TOP O' THE WEEK
ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS #1
Writer: Deniz Camp (20th Century Men, The Ultimates, Absolute Martian Manhunter). Artist: Eric Zawadzki (Heart Attack, House of El). IMAGE, $4.99.
"Time is having a crisis."
TIme going berserk isn't a completely original idea. When I see our protagonist jostling on the sidewalk with cavemen and medieval knights and spacemen from the future, I'm put in mind of a number of comic books -- not the least of which is Crisis on Infinite Earths, where we'd see scenes of this sort near the Time Towers, or whatever they were called. Honestly, how many comic books have you read where a portal lets dinosaurs into the present? (Green Lantern #30, fer instance.)
The difference here is that there are no superheroes to save the day. Time is malfunctioning, so world wars erupt between you and your bodega and people get caught in time loops on the subway. But you (or rather, our protagonist) still have to get to work. Plus. there's a production company filming a movie on her street, so a lot of the immediate confusion is fake. What's real, and what's not is blurry, as is the actual passage of time. How does she cope? How does anyone?
That's the premise of the book, which promises to be an anthology. There's only one story in this issue, and the ending is open-ended, so will this issue's protagonist be our POV for the series? Or is her story done? (Said story was mostly her delivering expositional dialogue about the sitch, a necessary evil.) She runs across a guy the PR calls "The Broken Man," whom I expect will be in everyone's story. He looks to be your standard street preacher shouting about the end of the world, but the implication is that he isn't crazy and knows what he's talking about.
The art is fantastic. I can't say I was as blown away by the story as I'd hoped to be, but I will be back for at least the next issue.
“Assorted Crisis Events is like Crisis on Infinite Earths if it was happening to normal, everyday people, or Black Mirror, if the fabric of space and time were breaking down,” said Camp. “But going deeper, Assorted Crisis Events has been one of the most ambitious and rewarding creative experiences of my life. The challenge of making every issue complete and personal and inventive, while playing out the larger story of the Crisis — what is causing it, can it be solved, who is The Broken Man? — across the series has been thrilling! Every member of the creative team adds so much to every issue — no one is just doing a job, they're all artists in the truest sense, and I think every issue ranks among some of the best I've ever been a part of. If you've liked anything I've ever written before, please pick this up. You will not be disappointed.”
Added Zawadzki: “This comic has been a dream project from the start. Deniz’s ambitions with pushing the boundaries of the medium of comics match my own. Every script is a new challenge for me and it’s resulted in the proudest work of my career. I can’t believe my luck, being able to work with one of the best colourists and one of the best letterers in the comics industry, Jordie and Hassan, both of whom won the Eisner award for their respective crafts in 2024.”
BABS #6 (OF 6)
Writer: Garth Ennis (The Boys). Art: Jacen Burrows (Get Fury). AHOY COMICS, MR, $3.99
Ahoy sent me a digital review copy of the first issue of Babs, and I enjoyed it so much I have collected every issue since. This is Garth Ennis at his best, simultaneously skewering both comic book cliches (in this case, Conan-type books) and current events. Yes, it's The Boys, only funnier and not as mean-spirited. (Just as gory, though.) The solicitation reads: "Fists! Swords! Blood and eyeballs! ... Will somebody’s janky nasty bits play a decisive role in the ultimate battle? What do YOU think?" As soon as I read that I had my wallet out.
Sadly, the miniseries runs it course with this issue. But Ahoy didn't leave us without a nice farewell, in the form of a variant cover by Juan Jose Ryp, the various early stages of said cover, and a description of how it came to be.
