Comics this week

Shorter week than last on new releases, which is pretty neat, but I'm not altogether too excited by the slate of releases, which is less neat. Should I maybe keep that to myself in the future? Feels like it gives away some personal biases that you all surely already know.

Amazing X-Men 12
I dunno, this one's been pretty neat since the inimitable Chris Yost took over. Probably one of the biggest Wendigo events I've ever seen. Anyway, it's been pretty cool and it's a short week and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to send in the ringers on this one (HINT: I rarely plan these out. This is what two years of this blog does to me).

Avengers 37
Do I remember what's happening in this series? No. Of course I don't. I bet it's related to AXIS? WAIT. I do remember, it's eight months later, Sunspot is pulling the strings on the Avengers and on AIM, which are both, suddenly, under the same umbrella. Despite that first sentiment above, I have been enjoying these issues. I just have a bad memory and it's late.

New Warriors 11
Beating out AXIS despite a strong last issue, NEW WARRIORS has been knocking it out of the park since its start and it's time (read: too late) to shine a bigger light on it. Know how I mentioned I like Chris Yost above? I really like Chris Yost and I don't understand how his books don't survive. They're constantly really well-written and a lot of fun. Also, the good will this guy built up from Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes might make him untouchable in my mind.

She-Hulk 9
This too is beating out AXIS since I remembered the last issue ended with She-Hulk preparing to defend Steve Rogers on the stand against none other than Matt Murdock as the prosecutor. Twists and turns abound. This is another book that's regularly been good but hasn't outshined a lot of its competition. Wrong time, wrong place, I suppose. But it's here now!

X-Force 11
I reread X-FORCE 10 a couple days ago and it was still great. This book has been one that I regularly reread and find myself enjoying even more, which should come as a surprise to my readers if only because I won't shut up about this series even on the first read-through. Maybe it won't be a surprise, though, because I also won't shut up about that X-MEN LEGACY book by Si Spurrier so, shocker, I love this one too. This one I predicted I'd love and features one of my favorite writers from the last year and a handful of great characters. Spoilers?

X-Force 10, Punisher 11

X-Force 10


With Pete Wisdom's advice to watch out for the bugs, Cable's X-Force team recognizes that they're being watched. They're intent to make the surveillance work for them, though, and Dr. Nemesis has a plan to do it. Thanks to Psylocke's keen noticing skills, she has recognized that something has been going on at the X-Mansion, that there's been some unseen entity there, and MeMe has learned which toilet the entity uses, allowing them to teleport the mutant, who Nemesis suspects can only be remembered when seen, to their base. The mutant is ForgetMeNot, from Si Spurrier's (among others') X-MEN LEGACY 300. Nemesis intends to use a power suppressor to make ForgetMeNot, who doesn't have a bug watching him because Volga doesn't know/remember he exists, appear to Volga's systems, at which point Volga will send a bug after him and Nemesis will put a tracker on that bug before removing ForgetMeNot's suppressor and making the bug and Volga forget he was there, sending the bug back to Volga's base. After a long time trying to catch ForgetMeNot (and many viewings of a video Nemesis recorded to fill the team in on ForgetMeNot's presence, which of course is forgotten every time they lose sight of him), Nemesis is finally able to talk to him and reveal the plan, which ForgetMeNot, who absolutely hates these guys after spending some time in their presence, agrees to help with. Unfortunately, when the bug is dispatched, it doesn't forget him when the suppressor is removed. Fantomex knocks Nemesis out, reveals to ForgetMeNot that he knew the whole time he was there (the benefit of his advanced brain) and promptly kills the mutant, causing everyone to forget he was there and sending the bug back to Volga.

Boy, this book is something else. It's often so smart and so self-aware and so much fun, all at the same time. This is a perfect example of that as the ultimate plot and plan is extremely compelling and fun, as is the inclusion of Spurrier creation ForgetMeNot, and as we get a great characterization of everyone here. I wrote a summary that was altogether much longer than I wanted it to be and still couldn't convey everything I wanted to say about this book. There are so many great things happening in this issue between great looks at the viciousness of X-Force and of the broken people who have been chosen by Cable. This is a book that uses its space remarkably well, dragging very little while getting so much across. Excellent stuff. And it's great to see Tan Eng Huat and Craig Yeung once more teamed up with Si Spurrier (as well as the great X-MEN LEGACY homage cover by Rock-He Kim).

Total Score: 5/5


Punisher 11

Punisher gets out of the prison after learning what he wanted to learn for both himself and for Black Widow, who worked out a deal with him on the way to the prison to try to learn information from one of the inmates. After breaking out, Frank calls on former partner Rachel Cole-Alves to pick him up. As they talk on the ride back, he admits that he's thinking about hanging it up, feeling too old and broken for everything that's happening. She tells him how bad things have gotten in LA, even indicating that the Dos Soles are stronger than ever and looking for political sway (which they are). She convinces him by asking if maybe the Dos Soles and the American commandos trying to kill him are connected. Meanwhile, Officer Stone has taken the Punisher route to exact justice on the thugs who put Lou in a coma.

Edmondson, who has really been getting back to Punisher's roots, goes a little deeper into Frank's personality as he shows a rare moment of "maybe I'm done" from Frank. He also does a lot to show the effect Punisher has had in the last few years, obviously showing what Officer Stone has been inspired to do but also revisiting Rachel Cole-Alves, who last was investigated for killing a cop as Punisher's partner and for whom he took the fall, drawing the ire of the Avengers in last year's (I think, I was definitely doing the blog at that point) PUNISHER WAR ZONE. Edmondson is doing a lot of world-building here as we're seeing so much of what's happening in LA and with the Dos Soles looking to extend their reach. Another strong issue with some really good Mitch Gerads art.

Total Score: 4/5

Gillen leaving IRON MAN, Waid leaving HULK

Gillen from his fantastic blog post today
on how to pre-order a comic at your LCS

News has broken on a couple of fronts in the last few days as the August solicits have come out. Chief among it has been the odd disappearance of IRON MAN among those solicits (as well as THOR: GOD OF THUNDER - as yet, I've heard nothing on that one). Kieron Gillen (seen at left) confirmed today that he is indeed leaving the book after ORIGINAL SIN. According to Gillen, he's been offered a major opportunity at Marvel (very exciting) and he needed to make room somewhere. He realized that ORIGINAL SIN would be a pretty perfect spot to leave IRON MAN and pulled the trigger, making his total issue count (including the Annual) 31, the same count he left UNCANNY X-MEN and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY after. Guess we can't ask for more than that. Extremely sad to lose him on IRON MAN after a very impressive run but thrilled to hear about his new opportunity and to see that Marvel continues to recognize his strong work and reward it with greater opportunities. I've seen no news yet as to whether IRON MAN will restart or who will take it over.

