BOWEN AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

This past week I finally accomplished a goal of displaying my ideal Avengers team in Bowen statue form. I've been collecting these things for the past few years, and I have a modest group of about twenty or so. Two were just added to my collection: Iron Man and Ms. Marvel. I'm still down a Thor, but since he was produced before I started collecting, and fetches insane prices on the aftermarket, I'm unlikely to acquire one any time soon. So for now, this is it.

TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE #83

"LOOSE ENDS, PART 3"

Writer: Simon Furman | Penciler: Andrew Wildman | Inker: Stephen Baskerville

Colorist: John-Paul Bove | Letterer: Chris Mowry | Editor: John Barber

Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

The Plot: On Earth, the Wreckers make peace with Circuit Smasher, who takes them to the headquarters of the remaining human resistance, and describes Megatron's conquest of the planet. Megatron sends out a communication informing the Wreckers that he has Kup prisoner. Springer begins to formulate a rescue plan. Meanwhile, after learning of Megatron's presence on Earth, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus lead a team of Autobots to stop him. Elsewhere, Bludgeon's Decepticons conquer a planet, then Bludgeon receives a call from Soundwave, informing him that the Autobots are gone and he will now be able to procure the mysterious item Bludgeon requires... which appears to be the remains of a Transformer.

G1 Continuity: Circuit Smasher is revealed to be Spike Witwicky, longtime Autobot ally and once the Headmaster partner of Fortress Maximus. The leader of the human resistance is G.B. Blackrock, who was an oil magnate and friend to the Autobots throughout the original series. Megatron has exposed Kup to the Scraplets, metal-eating space-mites from the Budiansky run.

Also, Circuit Breaker appears -- unnamed in silhouette to avoid rights issues -- during Spike's flashbacks to the Megatron war. Blackrock later mentions her, calling her only "a former employee".

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART FOURTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 4

"The Cross-Time Caper" continues as Excalibur -- sans Kitty, who was transported back to our Earth during the previous issue's Jamie Braddock story -- travels to an Earth ruled by longtime X-Men foe the Shadow King, in a 2-parter illustrated in sub-standard fashion by Chris Wozniak. Despite his amateurish style, Wozniak somehow becomes the series' regular guest penciler from this point.

Fortunately, Alan Davis soon returns for a 2-parter in which Illyana Rasputin -- Magik of the New Mutants -- corrupted by her demonic powers, rules the Earth (sensing a pattern?). Davis's visuals are as spectacular as ever, but as usual, this installment of "Cross-Time" feels like a waste of paper. Claremont's stories have become less and less inspired with every chapter of "Cross-Time", but mercifully, the story is drawing to a close.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART THIRTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 3

Issue number 12 of EXCALIBUR begins a storyline called "The Cross-Time Caper" -- labelled on the cover as part 1 of 9. "Cross-Time Caper" ends in issue #24. Even with one inventory issue along the way (#20), that still means this supposed 9-part storyline actually clocks in at twelve parts! Chris Claremont is known for "writing to the moment" and abandoning his established plans when an apparently better idea comes to him. Presumably, that's what happened here to lengthen "Cross-Time".

Unfortunately, the result is a story which long overstays its welcome. Never mind that sending the heroes of a relatively new series off on an extended trains-dimensional romp, away from their supporting cast and home environs, before they've even hit a dozen issues, is probably not the best-conceived idea -- making that story about two times longer than it probably should've been only exacerbates the problem.

ON MATTERS OF (RE)COLOR

PART ONE: COMMON SENSE
I love Marvel's current collected editions department. Really, I do. They put out quality books with top-notch production values and graphic design work. I'm proud to have their products on my bookcase. So when I go off on my rant here, just remember that I'm railing on one relatively minor aspect of something that I otherwise love pretty much unconditionally.

Left: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #238, 1983
Right: SPIDER-MAN: ORIGIN OF THE HOBGOBLIN TPB, 2011

TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE #82

"LOOSE ENDS, PART 2"

Writer: Simon Furman | Penciler: Andrew Wildman | Inker: Stephen Baskerville
Colorist: John-Paul Bove | Letterer: Chris Mowry | Editor: John Barber
Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

The Plot: On Earth, the Wreckers are pursued by Megatron's lobotomized Decepticon forces while searching for an array they can use to contact Cybertron. The Decepticons capture Kup, to whom Megatron reveals he wants the Autobots, and especially Optimus Prime, to come find him. Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus learns that the Wreckers stole a shuttle for their secret mission. And Grimlock arrives on planet Nebulos in search of a cure for Nucleon poisoning, but finds himself attacked and captured by Nebulon forces. Finally, on Earth, the Wreckers are attacked by a human calling himself Circuit Smasher.

G1 Continuity: Nebulos is the planet where the Headmasters, Targetmasters, and Powermasters first appeared, circa the HEADMASTERS limited series in 1987. Circuit Smasher is clearly based on Circuit Breaker, a human character used primarily in Bob Budiansky's early G1 issues. Her rights are owned by Marvel rather than Hasbro, so I don't expect to see her pop up in this series.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART TWELVE - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 2

Note: EXCALIBUR CLASSIC volume 2 contains the 1989 EXCALIBUR SPECIAL EDITION comic, "Mojo Mayhem".  Even though it's written by Chris Claremont, I did not read that story as part of this marathon, due to its negligible contributions to the series' ongoing continuity.

The six issues in EXCALIBUR CLASSIC volume 2 comprise two main story arcs.  The first is EXCALIBUR's segment of the 1988 X-Men crossover, "Inferno".  With New York overrun by demons, Rachel senses that her baby brother Nathan is in danger and takes off to find him, and Excalibur pursues their teammate.  In New York, the demon infestation affects each member of the team in a different way.  Meggan is corrupted and becomes the Goblin Princess, with Captain Britain acting as her bodyguard/slave.  Kitty manages to free the two of them with the use of the Soulsword, a demonic blade which once belonged to her friend, Illyana.

The "Inferno" crossover gives us some potentially interesting character development, but overall it feels like a time-killer -- a case of the title participating in a crossover because it must, not because it has anything interesting to contribute.  This seems especially odd considering Rachel's connection to Nathan and Kitty's connection to Illyana, as both those characters are integral to the main crossover event in UNCANNY X-MEN, X-FACTOR, and NEW MUTANTS.  Doubly peculiar is that Chris Claremont, one of the masterminds behind "Inferno", wrote the EXCALIBUR segment and could easily have given the group a larger role in the proceedings if he had so chosen.