Clara, Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine 4, and Darwing Duck 16

The Guild: Clara

This won’t be long, I promise. I like Clara, I really do, but she’s not strong enough to have a title all to herself or to hold up an entire story. Once again, we have a prequel tale from before any of the group met each other face to face. Clara has just recently moved into her new house, and hasn’t done any unpacking or any taking care of the children. This drives her husband crazy, which should come as no surprise to anyone. So, one day, her husband can’t take it anymore and takes her internet equipment and leaves the house and refuses to give any of it back until she cleans one room of their house. Faced with actual responsibility and three kids she has minimal interaction with, Clara starts to lose it and think back to her childhood. Apparently, she was the granddaughter of a government operative or spy because there are a lot of action sequences that she seems oblivious to. She ends up in France for a while, where the only chuckle of the comic shows up. She goes on to recount how her and her husband met and descriptions of the drunken events that led to the births of each of her kids. The husband comes home and they all laugh at how things have changed and he just gives her back the internet stuff. The following day, she shows her husband the cleaned room and he is so overjoyed that he’s going to make a great dinner as soon he gets out of his shower. Those of you with common sense or who have ever seen a sitcom or cartoon before know the ending: all the room’s crap is in the bathroom now.
Verdict: D+. Above and beyond, this was the worst Guild comic, and if this was the only exposure I had to the series, it would turn me off completely. The art is pretty standard, so it’s not bad, but this whole thing is just beyond boring and cliché.

Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine

On the other end of the spectrum, we are given a look at a series that we knew wouldn’t have a happy ending, and somehow manages to surprise me in the way things are going down. A lot of stuff is pretty clear if you’ve read the MU vs. Punisher series, but I have to say that I was thoroughly surprised by 80% of the issue. When we last left Wolverine, he had his arm bitten off by the Hulk, who is now wearing it as a trophy. Wolverine soon loses consciousness, only to wake up in a bunker with the Punisher, Captain America, Black Panther, and of course, Deadpool. They come up with a plan to stall the Hulk and his army for as long as they can, so the scientists can do what they need to do to make a cure. Black Panther has been injured so he thinks he's better off with the scientists, and so he heads out for the science base. As the four characters prepare for the coming war, Wolverine and Deadpool have a moment together where they discuss how their healing factor is affecting them. Wolverine has been fighting the feelings and resisting the urges, but he knows Deadpool, who has maintained his (fragile) sanity, has given in a few times to the hunger and animalistic urges. He asks Wade to keep it together for as long as he can and be the hero that everyone needs him to be. The four remaining heroes head towards the Brooklyn Bridge to blow it up, killing so many possibly curable people and heroes, but blocking the path out of the city so they won't spread. Not seeing the Hulk with his army, the four split up into two groups of two, sending Wolverine and Deadpool together against the Hulk, while the Punisher and Cap blow the bridge, something that Cap has a huge problem with. The last third of the issue constantly flips back and forth between the the two teams, and Deadpool is quickly dismembered by the Hulk after the merc is punched through 6 cars, and his body is left in pieces. Though he does recover from this somehow as he plays another vital role in the Punisher story. This gives Wolverine the chance he needs and he takes his claw and pushes it into Hulk's brain, twisting it around. The beast goes down after getting one more shot off on Wolverine, nearly killing the hero again. Meanwhile, Cap stops firing and falls to his knees, knowing that the change is taking him over. Despite always looking up the hero, The Punisher only has one choice.

We next see The Punisher, now free of his conscience and partner, blow up the bridge, killing several thousand, and instead of blowing it from the other side, he blows it from the New York end, trapping himself in, and setting up his series. Cutting to two years later, we see a research lab in the tundra, with Reed Richards at the helm. Someone has arrived with 58 more survivors, and the door opens to reveal a two armed- equipped with bone claw, but aged, Wolverine.
Verdict: B+. Other than the gritty art style, this thing was very well written and surprised me by having such a hopeful ending. Part of me is really hoping that this universe will get more written about it but I have no idea what characters are even left alive that we could follow. The issue itself really draws strength from the Deadpool/Wolverine bits as there are two people who are clearly under the spell of whatever disease this is, and although one of them has three different narration voices, both maintain to keep it together for the job, and in Wolverine's case, it seems, beat it completely. The moment where Cap can't fight anymore and he has to be put down by the man who respects him more than anyone else is also really deep considering the level of violence and action in the book. Very enjoyable overall. Look for my review of the Punisher version coming soon.

