Irony and the Young Avengers

I've recently been re-reading the Young Avengers with the launch of the Young Avengers Presents mini-series, and in the introductory story arc I was just struck full in the face by irony. In the Sidekicks story arc, Kang the Conqueror is attempting to recover Iron Lad, who is his younger self. He's arguing that Iron Lad must return to his own time so that he can grow into Kang or the damage to time will be disastrous.

Yet in the Avengers Forever maxi-series, Kang himself was willing to risk the universe itself to himself avoid becoming Immortus, the lord of Limbo.

Kang, a despot whose hypocrisy is greater than Time itself. That's irony.

Avengers Assemble! Assemble! Assemble!

In a freak occurance rivaling an obscure astronomical alignment, we received not one, not two, but three Avengers books in a single week! But which Avengers book should I really be reading, and which one is just another excuse to kill a tree? Good question. Let's take a look at them and find out.

In this year's New Avengers Annual, we're treated to a super-villain gang-up which almost rivals the invasion of Avengers Mansion by the Masters of Evil in the excellent Under Siege story. The only thing that holds this one back is that despite having even more and bigger bruisers than Baron Zemo, The Hood's gang is trounced in a single issue by Dr. Strange. Ouch. Still, it's nice to see this particular team fight something instead of bicker over who's acting 'Skrully'. But it's still a bit unclear when this story falls. Spider-Man's still wearing his black suit, so I guess it's pre-One-More-Day. Too bad Mephisto's spell couldn't fix Marvel's shipping schedule.

And who can make fun of an Avengers book's shipping schedule without a good belly-laugh at The Mighty Avengers. While it's certainly not as late as the legendary All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, it's still worth noting that this issue ties in with an issue of the New Avengers that I bought over three months ago. If it were my call, I might have dropped this issue, and just tried to pull a bit closer to getting this book on track. But I guess the fun of seeing a massive Wasp-symbiote beating on the Avengers is fun... and it's nowhere near as decompressed as so many of Bendis' other Avengers titles. It's still probably the weakest of the week in my book though, since the New Avengers Annual's carnage is a bit more satisfying.

Which leaves the big A for Avengers: The Initiative - a book that has yet to disappoint me. I've read other folks commenting on the fact that new characters are such a difficult proposition for the big two comic publishers in a market where people want Spider-Man three times a month, and where Batman appears in no fewer than three books of his own. Matt Fraction's The Order is an example of an extraordinary book comprised almost entirely of new characters that's just been flushed. The Initiative is another title that's chock full of characters, many of whom haven't existed for a year and if you'll allow me the pun... it's a Marvel. Start with a bunch of fresh faces, looking to be the next Avengers, add in a bunch of super-powered trainers (with an excellent nod to Taskmaster as the current drill seargent) and top it all off with Henry Peter Gyrich's paranoid layers of conspiracy and you've got enough content for years. What's better, it's written by Dan Slott, who is one of the writers who seems to have the firmest grasp on the concept that people read comic books for fun. Hands down, it's your best Avengers book despite the fact that most of the front-line Avengers fail to put in any kind of appearance. It's always one of the first books I reach for when I've got it.

So that's a Triple-A Wednesday. Now I'm off to get some sleep.

What did you expect me to talk about, the New Captain America?

My Top Five Skrulls

My friend Chad wanted me to list my top five Skrull picks tonight, as my fiancee and I ate dinner with he and his wife. I declined to play the game over dinner, primarily to give me time to actually come up with most of my picks. So here we go...




1) Reed Richards - I think that the former leader of the Fantastic Four is a Skrull for multiple reasons. For starters, I think that there has to be a highly placed Skrull, trusted by the government, helping to form it's recent policy decisions related to super-humans. The first instinct is to scream Iron-Man... but I think that's too easy an answer. But Reed was there with Tony, every step of the way. The Skrulls are very familiar with Reed, which would assist them in replacing him, and his behavior, especially in regards to the Civil War, really seems to be pretty far out for his character. Add onto this, that we know Skrull scientists can grant Skrulls his elasticity, and I think there's a fair argument that makes him my number one pick as a Skrull in the Marvel Universe. Chad disagrees, but I've got to go with my gut.


Heck, if this cover alone doesn't condemn him, I don't know what does!


2) Charles Xavier - After Wanda Maximoff destroyed the House of M reality with those three now-infamous words, the founder of the X-Men dropped off the face of the Earth. He finally shows up when Gabriel Summers is revealing the truth of his existence, and Xaviers actions to his brothers. He did not contact any of his friends, colleagues or former pupils at the school, but silently showed up apparently out of nowhere.

And when he does return, he decides to lead a contingent of X-Men into space on an errand destined to bring strife to the Shi'ar Empire. And what's more, until being lost in the M'kraan crystal with Darwin, he no longer had any powers.

Due to his time with the Illuminati, as well as the X-Men's own actions, he is known beyond Earth, leaving me with a strong belief that he is a Skrull. He even left Earth to train a group of Skrull Mutants once. The Skrull-lover!

3) Dr. Strange - I know, I'm picking on the Illuminati awfully hard... but it seems to me that Dr. Strange is another character we lost sight of, and who has popped up without much explanation of why he's doing what he's doing.


The last time we saw someone I'm confident was the real Dr. Strange, he was meditating in one of the polar regions, hoping that the Civil War in the Marvel Universe would come to a peaceful conclusion. We all know how well that turned out. But now, the good Doctor is aiding the underground remnants of the New Avengers, contrary to his former member of the Illuminati, Tony Stark's wishes. We haven't been given a reason for his complicity with the New Avengers, or even a reason that he's allowing them to crash at his pad. If I were leading a Skrull invasion of the Marvel Universe, I'd be trying to place agents at or near the heads of all factions. I think that with the massive dependence of the New Avengers on Dr. Strange for a base of operations, as well as other assistance, that he'd be a prime target for Skrullification.


4) Apocalypse - I know it's been awhile since we've seen ol' Pokey-Lips but it seems to me that last time we saw him, he was definitely behaving a little oddly. Trying to unite Mutant-kind under him? Acting like a Mutant Messiah? Cutting in on Cable's racket? That definitely seems a bit odd to me.


Either way, Apocalypse is usually a pretty heavy player with the Mutant side of the Marvel Universe. And to see him act against form stuck out in my mind. I'll grant, I'm also reaching for people who are not, and never have been members of the Illuminati, so Apocalypse may be a bit of a reach... especially considering that he hasn't been active since before the latest & greatest crossover... but who knows. Occasionally that shot in the dark hits something.






5) Captain America (Steve Rodgers) - For my fifth pick, I relented to the Cynic that dwells deep within my heart. But I'm not suggesting that the Steve Rodgers that has been shown to be dead is a Skrull.

I'm suggesting that sometime in the not-too-distant future, before all of this mess with Skrulls has finished, Captain America will return with a pretty fair explanation as to why he isn't really dead. THAT Captain America, I think, will be a Skrull. Marvel will be able to sell us on his death, then on his return, and lastly on his true identity as a Skrull. There's an overwhelming desire on the part of heroes in the Marvel Universe to trust Captain America. I think that it's a dangerous impulse, and again, if I were leading a Skrull invasion of Earth, I think it's one that I'd try to take advantage of any way that I could.


But who knows... maybe *I'm* the Skrull!