"Well, it all started with an email from my beloved friend Jacen Burrows, asking me if I could do a variant cover for BABS, the wonderful series he draws with scripts by Garth Ennis," Ryp said in Ahoy's February newsletter. "WOW!!! Of course, I would love to do it!!! Both Jacen and Tom Peyer, the editor, gave me a lot of freedom when it came to creating. Those who know me know that I move fast. I made three pretty quick and rough sketches, three ideas to choose from, and they chose #1 (it was also my favorite!), and I started working on it. The whole process is digital, so with the layout as a base, I draw on another layer creating the “INK” (Clip Studio Paint). I work with multiple layers: maybe one will have the background, another Babs, the monsters on another… this way I can change the location of the elements, the sizes… Once the ink is finished, I change the program (Photoshop) and add the gray tones (also on another layer), in which I give a bit of depth and volume and I hope they serve as a guide to the colorist. And … that's all! I submit it to the editor, and if there are any corrections on his part, I make them, and if not, the work is finished and ready to be colored!!! So ... I have been the lucky author of cover #6 of BABS!!! I hope you like it! (And I hope they commission me another one very soon!!! ;))"
NICK FURY VS. FIN FANG FOOM #1
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Elena Casagrande, Juan Ferreyra ONE-SHOT, MARVEL, $4.99
This appears to be set in World War II, so it's sort of Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos meets "War That Time Forgot." None of the characters can die, since we know they all survive to the present, so it won't be suspenseful. But it could be fun.
CROSSOVERS
'ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM'
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #69
Writer: Joe Kelly. Artist: Ed McGuinness MARVEL, $4.99
I predicted the guest-starring X-Men would spend their time fighting each other, and what does the solicitation say? "The X-Men are fighting among themselves, and Doctors Doom and Strange find the situation unwinnable." Sometimes I hate it when I'm right. Anyway, my next prediction is that the currently dead Spider-Man, being the True Chanpion, will be resuscitated somehow to fight the Scions. That's the thing about magic: No rules. Besides, if they changed the title to Amazing Dead-Man, DC would sue.
IRON MAN #6
Writer: Spencer Ackerman. Artist: Julius Ohta. MARVEL, $3.99
This is called a prologue to "Stark Insurgent," a storyline where Tony builds "Insurgent Armor" to fight Doctor Doom. It's interesting to me how Iron Man has been re-positioned at the center of the Marvel Universe. He's front and center of Avengers storylines, X-Men shenanigans, and now this nine-month crossover. Gone is the elitist, boring Stark of yore, and present is the snarky, anti-authority Stark of the movies. Everywhere. I confess, I don't mind a bit.
'POOLS OF BLOOD' PART 3
DEADPOOL #12
Writer: Cody Ziglar. Artist: Andrea Di Vito MARVEL, $3.99
X-MANHUNT WEEK 2
X-MEN #13
Writer: Jed MacKay. Artist: Netho Diaz MARVEL, $4.99
"X-MANHUNT" PART FOUR: The solicitation doesn't say much, but the main cover shows Storm vaporizing Juggernaut, Magik and Cyclops. That's not really going to happen, of course, but I imagine they will fight among themselves a bit. It's what the X-Men do.
X-FACTOR #8
Writer: Mark Russell. Artist: Bob Quinn. MARVEL, $3.99
"X-MANHUNT" PART FIVE!: Cyclops and Havok fight. Tradition must be observed.
MORE ITEMS OF INTEREST
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #5 (DC COMICS, $4.99) is by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. More about pre-boom Krypton, which I find the most interesting part of the series. Amid all the Imaginary Stories and time-travel tales and Elseworlds, I don't think we've ever seen Kal-El get this old before his big trip. We've certainly never seen blue-collar Els before.
FROM THE WORLD OF MINOR THREATS: WELCOME TO TWILIGHT #1 (OF 4, $4.99)
Story: Patton Oswalt, Matt Fraction, Jordan Blum. Art: Michael Allred. DARK HORSE, $4.99
I've sampled "Minor Threats" once or twice, but usually I don't understand them enough to continue — too much backstory I don't know.
This book, however. is an anthology with (apparently) a different story and different creative team each issue. Well, that makes it easy — these are stories that could happen in Astro City or Black Hammer or even X-Men. No backstory needed, or at least none where I need to know details. In this world, some people have super-powers, and some don't, and life goes on. All the storires will apparently be slice-of-life tales about down-on-their-luck super-characters in Twilight City, and now I'm really getting an Astro City vibe. Which is cool, because I love Astro City.