In the same vein, veteran Marvel writer Mark Waid has announced that he is leaving HULK after ORIGINAL SIN (conveniently, he and Gillen will work together on the OS tie-in series ORIGINAL SIN: HULK VS IRON MAN) and that writer Gerry Duggan (already writing NOVA and co-writing DEADPOOL with Brian Posehn) will be taking over on that book. As seen below, Waid assures his fans that there's no bad blood, that Duggan will be great, and that he simply wanted to get further ahead on his other projects, which is a lot to say in fewer than 140 characters.

.@GerryDuggan will do a spectacular job on HULK. Zero bad blood--I just want to get further ahead on Daredevil and http://t.co/vOHwbZDFMi!
— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) May 21, 2014

Also worth noting, though it's not Marvel related so I'm hiding it here, at the bottom of this post, that Si Spurrier has announced that he's doing a book with Alan Moore and I think that's pretty neat.

Comics this week

Hey there everybody, pretty standard release week this week as, by my possibly inaccurate count, fifteen new titles will be released. Let's get right into it.

Avengers Undercover 4
I think this series is headed for some interesting places considering the sorts of things Hopeless is setting up and the sorts of things he already did in AVENGERS ARENA. It's been exciting so far to come back to that little corner of the world with the memories of it not so faded and to see where our characters are primed to go next.

Captain Marvel 3
The new start to this series has given some opportunity for some really intriguing changes and to explore a whole different side of Carol (not to mention for her to explore a whole different side as she continues to work around her lost memories). I don't think the series has been at its strongest yet but we all know what it's capable of.

Iron Man 25
I've liked what Gillen has done on IRON MAN over the past two years and I think this Mandarin's rings storyline that has pitted him against Malekith, of all characters, is intriguing in its own right, let alone all of the surrounding story. I also feel I maybe haven't shined enough of a spotlight on this one for being just a really interesting and often fun book for a solid 24 issues. Also, I didn't want to pick AVENGERS because it's 4.99 this week and I'm getting more and more critical of that as it keeps happening.

New Avengers 18
The Illuminati, likely moving very soon into an ORIGINAL SIN tie-in, is currently set to face an incursion-defeating world as two teams with solid incursion records square off for the first time in this book. See, who says that sports and comics can't be simpatico?

X-Force 5
After last issue's crazy narrative and the whole series' real dedication to developing its extremely interesting characters, everyone should be interested to see where X-FORCE plans to go next. There's nothing stronger than a book where we have such a personal view of the characters yet don't know the story nor the actual decisions a character might make. We have a good sense of who these guys are and what they think about and what this team means to them (some more than others at this point) but that certainly doesn't mean we know what they're capable of. Really excited about this book.

This week's picks

Geez, didn't quite realize how hard these three would be to choose until I actually started to think about it. Sometimes I'm not particularly confident in my pre-game picks so the pull list is pretty up-for-grabs. This week I was totally sure of my pre-game, barring possible freak inexplicably bad issues from really talented creators, so I had a good feeling that was where the picks would go. With the exception of one possibility jumping into the fray, I'm torn. The worst part is I know two of my three picks already. Alphabetically, though, they're the last two and I just hate working out of order. Well, let's see what I decide! It's a journey for ALL OF US!

She-Hulk 1

GUYS, this was a really tough pick and I'm writing these words without knowing if I'm going to use them or delete them later. SHE-HULK beats out, just by a hair, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 27, which gets lots of points for tying together all of its plots and constructing a very interesting upcoming arc to lead us back to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, and WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH, which established an amazing tone and is just a really well-constructed book. SHE-HULK wins the day, though, as it's hard to come away from a first issue with such a good grasp on who this character is and what to expect from this book. I'm not going to say that things won't change or that the book won't be dynamic or anything like that, that we're just going to get this style of issue every time out; quite the opposite, in fact. SHE-HULK shows itself as an interesting and quirky book with a real sense of its main character and of the world she inhabits. I can't imagine how hard it is, though Soule is helped by his many forebears, to take a character who is constantly giant and green (by choice, mind you) and drop her into a real world and make it still relatable and not crazy. Soule does it, though, with absolutely no problems and with a nice little flair for humor and personality through every single character. This book was almost hurt by the next book on the list if only because I don't want to look stupid when I say that "number ones are rarely this good" twice in one post but, hey, whatever, I think I've proven just how stupid I can look already.

X-Force 1

Number ones are rarely this good. This one doesn't have the kind of shock value of the sheer beauty of something like BLACK WIDOW or NEW AVENGERS but it has such a well-defined sense of itself and such a wonderful sense of the narrative that anyone, whether they're new to X-MEN, new to X-FORCE, new to Marvel, or probably even new to comics, can, I would speculate, pick up what's happening in this book so far. Despite the amount of information that kind of comfortability requires, Spurrier makes sure the book isn't loaded with exposition. It leaves us with exactly the right amount of questions and the right tone for this series as it moves forward. Our team is well-established, their purpose even more so. Spurrier even knocks it out of the park with the decision to cast our initial narrator as Marrow, easily the least visible member of the team in recent years. He took the risk of alienating readers by putting in a relative unknown with a relatively unknown point of view and a rather crazed perspective as our narrator and it pays off well, allowing us to understand her better than we would have if it were, say, Psylocke or Cable's more tempered narration, or no narration at all. Rock-He Kim's art flows well with the book and I look forward to the way that Spurrier and Kim continue to improve as they work more and more together. There is, of course, also a measure of trust in this pick. As I said earlier, the book leaves us with exactly the right amount of questions by the end and the trust comes in as I trust Spurrier to eventually reveal those questions before they fade into "does anyone really care any more?" territory. I think one of the big problems with, say, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is that they prodded the watchers to ask so many questions (and like, explicitly told them to ask, unlike something like Lost where the characters were just as in the dark, or lost, even, as the audience) and refused answers that it's gotten fairly monotonous and annoying. I don't want to have to ask questions that I know you have the answers to and that you'll only divulge at the right time. That is, I don't if you don't overstay that time. Like a good mystery novel, the satisfaction is in the figuring it out, not in the asking. I trust Spurrier to lead us to that point because he's done it so masterfully across his other works.

X-Men Legacy 24

If you didn't think this book was going to be on this list after the "review" I posted this week that was less review and more open love letter, I can't help you any more. This is the kind of book that will stay with me for years to come and this issue has been on my mind as much as anything else in the last week. I can't stress enough how much I want you all to read it. I've made just about everyone who's come into contact with me in the last few days read it because I need people to talk to about it or even just to know it exists. Every bit as meaningful as the comic itself was to me, so too was Spurrier's little letter to the audience at the issue's conclusion. There's so much to love about this and it's so hard to be sad that the book's over since, you know, kind of the point of this is that we shouldn't be sad that it's over. David himself told us not to be, you guys. As a whole, this series has been one of the best Marvel, or any publisher out there, has put out in quite some time. David is one of the most well-characterized and, despite all of his power and the scale of his problems, relatable characters I've seen. Check this title out and tell me what you think. Am I overblowing it? Maybe. But I suppose that's my right, isn't it?

