Squadron Supreme - James Robinson

Squadron Supreme (2015) - James Robinson

1. By Any Means Necessary! - Collects issues #1-4.  A team of Squadron analogues from various Earths, having little in common except that Namor destroyed their worlds during the Secret Wars extinction event that culminated in Battleworld, get together and become purveyors of rough justice.  As in, raising Atlantis and throwing it back into the sea, and decapitating Namor.  I like the variety of characters, but I don't care for Robinson's melodramatic dialogue and endless exposition, and as always, I think deaths of established characters are cheap ploys.  [3.5]
2. Civil War II - Collects issues #6-9.  The group rescues Weirdworld from the clutches of Modred, apparently now a bad guy.  Nighthawk leads the team to a cabal of alien races smuggling weapons on Earth.  Also, Dr. Spectrum comes face to face with Toro and Black Bolt, the man who destroyed her Earth but also saved her life.  Melodramatic and talky, and the alien cabal is a weird story.  [3]
3. Finding Namor - Collects issues #10-15, the end of the series.  Warrior Woman, who turns out to be from the Squadron Sinister Earth, and Modred plan to use Dr. Doom's time machine to bring Namor back to life so they can rule together, for some reason.  The squad breaks up her plans, but with unforeseen results.  Robinson's exposition and psycho-babble is on full display here.  I do like his homage to the Agent Diana Prince era of Wonder Woman, but I hate it when non-powered characters hold their own against powerhouses.  I also like the array of guest stars, including Blue Marvel, the original Torch, etc.  Robinson is good with revitalizing comic book lore, but not exactly a high-caliber writer of dialogue or plot.  [3]
   

