Indestructible Hulk 3, Punisher Nightmare 3, Venom 30

Indestructible Hulk 3
Waid (w) and Yu (a)

One of the great things about Hulk's power is seeing its limits. By that, I mean seeing what his limits aren't. If we'd seen his limits, he'd be more dead than he is now. SPOILERS: he doesn't end up dead after this issue, despite fighting a new version of the Quintronic Man and also fighting some lava. Neither killed him, though both tried and both expected to. After a neat sleight of hand trick by SHIELD (I rarely call anything SHIELD does "neat," which gives me some extra level of intrigue for this series), Banner is subbed in for the last surviving original Quintronic Man operator as he's being kidnapped by AIM. Once there and examined, he hulks and Hulk fights the aforementioned Quintronic Man and lava. Meanwhile, Banner and Maria Hill work on finding him a staff for his new lab, all of whom have some kind of personality and distinctive trait.

It's too soon to say whether the addition of a lab staff is a good play or not. I think that it's smart to give Banner a supporting crew he hasn't had before and to give him one with so much mystery surrounding it (Hill is certain that at least one of the hires is hiding something). We'll see if these characters are strong enough to hold the book up (you know, aside from Banner and SHIELD). Like I said, too early to tell, as they weren't the focus of the issue. The focus of the issue was strategic SHIELD and indestructible Hulk. That was still pretty good to watch. We're three issues in and I'm not as sold on this series as some other new ones (ie New Avengers, OBVIOUSLY) but more sold than I am on some others (All-New X-Men). It's somewhere in the middle, though my trust of Waid and Yu puts it far closer to the New Avengers category.

Punisher Nightmare 3
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a)

This book is going very back and forth in my head. I liked the first issue and didn't know if it could hold up but I enjoyed it. Issue two started pretty well then kind of dragged and ended up losing me a bit. Issue three changed courses out of nowhere, but it also made the plot more interesting and made me like the book again. Though it's still carrying the repetition and complication that issue two had, it works better in this one. It's somehow less complicated than it was in two, when we were seeing only Niman's shattered mind, because now we're seeing the minds of Punisher, Niman, and a soldier from Niman's old platoon named Dubose, who appeared last issue. It sounds a little weird, I know, that adding two narrators made the whole thing less confusing but that's the way it works.

From Niman we still have the splintered mind unsure of who his enemies and friends are, from Punisher we have regret over not killing the Kozlowski brothers (the shooters who killed Niman's family), and from Dubose who does what's necessary because he's a soldier. We also get flashbacks from Dubose to his days in the army, when he was assigned to kill Niman and his family (spoilers) and from Punisher to his days involved in Civil War and the anti-registration forces. I'm also a sucker for Civil War tie-ins and anti-registration forces. I do remember Punisher's mini-storyline in there ending predictably and never really feeling like there was anything surprising to it. Granted, I didn't read as many comics then and knew far less about Punisher so I didn't really care that he didn't get any kind of extra explanation. Still, it's nice to see his thought process then and how it translates to now. He is what he is and he'll do what he does. I'm not sure that this series adds a ton of depth to Punisher though I think that's a little bit the point so I'll cut it some slack. Good issue and so far a good series. We'll see what the next one puts me through.

Venom 30
Bunn (w) and Silas and Robinson (a)

After getting thoroughly beaten by the U-Foes in the last two issues, Venom finally beating up the U-Foes is good to see. What's better, though, is whatever combination of the demon infecting Flash and the symbiote he wears taking control. It's not necessarily encouraging to watch Flash go through it, but it does signal bigger happenings coming down the pipeline. I will say though, as I said last time, it's undermined a little bit by the need to put Valkyrie's boobs and butt in in every panel she's in at the same time. That's not how bodies work, guys, no matter how much you want to see butt and boobs at the same time. I KNOW, it's a pain you have to go all the way around a body to see one or the other (barring an elastic spine), but that's the way anatomy works and when you start changing anatomy to fulfill sexual whims, it tends to take a reader out of a book. I hope. It took me out each time.

That aside, the development of the symbiote and the demon teaming up or one working over the other (Flash isn't sure what's happening, he blacks out as it/they take over) is certainly a step forward. It's setting up something as the book moves into a new symbiote-related villain, Eddie Brock's Toxin, steps up. I'm sure we'll hear more on this symbiote/demon as we enter into a symbiote storyline. Not to mention that Flash ends this issue by Moon Knighting two personalities to talk to with his symbiote. So now there's some crazy mixed in to everything else. Like he needed that. Anyway, solid issue with some confusing fighting and weird Valkyrie obsessions but also with some exciting developments to move forward with.



This week's picks coming up tomorrow. Remember to come back no matter what I say next. Most of the picks will likely be the same as they were in the looking forward post I had this week. BUT WHICH THREE WILL BE CHOSEN FROM THAT PREVIOUS FIVE? Yeah, now I've got you hooked.