This week's picks

Thee were a lot of books that were good this week but not too many that really stood out as blowing me away. That's not a bad thing; I'll take a book that's reliably good over a book that hovers around a mediocre point with a few blow-away issues mixed in. It's incredibly rare for a series to blow you away with every issue (though there are a couple books I'm skipping over this week in picks that have kind of done that throughout their series). That said, I do think there were a good deal of good books and plenty that I think laid the groundwork for possible huge issues. Still, this post requires a few books that stood out beyond the rest so HERE THEY ARE, in alphabetical order yet still somehow starting with 's.'

Secret Avengers 9
I've been a bit put off by this series so far, which I think has a lot to do with the needed set-up for the series, which is fairly convoluted, and the focus on SHIELD as an organization. SHIELD is a tricky animal because it exists so prevalently in the Marvel Universe but kind of needs to be crappy so that our heroes can shine. This issue still focuses on SHIELD in a wide-angle sense but it's more personal, dealing with Johnson vs. Hill. It's a more intriguing story and it's pretty easy to follow, even with the persistent talk of mind-wipes and international incidents. As I said in my review this week, the Secret Warriors feel doesn't hurt the book either. I'm not going to lie, this also gets added points for the inclusion, though we knew it was coming, of Winter Soldier. This is a good role to put him in, squaring him up against SHIELD knowing that they're toying with Natasha's memories (even if she agreed to it). Should be fun going forward. Also nice to see Guice drawing Bucky again.


Thunderbolts 15

Speaking of fun, this book is absolutely full of it suddenly. There's a real characterization to this Thunderbolts team which is rather the characterization I was waiting for when the lineup was announced. It's a solid team that lends itself to both tension and a sense of fun, in the same sort of way an action movie can. Deadpool's a great character for that feel because his brand of fun can be both like an action movie and something else entirely, just regular type fun. For example, this issue finds him strolling the streets of New York, being called Spider-Man and kind of rolling with it. It's not like the our and sometimes obnoxious Deadpool who would proclaim himself Spider-Man and get a little too into character, shouting through the streets. Instead, it's a Deadpool who is called Spider-Man and kind of just goes "yup, sure. Web things are broken so I'm taking the subway." It's a really good Deadpool, you guys. Even with the fun sense in the book, there's a real underlying tension ready to burst, with the Leader quietly sabotaging Red Hulk and the extremely powerful Mercy just dying to get freed (dying, that's kind of a pun, you guys, keep up). Really solid book. Still really like the artwork here.

Ultimate X-Men 31

This book continues to be one of the best books out there for pacing and overall storytelling. That's not to say that characters are a weak point or anything, I'd still say they're fairly well-defined, even given how big the cast is. But the tension, which continually ramps up without feeling overwhelming, is a really impressive touch. That's been true arc after arc and it continues here, as Kitty and Jean both react to moves made by the other. There's a lot happening and it would be easy to get lost in subplots or minutiae here but Wood stays his path and keeps putting out a really reliably good book with strong characters. Also, for all the worry of a lack of strong female characters in comics, this one features a few really solid ones. Kitty leads the pack but there's also Storm, Rogue, Mach Two (even for her age), Jean (even for her crazy), and plenty of smaller characters we haven't seen much of but who haven't been weak, for sure. Really good book all around, continues to delight issue after issue. I'd have to say this is one of the most consistently worthwhile buys.


Best Cover - Ultimate X-Men 31
G. Hardman w/ E. Breitweiser
I've long been a fan of the Ultimate X-Men covers which tend to go more for symbolic or idea over a standard comic cover of a specific character or characters doing something rather extreme. This week is a change from that as we get three of our lead characters driving and riding in a jeep while attacking an unseen target just to the side of the camera. It's a well-drawn cover but really, this goes back to the coloring for me, which is superb. There was a nice comforting feeling about this cover when I first looked at it, like someone I hadn't seen for a while showed up again in my life. That's exactly what happened, in fact. These are, one hundred percent Bettie Breitweiser colors and guys, she is amazing. I said way back in my post about colorists that Breitweiser was the first real colorist I noticed and could pick out because her palette was so defined. Even these colors, which aren't really the colors I've seen her use too often in the past (her great work through a lot of Captain America and Winter Soldier stuff tends to stray darker than this), stick out as being part of that very specific palette. Really wonderful stuff. This one beats out another solid Shalvey/Bellaire Venom cover and a Samnee/Rodriguez Daredevil cover.