Super-Villain Team-Up / M.O.D.O.K.’s 11 #5 (Marvel – Van Lente / Portella / Pallot / Guru eFX) – I still believe this to be one of Marvel’s most underrated books of the year. It’s M.O.D.O.K. vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. vs A.I.M. (somehow I think the O.W.I. should be involved) with all of our D-list villains caught in the middle. Fred Van Lente once again flexes his storytelling muscles as he concludes his soon to be classic fantastic heist story. Double-crossing and triple-crossing runs about and each player isn’t quite sure who to trust as team lines get blurred. In this final chapter, we finally get the big view and see what M.O.D.O.K. was really up to… you know if a giant head is coming up with a plan, it’s got to be a good one. There is only one negative to this book, to be impressed with all of the intricacies of the ins and outs of the plot, you need to be well versed in the minutia of the Marvel Universe… can you name another book that would star the Armadillo, Puma, Living Laser and Rocket Racer (except for a 70’s Spider-man villain reunion :))
If you haven’t been reading this series… your loss… make sure to put the trade on your Christmas list. And I hope we see some more series like this from Marvel, a great blend of action, character development and humor.
Grade: A