X-Men Legacy 24, X-Force 1

X-Men Legacy 24
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung (a) and Villarrubia (c)

My plan, right, was to lead Wednesday off with AVENGERS and SECRET AVENGERS, as I tend to put Avengers titles out first if I have them. Scheduling forced my hand, though, and had me lead with X-MEN LEGACY, the end of my favorite book of the year, and X-FORCE, the start of what I hope will be a favorite (I'm writing this before I read that one). I think, given the impact of these two stories (and particularly this one), it's the right call to highlight these books as early as I am, middle of the day on a release day, but it also makes me more wary of spoilers. I've toyed, going back and forth, with having reviews that wholly summarize the book and having reviews that vaguely point at things and reviews that are more log lines with analysis of something I refuse to define. I've more or less settled on fully summarization, leaving out some of the finer details to allow potential readers the chance to find those out for themselves.

There's no room for that here.

This book is not only totally spoiler-laden, it's maybe the most incredible story I've read in comics since Gillen's JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY or the Winter Soldier creation. It's meaningful, it's wonderful, and it, above all else, knows exactly what it is. I refuse to spoil it here and I refuse especially to do so on a Wednesday, when plenty of people won't even have a chance to get to it. All I'll do is advise you to go out, buy this book, buy any copy of X-MEN LEGACY you can find, and absorb it all. Drink it all in. As Spurrier says in the traditional final letter to the audience, the book is "a title, a character, a creative team and above all a vibe so bloodymindedly unlike its fellows." If it's not for you, it's not for you. But it's absolutely been for me and it's absolutely been something to watch. It's an incredible departure from any other superhero comic in the way that YOUNG AVENGERS played with the medium and the art form as a whole or the way HAWKEYE insists on not being about superheroes. It's something worth seeing even if it's not what you're looking for. Please take note of it. I'll end this not-quite-review with more of Spurrier's words:

There will be some, I think, angered by these last few pages, on the grounds that a tale's "importance" can only be weighed according to some grand impact on its Universe. I understand but disagree with that view. Instead I wouldn't have chosen quite such a perversely bittersweet ending if I didn't think it the best way to emphasize a very important point: even when nothing else has changed, when all the explodo and punching seems to have been for nothing, it's the lesson learnt - even the merest echo of it - that renders the journey valuable. Our memories remain.

X-Force 1
Spurrier (w) and R. Kim (a and c)

Cable has assembled Psylocke and formerly-powered Marrow to be a part of his new mutant strike team, a "dirty tricks crew" for mutant nation. The reasoning behind this one is more firm than the reasoning behind the most recent couple of X-Force teams, one brought together by threat and one brought together to prevent disasters Cable foresaw. This one is here to do a little bit of everything, including making sure mutants don't get dealt out of the world-building hand. After an attack in Alexandria (which may be linked to why Hope is suddenly strapped up to machines with Doctor Nemesis claiming that she's "theoretically alive") took over three thousand lives with a mutant square in the center of it, Cable wants to figure out what the mutant's tie was to the explosion, hoping to keep people from getting more mad at mutants, and to recover whatever the weapon was, hoping to arm up the mutants. His "broadly trustworthy" informant has discovered that the cyber-weapon that shut down communications in Alexandria was also used in various other countries at various other strikes to gain data. Now this informant is being held by the Chinese and the team needs to get him out before they can advance to the next stage. Of course, to Psylocke's dismay, the informant is Fantomex. Fantomex reports that the weapon is being carried by a plane always airborne over Antarctica (international air) and it's only susceptible to attack when it's being refueled. He also happens to know the refueling schedule. The team dispatches in EVA to attack the refueling plane, hijacking it to allow the formerly-depowered Marrow to hurl herself at the plane with a Doc Nemesis concocted timefreeze grenade, allowing her 30 seconds of unfettered access. She shatters the engine of the plane before sticking a parachute on the weapon container and launching it and herself out of the wreckage in that 30 seconds (real time a few tenths of a second) before the plane blows. Inside the weapon's container is, as Cable suspected, a new mutant.

Very interesting first issue and one that makes completely clear that these characters will all very much have their own distinct personalities and uses. I talked a little bit in my pre-game this week about the upside to having a team that's a little smaller than the recent X-FORCE teams (and really than most teams in general) and, after reading this issue, I have to emphasize again how neat it is. Four people on the team (plus unofficial member Doctor Nemesis) means we get ample time to check in with each character and get a feel for everyone, even in just the first issue. Marrow, the biggest question mark of the roster, handles narration duty and it gives us a look into an adrenaline junkie's mind, one that we can also see through her action and her dialogue. The narration colors her as something more than just a deranged thrill-seeker, which her dialogue may not have done so well. Cable, of course, is the terse general, always plotting and always leading. Psylocke is the most complicated and perhaps the least fleshed out here, though not because Spurrier does a bad job with her. She's probably the most prevalent character in the wider universe from this team right now so there's less need to really get too far into her character but it still sticks the landing (OLYMPICS) by showing her as the uber-powerful and lethal telepath with a complex history and a vow to stop killing. Fantomex gets perhaps the biggest makeover with Spurrier really relishing the dive into his over-the-top personality and his French aspects. Fantomex sometimes confounds writers thanks to his strange origins. He chose to be French when he was raised as part of the Weapon Plus program and it's something that writers don't tend to bring out too much (even Remender didn't focus on it besides a word here or there and Wolverine's insistence that his nickname be "Le Pew," a nickname which Wolvy would be pleased to know carries over here). Spurrier sees it as a key character point and I can't help but agree. The man chose to be French, of course he's going to embrace it. It also gives him the unerring air of smugness and irritation so points to that as well. Really fun first issue, looking forward to this one as it continues and as we start to go deeper into the story and the people.

This week's picks

There are weeks where I know I'm going to have a tough time working out what books to choose for the top three and know not to make any calls until I've checked them all out and given some time to process. There are also weeks where two books lock in to the top three from the moment I read them and I have to carefully think about the other books to figure out which one is third. This week is the latter.

Daredevil 35

I was wondering how, with only two issues left, DAREDEVIL was going to really shake things up before its relaunch. My fear, especially with the ending of last issue, was that they would kill Foggy. I don't really believe they would but it seemed like we were awfully close to the end and Foggy took a turn for the worse and I just didn't know, okay? This is much better and far less...cheap, I suppose. A character's life is always important, especially one as fundamental to our title as Foggy, but that often means that they could be used to raise the stakes for our hero. Instead, we get Daredevil choosing to turn his whole life upside down to make a play that his enemies won't expect. It's so Daredevil that I can't believe no one's done it before. It feels, now that it's all said and done, so perfect for the man without fear to refuse to be part of the game that the Sons of the Serpent would play with him. It's also nice that Waid's (first) run didn't conclude without seeing Elektra and similarly nice that she was so influential in his decision. Just a really well-told story.