Lucifer - Mike Carey

Lucifer - Mike Carey

1. Devil in the Gateway - This volume contains two interconnected stories.  The first is from the original miniseries Sandman Presents Lucifer.  Lucifer, having resigned his position as Lord of Hell and having been deprived of his wings by Dream, now resides as the proprietor of Lux, a piano bar in LA.  He's approached by an emissary of the Name Itself, who wishes Lucifer to find out why fervent desires all over Earth are being granted.  In return, Lucifer asks for a letter of passage.  He finds the source of the disruption — a young man with a neurological disorder — and uses his sister as a guide to the world of the old gods.  In the second story, Lucifer demands the use of an angel's powerful card deck so he can see the crossroads of his life.  The cards get away and start causing chaos, until a young magician absorbs the cards into herself.  As a coda, young Elaine Belloc solves the murder of her friend and meets Lucifer in the killer's head.  Erudite, brutal, insanely imaginative, and capable of finding the human in everything, in the same way Gaiman did in Sandman.  [5]-two
2. Children and Monsters - Lucifer uses the letter of passage to make a gate into non-creation, the void, which enrages the heavenly host.  To prepare, Lucifer retrieves his wings from the Japanese pantheon that acquired them from the Dreaming; unfortunately, in their realm he is powerless, and they want him dead.  In an apparent aside, we see a cursed priestess be granted death at Lucifer's hands, in return for a very special bottle.  We also learn more about Elaine Belloc and her birth, as she gets embroiled in a fallen angels' twisted plan to create more angels from the imprisoned Michael.  The second half is of this volume is particularly strong, deftly weaving together seemingly unrelated plot threads while deepening Elaine's importance to the series. Though Lucifer's vulnerability in the realm of the gods occasionally feels undercut by plot armor, the volume remains suspenseful, inventive, and emotionally resonant.  [4.5]-two
3. A Dalliance With the Damned - Lucifer has created a brand new cosmos, and everyone wants a piece.  But first, he tests it with a new garden of Eden and a new first couple, but of course there are temptations there too.  Meanwhile, in Effrul, the demons mimic a grotesque perversion of 18th century British nobility for their own amusement, where trysts and treachery abound.  A cruel princess has a whim to take one of the damned, Christopher Rudd, to be her plaything, but he proves far more adept at court intrigue than anyone expects.  Lucifer travels to Effrul as well, where Mazikeen, her face restored against her will, vows to get revenge for herself and for her people, the Lilim.  Carey again bests himself with a plot as full of twists as it is sex and violence, and somehow makes the reader root for an protagonist with a heart of ice whose entire philosophy is solipsistic individualism.  [5]-two
4. The Divine Comedy - The new creation is full of refugees courtesy of Lucifer's splintered gate; all are welcome, but his only rule is no worship or religion.  Unfortunately, three malevolent forces are converging on him and his new universe.  Mazikeen gives Lucifer an ultimatum: give the Lilim a homeland in return for their fealty or face war.  Lucifer, always arrogant, dismisses her, saying he needs no one.  The Basanos invade the new creation, using Jill Presto as a host, and sending a Jin En Mok to kill Elaine to prevent her interference. And Susano, the Japanese god, concludes a long-plotted revenge against Lucifer, using feathers implanted in the wings he took back from them.  It's a masterful intertwining of storylines and a building on the established mythology.  As a cleanser, the final story is a funny slapstick in which Gaudium, a fallen cherub, goes on an ill-fated quest to save Elaine.  [5]-two
5. Inferno - Vastly diminished in power after recovering from the two-pronged attack in his own universe, and with Susano still in possession of the cursed wing feathers, Lucifer must nevertheless keep his word and meet Amenadiel in hell for the duel promised a year prior.  In Effrul, Lucifer is hosted by Rudd, now a duke of hell, while angels and devils conspire to weigh the scales against Lucifer.  But there are schemes within schemes in the courts of hell.  Meanwhile, in an attempt to destroy the feathers, Mazikeen tracks Susano to a dread castle where they are both taken prisoner.  A standalone story involving the personification of justice tracking the killer of Elaine has a devilishly satisfying twist.  [5]-two
6. Mansions of Silence - Lucifer assembles a motley crew on the Naglfar: Loki's brother Bergelmir, Gaudium and his sister, Jill Presto, Mazikeen, Elaine's half-brother Cal, and Elaine's father, now a ghost.  Their mission is to go to the mansions of silence and rescue Elaine's spirit, but a vengeful dead god rules this land, and Lucifer can't help them.  He goes on a quest of his own, with his exiled brother Michael, to God's mind.  What He has to say to them enrages Michael and — here I fear I don't quite follow how — allows Lucifer to enter the Mansions of Silence after all.  A coda in which several loose ends are tied and Elaine and Mona get a fitting ending is sweet and even poignant.  Still, I can't quite get over the apparent hand-waving that reduces to nothing all the danger and suspense built up until Lucifer's arrival.  [4.5]
7. Exodus - This is the point where a truly new chapter in the Lucifer saga begins.  Up till now, everything that has come before resulted, directly or indirectly, from the letter of passage.  Loose ends had to be tied, but that is over.  Now, a brand new situation has arisen. God has vacated the silver city, leaving both Michael and Lucifer in charge.  (This explains how the rules of engagement changed in the previous volume.)  Two moronic chaos demons decide to fill the vacuum, and improbably gain Yahweh's power.  Even Michael and Lucifer can't stop them — but a young human may have a key.  Then, Lucifer sends some of his agents out to his worlds, charged with exiling any gods or immortals from them on pain of death.  Elaine Belloc has her own way of doing this, while Mazikeen gets a surprise.  [4.5]-two
8. The Wolf Beneath the Tree - Just when I think Carey might be running out of gas, he revs the old idea engines up and shows us how immortal entities can still face suspense and drama.  After an intriguing look at pre-Fall times, when Lucifer and Gabirel dallied with Lilith and we see the origin of the silver city (and Mazikeen), we get to the main story.  With God gone, all of creation is threatening to crumble.  In a darkly humorous scene, Lucifer and Michael visit Destiny for answers, which are not forthcoming.  Meanwhile, Fenris and two minor deities of destruction head to Yggdrasil to end all things, using an insane murderer as a vehicle and sacrifice.  The story ends on an exciting cliffhanger, with Fenris ascendant and Elaine Belloc in a unique and volatile position.  [5]-two
9. Crux - Here, Lilith re-enters the narrative, having been approached eons ago by a mysterious group of powerful beings to enlist her help in destroying heaven.  She will stop at nothing to accomplish this, even killing her own daughter.  In hell, an unprecedented army of the combined forces of demons and the damned is mobilizing, led by a rather improbably figure.  And where is Lucifer in all this?  He and Elaine are in a third creation, trying to find their way back to the other creation so they can save everything.  This section is light on the drama of the other parts, but high on character development, as we see Elaine struggle with how to keep a world safe while allowing free will.  Meanwhile, Jill Presto, with some advice from the god of Las Vegas (!), goes into the desert where some rough beast, the offspring of the Basanos, can be born.  [5]-two
10. Morningstar - I continue to be in awe at how Carey brings together plot threads and lets the line of the story play out, taking his sweet time and keeping the reader on a hook throughout.  Do we need Solomon, the spirit of Justice, to come in at the end of this arc?  Why not also show him wrapping up the story of Kurt and Jayesh, the Germans from way back in book one?  And remember when I said Elaine got "an ending" back in book six?  It was framed as an ending, all right, so who could have guessed where she'd end up?  Anyway, here Lilith launches the attack on heaven with her army of Lilim and dark angels, joined by a familiar old enemy.  In hell, Christopher Rudd hesitates, wondering whether to strike at heaven or come to its aid.  Why not both?  To add to the chaos, Noema, the other Basanos child, wants to see Lucifer fail.  I love how consistent Lucifer's character has been throughout, a being of pure will, beholden to no one.  Even in the face of total oblivion: "Since this has turned into the final conflict between something and nothing, I'm siding with something.  But only so far as it suits me.  I won't let myself be imprisoned in a situation I didn't choose."  Classic.  [5]-two
11. Evensong - It's all over but the shouting.  Lucifer visits an old enemy, and surprisingly leaves her more like an ally than anything else.  He has a rather strained chat with his father (in one of the greatest, scenes of the entire series, and one that encapsulates Lucifer's essence more than any other.  In a bit of delicious irony, the talk takes place in the lair of some enemies whose defeat hasn't happened yet.  Elaine says goodbye to the usual gang before subsuming herself into all creation.  Lucifer... goes.  "It's hard to tell whether he imposes himself on the emptiness or becomes it."  It's an absolutely pitch-perfect ending.  Also in this volume is the long one-shot story "Nirvana," which is inessential but fine; it would be better served stuck in one of the earlier volumes.  [5]-two

