Comics this week

Solid fifteen books out this week. Not too many, not too few. Still, picking five means picking a third. Guys, this is just the math on things, I don't know what you want me to do about it. Still, bit easier picking five for this week than last and even than picking the three standouts last week. On top of that, we have a long awaited NEW EVENT coming out. Long awaited, anyway, in that it's been hinted at for quite some time and Hickman's Avengers runs have both been moving steadily towards it. That's right, this week we kick off with...

Infinity 1
Another new event might not be exactly what every reader is hoping for but, like I've said in the past, a good story is a good story is a good story. Hickman's really been pushing hard at this story for a while so now we'll get to see if all of that work is going to pay off or if it'll fall flat. I'm hoping for the former because BOY do I not want to read an entire event, complete with universe-spanning tie-ins, that isn't a fun read (at least it won't be terrible and also ten issues, AGE OF ULTRON. More like AGE OF ULT-WRONG. Did you guys catch that one? I just changed Ultron to make it a pun! Writing is fun!). With Marvel's renewed love for the cosmic side of things, this event at least promises to be a little different than what we've seen recently so hopefully we'll get things worth talking about throughout the series. What if this was the event that turned events around for us? Wouldn't that be neat?

Astonishing X-Men 65
We're winding down to Astonishing X-Men's (tragically) final issue (68) but FIRST we have quite an impressive story going on in its own right. What is going on with Bobby Drake, the oft humor-bearing, tension-breaking Iceman? The piece of Apocalypse power inside Bobby is corrupting him and making him destroy the world, but how much of this is Apocalypse and how much is Bobby? More importantly in the immediate, what will Mystique be able to do with her newfound, stolen bit of power? Do I think that the whole world is going to be destroyed in a seemingly-lower ranked X-Men book (I agree, it deserves to be higher-ranked)? No, but the question isn't about that, is it? It almost never is in non-event books. The question is where will it leave our team in the aftermath? I try to stray away from solicits so I don't know if this is going to be the storyline that brings us to our final issue or if we'll have some recovery time with this arc ending this week or next time out. Guess we'll have to see. Boy, I'm writing a lot for my pre-game post. Let's try to cut that a bit, hm?

Avengers Arena 13
I believe this is the issue where Hopeless (or someone else, look, it was a long time ago I read this okay?) has said that grown-up heroes from the Marvel Universe will start realizing that some of the kids are missing. That should put us in a neat little place as a strike team is possibly assembled and sits around wondering where the kids are (smart money says the kids have to get themselves out of this jam). Even if this isn't that issue (look, I've been wrong before, even about this specifically), there's plenty going on to be excited about in this book. I just really like this book, okay?

Thor: God of Thunder 11
THE END OF GODBOMB IS HERE. I've really liked this story overall but I do feel it's gone on a bit long. I think there were probably pieces in the middle worth cutting to trim it down a bit but it's still delivered us a good story with interesting characters and pretty high stakes. I'm equally interested in how this story ends and what the repercussions are and in where the series goes from here. This is a Marvel NOW relaunch that has been telling the same story since issue one (not unlike Captain America). I'm curious to see what plans Jason Aaron has for another new and interesting Thor story, or Thtory (mm, bit of a reach. Kid Loki had a dog named Thori so I needed to add that extra 't' in there to avoid confusion between a made-up word and a made-up hellspawn dog but boy it got real clunky). Still, let's see how this arc ends before we get to that, okay?

Ultimate X-Men 30
Really like this series too. As Utopia stands, it seems, on the brink of war with Tian, it's interesting to see where all the mutants stand in this conflict. This is a great X-Men book for a lot of reasons. On the one hand, it's a great book in general, with solid writing and outstanding art. The characters are well-defined and more and more they act like the family the X-Men are meant to be, brought together by their genetic makeup more than anything else. It's a great X-Men series too because it keeps bringing mutants who want nothing more than peaceful cohabitation to the edge of war, unwillingly dragged along. It's the X-Men back to their roots and better than ever. And guys, Jimmy Hudson's apparently joined up with Tian! Double agent? Actual confidence in Tian over Utopia? Either fits! Ahhhhh! Let's all read this book!