Thunderbolts 20

This book was the one that still, even as I write these words, is trying to fight off other titles to stay on this list. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN was my stand-in pretty much all week for this because of the surprise of the reveal and I can't help wondering if it wouldn't have made the cut if it hadn't been spoiled early in the week. However, there were also some really choppy lines in there that broke flow and maybe a little too much exposition from every angle to keep it up there. In fact, INHUMANITY - SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN might have beat it out if THUNDERBOLTS hadn't, thanks to stellar Chris Gage writing and unbelievable Stephanie Hans art. But THUNDERBOLTS, as it has so often of recent, takes control as it again stands out with its dialogue and characterization. It feels like every line in this book is there for a purpose, that every line advances plot or characterizes someone. Charles Soule is writing a really good book and Marvel has done a solid job finding him artists that match the tone, as Carlos Barberi shows off some skill on this one. Really fun, really engaging title. Check it out.

X-Men Legacy 22

As I said above, there were two books that, from the moment I read them, I knew they'd make the top three. Sometimes you just know. It's a mix of sheer greatness from the book and gut feeling and the level of competition out there for the rest of the week. There was never any doubt with X-MEN LEGACY but even if there had been it certainly still would have garnered serious consideration because, like with most weeks when it's released, LEGACY stuck in my head far longer than any of the other books out this week. I really enjoyed DAREDEVIL and if I think back on it I can recall exactly what happened and what I liked about it. I loved X-MEN LEGACY and I don't have to think back on it because it's pretty much at the front of my mind, days after I read and reviewed it last. This series has turned from one that I loved for its kind of slow burn into one that I love for its immediate impact AND the slow burn as I think about it later in the week. I'm very excited to see how this one wraps up and also a little devastated inside that the hole this book filled will reopen (though hopefully some of the new books launching from Marvel will ease that pain).

Comics this week!

Another week chock full of comics but there are fewer Thanksgivings so hopefully it won't feel quite so jam-packed. Also, Annuals time is apparently in full-swing as we have another pair this week to join the recent surge of them. ALSO also, the finale of FEARLESS DEFENDERS, which I'm less invested in than I was the books that ended last week and the books ending in our near future (SCARLET SPIDER and, oh my god, X-MEN LEGACY and YOUNG AVENGERS, to name a few). Well let's worry about this week rather than the future for now, hm?

Inhumanity 1
Not often that my pre-game picks, listed alphabetically, start at "I." Anyway, INHUMANITY is the follow-up to INFINITY and it's set to change the landscape of the Marvel Universe considerably. Hickman gets a break from events as Fraction takes over and Fraction has been absolutely on fire of late. His last event, FEAR ITSELF, was maybe my least favorite event of the past...wait, I can't say that any more, thanks to AGE OF ULTRON and BATTLE OF THE ATOM...still, it wasn't great and it dragged on and on and on, like so much AVENGERS VS. X-MEN (though it came first). All of this mention of other events, though, clouds the fact that Fraction is on fire and this is bound to be interesting. Check it out.

Iron Man 19
New set of Mandarins coming out, it seems, plus the continued story that is the combination of Tony and Arno Stark, determined to build the future. Kieron Gillen keeps on rolling in all of his books and may be as on fire or more on fire than Fraction right now so this is another one continually worth checking in on.

Secret Avengers 12
We're rolling up on the final issue of this volume of SECRET AVENGERS before it changes hands and (very slightly) teams in 2014. Unfortunate as Spencer is starting to hit his groove here but we still have a couple of issues coming and they WILL, at some point, FEATURE WINTER SOLDIER. Geez, finally.

X-Men Legacy 21
This is one of those ones I'm just not ready to end. That said, it looks as if it will be heading to a very powerful and action-packed ending and, as much as I don't want this to end, I'm not dreading the issues themselves coming out; much the opposite, I'm very excited to see them and can't wait to delve further into Legion's mind. This issue will find David fighting for everything as he goes up against the gold-skinned Xavier.

Young Avengers 13
This is, by my count, the final issue of the ongoing Mother arc/story, with the final two issues of the series (set to both come out before mid-January, so get ready for a rush of YOUNG AVENGERS, hoorayyyyyyyy before it's all gone booooooooo) focusing on the afterparty. Everything will come to a head here and, as I've been saying all along, this is one of the best books on the market and you would be well-served to check it out.

This week's picks!

Smaller slate of books out this week means that, unless we hit an improbable 50% amazing books mark, the selection process is more about picking the clear winners and then, the far trickier part, deciding who takes third place. In a week with more books, there's a far greater chance that you have four or five deserving books so the trouble becomes trying to pare down to how those four or five rank. But we should have plenty for this week, right?

Captain Marvel 17

The final entry of this volume of CAPTAIN MARVEL, which has been a truly tremendous run and which I imagine will continue to be tremendous when DeConnick moves to the next volume, starting early next year. I'm interested to see the changes between the two books (Captain Marvel...in SPACE) but, for this book, it's been a near perfect series and this was an absolutely perfect send-off. Very sweet, very character-driven, wonderful book. I don't think this book could have turned out any better than it did and to end this run of it (even if it's just ending for a month or two before kind of restarting) here, in an issue focused on the people in Carol's life as much as on Carol herself, is an absolutely perfect decision. Definitely one of the best series of this year (I know, we're getting to the time of year where people have to start thinking about best of lists. Gross) and a beautiful and meaningful and emotional ending for it. Perhaps the saddest thing about this series ending (particularly saddest in the respect of "it's starting over again soon so don't get too sad") is that it seems the end of DeConnick and Andrade teaming up, which was the most amazing team-up. What an artist, that guy.

X-Men Legacy 19

Okay it was either this or CAPTAIN AMERICA and neither one is ever really off of these pull list picks but I went with X-MEN LEGACY because this one is rather sticking with me more. I talked a lot about how DeConnick made this last issue of CAPTAIN MARVEL more impressive and emotional by playing a long game (long con) and making all of the characters in Carol's life mean something, making it a far bigger impact when she has to fall back on them. Spurrier's done very much the same thing in LEGACY in a very different way; he's built a resourceful, smart, sympathetic, and extremely powerful, if entirely broken (borked, as David would say) character throughout the length of this series only to now show us just how hard it is to be that character. David has such a well-defined personality and such a specific voice that building an entire issue where we see the culmination of all of the events of the series and their repercussions while also watching him battle through those repercussions and try to find a way out. And that's before we even TALK about the evil Xavier and the shadow of the Phoenix. Come on guys, great stuff.

