Avengers Initiative #4

One-sentence summary: Probably one of the best World War Hulk tie-ins yet, it both advances the plot behind Initiative as well as giving significant details on World War Hulk.

I've been on the fence about Avengers Initiative for awhile. It seems like a pretty logical idea to me as far as a comic goes, and I have a soft spot for any comic which introduces main characters who can actually die (seems dark, I know, but it just usually makes a better comic). I've so far enjoyed Iniative, so I was a little dismayed to see that this was a World War Hulk tie-in, which, in my mind, immediately changed the title to "Read about the Iniative getting smashed by Hulk!" Imagine my pleasant surprise when that wasn't what it was, really.

This issue barely involves the hulk, directly at least. There's one interesting plot twist it details which, rather than affecting WWH, explains an incident in greater detail, which I thought was neat. It makes it so you don't feel the book was absolutely pointless to the main story (e.g., Ghost Rider), but it doesn't really change anything for those who are only following the main story. I really liked this, and I hope more tie-ins pick up on that (as they're probably told by editors they can't do anything radical).

It also, rather logically, did not have the Initative going after the Hulk. This would just be dumb; instead, they have them helping regular people, each using their powers appropriately. The end, yes, seems to be leading into next issue being "Hulk's Friends Smash," but, hey, at least it's not the Hulk smashing -- I could do with the variety.

Also, the regular story of the Iniative was advanced at least somewhat, even if to a slightly lower extent than a regular issue would do. All in all, this was my favorite tie-in in recent memories, as it actually read like a tie-in and not a 22-page filler issue of ads for whatever the current saga is.

I could pretty easily recommend this to people who are buying the Initiative, as well as people buying what they can of World War Hulk stuff. Not a bad issue at all -- a good job to all involved.

The Order #1

One-sentence summary: All-in-all, different, but not in a bad way, from normal first issues, The Order starts what could be a pretty interesting comic series.

Not a great summary, I know, but that's because my feelings aren't quite settled on this book yet. On one hand, it's an interesting concept, reminding me of one my favorite Marvel comics of recent years, X-Statix. The concept for the Order: California's superhero team will consist of a selection of volunteers given superpowers for one year, and based on public voting, the final initiative team for California will be chosen. If this is handled with a good balance of comedy and drama I could come to like this series (and it helps that the art's pretty good, enough to almost make up for the boring character designs). The writer, Matt Fraction, is doing amazing work with Brubaker on Iron Fist, but he's also doing abysmal work on Punisher: War Journal, so can't judge from that. This issue doesn't really give us a good feel for the characters or team dynamics, so it's tough to tell how that will all pan out. This will be a title to watch for and see how things develop.

Honestly, the reason I would give this title a recommendation instead of just a meh? The last page reveal of communist supervillains, in particular a bear (not a guy in a bear suit, but an actual bear). Awesome.