I Want My Marvel NOW: Savage Wolverine #1, Uncanny X-Force #1, and Young Avengers #1

Cover to Savage Wolverine #1, art by Frank Cho. Marvel Comics.

When I started reviewing the Marvel NOW line, I didn't realize that the branding would eventually be on every single Marvel book. In the past, I've taken on some of the existing series when they've been slapped with the NOW label, but I simply can't afford to review every single Marvel book, and what's more - the NOW on the cover doesn't really mean much for some of these books. Wolverine and the X-Men and Hawkeye were typical issues (meaning excellent and you should read them), and recent releases like Captain Marvel #9 and X-Factor #250 don't display anything beyond what they deliver on a continual basis. The bad news (which isn't that bad) is that I'll only be covering the first issues, unless a title is getting a mid-numbering kick in the pants with an all-new creative team (which happened with Avengers Assemble).

Savage Wolverine #1 is what I'd call a "vanity" title - when an editor gives a series to someone hugely popular simply because they want it. The artist plays to their artistic strengths for a couple of issues then they leave, often leaving the editor without a clear reason for the title to exist (most recent example is Avenging Spider-Man, which was borne from Joe Maduriera wanting to do Spider-Man for a month or two).

The superstar in this case is Frank Cho, who brings back Shanna the She-Devil to mix things up with Wolverine in the Savage Land. This means Cho gets to draw apemen and dinosaurs and bikini babes, but what happens when he's done with that? Where does this book go? What is its purpose? Because, right now, there's no shortage of Wolverine in the Marvel U, and with more to come at the hands of Paul Jenkins and Alan Davis, I'd hate to be the editor who already knows that Cho has scratched his Wolverine itch.

I'm just speculating here, but I would be shocked if this was Cho's book for the long haul. I'm thinking six issues, and he's gone. What's here is a fun, if not remarkable, action comic.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? We are getting to the point where there are so many good Marvel NOW books, that "fun enough" is simply not going to make my cut. Cho is a great artist, but my interest in Wolverine as a character is only as strong as the book in which he appears. Savage Wolverine is serviceable; always pretty, but not must-read entertainment. I might be too harsh on it, so try it for yourself.

Cover to Uncanny X-Force #1, art by Ron Garney. Marvel Comics.

Uncanny X-Force #1 also suffers from "why does this book exist," but offers more intrigue in its first issue than Savage Wolverine. Psylocke and Storm are tipped off by Puck that Spiral is dealing drugs to mutant ravers. Meanwhile, Bishop shows up in a scene that means next to nothing if you don't know who he is, or in my case, where he's been.

Sam Humphries pushes the envelope a bit with lots of block-censored cursing from Psylocke and the dirtiest joke I've ever read in an X-book. It's not quite MAX-level, but it gives the book a little spice on what would otherwise be Just Another X-Title. Coupled with Ron Garney, the comic captures some of the spirit from the late days of the Claremont/Silvestri Uncanny X-Men run. Some of it in a visual sense, and some of it in the way that the story doesn't make concessions for new readers at all. Plus, it stars Storm and Psylocke, and the last time I ever remember them sharing this much interaction was in the late 80s.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? I might give this a second issue, simply because the first one doesn't establish at all what the book is going to be about. I like some of these characters, and I really like Garney's art, so if the second issue doesn't gel - hey, no big loss for me.

Young Avengers #1 is the only Marvel NOW title to truly disappoint me, as I had high hopes following Allan Heinberg's initial series and the exemplary Avengers: Childrens' Crusade. I realize I set these expectations on myself, but other titles (like FF) have certainly risen to meet my enthusiasm. Young Avengers #1 (by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie) is a capable teen book, with some nice moments, and almost no real sense of drama.

Variant cover for Young Avengers #1, art by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Marvel Comics.