Thor: The Dark World

SURPRISE, this one's not a comic. If I had picked a comic it would have just been CAPTAIN AMERICA and we all would have been like "hey, look at all this diversity Tim's pulling out, X-MEN LEGACY and CAPTAINS MARVEL and AMERICA. Not at all like any other week!" You guys are being awfully judgmental, huh? Anyway, I get the chance to throw a major Marvel movie in my picks once every six months or thereabouts so you can bet I'm taking my chance to do it now. Really fun movie, not without its faults (more tomorrow!) but ultimately a really well-done, exciting, fun movie. Bonus: the casting of Christopher Eccleston as Malekith is pretty well hidden so you very rarely, if ever, think of him as the ninth Doctor while watching the movie. But sometimes you do. And sometimes that hurts. Anyway, lot of fun, can't say much more but I will tomorrow. The idea of the thing, though, is that it makes my top picks of the week because you should really check it out. I'm sure Marvel Studios could use your support.



Best book that was repeatedly mentioned in this post but not actually given a spot

Captain America 13
Pretty good, you guys!

Si Spurrier combining and taking over X-Force

More news! Si Spurrier, writer of the phenomenal X-MEN LEGACY, will be taking over for both Sam Humphries and Dennis Hopeless as he combines the two ongoing X-Force teams into one team, starring Cable, Psylocke, Fantomex, and Marrow following the four-part crossover between the two series "Vendetta" early next year.

I like Dennis Hopeless a lot and I've liked his series and I think Humphries is coming along on his series so I'm a little sad to see the shift here BUT I'm not terribly sad because this sounds amazing. I absolutely love Spurrier's work and an interview of his (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2013/11/07/x-force-comic-book-series/3464365/...I would link it more casually but I'm on my phone and there aren't many options for that) is super encouraging. I just love his take and his view on characters and I'm particularly interested in his ideas for Fantomex, who I love anyway. Very, very excited. Also in that interview is mention of an X-Force movie? I'll look into that more later, hmm?

This week's picks

Tough picks to make this week with two sure bets and one that could go a couple different ways. On the plus side, it's pretty much just those four or five that I'm debating, everything else is significantly behind.

Avengers AI 1

It was between this and Iron Man (and a little bit Venom but not that much) and I'm still not sure which was the right one to choose. I think Iron Man may have been the actual better comic but this one's worth checking into for the feel of the comic and the nice way it's set itself up. Iron Man continued its great pace and its stellar story and writing but my recommendation, I think, goes to Avengers AI because I think it may fill a role in the Marvel Universe that isn't filled yet so I think people should be keeping an eye on it. No guarantee that it will all pan out but there seem to be places to go with this story and these characters and the book was fun overall. Read it, enjoy it, maybe pick up the Skottie Young variant if you can find it.

Red She-Hulk 67

I would be lying if I said that this wasn't always going to make my final pick. Bear with me, though, it's my last chance to be able to pick it. On top of that, it delivered an end to a good story and gave us some nice character resolution bits, including Red She-Hulk figuring out both worlds were real and choosing her world and X-51 learning that, although he's a machine with specific coding, he can still be an individual in the way he manipulates that coding. I'm particularly sad to see the main duo of Red She-Hulk and X-51 disappear for at least a bit because their relationship proved to be one of the most enjoyable in the Marvel Universe at current. It developed very naturally and improved along the way and became an incredibly fun and dynamic friendship. It's not easy to do that and it's especially not easy to do that in as little time as Parker had to set it up and build. A satisfying ending to a regularly pretty great title.

X-Men Legacy 13

Very interesting to see Spurrier switch narrator from our main character over to Pete Wisdom. It's rare to see a solo book (especially one as decidedly solo as this) take the focus off of that character and place it on another, particularly another established one in the Universe. I feel like most books that switch narrators for an issue or two will put it on someone who hasn't been developed enough to give the audience a sense of who they are. Wisdom is more developed though certainly I'd say he still fits that bill. Even more interesting is how defined David's voice has been, meaning that the decision to switch narrators isn't so simple. David's voice very much drives this book. Taking that away is a risky play but it worked out very nicely here and keeps us in the dark about whatever David's plans are, be they righteous or nefarious. More so, as I think we can fairly safely believe his motives are righteous at this point, we don't get his opinion on whether what he's doing, which is pretty clearly nefarious, is worth the righteous ending. Lot of questions opened up here and really should push this arc and this book as a whole to another new interesting place.


Best Cover

As I said in my review this week, Daredevil Dark Nights' art felt a little like cheating because anything set on snow is going to be pretty gorgeous (unless it's crazy hectic snow, like we've seen in Astonishing X-Men; interesting question, why does this, which is set up to be a huge and impenetrable storm, seem so much calmer in the images? Oh well, not what I'm getting at here). However, I also said that the art is pretty great in this book overall and this cover is no difference. It's maybe a little heavy-handed but that doesn't mean it's not still pretty great looking. don't miss the forest for the trees and all that. If that applies. I'm going to say that it does and I run this blog so no one is editing me out. Fantastic work again, Tim.

This week's picks

Lot of good comics in another week where a slew of great Marvel NOW Avengers books came out. Let's try to keep this one short and sweet, as much as I'm capable of doing that.

Indestructible Hulk 9

Team-ups with Hulk hardly work this well and I never would have expected this one to yield such immediate results. I guess, thinking about it, that I had figured Daredevil would run into Hulk and, in the typical fashion, would debate helping the monster over trying to bring him in. Instead, the two already have a great working relationship borne out of Banner's genuine preparedness and drive to help out. As a result, we get a solid team-up between the two entirely different superheroes and a couple of really great moments that help develop both characters and help develop this arc, particularly a nice page where Daredevil walks into an underground dive, gets guns pointed at him immediately, and is shortly followed by the Hulk bursting calmly through the wall behind him. Solid issue and a very exciting team-up.

New Avengers 7

We pull away from the ongoing story about the incursions to get a somewhat better grip on our group of heroes and the precarious position they each find themselves in. There's plenty to dissect here but the weight of the issue comes from Black Panther needing to choose whether to take the logical approach of trying to talk Shuri out of war with Atlantis or taking the probably more satisfying route of openly throwing his support behind a war. The Marvel Universe is a complicated place with many alliances constantly fluxing and, among all the nations of the 616, none is more complex than Wakanda. I'm definitely biased in stories about Wakanda as I find the nation and its hero immensely interesting as is, but this brings out a lot of the complications this country provides. Another great issue with spot-on writing and wonderful situations.


X-Men Legacy 12

I mostly go into books without trying to predict what's going to happen next. There are times where it's painfully obvious and I have no option but to subconsciously guess. There are some stories that are so good I can't help but speculate about the way they'll turn out. This one, I knew, couldn't end with David's powers taken away but I kept myself from guessing how exactly he would get out of it because I wanted to be surprised by the twists Spurrier created. On top of that, Spurrier is somewhat dedicated to going against convention, which he proves here again. Not only is David not trying to give up his powers, he's actively attempting to do what he had originally set out to do: end threats to mutants. On top of that, he's doing it by utilizing things he's discovered since taking on this role. The turn is pulled off so masterfully that I'm still shocked even when all the pieces fall beautifully into place and it begins to feel like there was no other way for this to play out. It all comes to a head when David notes that, whatever it is he's meant to cause, he'll solve with his powers because his mantra, "I rule me," still stands.

