THOR #604 – We finally get to see Thor kicking some major villain booty! The Lady Kelda (last seen in Thor Giant Sized Finale…) means to avenge the death of her love, William, by the hands of Dr. Doom’s Asgardian cyborg minions. When she confronts Doom, he quickly and easily dispatches her by ripping out her heart to use in his continued experiments. Loki wisely throws himself at Baldar’s mercy as he prepares to confront Doom with the rest of the Asgardian warriors. Doom sends his new creations against Baldar and his army, facing them with killing their own people. And just as the battle gets underway, Thor shows up with a lesson to teach one of the most learned mortals of Midgard. I was VERY worried about this continuity of this title once J. Michael Straczynski left. Happily, I think Kieron Gillen (S.W.O.R.D.) has taken to writing the denizens of Asgard better than the MiB rip-off he’s got going in S.W.O.R.D. (I think I pick that title up just for Lockheed…). His few issues of Thor with new regular artist, Billy Tan have been a breath of fresh air to a character that was starting to get stale before his first major encounter since returning from the dead. As Siege begins to really heat up, I can start to see that Bendis borrowed a few bits of the old “Act of Vengeance” storyline from the ‘80’s and made them cooler. Loki has masterfully manipulated Osborn, Baldar, Kelda, Hood and Doom into the confrontation that has become Siege. We’ll just have to wait and see what Loki’s reasons are…
Undercover Fanboy Rating: 
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #20 & #21 – Part one and two of Stark Disassembled. Wow. Tony gives Osborn the finger by erasing his own memory; destroying all repulsor plans and tech and making sure that no files of superhero ID’s were left. Now, Tony Stark is being kept alive by machines… he erased so much that his body has forgotten how to breathe. What’s really amazing is that he planned every step – including the way to bring him back. Donald Blake is named in Tony’s living will as the one to make the decision to keep him on life support or pull the plug. The hard drive that was recovered from Osborn by Maria Hill, Pepper and Natasha contains a complete backup of Tony Stark’s mind. The gathered friends of Tony Stark – including Hill, Pepper, Donald Blake, Bucky and Natasha; must now decide whether or not they want to bring Tony back. While all this is going on, Madam Masque has decided to ignore Osborn’s order not to kill Stark and has contacted her partner, The Ghost (?!?) to go in and kill both Donald Blake and Stark. Rhodey shows up with Steve Rogers in tow and the groups sets themselves to the task of following Tony’s instructions to bring him back. This includes Cap’s shield, the repulsor embedded in Pepper, spare parts taken from Pepper’s armor, Dr. Blake’s surgical expertise and Thor’s lightning to kick-start everything. I feel about this current Iron Man story the way I feel about the current Cap story: as long as they both come back to fight on the same side and kick Osborn’s @$$, I don’t care how they bring them back. Luckily, Matt Fraction is writing a great story that is quietly one of the best month-to-month from Marvel…
Undercover Fanboy Rating:
Just got word that Matt Fraction will be taking over the writing chores on Thor starting early in 2010… just when the $h!t hits the fan in the Marvel U with Siege!
FALL OF THE HULKS: ALPHA AND GAMMA – I’m beginning to wonder if the editors at Marvel have had more to do with the non-reveal of who Rulk is rather than Jeph Loeb. I can see them with dollar signs in their eyes, planning to do a big event in order to force Hulk readers to add two more titles for a few months. Nevertheless, both Alpha and Gamma had great stories and amazing art. FotH Alpha features the creative team of Jeff Parker and Paul Pelltier and shows how The Leader, The Red Ghost, The Mad Thinker, The Wizard, Egghead and Dr. Doom formed an alliance reminiscent of The Illuminati (Mr. Fantastic, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt, Namor, Iron Man and Dr. Strange…). Dedicating themselves to acquiring as much knowledge as possible throughout the world, including: the library at Alexandria, ancient Wakandan knowledge and technology, the library of Atlantis and other hidden tomes around the world. All housed in Doom’s castle, we can see where he has gotten much of his knowledge of the years. M.O.D.O.K. replaces Egghead after he’s killed in battle with the Avengers and he spurs them on to bigger acquisitions. After obtaining the last Alexandrian tome, they are forced into a confrontation with Doom over the ownership of the library. Distraught, The Leader sequesters himself for several years until M.O.D.O.K. brings him a way to recreate a new Red Hulk. FotH Gamma is written by regular Hulk series writer Jeph Loeb and penciled by John Romita, Jr. (who, with Mark Millar, stills owes us Kick-Ass #8!!!) and centers on the death of General Ross. Donning a new version of the Redeemer armor, Ross confronts Rulk – almost managing to kill him. Unfortunatly, Ross stops to gloat, leaving Rulk a second to deliver a killing blow. The rest of the issue takes place at Ross’s funeral and has a literal who’s who of the Marvel U. A-Bomb (God, that name sucks…), Steve Rogers, Captain America (Rogers is letting Bucky keep the ID…), Reed Richards, Ms. Marvel, Ben Grimm, Leonard Samson (presumably still psycho and evil…) and Bruce Banner himself. We also get to see the very not dead Major Glenn Talbot and Betty Ross-Banner (who was also Talbot’s ex-wife…) as they visit General Ross’s grave under the cover of darkness. The real kicker is that The Leader, M.O.D.O.K., Samson, The Red Ghost, The Mad Thinker, The Wizard, Red She-Hulk and Hulk’s daughter from the future are all working together to stop both Rulk (who’s gone rogue from their little group) and Banner. Little do they know that Rulk has approached Banner for his help. WTF?!? Marvel had just better reveal who the heck Rulk is by the end of this storyline. It’d be different if it was just something they didn’t even address during the course of the series – kinda like Wolverine’s origins.
Undercover Fanboy Rating: 
Rating System: 0 to 1.5 stars = save your money unless you are just mindlessly collecting the title. 2 to 3.5 = worth a shot if you are up to trying something new or wanting to get back into a title. 4 to 5 = a must buy for any comic reader.
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