Darkwing Duck #16

We open on Darkwing surfing the crowd as they chant his name as the new mayor of St. Canard, but he runs into Launchpad gettign the same treatment. Launchpad claims that this is just a coping mechanism to make Darkwing feel better about what's really happening. Darkwing snaps out of it and realizes he's tied up and being carried to a stake where he, Launchpad, and Constance are apparently going to be burned by the villain Suff Rage. The villain believes that none of them are worthy to run a city like this. It requires that super powered individuals govern things- like Megavolt and Liquidator running the city's water and power (Though, I'm 99% positive that Liquidator WAS the city's water source for a long time). Constance stands up to the villain and speaks out against the super powered and costumed indivuals controlling the city, and that it should be run by people not whacko's Darkwing uses this as his distraction to use his laser to free himself, but accidentally starts his own fire. Cutting to the hideout, we see Gosalyn, Honker, and Doofus all watching the proceedings on television (who is running the camera?) and arguing over whether or not to go down and help. About that time, they hear someone yelling from across the way, and they see Suff Rage in her hideout (next door to Darkwing) using her black ink energy to control this version of herself appearing on the street level. Gosalyn sets her on fire (WTF) and her imaginary form disappears and her spell is broken over the citizens (we get soem neat cameos here like one of the Gummy Bears, and the mechanic from Tail Spin). Lanchpad and Darkwing get calls from the kids to tell them where Suff Rage really is, and they take off, Constance has also disappeared somewhere. Suff Rage has captured the kids and is about to pour the black ink all over them when Darkwing appears with his signature two part intro, which Suff Rage cuts off by guessing what the second part will be. He tries to fight her, but she taps his fears to see what he's afraid of, which I actually loved and hated all at the same time. See, the one thing abotu Darkwing is that he doesn't have a real origin story, so we never get to see why he does this hero thing. His fears both answer this and don't at the same time- being a normal 9-5 worker, being a simple drone/cog in society, becoming a murderous tyrant (Dark Knight Returns version appearance), not being original, or being overpowered. Anyone can tell you what Darkwing is really afraid of- losing Gosalyn. This has been a common thread throughout the title, and leaving it off from this list either complete ignorance, which I don't buy... Or it means that Darkwing doesn't fear losing her right now which will make her impending end all the more shattering. Anyway, Suff Rage points out that Darkwing's rogues are far more powerful than him, and its only a matter of time before one of them gets him, and the dialogue here is honestly an homage to arguably the best episode of Batman: TAS- I Am The Night, where Batman, on Gordon's near deathbed, says this: "I chose this life. I used the night. I became the night. Sooner or later, I'll go down. It might be the Joker, or Two-Face, or just some punk with a gun who gets lucky. My decision. No regrets. But I can't let anyone else pay for my mistakes." Suff Rage says something similar "You chose to be a hero and you've ammassed quite the rogue's gallery (shot of One Shot and Cat-Tankerous), so you have to wonder when will it get too much (shot of Quakerjack, Bushroot, Megavolt, and Liquidator)? Where will it end (shot of Taurus Bulba)? Who will end it (shot of Negaduck)? One of your plotting and scheming enemies (shot of Paddywhack), or just some crook who gets lucky (shot of Steelbeak)?" While all of this is going down, Launchpad frees the kids from their prison, and Gosalyn unplugs the machine, removing all of the villain's powers, and Launchpad unmasks her. Not surprisingly, its Constance who was creating fake versions of herself. She goes on about how she almost beat Darkwing two ways, and then gets carted off to jail.

They both wonder what became of "Bob" the director of communication, but let it go so they can go get their votes in before the polls close. The crowd at the polls is a regular "Who's That?" of Disney. The crowd includes Bonkers, Oswald the Rabbit from Epic Mickey, The Tortoise and the Hare, Jiminy Cricket, Basil of Baker Street, one of the ostriches and one of the hippos from Fantasia. Not surpring is the result:

Cutting to a depressed Darkwing in Launchpad's new office, as the family discusses what to do with the newfound abilities that having a mayor on the team would do. Launchpad comments that the job couldn't be much harder than running the Quackwerks company. Cue this:
Gotta love the humor here. Also, I'm a big fan of Launchpad in a suit. Cutting to the former Suff rage hideout, we see Bob and a bodiless voice discussing where they went wrong with this one. Bob comments that he was impressed that the voice was the first to use the ink and not be used by it. The voice is revealed to be Magica DeSpell, and Bob reveals his true form: The Phantom Blot, the antagonist of the Epic Mickey game, and character that hasn't really appeared much since his first appearance in 1939. Meanwhile, in Duckburg, we see Scrooge super pissed that Launchpad is using all his company's money for the "Guys, I'm Really Sorry About All This" Charity Fund. He gets his kids together and they decide to head out to St. Canard to get some sense into Launchpad's head. So... crossover event? Crossover event. Boosh.
Verdict: A. Another solid issue that proves again that this is one of the best comics coming out right now. Its arguably brilliant in every other page, and on the others, you can't help but enjoy and wait for the next great moment. The series is ending soon and that kills me, but it seems we are heading towards an ending that the series really deserves.