X-Men Legacy 12, X-Factor 258

X-Men Legacy 12
Spurrier (w) and Davidson and Leisten (a) and Peter (c)

David is still set on taking the pill as the issue starts, a move that thrills Red Skull. For his peaceful anti-mutant organization Darwin's Martyrs, this is perfect; the son of the most famous mutant of all hoping to rid himself of his powers. They start the cameras rolling as David explains who he is and why he's doing what he's doing. Right as he's about to pop the pill in, Blindfold and her quickly assembled team show up, stopping David from taking the pill. A fight breaks out on camera as the team recognizes Red Skull and attacks. Unfortunately, this is all still according to Skull's plan. When the camera pans to see what's happening, it simply looks as if mutants killed Marcus Glove, the figurehead of the organization (who, of course, was just a Red Skull creation). Now it looks like these dangerous mutants broke in and killed a peaceful man who had a peaceful solution to ending mutant threats. People watching the report are furious, rallying together against what seems to be a common enemy. On the plus side, this actually has all played into David's hands, who was never actually there to take the pill. He brings out one time Legacy star Santi Sardina, the boy whose mutant power is to take credit for things, and it confuses the watching populace, who all believe Santi is a hero but may have just killed Glove but who is also taking credit for leading Darwin's Martyrs but who is also a mutant and...well, it's all very confusing. David, of course, knew it would be and nothing kills a rally like utter confusion at its core. The mutants team on Red Skull, secure knowing that they won't be crucified for the events of today. Just as Skull goes down, the gold entity in David's head takes his minute of control of David's body. He calls himself Legion and makes his way for Skull, hoping to inhabit the body that holds Xavier's brain and claim the brain for his own. The mini X-team holds him for part of the minute as Blindfold tries to help David from inside his own brain (where she can hear all of his loudspeakered thoughts). Right as Legion is about to take hold of the body, Karasu-Tengu shows up with her psychic raven and attacks Legion, stopping him long enough for the minute to end and for David to regain control of the body and trap Legion in a cell. David reveals that Darwin's Martyrs was just another threat to mutants that needed eradicating and that there was never a chance he'd give up his powers. If he really is meant to do something awful to the world, he'll handle it with his own abilities because he rules himself.

I really like this book. I'm not sure I've said that enough here. Even this issue, which took the twist of last issue, which had twisted the entire superhero genre on its own, kind of reversed that twist and still didn't leave me unsatisfied or depressed. Of course, I knew David couldn't really lose his powers but the idea was so brilliant that he was willing to, even after everything converged to convince him to fight back. Still, I guess the way I figured his powers would stay was that the team would show up and they'd all fight and the day would be saved. That sort of happens but not in the straightforward way it could have, and that many lesser books would have done. That's cliche and old but this was new and exciting and worked so perfectly within everything else Spurrier's done with the series. Just a brilliant set of twists and turns and it's hard not to cite David among my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe at the moment.

X-Factor 258
David (w) and Edwards, Carnero, and Leisten (a) and Milla (c)

X-Factor is winding down and, while for Layla and Madrox last issue that meant asking more questions, for Rahne this issue it means closing doors. She jumps into John Maddox's church (he's a priest who was a duplicate of Madrox but chose not to be reabsorbed when the time came) and kills two gunmen who were tearing up the church aiming to kill Maddox for his suggestion to the wife of one of the gunman that she leave him. The gunmen have killed members of the congregation already by the time Rahne launches through the window but she puts them down quickly, killing one and possibly fatally wounding the other. She leaves just as quickly as she came, leaving Maddox confused and alarmed. She comes back later to talk with Maddox, who recognized something was wrong with her when she came in. She tells the whole story about Tier's death and another story about where she ended up after the events. She was sent to the Arctic, though she fever-dreamed that it was Niffleheim, the land of the dead, and that Tier and his father were both there and that she was finally able to join them. Unfortunately for her, she's actually just talking to a polar bear. Guido appears and saves her from it then apologizes, sort of, for things that happened. He knows he can't make it up to her but he sends her to Maddox's church just in the nick of time. As Rahne is about to leave, having told her story, Maddox offers her a position in the church, learning to become a deacon. She accepts and Maddox recognizes that it's the start of a new life for her, meaning probably we're don with her through the end. One would think, but I've been burned before.

I'm not a big fan of Rahne so I wasn't particularly thrilled by this issue. Also, there are a lot of weird bits to this one. On the one hand, there's a couple of gunmen shooting up a church and then that storyline is done. Obviously it will still weigh on the town and on Maddox when he's not dealing with X-Factor related things, but it was weird for such a devastating attack to be thrown aside so quickly. There is also a bit of recap here as we recount what happened in the lords of hell arc and bits of Rahne's past. Still, David had to wrap up the character if his intent is to wrap up the series by ending each character's respective arc and this is about as good a place to leave her as any, with a person she's comfortable with and in a church. It'll do, I suppose. It'll do.

This week's picks

I'm always a little weirdly disappointed when my top three picks all come from my pre-game five picks at the start of each week. I don't know why. In theory, that should be true the majority of weeks. My top five picks should translate to, at least, a majority of my three post-game picks. And, in truth, I'm often disappointed when NO picks from my top five make it to the top three (okay look, I don't know if that's ever happened and I'm not about to go and check. But there have totally been weeks where my top three picks largely didn't match my top five anticipatory picks). That makes total sense to me. The top five picks at the start of the week are the books I'm most looking forward to. The three at the end are the top three I recommend. There should be some crossover. This week, it's all crossover, which I suppose is good. Oh well. Seems kind of anticlimactic.

Avengers Arena 6

This book, as I'll keep saying, has been such a pleasant surprise for me. It's a strong story with a big cast of characters which is adamant in developing those characters while never sacrificing story. It's a big, beautiful circle of plot and people. To top it all off, there are morality questions at the root of the conflict and who loves morality questions? This guy. And probably plenty of other people. But for all intents and purposes of this blog, this guy. Will these young heroes, many of whom are still teetering between hero and villain and all of whom are too young to be set in any ways, overcome their surroundings and come out alive? This is comics, remember, so another pertinent question: are the kids who haven't lived through this really dead? Does it matter that the targets in this book are kids? Would the grown heroes of the Marvel Universe keep their heads on straight? Lots of great questions and a very solid book to prop them up.