Invisible - Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Invisible - Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Five Spanish-speaking middle school kids are brought together to perform their school's community-service hours.  Under the stern eye of the suspicious cafeteria lady, they hope to fly under the radar, until they notice someone on the other side of the fence who needs their help.  Without trying to rock the boat, they reluctantly team up to help the single mom and her child, until the authorities notice them.  It's a decent riff on the Breakfast Club with likeable and richly drawn-out protagonists.  Library.  [3.5]

Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 - Fred Van Lente

Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 - Fred Van Lente

MODOK hires a team of desperate B-list criminals — Armadillo, Spot, Nightshade, Puma, Living Laser, Rocket Racer, Mentallo, and Chameleon — to steal a McGuffin of awesome power that can unmake reality or create a new Cosmic Cube.  As happens with bad guys, however, there are double-crosses and triple-crosses aplenty, as a couple of the "team" sell MODOK out and at least one of them isn't who he appears to be.  This is a superb comedy-crime-caper, filled with tongue in cheek humor but also real drama and fighting.  Van Lente is the best at what he does, and what he does is very fun.  [4.5]-two

Clobberin' Time - Steve Skroce

Clobberin' Time - Steve Skroce

This 2023 five-issue miniseries has the Thing teaming up with several big name Marvel stars — Wolverine, Hulk, Dr. Strange, and Dr. Doom — along with a renegade Watcher to try to stop the Psychopomp, a mad genius from the far future who wants to rebuild the universe without causal anomalies like superheroes.  The fast-paced, over-the-top plot elements recall the nuttiest of Grant Morrison arcs, and the art, also by Skroce, is like Frank Quitely with a touch of Basil Wolverton or Moebius — endless tubes, wires, bolts, scratches, scales, and other such detail abound throughout.  It's a high-octane, totally fun ride, and genuinely funny in parts (such as Thing's helpful earpiece which lets him spout placating gobbledygook at critics rather than losing his temper).  [4]

Contest Of Champions - Al Ewing

Contest Of Champions (2015) - Al Ewing 

The Grandmaster and the Collector, using Maestro and Punisher 2099 as their team "managers," pit a motley crew of heroes and villains plucked from alternate worlds, futures, and even death to fight for them over mysterious "iso-8" crystals which give them power.  I saw a lot of chatter online about how bad this as, so wasn't expecting much, but I was very pleasantly surprised.  It's witty, fun, hits all the right buttons in terms of wacky alternate versions of characters, and has a lot of heart (the story is bookended with what happens to Outlaw, the "British Punisher" who decides to give it all up and try to be more heroic).  I thoroughy enjoyed this one.  [4]

Villains For Hire - Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett

Villains For Hire (2011) - Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett 

After the Purple Man stole Misty Knight's idea of having a team of paid super-operatives in the city to do jobs, she decides to steal the idea back.  When Silver Sable and Black Panther fail to stop the new Stilt-Man (a woman) and Sidewinder, Knight decides to hire her own team of villains.  This results in madness like Tiger Shark, Bombshell, Crossfire, and Nightshade facing off against Shocker, Death-Stalker, Scourge, and Avalanche, with a few crossing over for better money along the way.  But has Misty Knight really gone evil?  Purple Man won't rest until he finds the answer.  This is a fun story; villains always get the best lines.  There's more freedom for a writer with villains, since there's not any kind of standard to uphold, I guess.  Anyway, to me this is trying to be a bit too hard to be Brubaker noir when it ought to be aiming for Van Lente zaniness; also the "Misty Knight in tight pants any chance we get" art is a bit of a turnoff for me.  Still, I enjoyed it for what it is.  [4]