This week's picks!

Twenty books makes it a little trickier to narrow the field down to three. However, this week was also interesting as I was on such a high after the first day of reviews that I knew right off the bat all three picks would come from that day. I was excited about the state of comics for days after reading my Avengers day comics on Wednesday, which certainly helps the reviewing process. So what three shall I pick?

Avengers 10

I really liked the feel of this issue. As I've been saying in my reviews about this series, there's not a super huge entry point to this series as a new reader, which can make it difficult to get onboard, but the story is really paying off if you are there. I've also said that I'm not sure that we're going to get as much character interaction in this book as in the other Avenger titles (or other books in general) because the team is huge and rotates people in and out. Still, there were nice little character pieces sprinkled throughout, particularly between Captain America and the Falcon. I love those two and I love their relationship so I might be a little more biased than others, but the point remains the same. It's a good interaction and it feels natural and helps build a sense of the team without feeling like a stretch. The story remains solid and the book feels like an Avengers book, like it should be leading Marvel right now. Pretty exciting.

New Avengers 5

It's going to be hard for me to not pick this book every time it's released solely on the art and the colors if this keeps up. The book looks perfect. Everything Hickman's doing with the writing and the story is perfectly reflected in the characters and the surroundings and the palette. It's a truly gorgeous book. I love the art in a lot of books throughout Marvel right now, but this one feels more epic, grander in scale, which is fitting as we're watching some of the heaviest weights the Universe has fighting a foe that can't just be punched away. On top of the art, I absolutely adore the story and I think that this book is doing a lot to characterize its players. Like with Avengers, the plot is decidedly taking the focus but it totally fits. All of these characters know each other well and have all worked well together (barring Namor and most of them). There's no need to learn about how they interact with one another but there's definitely a need to learn how they act in general and how they react to this problem. It's a great book in every sense of the word. It's also adding a new element with Black Swan. Can she be trusted? Is she going to look out for Earth's best interests or will she jump ship for another, better Earth at the first turn? Lots of questions, great plot, exciting character, top three book every time.

Young Avengers 4

I think this comic book is going to do things mainstream comics/superhero books simply don't do. I think that Gillen and McKelvie are just getting their feet wet right now. This book was the last one I read on review day and I'm really glad it was. I don't know how I could have kept reading after this one on the same day. In truth, and this is cliche obviously, it kind of blew my mind. They're doing things with panels and to superhero conventional wisdom that feels completely original while also perfectly capturing the tone of the book. It was a beautifully drawn issue (that's always going to be true, thanks McKelvie) and the story is perfect. It's an interesting parents/kids storyline that has so many moving parts underneath it. To underscore it, we start really seeing Loki be Loki this issue, as he challenges Teddy in ways Teddy's never thought to consider before. It's a perfect set-up and a brilliant question that Loki poses, but it's also Loki posing it so how trustworthy can we expect him to be? Fantastic pieces all bound to come together. Next issue we'll find out if Loki will stick it out with this team or if he's going to simply disappear when they need him most. What a book. I'm excited just talking about it again.


Best panel/page:

When I decided to add in a random "best" element to each week-in-review post last week, I thought "best panel/page" would be a good addition but I couldn't remember every panel from that week, as I hadn't been planning ahead. This week, I did realize I could plan ahead and figure out while I read some good panels. I read Avengers 10 first and picked out a couple panels that were good. By the end of the day, I'd read Young Avengers and simply deleted my whole list. Obviously this was the best page.
A two-page spread which McKelvie himself breaks down on his blog, this is the perfect synchronization of Noh-Varr's developing character and a wonderful action sequence. It helps that we know Noh-Varr is doing this because he knows how awesome it looks. Around the edges we get looks at how certain sequences look up close, magnified for our benefit, while in the center we get a full map with key of Noh-Varr's movements. On top of being mixed with Noh-Varr's action-based plan, we also get a couple quick looks at how he feels about Kate. This page doesn't waste any space and gives us something to marvel at as we enter the book (this appears on pages two and three). It sets the tone better than just about anything could have. Brilliantly done.