Drama's important. I've mentioned before that a lack of conflict sunk Thunderbolts #1 like a stone, and Young Avengers #1 doesn't really get any until its final page. It mostly coasts by on charm. Kate Bishop, Hulkling, and Wiccan are all appealing characters, and I like spending time with them, but there's got to be a little more meat on the bone. I'm not even talking about supervillain battles; I'll take soap opera. In this issue, Hulkling has major issues with his relationship with Wiccan, but instead of this providing a thread of conflict, the matter is resolved within a page or two.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? Maybe one more. There's room in the market for a good, old-fashioned superhero teen book right now, so it could find its place. It just needs sparks.

The Trophy Room: Wonder Woman, Bedlam, and Brubaker

Hello, folks. I've asked Jacob Hall to come up with a regular feature, and this is it - The Trophy Room! Jacob is a writer for Screencrush.com and Movies.com, and a lover of storytelling in all of its forms. With The Trophy Room, he'll give weekly awards to the comics that he thinks stand out. Take it away, Jacob...

Comic That I Wish I Liked More: Young Avengers #1

There is so much to love about Young Avengers that I feel a little guilty for not falling head over heels in love with it. Kieron Gillen and James McKelvie have created a book that's bursting with personality and character, but strangely short on plot or momentum. As someone unfamiliar with the history of the Young Avengers and Kid Loki (which I'm rectifying right now), I found myself completely lost regarding the status quo of these guys and girls. A #1 issue, especially one this breezy and, charming, shouldn't be so uninviting to newcomers. But hey, at least I was lost with a bunch of characters who instantly liked. That's a start.

Special Prize For Regained Comedic Footing Following a Heartbreaking Story Twist: Chew #31

The events of Chew #30 were so dark and mean and drastic and horrifying and game-changing that I was wondering if the book could ever go back to the way it was. The answer is yes and no. Tony Chu's life has been forever altered and he has a new mission in life (and possibly a new disposition), but after the grieving is done, the series immediately and without hesitation becomes the goofy and imaginative romp its always been. Chew's greatest asset has always been its ability to effortlessly leap between genres and tones and #31 brought both the tears and giggles in equal measure. There's no reason for Chew to ever work, but damn it, here we are. Whatta' series.

The "Going Out in Style" Award: Winter Soldier #14

Cover to Winter Soldier #14, art by Daniel Acuna. Marvel Comics.

And thus ends Ed Brubaker's stint with Marvel. While his final issue of Captain America definitively closed the book on his version of the character, he concludes his Winter Soldier run with a big question mark, putting Bucky Barnes in a situation that is best described as "shitty and no good and horrible." Although a new creative team will attempt to throw him an emotional lifeline with the next issue, this tragic conclusion is straight-up Brubaker: noir-tinged superhero espionage that begs to be read with a tumbler of your finest scotch. I'm going to miss his distinctive voice in the Marvel Universe.

Best Example of Being a Bad Comic Book: Uncanny X-Force #1

Here's the dirty secret about Marvel Now: so many of the new books are good that I'm having a hard time keeping my pull list at a manageable level. So I'm almost relieved that Uncanny X-Force #1 is one of the worst books in the Marvel Now line-up and that I'll never have to buy another issue. In addition to being impenetrable, obnoxious, crass and full of '90s "kewlness," the issue doesn't even bother to tell a complete story or properly introduce its cast. This is the kind of comic that reminds me why I spent years actively avoiding comics.

Best Comic to Use When Judging Other People's Opinions on Art: FF #3

Good God, Mike Allred. You are the best penciller working in comics today. Never change. Your critics are people I judge immediately and harshly. Anyway, FF is proving itself to be a solid series on its own, but Allred's art lends the book an absurd amount of personality.

Default Best DC Book of the Week Because It Was the Only DC Book I Read This Week: Wonder Woman #16

Wonder Woman is still a really good comic book, but the fact that it was the only thing published by DC that I read this week is telling about the company's entire line-up. They need to do something drastic to get me back…and a Vibe comic isn't the trick.

