This week's picks

Not too too many books out this week and a handful of those were right out of the picks selection (What If...AvX ended up further out than Uncanny X-Men in a surprise move, considering how little weight What If carried). There were two right in and one kind of toss up but really, it was always going to come down to the same three that always make it. Such is the flaw of this system but, on the other hand, I know it works because there are no books I'd recommend you read more this week.

Captain Marvel 14

A really wonderful issue ends the Avengers: The Enemy Within storyline with an emotional punch. I've badmouthed events a fair amount on this blog but I don't object to the idea of events (and, as I said this week, this wasn't an event in the way Marvel doesn't events now; it's just a crossover, really). Events are just stories that may be a little grander in scale and that may require more than just the characters at hand. It's bound to come up occasionally because Marvel has made a universe that is interconnected so tightly that 90% of its characters live in one city. If there weren't events, it would be weird. Events are stories and the reason that they work, when they do, is that they're presenting a story worth telling. DeConnick has done that masterfully and this conclusion is equal parts inspiring and heart-breaking. Can't recommend it any more than that.



Daredevil 29

Really stunning book with a couple of nice ideas. One of the things that's really stood out about Daredevil since Waid took over is that, amidst all of the tension and the dramatic storylines, the book has been fun. There's not really a better issue to highlight for that than this one. The last issue ended with a man being shot and the reveal that the Serpent Society, a racist hate group, has infiltrated the city's institutions and yet this book finds the appropriate times to show Matt as a real person with real thoughts. Is he nervous and stressed about what all of this means? Sure, and it comes across perfectly. However, that doesn't stop him from breaking the tension a few times (for the audience, mainly, the people in the comic aren't privy to the joke), including the panels at left and his accusing a black paramedic of being associated with the racist Serpent Society based on his elevated heartbeat. The art is gorgeous, the story is engaging, the colors of this book continue to be perfect, and the writing is top-notch. What I'm trying to say, you guys, is that this book is pretty darn good.

X-Men Legacy 14

Another great issue of X-Men Legacy as Pete Wisdom takes narrative reins again to keep us playfully in the dark about David's plans for mutaphobic Britain. It continues to be a brilliant decision to keep Pete in the driver's seat as his change-of-pace narration is both engaging and entertaining all while keeping us wondering about David's motives. It's a great device and it's well-executed. Spurrier chose a character who is right in his writing wheelhouse here and who comes across perfectly. Pete Wisdom has now appeared twice in both Gambit and in X-Men Legacy and he's characterized far more completely in Legacy. Sure, he has the advantage here because he's the narrator instead of a character our hero comes up against, but it's worth noting that we get all sorts of dimensions to his character in just two issues. If you came in not knowing anything about Pete Wisdom, I think you'd get it. We take a trip inside David's mind that is awfully fun (as it has been throughout the series) and we're left with a cliffhanger that wouldn't be a cliffhanger in most other books but, since Spurrier's developed his characters so well, it is here. Great issue. I like Tan Eng Huat's art more and more each issue I see. Solid book.