In this specific story, an aging, washed-up actor who was born with non-functional wings is on the autograph circuit, where he stays drunk most of the time. His big hit was Wing and a Prayer, a cop show meant to evoke Miami Vice which aired, like Vice, in the '80s. Allred even draws the lead character like Don Johnson, and his TV partner (now dead) back in the day to look like Philip Michael Thomas. It's not crucial to the plot but hey, if you know, you know.
The story is more film noir than '80s glitz, with a seemingly doomed lead and a femme fatale and a bizarre gangster. (He has a homonculus growing out of his face.) Which is also cool, beause I love film noir.
Finally, the book is Matt Fraction and Mike Allred, which is also cool, because ... oh, you've caught the pattern? Yes, I love their work, too.
So yeah, I loved this issue. As noted, though, it's an anthology, which means that each issue will have to stand on its own merits. Issue #2 is by written by Brian Michael Bendis (Masterpiece, Jinxworld) and illustrated by Soo Lee (Carmilla: The First Vampire, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos). Issue #3 will be written by Gail Simone (Uncanny X-Men, Women of Marvel) and illustrated by Gene Ha (Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons). Issue #4 will be written by Gerry Duggan (Timing/Luck, Falling in Love on the Path to Hell) and illustrated by Mark Torres (Phantom on the Scan, Cold Spots). We will see what we will see.
LESTER OF LESSER GODS HC (DARK HORSE, $24.99): Collects the zero issue and the four-issue miniseries, about a fat loser and LARPer who discovers in the end times (when he's smushed by Satan) that he's actually a son of Odin. He goes on to right wrongs and such in the apocalypse in order to earn a cot in the basement of Valhalla. He was already talking like Thor from his fantasy hobbies, so he hits a groove right away. It's over-the-top silliness by Eric Powell (The Goon), Lucky Yates (Dr. Krieger on Archer) and Gideon Kendall. My tolerance for silly is quite hight — Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of my favorite movies — but this might be a tad too silly even for me.
GOLDEN AGE OF REPRINTS
BATMAN ADVENTURES #12 FACSIMILE EDITION (DC COMICS, $3.99): First appearance of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) in the animated-related comics. I'd be interested to know if this precedes Barbara's appearance in the Bruce Timm cartoons or not. By writer Kelley Puckett and artists Mike Parobeck and Rick Burchett.
DC FINEST: SUICIDE SQUAD — TRIAL BY FIRE TP
Writer: John Ostrander, various. Art: Luke McDonnell, various DC COMICS, $39.99
Dang if DC Finest hasn't hit my sweet spot again. I was reading DC pretty comprehensively when John Ostrander created the new Suicide Squad in the late '80s, and thought it was pretty brilliant. But years later, I would be hard-pressed when asked to remember what debuted where, as the concept was introduced piecemeal over several titles. Now DC has thoughtfully put together a comprehensive collection of those early stories, as if reading my mind as to what I wanted.
Thank goodness they didn't feel compelled to waste any pages on the Silver Age Suicide Squad by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, formulaic and forgettable drivel from Brave and the Bold #25-27 and 37-39; and Star-Spangled War Stories #110-111, 116-121, 125 and 127-128. This collects Suicide Squad #1-10, Secret Origins #14, Detective Comics #582, Fury of Firestorm #62-64, Firestorm: The Nuclear Man Annual #5, Legends #1-6 and Millennium #4.
DETECTIVE COMICS #31 FACSIMILE EDITION (DC COMICS, $6.99): The Bat-Man battles The Monk in a now-famous story. Also, Slam Bradley, Bart Regan, Speed Saunders and other Golden Age detectives. Written by Gardner Fox, Jerry Siegel, Homer Fleming, Kenneth F. Ernst, Fred Guardineer, Tom Hickey and Sven Elvin, with art by Bob Kane, Joe Shuster, Homer Fleming, Mart Bailey, Kenneth F. Ernst, Fred Guardineer, Tom Hickey and Sven Elvin.
