Black Knight #2

Writer – Frank Tieri
Artist – Luca Pizzari, Kev Walker
Colours – Antonio Fabela
Letters – VC’s Joe Sabino

The saga of Weirdworld continues here, or at least in Dane Whitman’s little corner of it and it finds him with a problem, one embodied by the Uncanny Avengers. Ever since Dane arrived, he knew that at some point in time they would track him down and he has been preparing for it ever since. The why of it was unknown, but Frank Tieri reveals it to us here and it is something that the Avengers and Dane himself had always feared, that the curse of the Ebony Sword would start to exert its influence over him and that the unforgiveable would happen one day. Such as it is, the battle between the Black Knight’s forces and the Avengers is a fierce one and when all is said and done and it looks as if the Avengers have won, they realize that the battle was just beginning as Dane was just softening them up for the real showdown. Being only the second issue of the book, many questions still need to be answered, the main one being if the sword is becoming uncontrollable, how has Dane managed to remain in control of it in Weirdworld? Dane has always been a very interesting character, a hero akin to Hawkeye in that he has no powers and relies upon his skill with a weapon. He has been a leader of the Avengers, Euroforce and of Ultraforce and there are not too many people that can say they led up three different super-teams. So after essentially disappearing from the Marvel Universe for the longest time, Dan Whitman now has a title all his own again and so far, it has been quite exciting. With Weirdworld finally being the perfect setting for the character, one where he fits in seamlessly, you have to wonder should the Avengers be defeated, what happens next? Will he return to Earth, travel between worlds or simply remain where he is? With his sword’s influence growing all the time, it remains to be seen if Dane will even survive it, but with Tieri at the helm and some solid pencils from Luca Pizzari and Kev Walker, it should be a lot of fun finding out.

3.5 out of 5

The Vision #2

Writer – Tom King
Artist – Gabriel Hernandez Walta
Colours – Jordie Bellaire
Letters – VC’s Clayton Cowles

Throughout his entire existence, the Vision has just wanted to fit in, whether as an Avenger, a husband or simply a man. Now with a synthezoid family of his own, he has that chance once again and he wants the same for them. To that effect, his kids Viv and Vin go to the local public school, he and his wife Virginia host dinners for their neighbours and his wife also keeps the house while he is away at work. Things are not all that well though under the surface and Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta do a fantastic job of trying to paint normality over a situation that is anything but. As a character, the Vision is a little more complicated as of late, having erased the emotional center of his being and then trying to start a family out of the blue as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Though the Grim Reaper makes an appearance, the real enemy of the Vision’s is normalcy, the everyday. Vision’s family can mimic and learn and program their subroutines for any sort of situation, but normal life is hard and completely unpredictable. Already, Viv has been incapacitated due to an attack on their home, Vin is experiencing a little bit of an anger problem due to the loss of Viv and Virginia is just not completely there and seems to be getting worse. Marvel has been putting out a lot of good books lately and they have been surprising for the most part with The Vision being the most fascinating as it gives off that 1950’s perfect family look and vibe while currently taking place in the now. Every word that King writes is gold and Walta’s pencils are utterly gorgeous and the book is over far too soon for your liking when you hit that ending. Every family has problems and the Visions have some pretty serious ones and it is wondering how they are going to deal with them which makes you want to keep coming back for more.

4.5 out of 5