Cover to Cover: Wherefore art thou, Worldmind?

Hey, here's a fun fact for you: today 45 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream speech" at the reflecting pool.

You can learn so much from watching Public Broadcasting.

So in celebration of the progress that America's made in 45 years, we're gonna review the comics I got today.

Nova #16
by Abnett, Lanning and Alves

This kicks off the tie-ins to Secret Invasion, and it's not too bad. Nova angsts about the possibility that he lost Worldmind, but we all know it's not a reality, because MY SOUL WOULD BREAK OTHERWISE. Seriously, Worldmind better not be dead.

There's a skirmish at a planet in distress, and Nova goes there to meet Kl'rt, AKA the Super-Skrull! He tells Nova that the Invasion's aimed toward Earth, which causes Nova to explode in a fury of cuss words. Apparently, Nova hasn't been paying attention to Bendis-hype.

(click to super-skrull-size it)

There's an. . .interesting cliffhanger, but I'm wondering if they're just yanking my chain. Super-Skrull apprehends Nova, and claims him for the Skrull Empire. The thing is, in the last time we saw him, the Empire basically denounced the Super-Skrull as antiquated. I'm not really sure if Super-Skrull is faking us out or not.

Amazing Spider-Man #569
by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr.

This is the second issue of the six-part "New Ways to DIE!" arc. I love how "DIE!" has special red coloring. So adorable.

Frankly, I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the first issue. There's the old and tired "Daddy will never accept you, Harry Osborn" dynamic between Harry and Norman, the "Peter Parker what do you know about Spider-Man, because we have no idea that you're Spider-Man" deal-y.

What really makes me sad, though, is the fact that this is the issue where Eddie Brock runs into the F.E.A.S.T. homeless shelter where he works, hugging everyone because he's cured of cancer. "I purged it!" he says, and he refers not only to the cancer, but also to the symbiote. Yes, the Venom symbiote.

And the next thing, will ya believe it, is Venom crashes into the shelter, and immediately latches onto Eddie, turning him into Anti-Venom.

It's just. . . it's not fair. Here's this guy who's cured of cancer, cured of the symbiote's caustic effects, and at the exact moment of his joy, he gets claimed again.

(Click to enlarge the sicknesssss)

Maybe Anti-Venom will have a positive effect on Eddie? Maybe he'll make a crusade against Venom?

Who knows. There were some parts I managed to like, though, like Martin Li's mystery. These four panels cleverly show us that he doesn't know of his alter-ego, Mr. Negative (right scan. click to enlarge).

And this silhouette is just mind-bogglingly perfect.

This single panel makes me so glad that John Romita Jr. is back. The shape of the head, the lines of the eyes, and the fingers against the glass. everything is just so perfect.

Hopefully next issue is less cruel to Eddie Brock. He had cancer for cripe's sakes.