest of his life.  Mission accomplished.

Okay, so I kind of lied to you.  What you just read is the first act of Daken and Wolverine’s final story. Daken returns one more time in Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force for the amazing, beautiful, and incredibly satisfying conclusion.  We’ll cover it next time.  Then go spend your hard earned money and pick up both these volumes.  Because you’re worth it.

Daken & X-23 hang out, claw stuff

If you read comics, it’s hard to get away from Wolverine.  In the late 2000s, he had two or three solo series, two or three team series, and that doesn’t even include all the X-Men stuff.  So either cashing on his popularity or hoping to cash in before it became overwhelming, Marvel gave his son Daken Akihiro (Dark Wolverine) and his clone Laura Kinney (X-23) their own series as well.  Luckily for us, both X-23 and Daken: Dark Wolverine were both really, really good.

Today, in X-23 #8-9, written by Marjorie Liu and drawn by Ryan Stegman & Matteo Buffagni as well as Daken: Dark Wolverine #8-9, written by Daniel Way & Liu and drawn by Marco Checchetto, the two meet up for the first time.  And trust me, being in the Wolverine family comes with some major emotional and mental issues.

Before we begin, let me explain for those who don’t know.  X-23 may be one of the most successful superhero teenagers to come out of comics in a long time.  She even received a full origin and back story in the miniseries X-23: Innocence Lost.  To sum up, she’s a clone of Wolverine trained from birth to be a heartless and tremendously effective killer.  Of course, that whole thing backfired and she escaped, now trying to do good and all that jazz.

And Daken?  He’s quite possibly Wolverine’s best supervillain in the past fifteen years..  Logan’s biological son from his deceased wife Itsu, Daken gets raised by the psychopath Romulus after tragedy and murder and you get it.  The guy turned out full-on sociopath and evil, premiering in the fabulous Wolverine: Origins series.  Go read it.

Enough words, let’s get on with our story.

Welcome to the fictional country/city of Madripoor.  Think of it as a wicked version of Singapore. Here, corruption and lawlessness run the city, making Madripoor an ideal destination for the more swarthy characters.

You know how team ups go.  First they fight, then they cooperate.  So, here’s some of the fight:

The arc makes use of super awesome double spread battle scenes.  Here’s the first one.  Click for a much larger size.

Their battle serves two purposes.  First, who didn’t want to see the two Wolverines brawl?  Also, Daken’s a baddie, so if they’re going to work together, they have to scrap first.  Second, the readers now know their skills and abilities are equal.  Or close to it.  No one’s going to be dragging along the other one.

X-23 and Gambit stop by Daken’s turf after hearing rumors about a Weapon X facility in Madripoor.  If you aren’t familiar with that hellhole, a group of evil scientists did all sorts of awful experiments on brainwashed and unsuspecting victims.  Wolverine received his adamantium claws/skeleton through Weapon X.  To prevent more victims like herself, X-23 visits the seediest city in the world.  Things go badly almost immediately.  Oh, notice the cool differences in art as the next issue begins.

Daken’s motivations, though, aren’t exactly far off from hers.  He doesn’t really care that much about evil experiments, as long as those evil experiments are for him.

X-23’s also not a big fan of Malcolm Colcord making soldiers for his own games.

While this is going on, Daken and Gambit fight.  You have to cover all bases when you have series crossover.  Here’s the awesome double spread from that:

Eventually, X-23 gets captured.

As the second half begins, X-23 finds herself in a tight spot.  Though probably better to bind her up than drug her.  Healing factor plus that tendency to flail her claws.

You see what Daken did?  Someone has ulterior motives that doesn’t include Laura getting ripped open with a chainsaw.

And our final double spread.  It’s just as awesome as the previous two.

Don’t worry, Daken and X-23 totally claw and stab their way through the monster facility.  But since both of them remain badly damaged and with therapists not terribly pleased to see their patients soaked in blood, life questions have to figured out in between massacring scientists/guards/creatures.

Eventually, the two meet up with Malcolm once more.  This time under very different circumstances.

I present one of the coolest pages I’ve ever seen in comics.  You’ll know which one I’m talking about:

The main difference between Daken and X-23?  Wolverine’s son wields his strength to better himself while Wolverine’s clone wields her strength to protect everyone else.  Which, I guess, is the most basic defined difference between a supervillain and a superhero.  At least one of them got some closure out of this whole thing.

Emma Frost vs. Avengers Academy

Did you enjoy Avengers vs. X-Men?  Irrelevant, because I can’t hear you.  I loved it, if just because I have a soft spot for superheroes punching other superheroes.  In summary, the Phoenix god-like force returned to Earth and impregnated/enveloped five X-Men, one of them being Emma Frost.  Now with practically unlimited power at her command, she sets off to “right” some wrongs.  We’ll get back to her later.  First up, the introduction of Avengers Academy #32-33, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Timothy Green II.

The requirement for Avengers Academy isn’t as stringent as some of the other super-schools.  Juston has zero powers and zero athleticism, but his best friend is a giant robot so that apparently fast tracks his admission.  Sentinels, the henchmen of the government, get programmed to hunt down and kill mutants using lasers and a thirty-foot height advantage.

