Marvel Siege

Publisher: Marvel
Creators: Bendis, Coipel, Morales, Martin

Once in a great while, a villain gets up enough guts to pull a gigantic evil plot.  Siege is that plot.

The story is believable, but kind of random at the same time.  How long has Asgard been over Kansas and now they want to destroy it?  The face off between the New Avengers and the Dark Avengers is epic and The Sentry is really built up as the super psycho.  Lots of different teams also play a part in this story as well, but they are not that drawn out.  The biggest names that had storylines were Captain America, Norman Osborn, Loki and most of the Dark Avengers.  P.S. Norman, when you call your team the Dark Avengers you pretty much declare that they are evil.

The issue is built up into script dialogue and action panels.  Not much action happens in the beginning because Marvel felt the need to explain Osborn's actions to death.  It's a slow start, but at least it includes EVERYONE.  I've always admired Marvel for including newbies into their comic books no matter how much they know of the back story.  The one downside is they can't make any large plot changing assumptions.  That's why DC's colossal events are a bit faster (and more confusing).

   The artistic sense of the book is filled with up close reaction shots, sweeping pans of heroes and vistas of Asgard.  It captures the emotion and the dire of the situation.  Marvel truly knows how to show intensity in the grownup, even if that grownup is wearing a silly costume from the 70's.

Overall, I thought Siege was a great, albeit kinda slow, story.  It has a great lead in to Captain America and it's the perfect Good vs. Evil epic battle.  There was nothing earth shattering about the plot, nor was it the greatest fan service to the sci-fi fans, but it definitely put up an awesome fight.

B

+Good Epic Battle

+Facial features were spot on

-Kind of slow and safe

Captain America 612

Captain America 612
Publisher: Marvel
Writer/ Artist: Brubaker, Guice, Djurdjevic

 Synopsis: Bucky Barnes does his time in jail, while Cap tries desperately to clear his name.  The Nazi forces are scheming an evil plan with Red Skull's daughter.

Characters and Plot: Good character advancement.  Bucky bares his soul to his condition in prison.  Steve Rogers uses his American values to fight for Bucky's innocence.  More loose ends are tied up as Falcon and Black Widow force Faustus to lend his abilities to helping free Bucky.  The ending is a good climax as the Redskull's daughter gets ready for havoc. 

Point: It's interesting seeing Steve Rogers act so pure and unskeptical to Bucky's case in the face of all the naivety of everyone around him.  His faith may seem simple and pure like new fallen snow, but his character represents the untainted values of an idealist.  If I went up to the average American and told them that I had faith that all the terrorist groups would regret their actions and turn themselves over to jail, they would laugh me out of the building.  But it's that kind of impossible thinking that makes God and Steve Rogers a lot alike.  They believe that good will win in the end and the truth will be the final factor.  But unlike Steve Rogers, God has the power to bring that reality to Earth.

Pros:
+ Good character involvement
+ Good story

Cons
- More Bucky

B+