DOCTOR STRANGE: MASTER OF MYSTIC ARTS OMNIBUS VOL 1 HC (MARVEL, $100.00): This book begins with Marvel Premiere #3 in 1972, skipping nine years of Dr. Strange stories and the Ditko era entirely. I know the missing stories have been reprinted in both Archives and Omnibuses before — some are on my shelf — so it's not like they're unavailable. I just can't fathom the numbering. How do they justify calling this "Volume 1"?
DUCK & COVER TP
Writer: Scott Snyder. Aritst: Rafael Albuquerque DARK HORSE, $19.99
The premise of this story is, "What if there really was a nuclear exchange in the 1950s, and ducking under your school desk actually worked?" So the only survivors in this small Midwestern town are those who ducked under their desks — and it's "Lord of the Flies" time.
FARSCAPE BOOK 1 HC
Writers: Rockne S. O'Bannon, Keith R. A. DeCandido. Artists: Michael Babinski, Marshall Dillon, Nick Schley, Juan Castro, Neil Edwards, Caleb Cleveland,Tommy Patterson. BOOM, $59.99
According to BOOM, which has published all but two Farscape series, this is the first of a two-book series that will collect ALL Farscape comics. Since Marvel's Farscape: Dargo's Lament #1-4 is included here, it's possible that's no idle boast. Also collects Farscape #1-4, Farscape: Strange Detractors #1-4, Farscape: Gone and Back #1-4, Farscape Vol. 2 #1-4, Farscape: D'Argo's Trial #1-4, Farscape: D'Argo's Quest #1-4.
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS: TRIGGER HAPPY HC (DC COMICS, $24.99): As it happened, I just read this miniseries. (It was on my wife's side of the bed for ages.) It wasn't nearly as funny or as sexy as promised by the premise, or by the covers (by Good Girl artist Terry Dodson). It does give us an origin for Dumb Bunny — a clone of White Rabbit, not the original Inferior Five character — if that floats your boat.
MARVEL COVERS: ARTISTS EDITION HC (IDW PUBLISHING, $150.00): Featuring Marvel cover art from the 1960s to the 1980s.by Arthur Adams, John Buscema, John Byrne, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, John Romita, Jim Starlin, Jim Steranko, more.
SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #37 FACSIMILE EDITION (DC COMICS, MR, $3.99): First appearance of John Constantine. By writer Alan Moore and artists Rick Veitch and John Totleben.
THUNDERBOLTS: THE SAGA OF THE WINTER SOLDIER TP (MARVEL, $39.99) and THUNDERBOLTS: THE SAGA OF YELENA BELOVA TP (MARVEL, $39.99): Both are suggested, but not required, reading for the Thunderbolts* movie and "One World Under Doom." Winter Soldier collects Captain America (2004) #6, 8-9, 11-14; Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014) #1-5; and Winter Soldier (2018) #1-5. Black Widow collects: Black Widow (1999) #1-3, Black Widow (2001) #1-3, Widowmakers: Red Guardian and Yelena Belova (2020) #1, Winter Guard (2021) #1-4 and Black Widow (2020) #7-10.
X-MEN #133 FACSIMILE EDITION (MARVEL, $4.99): More from a year's worth of Claremont & Byrne.
MORE COMICS
27 RUN CRASH #2 (OF 3, BATTLE QUEST COMICS, $4.99)
AQUAMAN #3 (DC COMICS, $3.99) guest-stars Lori Lemaris. I admit to some curiosity what her new backstory will be.
