Captain Marvel #16

Kelly Sue DeConnick with Jan van Meter // Pat Olliffe
November 2013
***

Like last ish, #16 proceeds in parallel with the month’s Avengers Assemble. Captain Marvel, temporarily leveled up by a black hole, leads Avengers POWs on an escape mission from a space armada’s flagship. Squeezed by event plotting, DeCo manages to get character beats in for an amnesiac Carol.

see also Avengers Assemble #19
continued in Infinity #4 of 6
last issue: Captain Marvel #15
next issue: Captain Marvel #17

also indexed for Nov. ’13
Avengers Assemble #19

Captain Marvel #15

Kelly Sue DeConnick with Jan van Meter // Pat Olliffe
October 2013
**

The Avengers fly two starships into a space battle: one for each of KSDC’s mags. It’s a crossover that requires a non-CM issue for context, which is terribly alienating to newer readers. The amnesia of last issue is backburnered too. KSDC does what she can, & it’s passable fun.

continued from Avengers #18
see also Avengers Assemble #18
last issue: Captain Marvel #14
next issue: Captain Marvel #16

also indexed for Oct. ’13
Avengers Assemble #18

Avengers: The Ultron Imperative

Kurt Busiek, Steve Englehart, Roger Stern, & Roy Thomas // Tom Grummett, Klaus Janson, John Paul Leon, John McCrea, Pat Olliffe, Jorge Lucas, Paul Smith, & Jim Starlin
November 2001
***

Picking up on Avengers #19-22, Ultron’s “daughter” invents androids based on the Avengers’ brainwaves, but also fulfills a secret program to rebuild her robot father. A graphic novella conceived by Busiek & scripted by the all-time top Avengers scribes. The artists are a more eclectic collection, w/ vast shifts in style from chapter to chapter. JP Leon does a grim street look; Smith has an angular clarity; the rest are okay. But the lack of cohesion—both in dialogue & art—works against the book.

continued from Avengers #45
continued in Avengers #46

also indexed for Nov. ’01
Alias #1
Avengers #46
New X-Men #118

The Mighty Thor #446

Tom DeFalco // Pat Olliffe
April 1992
*
Part 14 of “Operation: Galactic Storm”
Thru & thru, “Galactic Storm” is a solid crossover—except for Thor. Where DeFalco the Editor requests byzantine intrigues that undermine the Avengers’ diplomacy, DeFalco the Writer offers a melee btw. superteams & gassy sentiments on honor. Olliffe undercuts the action w/ his loose curvy pencils.
[continued from Iron Man #279]
[continued in Captain America #400]
[last issue: The Mighty Thor #445]
[next issue: The Mighty Thor #446]

The Mighty Thor #445

Tom DeFalco // Pat Olliffe
March 1992
*
Part 7 of “Operation: Galactic Storm”
Clumsy quips, hammy dialogue, & a focus on fisticuffs make this issue a low point in an otherwise solid space-opera crossover. Thor’s fight w/ a Shi’ar Superman lacks imagination. And the creators muffle key plot points—like the reveal that shape-shifting Skrulls are behind the Kree-Shi’ar War.
[continued from Iron Man #278]
[continued in Captain America #399]
[last issue: The Mighty Thor #444]
[next issue: The Mighty Thor #446]