CaptainCanada
06-06-2007, 01:50 PM
Previously: Ms. Marvel was dating William, despite having fantasies about waking up next to colleague Wonder Man. A bunch of ridiculously convoluted AIM internal politics happened, coupled with some equally fanciful sci-fi stuff involving other dimensions, genetic bombs, and a dying MODOK. In a big three- or four-way brawl, MODOK hypnotized Wonder Man and sicced him on Ms. Marvel.
This time:
Ms. Marvel's public relations consultant, Sandra, meets with William, Ms. Marvel's current squeeze. She hands him a file, which reveals that she knows all about his (unspecified) shady past; he apparently moved across the country, changed his name, dyed his hair, had dental surgery, and wears contact lenses to change the colour of his eyes. Sandra says she won't tell Ms. Marvel, so long as William hightails it out of Carol's life. I originally didn't give William much of a shot vis a vis Simon, but now that he's got a shady past I think his chances are much-improved.
Meanwhile, Carol and Simon duke it out over the skies of Seattle. She first tries reasoning with him, which doesn't work; next, she tries fighting him, but that also seems a losing proposition. He punches her into that Seattle Needle-thing that looks like the CN Tower, and momentarily breaks his brainwashing to say that aggression feeds his conditioning. Taking the hint, Carol opts to use "the opposite of violence", and makes out with him in mid-air.
This does the trick, although they don't stop at first, and he puts his arms around her; eventually, she tells him to stop, and it also leaves them looking somewhat awkward. There are some really hilarious reaction shots from the crowd here. Their kiss is captured by one guy with his camera-phone, and Ed Brubaker has a cameo as another bystander. Carol and Simon both fly off to rejoin the battle.
Agent Locke, the psi-agent (psi-locke?), and Agent Sum are fighting AIM's monsters and beekeeper guys; they've activated a teleportation block to keep anyone from leaving; one of the monsters tackles Sum and they fall out a window, plummeting down many storeys.
MODOK, Sean Madigan, and Monica (the Scientist Supreme) have a three-way standoff over the DNA bomb, which ends when Madigan teleports himself and MODOK away, leaving Monica stunned. Agent Locke calls down some kind of neural blast from a satellite to take out all the other agents, after squabbling over authorization to use that device. The device also incapacitates her. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman finds that Agent Sum survived the fall, and beat the *$#@ out of the monster. They capture Monica as well.
Agent Locke is okay, although she's now grounded by the Helicarrier's onboard physician. Wonder Man and Sum recover the casing to the DNA bomb, but Madigan took the actual contents. Ms. Marvel is annoyed, and goes to interrogate Monica. Simon follows, and asks if they should talk about what happened. She says not now.
Monica says that Madigan's being able to teleport away means that there is a traitor on Ms. Marvel's team (either Locke, Sum, or Baines). Monica then reveals that Madigan is MODOK's son, and that he is planning to shatter AIM, creating hundreds of individual cells that would be much more deadly than the sluggish centralized bureaucracy that currently exists; her pitch, then, is that Ms. Marvel should help her regain control, since they're better off that way. MODOK is dying as a result of physiological problems caused by his transformation, and Madigan is looking to expedite this, placing the DNA bomb inside MODOK's chair, and unleashing him on the city, primed to explode and turn everyone into "circus freaks".
End of issue.
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I really like this title. It's not groundbreaking in any notable way, but it tells fun superhero stories with an engaging cast, it's not afraid to use goofy villains like MODOK, and has really, really great art. Lopresti has such an incredible range of facial expressions for his characters (even more than Cho, I think he's the definitive Ms. Marvel artist of the moment).
This time:
Ms. Marvel's public relations consultant, Sandra, meets with William, Ms. Marvel's current squeeze. She hands him a file, which reveals that she knows all about his (unspecified) shady past; he apparently moved across the country, changed his name, dyed his hair, had dental surgery, and wears contact lenses to change the colour of his eyes. Sandra says she won't tell Ms. Marvel, so long as William hightails it out of Carol's life. I originally didn't give William much of a shot vis a vis Simon, but now that he's got a shady past I think his chances are much-improved.
Meanwhile, Carol and Simon duke it out over the skies of Seattle. She first tries reasoning with him, which doesn't work; next, she tries fighting him, but that also seems a losing proposition. He punches her into that Seattle Needle-thing that looks like the CN Tower, and momentarily breaks his brainwashing to say that aggression feeds his conditioning. Taking the hint, Carol opts to use "the opposite of violence", and makes out with him in mid-air.
This does the trick, although they don't stop at first, and he puts his arms around her; eventually, she tells him to stop, and it also leaves them looking somewhat awkward. There are some really hilarious reaction shots from the crowd here. Their kiss is captured by one guy with his camera-phone, and Ed Brubaker has a cameo as another bystander. Carol and Simon both fly off to rejoin the battle.
Agent Locke, the psi-agent (psi-locke?), and Agent Sum are fighting AIM's monsters and beekeeper guys; they've activated a teleportation block to keep anyone from leaving; one of the monsters tackles Sum and they fall out a window, plummeting down many storeys.
MODOK, Sean Madigan, and Monica (the Scientist Supreme) have a three-way standoff over the DNA bomb, which ends when Madigan teleports himself and MODOK away, leaving Monica stunned. Agent Locke calls down some kind of neural blast from a satellite to take out all the other agents, after squabbling over authorization to use that device. The device also incapacitates her. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman finds that Agent Sum survived the fall, and beat the *$#@ out of the monster. They capture Monica as well.
Agent Locke is okay, although she's now grounded by the Helicarrier's onboard physician. Wonder Man and Sum recover the casing to the DNA bomb, but Madigan took the actual contents. Ms. Marvel is annoyed, and goes to interrogate Monica. Simon follows, and asks if they should talk about what happened. She says not now.
Monica says that Madigan's being able to teleport away means that there is a traitor on Ms. Marvel's team (either Locke, Sum, or Baines). Monica then reveals that Madigan is MODOK's son, and that he is planning to shatter AIM, creating hundreds of individual cells that would be much more deadly than the sluggish centralized bureaucracy that currently exists; her pitch, then, is that Ms. Marvel should help her regain control, since they're better off that way. MODOK is dying as a result of physiological problems caused by his transformation, and Madigan is looking to expedite this, placing the DNA bomb inside MODOK's chair, and unleashing him on the city, primed to explode and turn everyone into "circus freaks".
End of issue.
----------------------------------------------------
I really like this title. It's not groundbreaking in any notable way, but it tells fun superhero stories with an engaging cast, it's not afraid to use goofy villains like MODOK, and has really, really great art. Lopresti has such an incredible range of facial expressions for his characters (even more than Cho, I think he's the definitive Ms. Marvel artist of the moment).