Thor: God of Thunder 6

The tale of Thor and one of the best new villains of recent days, Gorr, continues, this week focusing on the origin of Gorr (Gorrigin). Though it was a kind of an expected story, it's expected because it makes sense. If Aaron had gone well out of his way to demonstrate a reason that Gorr hated gods that wasn't the Occam's razor answer of "because the gods ignored him," I'd be here asking why it had to be so convoluted. It's a good story and it works and it really gives you a sense of who Gorr was before his never-ending hate. We also get some interesting plots moving forward, such as Gorr viewed as a god and Gorr's child. Those are all interesting plot points in this book that don't even have to do with Thor (tangentially). Next issue we should be getting back to Thor's story as he teams up with at least one other timeline Thor. The best thing about this book is that I was excited about the issue featuring Gorr and I'm equally excited about the issues featuring Thor. Always good when your book has a compelling hero against an equally compelling villain.

X-Men Legacy 7

X-Men Legacy makes its regular appearance on my top pick list after another excellent entry featuring the first new storyline following the defining first arc. Just as I liked the first arc, I like the way this comic is heading for its new plot. David Haller is becoming a one man pre-emptive strike force against threats to mutants. He successfully takes down his first target, despite his own troubled mind and coming in perhaps a little unprepared. It sets a real tone for this book. Quite frankly, I think that this book would still be a great read and very entertaining even if David had all his powers and was omega-level a thousand times over. He's an incredibly interesting character with a lot of upside and plenty of flaws. If the book stays at all like it is now, it'll be on my top pick list for quite some time. It's a good time for Marvel comics. Honorable mentions this week go to Secret Avengers, Avengers Assemble, Avenging Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four.

X-Men Legacy 7, Ultimate X-Men 24

X-Men Legacy 7
Spurrier (w) and Huat and Yeung (a) and Villarrubia (c)

After a run-in with a version of his father lurking in his brain, David Haller is back to where he started, maybe even further back than that. His powers aren't necessarily driven by confidence, like Captain Britain or Kid Briton, but they require lots of focus and focus has taken a bit of a dive since his father's appearance and subsequent guilt-tripping. At the start of the issue, David can only really use his telepathy powers, which is problematic as he intends to start a fight with the Church of the Happy Host, a mutant-hating religious organization which was responsible for turning Luca (from the last arc; Blindfold's horrible brother) into the full-blown mutant-hater he became. David can also see astral projections so, going into the church, he knows that Blindfold is following him. Inside, it turns out the church was a little more prepared than he thought, wearing helmets to block out telepathic suggestions and equipped with pills that destroy the X-gene. Blindfold rushes in to save David, unbeknownst to the priests, and he is led away from the sanctuary to wait while they prepared their prayer cleanse. David and Blindfold chat and David lays out his plan for pre-emptive strikes against organizations that would do mutants harm, as opposed to the reactive strikes the X-Men have always made. It's kind of like a one man X-Force team, made up of one man who is unbelievably powerful in the right mood. After a quick blessing from Blindfold, David's confidence is somewhat restored and his focus allows him to access several more powers, including the power to instill images into the priests that make them seem guilty of mutant hate crimes (to SWORD, at least, who has been tracking David all issue after his recent teleportation of an entire Dire Wraith squadron to the Jean Grey School). SWORD shows up and arrests the church and, unable to tie anything to David, Abigail Brand tells David that she's watching him.

In the first issue since his first major arc ended, X-Men Legacy is taking another turn for good. This book has been such a surprise to me; not because I was expecting bad things, per se, I just wasn't expecting something so good. David Haller is a very interesting character, Blindfold is becoming interesting after years of me not caring at all about her, and the plot that David is setting himself seems full of places to go and exciting things to do. There have been plenty of books in Marvel NOW! that have truly surprised me with their quality (some, like Avengers Arena and Cable and X-Force and Uncanny Avengers, came out of nowhere to floor me while others came from solid backgrounds, like Thor and Captain America and New Avengers, but switched enough that being absolutely delighted by them came as something of a shock) and X-Men Legacy is, in a way, even more of a surprise than those books. Every other book in Marvel NOW!, I had some sort of a feeling about before its start. This one I had no thoughts on and it came in strong and hasn't let up. Great book so far.

Ultimate X-Men 24
Wood (w) and Asrar and Vlasco (a) and Bellaire (c)

This newest arc comes with a cliffhanger beginning and a smaller cliffhanger ending. I guess we're sitting on some weird precipice with two cliffs. We start two weeks in the future, with military surrounding the head group of mutants in Utopia, Kitty, Storm, Jimmy, Blackheath, and Rogue. Then we cut back two weeks to find that Utopia is finally starting to build. Magma has raised the tiny nation physically up, giving natural borders, while Blackheath and Storm have created plant life. The mutants now have protection, water, food, resources, and land. Mutants start filing in, excited by the new prospects. Mach Two's group is still lurking around, unnoticed by the others, biding their time. Meanwhile, the US government is plotting their own little plan, one that would name mutants government property (after the revelation some time ago in the Ultimate universe that mutants were created by the government) and therefore all of their patents and land and everything else would belong to America. The book ends with Jimmy meeting with two members of Mach Two's group to discuss some sort of offer.

One of the great things about this book in the last couple years is that it's really characterized mutantdom. Not just the mutants themselves (which is important and which this book has done), but what it means to be mutant in this world. There's something inherent in the 616 that says that mutants are different and that they're prejudiced against, for sure, but I'm not sure it has the same weight it does over in the Ultimate universe, which is impressive considering the age of each universe. I think Remender's Uncanny Avengers book is doing well to show off how hated mutants are, but X-Men books tend to get muddled down with their own villains, or with mutant villains. Not that those stories are bad or that they don't belong because a good deal of them are great, but you tend to get pulled away and kind of forget that the X-Men are hated by many around the world simply for being what they are. That never seems to happen in the Ultimate universe. Someone, in every issue, is plotting against mutants as a race. There are plenty of entities in the 616 that do that as well, sure, and you do see it come up pretty regularly. Maybe it's just the sheer number of X-books in the 616; though they're all fairly different, typically, and pretty good, usually, you wouldn't read the five different X books where they're all fighting Sentinels all the time. The Ultimate universe has one X-book, so showing that mutants are feared and hated and isolated maybe works better. It's certainly working right now. Even when mutants are doing pretty well and led by a peaceful leader, we can see the hatred and fear from the outside. It's a great illustration of how this world functions.

Age of Apocalypse 11, First X-Men 5, Ultimate X-Men 21, Wolverine and the X-Men 23, X-Men Legacy 4

Age of Apocalypse 11
Lapham (w) and De La Torre and Arlem (a)

I kind of tune in and out of this series. Not that it's bad or uninteresting, just because I tend to have some trouble grasping it. I think I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people involved that I didn't know. OKAY, that might make me a bad comic reader (it's weird how often I catch myself saying that on this blog. Maybe I AM a bad comic reader. Boy, let's all work under the assumption that I'm not), but being introduced cold to a whole new group of characters who are different than their 616 counterparts threw me for a bit of a loop. The other part of this that probably makes me a bad comic reader (but remember, I'm NOT) is that this book is good.

