The Pull List 2/5
- The Punisher #1: He’s been a part of the Thunderbolts for a while now but Marvel finally brings back a new, solo Punisher title. Frank heads across the country to Los Angeles and is targeting a massive drug cartel, destroying their main production facility this issue. He seems to have some new allies and some new enemies, as someone as ordered The Howling Commandos to kill him.
- Robocop: Last Stand #7: Although it says on Comixology that this is the last issue of the mini-series, it says “to be concluded” in the issue itself. Things seem to be pretty much resolved though as the new and improved Murphy takes down the Otomo robots while a reborn robotic Marie kills the sadistic OCP executive, Faxx and destroys the Otomo clones OCP had controlling the robots. OCP seems to have been dealt a fatal blow.
- All New Invaders #2: We find out what Bucky aka Winter Soldier, was up to prior to he and Cap showing up to assist Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. He was on a mission in Vienna for Nick Fury when he was ambushed by Kree soldiers. He broke radio silence and called Cap and the two manage to help Hammond, but no before Kree Tanalth the Pursuer collects the info about the final piece of the God Whisper device that can control Asgardians. Cap, Bucky and Jim decide to take matters into their own hands and rescue Namor from the Kree homeworld and stop them from using the God Whisper.
- Loki: Agent of Asgard #1: Definitely playing into all the teenage girl fans of Tom Hiddleston on Tumblr, this new series features a young Loki, who Hawkeye straight up calls a One Direction member at one point, trying to repent for his evil ways and is now working for the All-Mother in secret operations for Asgard. It’s pretty pandering, with tons of shots of young, hot Loki in the shower and it also has the Avengers movie team featured, even though the actual Avengers team is a confusing mess of second and third tier heroes right now. Probably won’t be following this one.
- Avengers AI #9: Speaking of The Avengers, they are currently in the Tron like world of The Diamond, trying to find and shut down the source of a cheap gas app that is secretly sending signals that is causing people to riot uncontrollably. The Avengers realize they can contort and enhance their bodies free of the physics of the real world and they even combine themselves into an Avengers Megazord at one point. Meanwhile, SHIELD agent Monica Chang is tasked with destroying all rogue AI and gets a team of Jocasta bots to help her do it.
- Green Arrow #28: Oliver is reeling from the revelation that is father is still alive and single handedly responsible for his time on “the island”. Robert explains how he survived and why he subjected Oliver to the trials of the island. He also reveals that he has the totem Arrow, the mystical and powerful artifact of the Arrow clan. Kodiak, of the Shield clan, ambushes Robert, Oliver and Shado and, after a vicious battle, is taken down by the totem Arrow. Back in Seattle, Diggle recruits Oliver’s new allies, Fyff and Naomi, to help him stop crime boss Richard Dragon while Komodo, the rival archer of Robert and Oliver, takes command of the Outsider weapon clans, killing the leader and promising to lead them into a war against all who oppose them.
- Captain America #16: Jet Black, Arnim Zola’s daughter that Cap rescued from Dimension Z, goes for a run on the rooftops of her new world and is sickened by what she sees as weakness of humanity. She is approached by a man claiming to be a friend who takes her to meet the Red Skull, who promises to complete the training Arnim would have if Cap had not destroyed him, leaving Jet Black at a crossroads of who to trust.
- Iron Man #21: Terrorist attacks by Lord Remaker, one of the new Mandarin ring hosts, rock Tony and his brother Arno’s Troy city. Tony is getting frustrated that they are not able to track them but decides to use a stealth suit and track another Mandarin host, Red Peril, through Troy. He finds her at a meeting with Lord Remaker and The Exile, an Inhuman Mandarin host, and learns that Lord Remaker will destroy the entire city if he can’t get it back from Tony. He launches a missile at Arno’s base of operations and Tony is not able to stop it before it blows up the building and kills Arno.
- GI Joe #13: Baroness continues to escort the new Cobra historian, Siren, around the globe, meeting with the Yakuza and relating the story of how a female Cobra Commander helped form the organization. After the meeting, Cobra rescues her son from the ship he was being transported on by smugglers, but Siren is double crossed by Baroness, who says that Siren’s son will be safe as long as Siren continues to work for Cobra. She then relates the story of how The Divine Comedy was a secret Cobra epic, detailing Dante’s belief that Cobra could someday rise out of the Inferno of violence and save the world.
- Detective Comics #28: Batman is locked away in Arkham Asylum after breaking the illusion of “Gothtopia” created by The Scarecrow. The entire city is still under the Scarecrow’s spell, except for Poison Ivy, who Batman teams with to develop a serum to break the control but, after escaping Arkham, Batman is shocked to find his Bat-family under the control of Scarecrow and ready to take him down.
