Comics this week

Handful of new comics out this week and, as ever, five I'm ready to highlight as the ones to keep an eye on when Wednesday rolls around. As a quick aside, I wanted to mention that this week I published post number 300 and I wanted to say again thanks to everyone who has ever dropped by this page for any reason. Whether you're interested in comics, interested in writing, interested in being a spam-bot, or whatever else it might be, your checking in on this page matters to me and I sincerely appreciate it.

Avengers Assemble 18
This is a tie-in to Infinity, giving us (along with Avengers 18, also out this week and worth checking in on) our first official tie-ins of the new event (which will spawn plenty). I chose to highlight this one over Avengers because the feel of this book has been so pleasant and surprising as its continued, giving us both a slightly lighter Avengers book to work alongside the heavier main title and a great team that seems to really care about one another. For added intrigue, we might see a bit more of the effects of Enemy Within on Captain Marvel, which left us on a rather huge emotional cliff as it wrapped up last month in Captain Marvel 14 (read it if you haven't already WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR). I know I'll be checking in more for that than for anything else at this point.

Cable and X-Force 13
This pick, like last time I picked it, is more based on the fact that I try to stay away from solicits and I have a bad memory for what upcoming covers show. Like last time, I'm really waiting for the story that'll focus on Dr. Nemesis and Forge, if we're going to see that story at all (going back-to-back on a Domino story worries me in that regard). This book has held together well but, I'll be honest here, I'm not that concerned with the Colossus-Domino will-they/won't they business. Still, the writing has been sharp and the story interesting and WHERE IS DOCTOR NEMESIS?

Daredevil 30
Last issue of this series was pretty great; a good story that has serious implications for the book going forward but that still, despite all the tension borne out of a racist hate group putting bombs in buildings and who could be anyone you see, kept its fun writing and the delightful new Daredevil attitude. I heard an interview with Spider-Man writer Dan Slott on Saturday and he talked about how well Waid is writing Daredevil and how high the stakes were when he took the job. We've known the angst-ridden and gritty Daredevil for so long, really since Frank Miller, and it's everything we know of the character at this point. To change him back to the lighter and more fun Daredevil was a serious risk, one that Waid has pulled off with aplomb and the book is continually phenomenal. Also, I was just reminded of the audio version of Daredevil number one (for the visually impaired) that a group of Marvel editors released just over two years ago. Worth a listen, pretty cool, very cool idea.

Indestructible Hulk 12
Hulk is lost in time! And time is breaking down! What will Hulk do?! The last issue left us with Hulk in the Old West faced down by gunslingers and cowboy hats and velociraptors. Yes. That was true. Exciting times abound for Hulk and Banner where any wrong move might screw up time and also could kill off Hulk or Banner. This is another book that has quietly slid into place as one of the constantly great books at Marvel. I didn't come into this series expecting to love it or even, really, particularly like it but here we go again, Mark Waid finding a voice that fits his writing wonderfully. Solid book, looking forward to some more dinosaurs, you guys.

X-Men Legacy 15
The elephant decidedly not in the room this entire series has been David's thoughts about his mother, who drifts up occasionally and who he has called a couple of times, only to hang up before speaking with her. Now there will be no such avoiding as Pete Wisdom accurately realized that the worst he could do to David was to send Gabrielle Haller to meet with him. It should be an interesting meeting and Gabrielle Haller is a fairly old-school X-Men character who has rather fallen out of the comics in recent days. Si Spurrier has done a remarkable job with this book over its run and it's bound to stay remarkable as David interacts with family for the first time (not including the demented Charles Xavier somewhere in his head). Really love this book.