Mutants tend to have a problem with sentinels.

Meet X-23, female mutant clone of Wolverine.  Two claws on each hand, one on each foot, and much less hairy.  Normally, the destruction of a sentinel doesn’t really shed any tears, but this one’s special.  BFF special.

Now X-23 may be a relentless killer, but she also doesn’t really want to crush the dreams and shatter the love of a fellow teenager.  Unfortunately for Juston, there’s someone out there who has no problem crushing dreams and shattering love.

Let me make something crystal clear: the Avengers Academy does not stand a chance against Phoenix Emma Frost.  With all their powers, all their strategies, and the entire academy emptied out to join the battle, they do not stand a chance.  Robots feel differently.

Hank Pym, the headmaster at the school and one of the top five smartest people on the planet, understands the situation completely.  His teenage students on the other hand, tend not to realize that a fight against a catastrophic god-like force won’t end well.  And in a serious moment of growth for our clawed friend, Emma Frost triggers X-23’s sensitive side.

You know how raising trained killers from birth go.  Let them love a puppy, then take it away and kill it. Standard psychopathic fare.  But for X-23?  No more.

Can’t you forgive Hank Pym now?  Unlike other celebrity domestic abusers, he’s spent 30 years redeeming and making up for his mistake.  And how could you not love him after the above page?

I’m skipping a bunch of the fight, but you’ve read enough to know how it goes.  As I show the next few pages un-commentated, please appreciate both the emotional outburst and cinematic feel of the next few pages.  Actually, go to YouTube and play the saddest song you know before continuing.

Wonder why the X-Men turned out to be the villains during this event?  Scenes like this, for one. Luckily, as you mop up your tear-soaked cheeks, this story has a happy ending.  Thank god, right?

Quicksilver also serves as faculty, and even Phoenix powers can’t detect his crazy speed.  While the arc ends on dreadful foreshadowing, a boy and his sentinel reunited isn’t a bad way to go out on.

Random panels 3!

As I read comics, I’ll come across a few panels that leave me delighted.  Unfortunately, they’re either in issues I’m writing about but unrelated to my focus or not enough content to warrant an entire article. I don’t want them to go to waste, so I’m unloading my random panels for today’s article.  I hope you enjoy.  If you’re curious, here are the first and second editions.

Avengers Academy plays football against Wolverine’s X-Men school
Avengers Academy #38, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Tom Grummett

It goes exactly as you think.  Maturity and sportsmanship don’t usually apply to those who wear spandex for a living.

I really enjoy Avenger Academy.  The same angst and teenage drama of the younger X-Men, but with that whole underlining optimism you get when the majority of the world doesn’t hate your kind.  Plus, it gives readers important love advice:

Quicksilver sums up high school
Avengers Academy #39, written by Gage and drawn by Grummett

Of course Scarlet Witch watches Downton Abbey.  And even more impressively, in a world with alien attacks, fanatical disasters, and a never-ending excitement of good versus evil — a show about inane Victorian drama would still be on television.  Who says Quicksilver doesn’t deserve to be a hero? Comforting young girls and forcing himself to watch boring TV.

Hercules being Hercules
Avengers Academy #29, written by Gage and drawn by Grummett

If you had to ask me my top five favorite Marvel superheroes, Hercules would absolutely make the list.

Don’t ask Spider-Man to stop joking
Avengers: The Initiate #3, written by Dan Slott and drawn by Stefano Caselli

Slott might be my favorite Spider-Man writer ever.  I’m serious.  You can call Slott many things, but my god, does this man love Spider-Man.  Plus, haven’t you been reading Superior Spider-Man?  It’s so good!

Gambit makes an entrance
Daken: Dark Wolverine #8, written by Daniel Way & Marjorie Lui and drawn by Marco Checchetto

That mobster shaking Daken’s hand?  Pretty sure his pants are soaked.  Plus, in the next scene he makes Daken’s face explode.  Gambit’s seen a resurgence lately, starring the past few years in X-Men Legacy and X-23, both of which rocked.

Just how strong is the Hulk?
World War Hulk #5, written by Greg Pak and drawn by John Romita, Jr.

At the end of the Marvel event, Hulk has reached the angriest he may have ever been.  Like literal world-breaking power.

One stomp almost destroys the eastern half of the United States.  By the way, catch that moment of self-loathing?  Poor guy.  Puts a little spin on the despairing monster genre — very Frankenstein-esque (literary reference!).  By the way, are there any truly happy superheroes?

Penance vs. Moonstone

Thunderbolts #121, written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Mike Deodato

One of my prouder series of articles, I’ve covered Speedball’s transformation into Penance and back again in a previous set of articles, which I’ll shameless promote here, here, and here.  In a fight scene I so desperately wanted to include, Penance’s teammate ambushes and tries to kill him. She really underestimates her opponent.

This actually sparks the exact moment his energy ball power has made an appearance in over two years.  Also, Moonstone deserved everything she had coming, I promise.  She’s a mean lady.

This was fun, right?  Once I gathered up another batch, we’ll do more of these.  And I hope you enjoy Avenger Academy, because Wednesday’s article brings us smack into that fiasco.