There is a real plot with a real weight to it and some real questions that arise from it. Is Weapon X's genocide simply Apocalypse's Death Seed doing its work or is he really protecting the world from the Celestials, who we know have a real tendency to do this? Is it the only way for the world to survive the Celestials? Was the Shadow King really turning into dinosaurs to attack Quentin Quire/Donald Pierce? Plenty of good questions, plenty of interesting characters and it is, despite what I said above, cool to see characters who are just bigots and anti-mutants in the 616 actually fighting for a reason in this book. Does still kind of stop you from liking them.

Maybe that's my problem with the book. I'm asked to like characters I know I hate. It's not like Nightcrawler coming from the AoA into the 616 and being a character I already loved but with a different history that fundamentally changes him. Now it's the same situation but with characters I don't like. I don't know. That sounds like a good reason. But don't misunderstand: this book is a good book. It's worth reading, especially if you like other timeline stuff. The good thing about this blog is that I will make sure to read every issue of everything going forth and, more importantly (since I largely did that anyway), I'll have a record of what I've said about the last issue. Books I don't invest in tend to get treated as a series of one-shots in my mind. All disjointed, with me just figuring I'll remember nuances of the plot that I don't. NOW I WILL.

First X-Men 5
Adams and Gage (w) and Adams (a)

Did anyone else feel like everyone was going to die in this book? Because starting it, I knew two members of this team, Wolverine and Sabretooth, and NO ONE ELSE. The problem with books set in the past is that you kind of know who will live. In this case, odds weren't great on EVERYONE BUT WOLVERINE AND SABRETOOTH. It diminishes the scale a bit, along with some of the other aspects of this book. I know I didn't get attached to any of these characters because there was like, a 9/10 chance that they died. Like, that they ALL died. Guess what's paying off for me right now? That. That's paying off for me right now.

Anyway, the book was kind of unimpressive? I cut it a lot of slack because it's Neal Adams, a living legend, and Christos Gage, who I like very much, but I imagine it's Adams carrying a lot of this slack. Modern comics are very different than the comics of the past, in layout and in art and in story and in everything. So I try not to relate it to modern comics. Plus it's hard to write a book set in the past over what would appear to be a huge issue, the discovery of mutantkind and introduction of the Sentinels, because Marvel has mined the past so often. There are allowances to be made for this book and I'm willing to make them. That said, I didn't love this series. It was somewhat slow, I couldn't really care for the characters, and this final issue was a little step-by-step predictable. Not that it all was, but we all kind of knew the full ending, didn't we? Department of Mutant Affairs, Wolverine and Sabretooth, Magneto comes out of nowhere to form the Brotherhood of Mutants, Professor X forms the Xavier School. It's hard to throw surprise into a book from the past of stuff anyone reading it probably already knows. Look guys, maybe I'm just too good of a comic book reader. That's what I'm going to say from now on, regardless of context, okay?

Ultimate X-Men 21
Wood and Edmonson (w) and Barberi and Vlasco (a)

We're building to some big things, which is fun, but I do feel like we've been building for some time now. I do think there is a sense of some sort of realism here to the speed at which Mach Two is plotting, as opposed to going "I hate Kitty, I'm going to kill her by the end of this issue." Still, it lends itself to a lot of jumping to the rogue group within their numbers that is constantly whining and that is not endearing for a book. I like where this book is and where it's going and the different ways in which they can proceed, but having to split time between the mutants who are trying to do something and the mutants who are complaining the whole time is a little tiring.

I am still curious as to the main story of this arc, the sentient seed creation and distribution. The mutants in Utopia have found/created a seed that can grow in any climate, thereby granting the potential to end world hunger and, under Kitty's direction, have offered it to the world as a sort of peace treaty. The hope is that it will put human-mutant relations in a calmer and more amicable place. I'm not sure totally where that hope comes from because Kitty seems to think that it will move straight to peace without any sort of repercussions. Though that might be the logical outcome, the world isn't logical and still wants to attack over it, obviously.

At this point, I like where the series can go and where it's been, that's why I listed it on my favorite 2012 books list. Right now, though, where we're at? There's a lot of infighting and characters acting crazily naive. I don't mind infighting, I think it's real. I do mind crazy naivety because these kids, though they're still just kids, just fought a war. There's less room for naivety after that. Also, as I've said, it makes for less interesting reading when everyone is just whining about how something needs to be done. Also, when Tony Stark is the adult in the room.

Wolverine and the X-Men 23
Aaron (w) and Bradshaw (a)

The folks at Marvel have been absolutely head over heels in love with the idea of Wolverine magicked into being Revolto the Clown over the last three or so Wolverine and the X-Men issues. I'm...I'm not sure why? I guess it's a thing but BOY did this plan of Frankenstein's monster seem convoluted. There must have been an easier way to lure lil Frankenstein to him than hoping for a circus to work. Look, I'm no supervillain, but it seems like they went to great lengths to even get the X-Men involved. Why would you even want to do that?

Look, anyway, Idie Okonkwo is changing a whole lot and Quentin Quire seems to be changing just a bit and lil Frankenstein is pretty evil. That's what I got from this arc and it feels like that could have been done a lot faster. Oh, and Eye Boy can see magic and he is covered in eyes and that's grody. I don't have a whole lot more to say because it feels like everything we could say is kind of already covered. The X-Men break out of the magic, beat the bad guys, and go home. Just a normal day, I suppose.

OH, and Azazel's going to come back into play. That could be fun.

X-Men Legacy 4
Spurrier (w) and Molina (a)

This is one of the stronger books in Marvel NOW!'s arsenal right now. Each book has been entertaining and interesting, exploring many ideas and many thoughts on power and what it means. It's a strong book in its ideologies and in its action. David Haller, Legion, is a compelling character doing exactly what good compelling characters do: he's making us read on and come back every new issue. He frets, he fights, he considers his past, he bluffs, he makes rash decisions. All these things fit his personality without sacrificing plot. So far, just a really strong book.

In this issue, the X-Men have descended on David, fresh off saving the psychic twin children of bad guy Ogun, and quickly determine that he has kidnapped the children and that's he unbalanced and sick. Instead, he aims to help the children and keep them from the world of fighting that being an X-Man opens. He's not sure how that's going to happen and he still cares about the dream of his father, Professor X, but he thinks there might have been fundamental flaws in the X-Men example. It's been interesting because, in thinking about his father's dream and having his psyche torn apart by his father's death, he's forced to reconsider his relationship with his father and exactly who his father was to him. He's going through a lot right now, is what I'm saying, and it's always interesting to watch an omega level mutant going through a lot.

If this book keeps up this way, it'll be something to watch. I'm already regretting not putting it on my top ten anticipated books of 2013 list but I go back and still can't figure out what I'd knock off. It's going to be a good year for comics, if all goes as well as it can. I'm very excited.


TOP PICKS, coming tomorrow.