The "Why Do I Like This?" Award: Deadpool #4

As a general rule, I don't read Deadpool comics. But I think Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan's writing is hilarious. I think Tony Moore's art is gorgeous. I love the fact that this book essentially co-stars Ben Franklin's ghost at this point. So, somehow, I'm still reading Deadpool. Keep it up, guys.

Runner-Up Comic of the Week:  Bedlam #3

There's no getting around it: Bedlam is an upsetting series, a horror comic that takes a familiar superhero/supervillain dynamic and turns it into a genuine nightmare (although the series' main inspiration is already getting a terrifying treatment of its own over in Scott Snyder's Batman). The latest issue doesn't necessarily propel the story forward - this is a dense book, but it's also deliberate - but it continues to turn the screws on our hero, a medicated and reformed supervillain and mass murderer, in fascinating ways. If you can deal with Bedlam's frequent cruelty (the first three pages of this issue feel like they're daring you to keep reading), you'll find a series with an infinite amount of promise. And of course #3 ends with a major cliffhanger. Of course.

Cover to Mind MGMT #7, art by Matt Kindt. Matt Kindt/Dark Horse Comics.

Comic of the Week: Mind MGMT #7

It's rare that I spend $3.99 on an individual comic and feel that I've truly gotten my money's worth. With Dark Horse's Mind MGMT, I feel no shudders of guilt and feel no need to mutter about costs to the person ringing up my purchase -- writer/artist Matt Kindt crams so much content into every individual issue that I feel like I'm reading more than one in a single sitting. Take this week's issue (the first after a two month hiatus), which tells not one story, but four of them, with several running simultaneously. After a twenty-panel recap of the past six issues on the inside cover, the series launches back into its strange sci-fi conspiracy tale, all drawn in Kindt's loose and expressive art. As the main story trucks on, an expository flashback story is told in the bottom margins of each page. A mysterious commentary deepens the mystery in the left margins. Images and notes overlap the art, creating the impression that you're not holding a comic, but some kind of hastily assembled conspiracy nut's document. This is a remarkable issue of a remarkable series.

I Want My Marvel NOW: Iron Man #1, Deadpool #1, and A+X #1

I'm giving each of the Marvel NOW books a fair shake; I reviewed the first two here (Uncanny Avengers #1 and Red She-Hulk #58), and so far so good. "So far so good" is typically the case at Marvel these days - nothing is ever truly god-awful, though some books are better than others. Since I've gotten back into collecting on a regular basis (2010), Marvel's stuff across the board has been, at the very least, enthusiastic. What I mean is, no one seems to be just phoning it in. That effort is appreciated, even when some of the individual titles aren't my cup of tea. I could do without invasive cross-over events spilling into my monthlies, but that's pretty much the nature of the beast at this point. I've never collected Iron Man on a monthly basis, and I think my interest in the title was at its highest in the late 80's, during the Micheline/Bright storyline that introduced a new gold and red armor after a few years of silver and red. There's a part of me, the Avengers fan part, that always hopes that Iron Man will hook me, but so far I've remained unhooked.

Iron Man #1 from Kieron Gillen and Greg Land is no exception. There seems to be a concerted effort from Marvel to Robert-Downey-Jr-ize the character of Tony Stark, making sure that Iron Man's dialogue sounds like things Downey would say. It's not nearly as noticeable as DC's effort to Ryan-Reynolds-ize Hal Jordan, mostly because Stark isn't so far removed from Downey as Jordan is from Reynolds (Hal was never a smartmouth). At any rate, this is the quick-witted playboy that fans expect from the Iron Man films, right down to the snappy patter with Pepper Potts. For those coming in for the first time from the movies, the rhythms of the book will feel comfortable.

