This week's picks

I feel like the start of every "this week's picks" pull list post is always the same. It's always me saying how hard it is to pick three books out of this list of either great books or equally decent books. So sorry for my whining every week. I won't say it here, but you should probably just assume I would have anyway.

Savage Wolverine 6

I've not been a huge fan of this series through the first five issues and my distaste for it has been pretty well-documented. However, the tone of the book changed a bit here. Not necessarily Wolverine's tone, though it always adds something to put him with the non-killer Avengers. Still, this is the first creative team change for this series, which feels like it might feature a few, and Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira have certainly made this arc their own. There were a lot of fun moments and a nicely set up plot for us to watch develop. The characterization of the Avengers, particularly Captain America (seen at left), with Wolverine is a compelling one and the contrast between his role in that group and his role with Elektra is a worthwhile one to explore. Extra points, of course, go to the appearance of Peter Parker's Spider-Man, who we all miss.

Thor: God of Thunder 9

This is the issue we've waited quite some time for in a book that has already gone above and beyond expectations. Finally the fight: three Thors vs. one god-killer. It didn't disappoint, either, with the banter between the Thors and Gorr and the epic art of Esad Ribic (which is always pretty epic but here that scale really fits). There are some great ideas, too, like the highlighted differences between the three Thors (one driven by shame, one driven by doubt, one driven by regret). Ultimately, of course, the fight has to end for the time being and it ends in grand fashion with hammers and blood raining down from the sky. Pretty harsh imagery for Thor fans.



Ultimate X-Men 27

It's not often my three picks line up this closely alphabetically and that is a note that amuses only me. Like in Thor, this is a fight we've been waiting awhile for too as the army begins its attack on Utopia and Psylocke and Jean Grey battle for control of the situation (Jean isn't trying to gain control, necessarily, just trying to stop Psylocke from having it). I've really loved the way that things have been building in this book and suddenly you can feel the weight of everything that's escalated. Everything connects back to Psylocke but, more than that, everything feels appropriately huge at this point. It's not like the army bulldozed its way in and the mutants pushed back in equally large response. This was a measured storyline from the get-go and, even if it seemed slow at times in the middle, the wait pays off in a big way this issue. Excited to see where the future of the mutants goes from here.


Because of my lateness on the post that went up earlier today, I'm throwing in two best-of picks. Okay, more so because I liked a cover a lot and a panel a lot and I want an excuse to throw them both up that doesn't force me into picking two every week.

Best Cover

There were a few neat covers this week but Avenging Spider-Man stood out to me in a number of ways, which is interesting because I don't particularly like the way Punisher is drawn in it and he's the only face we see. However, I really like the Old West duel style of the cover that puts the outlaw and the sheriff face-to-face. It also kind of forces us to ask which is which in this scenario as Spider-Man starts to inch closer and closer to Punisher's methods (though he wouldn't ever bother with the small-scale crime Punisher would be happy to end). Great detail in Spider-Man's arm and wonderful colors highlight the cover of the final issue of Avenging Spider-Man.






Best Panel

From Ultimate X-Men 27. Maybe I'm just a sucker for this kind of thing (I write "this kind of thing" because I'm not actually sure what category this falls into as a whole but I'm pretty sure there must be one) but it was a really cool panel at a really perfect time. I talked above about how things have escalated perfectly over the last few months of X-Men books but they escalate even within this issue nicely. Everything is getting more and more heated and things are looking more and more desperate for the mutants and Jean Grey as Farbird drops out of the sky to crush Psylocke and turn the tables once more. Really grand art on this oversized panel to show off the size of Farbird and to serve as a turning point for this issue. I mean, it's also pretty cool, right?