Real Quick Recent Comments

Amazing Spider-Man #636-637 (Grim Hunt Pt. 3-4): A strong ending to a good story. I liked the hunters vs. spiders set-up, the twists along the way (that’s not Ezekiel!) and particularly the new status quo. Kelly did a good job of getting us to care about characters before clearing them out of the way.

Amazing Spider-Man #638-639 (One Moment in Time Pt. 1-2): The first issue was much better than the second. Great job incorporating scenes from the original wedding story. The second issue, however, lingers on the wrong things while rushing through others.

Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine #2: What a wild ride! I have no idea what’s going to happen next. And I loved the role reversal from the first issue.

Astro City Special: Silver Agent #1 of 2: Astro City is back! After the long and depressing Dark Age, AC is back to what it does best. This time, we get the story of the Silver Agent, told from his point-of-view in his chronological order.

Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1: The Heinberg-Cheung Young Avengers epic we’ve been waiting years for. A confrontation with the Avengers. The return of Magneto. The search for the Scarlet Witch begins here!

Brightest Day #5-6: I still love this anthology of high-caliber characters. I only wish Jade hadn’t been shunted aside to the JLA/JSA crossover but that’s not a complaint about the quality of the series itself.

Brightest Day: Atom Special: Reminded me of the rule from 52: buy the main story; skip the ancillary stuff. This was a weak recap, better suited to an encyclopedia.

Captain America #607-608: I enjoyed the “Two Americas” arc but I’m becoming very intrigued by the new Baron Zemo story. He’s giving the title a sense of direction and a master villain that could rival the role the Red Skull played in the first couple of years of Brubaker’s run.

DCU Legacies #3: A fun re-telling of the history of the DCU, even incorporating a scene from the Christopher Reeves Superman movie as Supe’s introduction to Metropolis.

Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father #2 of 5: It’s one of my favorite series ever. A wonderful blend of personal lives and superhero action and a wonderful fix of characters.

GI Joe #156: Forgot I had ordered this and ended up being pleasantly surprised. This isn’t the first “Cobra has won and GI Joe is on the run” story but it’s a very good one.

Legion of Super-Heroes #3: Another great issue gets Legion added to the pull list for the first time in years. Levitz knows how to juggle a large cast and create interesting conflicts. Will Earth-Man join the Green Lantern Corps? Will Sun Boy actually rescue their former foe? I don’t even mind Jacques Foccart, who finally has a character that’s more than “he speaks with a French accent.”

Spike: The Devil You Know #2 of 4: Not a strong mini-series for the Buffy star and Angel spin-off. Artist Chris Cross appears to be channeling Kevin Maguire for funny facial expressions but pulls it off inconsistently. And Eddie Hope isn’t developed enough yet to fulfill the buddy cop role he’s been given.

The Stand: Hardcases #3 of 5: This middle mini-series, focusing mostly on the villains such as Trashcan Man and Lloyd Henreid has been as excellent as the rest of the series. This is truly one of the best adaptations I’ve ever seen.

Star Wars: The Old Republic #1: A disappointment. The Jedi all come from recognizable races but don’t have personalities of their own so they come off as references to more familiar characters. Plus there’s a been-there, done-that feeling to yet another Sith War.

Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1: Ed Brubaker can do no wrong when it comes to the Captain America franchise and Dale Eaglesham is a great fit as artist.

Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #2 of 6: Time travel, alternate realities, evil robots, Nazis and a baby Tesla. Peter Hogan and Chris Sprouse deliver a great story so far.

Uncanny X-Men: The Heroic Age: I enjoyed this. I agree with Paul O’Brien who wrote that the Beast/Molly Hayes scene would have been better coming out before Second Coming, but it was still well done. And it had some nice moments for Cyclops, Franklin Richards and Hope.

X-Force #28 and X-Men Second Coming #2: Strongly structured and emotionally resonant, Second Coming easily surpasses Messiah Complex. The X-Force issue is the grand finale while Second Coming #2 is more of an epilogue dealing with the emotional fall-out. Great stuff.