What won't be so welcoming is the book's reliance on prior knowledge of the Extremis storyline from a few years ago. Strangely, Iron Man #1 is another Marvel NOW book (like Uncanny Avengers) that doesn't provide as clean a jump-on point as advertised. You can follow its storyline with the context provided, but there's definitely a feeling that you're missing something as you read.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? No...however, try it - you might like it. I don't really care what happens next, but Gillen's writing is respectable and Land draws a cool Iron Man (the black and gold armor looks pretty good in action). There's just nothing about this new direction that feels like a new direction.

Deadpool is another character whose books I'll dip into sporadically, but never monthly. Last thing I read was the David Lapham and Kyle Baker MAX run, which should've been a homerun for me, considering that I love both of those creators, but I dropped it after the initial issues, and I literally have no recollection of why. I can't even remember what the storyline was.

I liked Deadpool #1. I expected comedians Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan to write a funny line or two for the "merc with a mouth," but I don't think I expected the plotting itself to feel so assured. Posehn and Duggan do write some funny stuff here, but it's as well-paced and inventive as any Marvel book written by a veteran writer. What felt like a bit of a gimmick - two well-known fringe comics on a fringe title with a popular fringe character - is actually the real deal. It's a funny action book, fully comfortable with the trappings of the Marvel U, while skirting the edge between ridiculous and cool.

They're helped by artist Tony Moore, whose work here is more comfortable than ever before, as if this is exactly the thing he's been waiting his entire career to draw. It's not even that it's technically his best artwork; it's that the energy of the work is at a higher level than he's ever displayed. Moore is getting off on this, and you can tell.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? Yes. I'm not committing it to the old pull list just yet, but it's so close. At the very least, I'll be completing this first arc, and we'll see where it goes from there. I'd recommend this if you were a fan of the old DeMatteis/Giffen Justice League.

Deadpool #1 also contains the only Marvel AR stuff yet that fulfills the promise of the smart phone application. If you've been curious about the app, this is the best book to try it out. Scanning certain AR-marked panels with my phone revealed a video interview with Brian Posehn and a cheap, weird puppet show that explained the origin of Deadpool. More stuff like this, Marvel; less stuff like narrated word balloons or videos of unlettered pages.

A+X is supposed to be a team-up book featuring an Avengers cast member and an X-Men cast member, but considering how Marvel has blurred the line between the two teams, this may as well be called Marvel Universe. I think the only character ineligible from appearing is Man-Thing, though somebody probably made him an honorary Avenger at some point. Who knows.

The first issue has two stories - one with Captain America and Cable, from Dan Slott and Ron Garney, and one with Hulk and Wolverine, from Jeph Loeb and Dale Keown. My cover for #1 has Spider-Man and Green Goblin on it, characters who aren't even mentioned inside. At any rate, it was interesting to see the evolution of two artists whose work I've enjoyed in the past. Garney seems to have become a more comfortable cartoonist, while Keown, who only draws sequential pages once in a blue moon, seems to have regressed. There's a stiffness to the work that reminded me a lot of Brandon Peterson's first Jim Lee knock-off X-Men stuff. Beyond his initial Incredible Hulk run, Keown has never shown much interest in producing monthly work, and I've always wondered how his art would've evolved if he was more dedicated to craft. His lack of output in the past twenty years is comics' loss.

Slott's story reads like a back-up tale that's been tucked away in a drawer for use in a book that was running late. It's readable, diverting, and brief. Loeb's story stinks, especially in the dialogue department. Hulk says things like,  "I'm punching you back to wherever you came from!" while Wolverine busts out a late-90's "Whatever" in the middle of a fight. In it, modern Wolverine and Hulk fight Old Man Logan and Maestro until those two baddies disappear. Then there's a last panel reveal, with a "The End...for now!" caption, that may or may not be addressed in the next issue. A+X is the worst of the new Marvel NOW books so far, and its thin concept and thinner stories place its head directly on the cancellation chopping block right from the start.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? This is a loaded question. No, definitely not monthly. Sometimes I do get suckered in with the right mix of characters, so it's entirely possible I might pick up another issue someday. Out of all the titles so far, though, this is the one I'd tell people to skip entirely.