One Small Leap for a Man... The Unlimited Access 2 Review

 

Access and the Legion of Super-Heroes have somehow crossed over into the X-Men's dystopian future "Days of Future Past", where the Sentinels have captured and imprisoned all mutants. Magneto and the X-Men wear inhibitor collars to keep them from using their mutant abilities. Wolverine has managed to remain free and runs supplies to the captives. Brainiac 5 manages to "McGuyver" an inhibitor disrupter. With that, the two teams are able to overpower a pair of Sentinels. Magneto agrees with Access that the Legionnaires must return to their own place and time period. As the leave Ferro Lad and Colossus take down a Sentinel. Another destroys the inhibitor disrupter! Magneto is paralyzed. Fleeing, Wolverine remembers one thing - the inhibitor collars can be disrupted!

Access bounces Classic Daredevil to Gotham City where Axel is almost run over by the Batmobile. Returning Daredevil to New York, Axel then tumbles through one time period after another witnessing different pairings and team-ups. Notable among these is the Justice Society and The Invaders! He then encounters Morty, the homeless man from the alley. Turns out, "Morty" is really Axel!

Morty provides an "info dump" telling Axel that he can't stay in one place very long in order to keep the Marvel and DC universes separate! Morty flees just as a Boom Tube opens dumping Darkseid's horde from Apokalips. The Avengers arrive to turn back the horde. They are joined by the Justice League, who arrive to rescue Axel. Just when the combined forces seem to be working, Amazing Grace turns the teams against one another, with Access caught in the middle!

Pat Olliffe and Al Williamson really carry Kesel's amazing story. So many characters, so many different places and timelines. Olliffe is such eye-candy. His take on the different teams is really enjoyable.

"Let's Do the Time Warp Again" Unlimited Access 2 earns five stars.    

There's a Kitchen Sink in Here Somewhere! JLA/Avengers 1 Review

 

That is such a beautiful George Perez cover.

The story opens with a prologue featuring Krona searching the multiverse for answers. Krona inadvertently created the multiverse trying to see its origin and beginnings. The viewer he used exploded shattering the universe into a multiverse. As punishment, the Guardians of the Universe on OA transformed him into pure energy and cast him out. He has returned, and in his wake Polechamus and Qward are destroyed along with the realities surrounding them. Ultimately, Krona faces The Grandmaster. 

Later, Terminus shows up in Metropolis. After a pitched battle, the Justice League manage to defeat him. The Spectre (Hal Jordan) whisks the beaten Terminus from their reality. Meanwhile, in New York, The Avengers are battling Starro. She-Hulk, Yellow Jacket, Triathlon, Quicksilver and Thor are among those taken over by Starro's "face hugger" offspring. Carol Danvers manages to free Pietro Maximoff from a face hugger. He provides the breakthrough the team needs. Vision puts a face hugger on Scarlet Witch and through it, she unleashes chaos magic that forces Starro to flee screaming in agony.

Back at their moonbase Watchtower, the Justice League are confronted by The Watcher and The Grandmaster. En Dwi Gast tells the League that they must gather talisman to ward off Krona and save their reality. Wally West uses the Speed Force to send the team to The Avengers reality where they are able to collect the Ultimate Nullifier! Following their encounter with The Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes - with The Atom eavesdropping - encounter Metron, who lists the same talisman that they must gather to save their reality!

The Avengers travel to the Justice League reality, for a return encounter. The Atom follows Metron to where he confers with The Grandmaster...

It almost goes without saying that George Perez's art is spectacular and fabulous. He is legendary from the pages of both teams, having developed his trademark "Patented Perez Rubble". That's how detailed his art is. down to the very rubble. He is aided and abetted by Tom Smith on Colors & Separations, with Comicraft handling lettering. That's amazing as each character has their own lettering voice.

Busiek's story is EPIC! It's COSMIC! It's GRAND and SPRAWLING! It's not just a Justice League or Avengers story. It's not just bringing these two teams together - in conflict, then, possibly in harmony - it spans both the DC and Marvel Multiverses. Before the teams appear, we get to see Arkon and Thundra as well as the Weaponers of Qward and the Crime Syndicate. While Krona is the major bad guy of the story, it also involves The Grandmaster, Metron and The Watcher. There's so much to this story, so much detail, so much thrown in, there's bound to be a kitchen sink somewhere as well. This isn't a light, disposable, forgettable story. This. One. Plays. For. KEEPS!

One the one hand, that's awesome! It's a spectacle of a story. On the other hand, it's hype to the hilt, and possibly teetering on the edge of being bloated and overblown. It's starts with both Superman and Thor chomping, spouting and just plain yelling. It's possible that there's some minor mind-control there, or maybe just a negative reaction to the opposite realities.

This is no small adventure. 

Perez's art is awesome as ever. Busiek's story is huge. It borders on the, "it's not the size of the fish that counts..." it's how you tell this story.

JLA/Avengers 1 earns five stars.