BABY BLUE TP (FANTAGRAPHICS, MR, $29.99) is by writer/Artist: Bim Eriksson. Betty lives in a fascist near-future where mental health is policed, and is arrested for crying in public. (Don't laugh: It's probably coming.) Anyway, she's taken to an Orwellian health facitlity where she learns of the Resistance. "If Betty can navigate a rollicking underworld, where all manner of queerness is celebrated, she just might have a chance to strike back against the regime. Deliciously twisted, fiercely contemporary and backed by a Swedish pop soundtrack." I knew Scandinavians would be involved somehow. Here's a PREVIEW.
BATMAN DARK PATTERNS #4 (OF 12, DC COMICS, $4.99): "The Voice of the Tower," the second (of four) self-contained Batman mysteries begins.
BEAT IT RUFUS HC (FANTAGRAPHICS, MR, $22.99) is by writer/Artist: Noah Van Scriver. Rufus Baxter is a loser re-living the hair metal fanasies of his youth in his head, while being homeless in real life (and his band mates are all dead). He gets a gig in Wyoming, amazingly, and drives there while on peyote. The story is what goes on in his head while he drives, "a psychedelic and existential road trip through his past, [which] forces him to confront every bad decision he’s made along the way." It's "a comedic character study," it says here, despite, you know, the excutiatingly infinite void of sadness at its heart. I'm depressed just writing this. Here's a PREVIEW.
BEOWULF TP (COMICSBURGH, $19.95)
DARK PYRAMID #1 (OF 5, MAD CAVE, $4.99) is by writer Paul Tobin and artist PJ Holden. An adventurer disappears on Mt. Denali (no, I'm not going to call it what Trump wants me to call it). When his girlfriend and some fans follow his footsteps, they find a giant black pyramid inside the mountain. I wouldn't go in, but that's why there's no comic book about me. Major Spoilers has a PREVIEW of what our intrepid heroes find inside.
DRUMMING UP AN APPETITE WITH VINNIE PAUL HC (Z2 COMICS, $29.99) collects the favorite recipes of the late Vinnie Paul (1964-2018), drummer for the heavy metal bands Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah, cooked and photographed. Well, at least it's not another bio.
EL FUEGO HC (ONI PRESS, $34.99) by David Rubin. An asteroid is about to cause a mass extinction on Earth, but you don't think the ultra-wealthy are going to let themselves be harmed, do you? They contract an architect to build a citadel on the Moon for them to survive and wait until life is possible Earthside again. But the architect finds out he has a terminal disease. Hmm. What would YOU do?
GREEN HORNET/MISS FURY #3 (DYNAMITE, $4.99)
HOLY LACRIMONY HC (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, MR, $24.95) is by Michael DeForge. The premise is actually straightforward, for a comic book: Aliens abduct Jackie, whom they think is the saddest person on Earth, and force him to perform his sadness over and over until they're satisfied they understand this emotion. Jackie is returned to Earth, where he joins a support group to deal with this experience. But the group is "a sea of conspiracy theorists, emotional vampires, and simpatico 'real' abductees." That I understand. The art below? Not so much.
JOHN CUNEO'S GOOD INTENTIONS HC (Fantagraphics, MR, $30.00) "Enter a world where behind every suburban front door is a licentious bacchanal." Wait, isn't that OUR world? This is some strange, oddly drawn stuff — some of it deadpan, some of it odd juxtaposition, some of it surreal. Sort of like an X-rated "Far Side." Here's a PREVIEW.
LENORE: THE TIME WAR #2 (MR, TITAN, $4.99)
MURDERBURG TP (FANTAGRAPHICS, $30.00): A mob family retires to a small island off the coast of Maine named Muderburg, where they are in charge. I don't know precisely what they'll do, but I assume there's a reason why Muderburg is nicknamed Murderburg. Here's a PREVIEW.
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN: THE ORIGINAL COMICS OMNIBUS VOL 4 HC (MR, TITAN, $150.00)
TONGUES VOL 1 HC (PANTHEON BOOKS, $35.00) is a re-telling of the Prometheus myth, set in central Asia. Here's a PREVIEW.
