This week's picks

This might not come as a shock to anybody, but this week was pretty hard to choose. Marvel is putting forward a lot of good books right now and, especially with so many number ones coming out to build excitement, this whole first month of my blog has been hard to choose what three I eventually recommend. This week is really hard because there are two that I am absolutely choosing and several that could be in contention for the third spot. I'm lucky, really, to have this kind of a problem, but it's still a problem. FUN FACT: Deadpool 4 will not be on this list.

Uncanny Avengers 3

This was rather a no-brainer for me. It's largely a no-brainer because I've been thinking about it constantly since it came out. Whenever a book does that, it's hard not to pick it as a must-buy for the week. To my memory, this is just about the darkest arc I've seen Marvel do in a long time. The book feels like it's more deeply seated in the Marvel Universe than many I've seen in the past. There are consequences to this book that, barring major events and crossovers, feel more long-term than other books are usually willing to do. However, it isn't dark simply for the sake of dark. It is dark because dark is what the Marvel Universe should feel like right now. There's a lot of distrust of mutants out there, especially hot off the heels of the Phoenix, and suddenly their numbers are exploding again. Race riots are exactly what I'd expect to be happening, even if the Red Skull, of all villains, weren't stoking them. A lot of civilians have died in the midst of this, as I imagine they would. It feels real and it feels powerful and it's just a really stellar plot and book. Worth reading, even amidst all the darkness.

Winter Soldier 14

It's possible this one's on here more for me than for you. Like I said in my review, this is Brubaker's last issue on the book he created with the character he created and, likely, his last book at Marvel. It's certainly a sad day. It's also sad because I love Bucky and it's entirely true that no one knows Bucky better than Brubaker because he's the only one who's really written him. I worry a bit about that moving forward, though I think Marvel's done a good job transitioning to new writers by and large so far. Still some worrisome times for Winter Soldier fans ahead. Anyway, this issue is worth your reading for the final team up of Brubaker and Guice and Bellaire/Breitweiser (who have done such a fine job coloring in all of their own books and who you should pay ENORMOUS respect to, even though I don't pay nearly enough respect to colorists in these posts, something I aim to remedy in the coming days/weeks). It's also the end of the Black Widow Hunt storyline, which is both action-packed and heart-breaking. So many hyphenated feelings to go around. This book is one of Marvel's 2.99 books and it's absolutely worth the price of admission. Pick it up, for sure.

Punisher: Nightmare 4
I know, I can't believe he picked that one either. In a week that gave us fantastic and totally-worthy-of-this-list entries like Avengers, FF, and Young Avengers, not to mention a fairly strong showing from the first issue of the new X-Force, I'm going with the fourth and penultimate book in a Punisher mini-series. Who'd've guessed? OKAY, so I really liked Avengers for, of all things, its inaccessibility and I don't know if you should buy it based on that if you're looking to buy one this week. I like the sense of fun and old-school comic-ness of FF, and, frankly, I think Young Avengers will do just fine without my recommendation (though probably that would be on this list ANYWAY if not for Punisher). Punisher: Nightmare has rather blown away my expectations and this book is tying everything together really nicely. I don't think this book has missed a beat yet, particularly. Two wasn't my favorite issue and three got a little murky, but both were still necessary steps to the arc. I think four is possibly the best so far, though maybe with the least action. We see a lot of Frank understanding why he does what he does, perhaps especially interesting to see parallel to Punisher War Zone, wherein he's being forced to wonder about why he's still doing what he does. I might be turning around on Punisher, you guys. We'll have to see.



Anyway, just ABOUT on time, hopefully next week will be a little less hectic and a lot less anger-filled. We passed one month of my blog this week and I couldn't be happier with it so far. Well, okay, yes I could. But really, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you all are too. Even if you just come here for the pictures.