Review: Avengers: EMH “Emperor Stark”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The world under the control of Iron Man?! Not exactly. Things are not quite what they seem in “Emperor Stark”. This episode has a rather interesting premise not a very original one but interesting none the less. We have Vision awake from his repair sequence to a world where Tony Stark has total control… or so it seems. Obviously Iron Man wouldn’t just go dark side there is a puppet master in the most unlikeliest of villains the Purple Man.

Using the Purple Man a relatively unknown mutant villain in this capacity was a  bold choice. They could have easily used any number of other villains who can control minds. Puppet Master, Mesmero and Mastermind to name a few easily fit within a similar power group. But after watching this episode its easy to see that none of them would have been as much fun in the same capacity. His voice work provided by Star Trek TNG Alum Brent Spinner was a perfect choice. Purple Man comes off as a conniving and sadistic manipulator.

While Purple Man maybe be pulling the strings its interesting to note that he only used Stark to assert control he at no point went out side of the parameters of his abilities. All the innovations that lead to Stark having control of the Earth were his own inventions and ideas. Obviously they were used for darker purposes than Tony would ever consider but they were his. In the end you are left to consider how easily something that was created with the best of intentions can easily be used to do wrong.

There are a few really cool moments in the episode my personal favorite is vision showing off his ability to increase his density against Thor near the end. The episode is not without issues or should i say one glaring issue.  This revolves around how Purple Man’s powers work and how they are supposedly amplified in this episode. It seriously makes no sense what so ever. You can look it up yourself if you like.

A good episode with a few unexpected twists and turns and even a little humor at the end. Final Score 4 out of 5.

Disassembled

This is pretty freaking hilarious! Stan Lee wouldn’t steer us wrong.

Review: Avengers: EMH “Yellowjacket”

 

 

 

 

 

 

R.I.P Hank Pym, Hello Yellowjacket! The beginning of this episode is a bit of a bummer. We see just how far Hank Pym has fallen since leaving the avengers. His principles were important to him and he didn’t see the group helping the world the way he wanted. Unfortunately the pressures of finding a better way and the loss of Wasp in his life seemed to have taken a hard toll. His lab is a mess and he is disheveled. However what’s also blatant is that his mental state has deteriorated even more since we last saw him in “To Steal an Ant-Man”.

Hank was always one of my favorite characters in season 1 he was the perfect counter point to Tony Stark’s way of thinking. I really missed him being around for most of season 2. Hank and Janet’s Dynamics have been among the hardest to adapt from the comics. Where they are similar but in many ways far different from their EMH counterparts. Hank dealt with schizophrenia while Jan dealt with Hank’s quick temper and even physical abuse.

“Yellowjacket” first revolves around the Avengers investigating the murder of Hank. It then changes focus to trying to capture Yellowjacket a new vigilante who seems to have no qualms taking out the trash that continue to slip through the cracks. Eventually Yellowjacket is revealed as Pym who seemed to feel that the Avengers wanted him to be someone more proactive in crime fighting than he was. His new personality reflected what he thought the others wanted from him.

“Yellowjacket” touches on a lot of themes i can personally relate to. While externally it probably just feels like a reason for them to bring Hank back in a new persona there is really much more to it.  One thing that bugged is that this episode uses the serpent society again. There are plenty of villains they could have used so it just seems lazy for them to show up here. Another thing is that only Jan seems to recognize Yellowjacket as Hank.

Overall its a surprisingly strong entry in season 2 it’s not the action that wins you over but the theme and the heart of the story. Final score 4 out of 5.

 

 

Review: Avengers: EMH “Assault on 42”

Annihilus brings the pain in “Assault on 42”. We finally get a glimpse of what the Negative Zone is really like in this episode. There is really little story present unfortunately but we do get some great action. It’s the good guys and the (some of)bad guys versus a seemingly mindless and endless horde of  alien bugs. While everyone in the episode is portrayed perfectly there is one glaring exception that being the episodes big bad Annihilus. He has no lines and he doesn’t eve show up until midway through. Any actual information we get on him is received psychically by the Leader and even these bits are miniscule.

We do get the return of Captain Mar-Vell although it is a rather small part. He does get some of thee cooler moments in the giant end battle to make up for it. The biggest thing that surprised me was that none of the villains tried to double cross the heroes. We are lead to believe the Leader will at one point but this ends abruptly when he helps turn the tide of the final fight. Strangely enough the fate of several people are left ambiguous as they are either taken away by the aliens or simply appear to drift off in to the Zone during the fight. Among them are several S.H.I.E.L.D agents, the Warden of 42 and Nuclear Man. I guess it doesn’t matter in the long run but still it was odd.

Anyway to rap this up the episode was big on fights and small on exposition. I personally think the concept of this episode could have been fleshed out way further, if handled correctly easily a two part story. It could have also introduced some other characters who have had experience with the Zone. Also I would have loved the Fantastic 4 to have been front and center. There was potential here that was quite untapped that is all i’m getting at.

Final Score 3 out of 5

Review: Avengers: EMH “Powerless”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loki returns and brings the Destroyer along with him in “Powerless”. The concept of this episode is far from original but none the less it’s still entertaining. Based off the title you can probably guess the major plot point so i won’t rehash it. The overall themes are overcoming pride and having faith in yourself. Captain America and Iron Man seem far less affected by their predicaments than Thor does. Really the lesson is for him more than anyone.

There are a few cool geek moments in this that make it memorable. Seeing the puny Captain America trying to lug his shield around is great. Also Thor with a limp and using a walking stick is the closest we will ever see to Donald Blake I’m sure. It feels like we get a watered down version of the Destroyer which is sad although one could argue that it was simply Loki not taking advantage of its full capabilities. Hawkeye the one Avenger who is a normal guy comes off more useless than usual. I like his quips and attitude as much as anyone but he drops the ball here. When the heavy hitters are suddenly helpless he should really shine for his skill but he doesn’t.

I have the strangest feeling that the Surtur arc won’t get resolved before the show ends. I’m basing this off of summaries of the last episodes which of course could turn out wrong but so far they have been spot on. This episode is as flawed as it is good. You can take that however you wish.

Final Score 3 out of 5.

Review: Avengers: EMH “Infiltration”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Secret Invasion is off to a rocky start in Wakanda. Not exactly picking up where “Prisoner of War” left off. Infiltration brings the insidious plot of the skrulls to replicate earth’s mightiest heroes to the fore front. Ms. Marvel and what’s left of the Avengers face off against skrull impostors and an overzealous Black Panther trying to protect his country.

This episode is no slouch when it comes to action but the story elements are few. This is the first toe to toe battle between the heroes and invaders but it seems to be on a scale far smaller than it should. The Secret Invasions that took place in the comics were far reaching and touched many different Marvel properties. This one seems less threatening because its scope is so limited. It feels like the writers on the show were forced in to an abridged version of what they wanted. Likely due to changes in the leadership of Marvel animation. Which is sad because the seeds were planted in season 1 for a grand arc one we will never see apparently.

I have mixed feelings about “Infiltration” it was basically ok but it seems the magic that made the first season of the show so great has been stripped away. Final score 3 out of 5.