TRANSFORMERS #18 (IMAGE)
VOID RIVALS #17 (IMAGE, $3.99)
WORLD OF BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #38 (ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, $9.99)
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Replies
ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS #1
This will likely be my "Pick of the Week."
BABS #6
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Babs. I have read every AHOY! comic and enjoyed them all (some more than others, obviously, but still).
NICK FURY VS. FIN FANG FOOM #1 - ...it won't be suspenseful. But it could be fun.
Eh. I noticed on this week's "Comics List" that it was listed as "#1 (OF 1)"... also that Amazing Spider-Man was listed as "#69 (OF 70)." Oh, my sides.
DC FINEST: SUICIDE SQUAD - Dang if DC Finest hasn't hit my sweet spot again... This collects Suicide Squad #1-10, Secret Origins #14, Detective Comics #582, Fury of Firestorm #62-64, Firestorm: The Nuclear Man Annual #5, Legends #1-6 and Millennium #4.
I was reading DC pretty comprehensively when John Ostrander created the new Suicide Squad in the late '80s, too (I read most of the comics in this collection, for example), but this series didn't appeal to me then, and I haven't really thought about it since. I would be more likely to give it a second shot in a DCF volume than the recent omnibus, however.
Thank goodness they didn't feel compelled to waste any pages on the Silver Age Suicide Squad by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito...
...which I did buy in omnibus format but will probably never read again.
DOCTOR STRANGE: MASTER OF MYSTIC ARTS OMNIBUS VOL 1 HC - How do they justify calling this "Volume 1"?
Oh, you know how (and why). Because the previous series was Strange Tales (even #169-183 continues the Strange Tales numbering).
FACSIMILE EDITIONS
I'm all in favor of these (although I, personally, will likely never buy one again because there are few which I don't already own in some sort of archival format). Back in the '80s I bought every reprint I could get my hands on (although, intellectually, I knew it was just Marvel and DC trying to flood the market) reasoning that neither of the "Big Two" would reprint anything that wasn't worth reading. I maintain that collector new to the hobby (if there even is such a thing) could accumulate a collection of pretty decent (and eclectic) comics by buying nothing but facsimile editions.
DUCK & COVER
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Babs. I have read every AHOY! comic and enjoyed them all (some more than others, obviously, but still).
In addition to Babs, I've read a couple issues of Wrong Earth here and there, and enjoyed them. I haven't yet picked up the trades, but probably will some light week. I've never enjoyed Toxic Avenger before in any shape or form, so I didn't bother with the new title. I wasn't wowed by the first issue of Archaic. I loved Howl #1 and am ordering the series through Westfield. What other good ones did I miss?
Eh. I noticed on this week's "Comics List" that it was listed as "#1 (OF 1)"... also that Amazing Spider-Man was listed as "#69 (OF 70)." Oh, my sides.
Come, come, I must be allowed my little jests to lighten the drudgery.
I was reading DC pretty comprehensively when John Ostrander created the new Suicide Squad in the late '80s, too (I read most of the comics in this collection, for example), but this series didn't appeal to me then, and I haven't really thought about it since. I would be more likely to give it a second shot in a DCF volume than the recent omnibus, however.
As I was growing up, DC had always been squeaky-clean compared to Marvel, but post-Crisis brought Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen and ... Suicide Squad. It took most of my lifetime (to that point) for DC to go from Captain Boomerang as a serious supervillain to Captain Boomerang as a joke character with a bomb in his head, but they got there.
"Thank goodness they didn't feel compelled to waste any pages on the Silver Age Suicide Squad by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito..."
...which I did buy in omnibus format but will probably never read again.
If you ever feel the urge, just read the first one. There. Now you 've read them all.
The previous series was Strange Tales (even #169-183 continues the Strange Tales numbering).
You know, that hadn't occurred to me. That's probably the justification they're using, should anyone bother to ask. Which I did.
I maintain that collector new to the hobby (if there even is such a thing) could accumulate a collection of pretty decent (and eclectic) comics by buying nothing but facsimile editions.