- Forever Evil #5: Nearing it’s conclusion, there’s a pretty formidable resistance forming against the Crime Syndicate with Sinestro and Deathstroke joining Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Blank Manta, Black Adam, Captain Cold, Batman and Catwoman. Sinestro kills Power Ring, finally freeing him from the crippling torture of his Green Lantern ring. The ring looks for a new host but the power released ripples across the multiverse and seems to have brought the being that destroyed the Crime Syndicate’s world to Earth.
- Shadowman #15: Heeding the instructions of her mentor, Dox, Alyssa betrays Shadowman, Jack Boniface, and sends him into an ambush of the senior Abettors, who wish to kill Jack and put the Loa or spirit that gives him his power into his cousin, once or twice removed. Alyssa learns that the Dox spirit she is seeing is just a magical illusion or hologram and rushes to help Jack, but it might be too late.
- Forever Evil: Arkham War #5: Bane, in the cowl of Batman, and his Talon Robin take on the Scarecrow’s army of Talon ninjas and manage to take them down with a well timed helicopter blade, dealing them critically injuries that, after regenerating, Bane hopes will clear the mind control on them. Scarecrow gathers his fellow rogues and reveals that he collected a sample of Bane’s venom and plans to use it against him. Believing it’s in the wine he’s serving the other rogues are completely against this until Scarecrow reveals he’s been pumping it into the vents, causing all the rogues to roid out, Bane style.
- Five Ghosts #3: Things go bad for Fabian and his pirate allies when their ship is hijacked by Asif, who Fabian used to run with as a thief in Morocco. The crew is locked away below decks and Fabian is tortured by Asif, who wants revenge for his brother Navid, who Fabian killed after Navid killed a man in cold blood while on Fabian initial hunt for the Dreamstones. Coming to the rescue is the ship’s captain, who seems to have the spirit of Sinbad on her side.
- Robocop: Hominem Ex Machina: Set in the new Robocop universe, Robocop is on a seemingly unstoppable crusade against crime in Detroit when he suffers a breakdown and goes into a catonic state. The scientists are baffled but a hostage situation involving kids is what finally snaps Robocop out of his vegetable state and he and his former partner, Lewis, take down the kidnappers.
- Wolverine #1: Although it has a new number, Wolverine picks up from the events of the last run, with Wolverine mortal and vulnerable following an infection by an alien disease. He’s working for a Mr. Offer on a team of super powered people (not clear if they are mutants or not) and they successfully complete a mission to rescue a member of the Hand ninja clan. Because of his new weaknesses, Wolverine brushes up on his firearms with Black Widow and gets a fancy new suit of armor with built in claws, as popping his own claws takes forever to heal now.
- Judge Dredd: Mega City Two #2: Undercover as a biker in Mega City Two, Dredd works his way up the ranks and identifies the key players of the gang, relating the info back to the chief judge. Dredd gets a chance to run the gang after the previous leader dies in a fight with a rival gang and takes the opportunity to arrest them all.
- The Twilight Zone #2: Trevor Richmond, a corrupt Wall Street executive, payed a massive amount of money to get transformed physically into another identity named Riley. He was shocked when his old face appeared on the news, ready to turn himself in to the authorities regarding his bad dealings. Trying to get to the bottom of it, he finds that the company he paid to transform him, Expediated Services, finds the best way to avoid suspicion is to replace their clients with a double. Richmond can’t handle this but when he tries to confront his double, he ends up on the run from the police after a shootout with security.
- Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #1: Just like Doc Savage, Dynamite brings back another classic character with Turok. Living alone after the murder of his parents, Turok has trouble with some braves from a neighboring tribe. After they trash his camp, Turok leads them to a trap he set, only a group of dinosaurs attacks, forcing Turok to use the trap on them. He and one of the braves, Andar, escape, only to find the tribe has been captured by Englishmen, who have also managed to cage up some of the dinosaurs.
- The Star Wars #5: Trying to escape from the planet Aquilae and the Imperial forces, General Luke Skywalker, his padawan Anikin Starkiller, alien smuggler Han Solo, Princess Leia and her twin brothers and the droids 3P0 and Artwo try to avoid detection by boarding a ship leaving the planet but are discovered by Prince Valorum, a Sith Knight. The group is captured by Luke and Han escape and free the others, leading them to the military section of the spaceport and stealing a ship. Battling fighter ships, the group heads for sanctuary in the Yavin system.