On 15 February, 2006

--Warning: Possible spoilers--

This week in Marvel U (our Earth time), SHE-HULK 2 #5. marked the introduction proper of Two-Gun Kid to current Marvel continuity; said introduction was wrought with both peril and humour, though laughter came easier earlier in the series. Juan Bobillo's depiction of events wasn't quite as jarring this go-round, but he will be on hiatus for at least issues 6 and 7, a revelation shared on this issue's fan page and welcomed by those tired of seeing a waifish Jen Walters.

Molly Hayes stubbornly reclaimed the moniker "Princess Powerful, and took the spotlight in Runaways #13. Everyone's favorite little Bruiser teamed up with a totally different set of runaways in order to defeat a mystical Fagan.

Meanwhile, on a more serious side of town, Sally Floyd's saga continued in Generation M #4. The troubled reporter and columnist continued to encounter death at every turn, from the suicide of a former mutant to deaths of yet more former mutants at the hand of the Ghoul, who continued to make his presence felt. On the bright side, Beak made it quite clear that he was very happy to have become human.

In flashback this week, Spider-Woman: Origin #3 continued the strangely disjointed story of Jessica Drew, a tale peppered with large chunks of missing time. Nick Fury, a gruff yet oddly kind (You don't expect a guy named Fury to be particularly nice, but ol' Nick sure can be.) came into Jessica's life as almost a father figure, or maybe an uncle, showing her the truth of Hydra, and his own respect for her.

The Feast of St. Valentine continued with I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai #1. Pre-Crazy Wanda Maximoff shared with her gushing friends (Natasha Romanova and Janet van Dyne?) a story of her romantic outing with an intact Vision. Her tale was cute, but saccharine enough to floor a diabetic. Meanwhile, Medusa of the Inhumans poetically lamented Black Bolt's perpetual (but necessary) silence. After her bittersweet musings, comic relief came in the form of a cat fight between Electra and Black Widow, who dueled over Daredevil's unrequited love. Pictures and punctuation, but no dialogue, was exchanged during the highly visual display.

And finally, in a totally different universe, (Earth-1610, according to Wikipedia, if you're keeping track), Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 had the Four attempting to go back in time and prevent the origin accident, curing an extremely depressed Ben Grimm of his monstrous condition. Of course, in the world of comic books, manipulating the time stream tends to be an extremely bad idea. And this go-round, it turned Earth-1610's USA into a nation of super-people, with Thor at the helm and Reed Richards as second in command.

Notes and rankings (best to worst)

1. She-Hulk 2 #5 [First read hastily during a quick work break, Wednesday]
2. Runaways #13 [Cloistered in bedroom, Wednesday evening, no music]
3. I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai -- Medusa/Blackbolt vignette [In cube before work Thursday, over a cheese quesidilla, no music.]
4. Spider-Woman: Origin #3 (of 5) [Most in cube after work Thursday, the rest cloistered in bedroom, same evening. No music.]
5. Son of M #4 (of 5) [Cloistered in bedroom, Wednesday evening, no music]
6. I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai -- Electra/Black Widow/Daredevil vignette [In cube before work Thursday, over quesidilla, no music.]
7. Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 [Cloistered in bedroom Thursday evening. No music.]
8. I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai -- Scarlet Witch/Vision vignette [Thursday morning, French class, during respite between a test and the introduction of new vocabulary. Mildly self-conscious.]

Panel of the week: Jessica Drew takes out Taskmaster and dozens of AIM soldiers in SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN #3.



Dollar bin

FIREBIRDS: Image Comics. Published November, 2004; created by Jay Faerber and Andres Ponte; colored by Nestor Pereyra; lettered and designed by Ed Dukeshire.

When I saw this in the dollar bin, I knew I had to pick it up. The elder Firebird, Rebecca, has been used in this ongoing fanfiction series (one of the best fanfics I've ever read), and it was nice to get a kosher introduction to her.

It's a great story on its own. Emily finds out her mother is the super-hero known as Firebird, and that she's has powers just like her mother. And they're starting to manifest. Rebecca takes Emily out of boarding school in order to teach Emily how to fly and control her pyrokinesis, among other things. And in turn, Emily gets to teach Rebecca how to be a mother. Nothing like a hands-on learning experience! It's a story that manages to be sweet without getting trapped in resin, fossilized and turned into jewelry.