I get the facsimiles of issues I don't already have, which isn't a lot. Golden Age books and super-early Silver Age. But if I were to talk to some kid asking me where to begin -- which they're not gonna do, because kds are arrogant and snotty, by and large -- I'd tell them to get the online library subs for Marvel and DC. You can read decades-long runs without buying a thing. They probably prefer screens to the feel and smell of paper anyway, the little Philistines.
"X-Men #13" is preceded in the "X-Manhunt" storyline by "Storm #6".
I have had a problem with Storm since a very few years ago when Al Ewing was writing "X-Men Red" with her as the "de facto" protagonist. Ewing wrote her as.. well, as the prototypical Non-White Savior. I don't think there was any point during the entire run of that volume after the first half of the first issue when Storm ever showed any hesitation, any misjudgement, nor any need to pause and consider her actions. Or, for that matter, any humility.
It was actually boring. She would just magically turn out to instinctively and unerringly have the right instincts about each situation and follow them unhesitantly, all the more so when that course of action involved proclaiming her own high significance aloud and often.
Now she has a solo book and there are people talking that she was "downgraded to the Avengers". Words fail me. And as it happens, somewhere in #4 or #5 she actually died and was immediately ressurrected as some sort of host or Avatar for freaking Eternity. All of a sudden, no less. Apparently now Storm is some unholy fusion and exacerbation of Ghost Rider and Spectre, with her body acting out of Eternity's volition when Storm herself is knocked out during combat.
I truly don't think that Storm is a viable character anymore, nor do I think that the current writer of the solo book knows where he wants to go with her.
I have had a problem with Storm since a very few years ago when Al Ewing was writing "X-Men Red" with her as the "de facto" protagonist.
You've put your finger on something that's been bugging me for a while, Luis, that I couldn't quite properly define. I referred to her as a "Mary Sue" in some post recently, which is "a fictional character who is portrayed as too perfect and without flaws." Which is true. (I'm convinced that's why she abruptly slept with Wolverine recently -- to give her a bad choice to offset her portrayal as somebody who doesn't make any.)
But that doesn't quite cover it. It's more than just writing her as so perfect that storm gods -- GODS -- take one look at her and say, "You're so cool we're going to make you one of us." (I remind the jury that the defendent is a mortal and has no business rubbing shoulders with immortal divinities, to whom she has the lifespan of a mayfly.) Now there's this Eternity business. It's obvious that the writers and editors involved are determined to make Storm the line's most powerful and significant character, whether the readers like it or not.
As irritating as that is, the worst part is how they're writing her as incrediblly arrogant. So much so that I don't enjoy reading about her any more. I get they want to make her confident, and don't want to write a Black woman as needing approval from others, especially white people. But the upshot is that they've gone so overboard that she's hard to like. Storm used to be someone I'd enjoy spending time with, but this version is so haughty and smug that I don't even want to read about her.
Maybe that's going to be a plot point with this Eternity thing. But it goes back years, to when she left Earth to go to Mars. The Storm I'd been reading about since Giant-Size X-Men #1 wouldn't leave Earth with a gun to her head, and the Mars book was one of the reasons I quit the Krakoa era. (There was nobody on that planet I liked enough to read about, including Storm. And there was a whole book about these unlikable, and mostly new, people. Also, they should have killed Feilong the instant he was in Mars orbit. It's THEIR planet, THEIR laws, and they can kill an invader if they want to. Especially one with such obvious evil intent. Sure, it would be bad PR for a couple of days. But that beats having an anti-mutant zealot aiming space lasers at them from Phobos. That he got a foothold on the planet -- one populated by hyperviolent Arrako warriors -- was such a preposterous writer's fiat that I resisted the urge to throw the book across the room.) The subtext of this version of Storm is that she isn't loyal to anyone or anything but herself. I wonder if the writers, in their zeal to make Storm the Greatest Character Ever, realize this is the message readers like us are receiving.