Captain America #26

Ed Brubaker // Steve Epting & Mike Perkins
May 2007
****

Everyone at Captain America’s wake commends Sam Wilson on his eulogy (much better than hearing it). The Falcon’s cool is a balance to Bucky, who starts a bar brawl. Meanwhile the bad guys gloat & toy w/ their Doom-built time machine. A great scene—it’s a shame Epting couldn’t draw the whole ish.

last issue: Captain America #25
next issue: Captain America #27

also indexed for May ’07
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #2 of 2
Astonishing X-Men #21
Daredevil #95
Thunderbolts #112

Dr. Strange: The Oath #5 of 5

Brian K. Vaughan // Marcos Martin
April 2007
****

Only one drop left of panacea, so only Wong gets cured & not the world. Unlike Whedon & Bendis (other major writers of Marvel’s ’00s style) BKV gets comics structure; but here he leans hard on melodrama & sentiment. And no resolution with the anti-magic pharma corp’s board either? Ah well.

last issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #4 of 5

also indexed for Apr. ’07
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 of 2
Daredevil #94
The Immortal Iron Fist #4
Thunderbolts #111

Dr. Strange: The Oath #4 of 5

Brian K. Vaughan // Marcos Martin
March 2007
*****

This mini should earn the creative team an ongoing! #4 alone has Doc S killing an eldritch beast w/ Hitler’s suicide pistol! Cast includes a nurse from a 1970s romance mag & a doc whose sorcery couldn’t cure his patients. The last addresses a good Q: why hadn’t our hero applied mystic arts to medicine?

last issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #3 of 5
next issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #5 of 5

also indexed for Mar. ’07
Annihilation #6 of 6
Daredevil #93
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #12
Thunderbolts #110

Dr. Strange: The Oath #3 of 5

Brian K. Vaughan // Marcos Martin
February 2007
*****

Dr S dives into a merc’s psyche to learn his boss’s ID. The man behind the murders & theft of a cancer cure isn’t just a super-baddie, he’s another mystic medic—backed by a pharma conspiracy! Let’s take a sec to applaud Martin, a tyro who channels Ditko’s nervous lines & angles into a mod idiom.

last issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #2 of 5
next issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #4 of 5

also indexed for Feb. ’07
Annihilation #5 of 6
Astonishing X-Men #20
Daredevil #92
The Immortal Iron Fist #3
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #11
Runaways #23

Dr. Strange: The Oath #2 of 5

Brian K. Vaughan // Marcos Martin
January 2007
*****

Vaughan , a talent in the Whedon/Bendis mold, shows the latter influence in this unexpected comic. It’s a mystic detective mini, with cartoon-cool art (part of the growing School of Mazz), as the Doc, his man Friday, & GP Night Nurse head into the NY night for mysticism, medicine, & murder!

last issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #1 of 5
next issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #3 of 5

also indexed for Jan. ’07
Annihilation #4 of 6
Astonishing X-Men #19
Civil War #7 of 7
Daredevil #91
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #10
Runaways #22

Dr. Strange: The Oath #1 of 5

Brian K. Vaughan // Marcos Martin
December 2006
*****

“Oath” cleverly refers not to a hoary host but to Hippocrates. It’s how Vaughan grounds his mini in the Doc’s medical past. He also builds the conflict around servant Wong’s inoperable cancer, & even casts Night Nurse (romance heroine/vigilante medic). Martin echoes Dragotta’s recent Doc work.

next issue: Dr. Strange: The Oath #2 of 5

also indexed for Dec. ’06
Annihilation #3 of 6
Astonishing X-Men #18
Civil War #6 of 7
Daredevil #90
The Immortal Iron Fist #2
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #9
Runaways #21

Daredevil #80

Brian Michael Bendis // Alex Maleev
February 2006
****

Part 2 of the big action finale, #80 features a streetfight btw ninjas & Feds! Maleev’s work on DD has possessed great physicality & expressive bodies. Mostly that’s added levels to his writer’s dialogue, but it’s also helped him to stage great scenes of hand-to-hand combat. Then… Matt surrenders!

last issue: Daredevil #79
next issue: Daredevil #81

also indexed for Feb. ’06
Drax the Destroyer #4 of 4

Daredevil #58

Brian Michael Bendis // Alex Maleev
May 2004
****

Bendis springs a big twist: in the gap btw #50 & #56, Matt secretly married Milla D! But his real talent is for writing B. Urich, a man of integrity. He uses the char’s ability to trudge into the urban depths to add breadth and angles of approach (like a nurse to vigilantes) to his tale.

last issue: Daredevil #57
next issue: Daredevil #59

also indexed for May ’04
New X-Men #154
The Pulse #2
Thanos #7
Thanos #8

The Pulse #9

Brian Michael Bendis // Michael Lark
July 2005
****

Lark nails the seedy, cynical tone that Bendis aims for—no surprise, considering how akin this mag is to Lark’s previous gig, Gotham Central. Jess & her Bugle colleagues are pawns in a superspy intelligence leak. But she only cares about Luke Cage, whom she finds w/ his kung fu pals in a safehouse.

last issue: The Pulse #8
next issue: The Pulse #10

also indexed for Jul. ’05
Astonishing X-Men #11
Young Avengers #4

The Immortal Iron Fist #2

Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja, Travel Foreman, & John Severin
December 2006
****

Secondary artists help Frac & Bru elaborate on a history of the Iron Fist—c.f. a girl in 16C China who keeps pirates at bay! And the US doughboy (rough pencils of trenches by ’60s bullpen vet Severin) is still alive—immortal! His presence in NYC blocks the flow of IF chi, to Danny’s consternation.

last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #1
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #3

also indexed for Dec. ’06
Astonishing X-Men #18
Civil War #6 of 7
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #9