Comics this week

Plenty of big books out this week. But which ones are the BIGGEST? I don't really know. Well, okay, I have some ideas. I usually do. QUICK HITS.

Avengers 22
Infinity presses on in two major books this week, Avengers 22 and Infinity 5 (SPOILERS: guess what other book is on this list). We're rapidly reaching the end of this big event and I'm certainly excited to see how it plays out. Look for a focus on the Builders' story in this one, hot off the heels of what was, essentially, the defeat of the Builders themselves.

Captain America Living Legend 2
I really liked the first issue of this mini-series, penned by Andy Diggle and drawn wonderfully by Adi Granov. There's a solid characterization of both Cap and some of the Russians we saw the first time out. Downside, of course, is that we won't see most of those Russians this time out. Plus side is that it was still good writing and good characterization of clearly non-essential characters. That should give some encouragement going into issue two.

Infinity 5
I said pretty much what I needed to say up above, right? Except, of course, to note that this will give us more information about everything that's happening throughout the event, not just the events up in space. I'm really liking this event and I hope to see it go out strong. A lot of events lately have gotten complaints about slowing down in the middle. I don't think this one really has but I'd hate to see it stagnate now.

Scarlet Spider 23
We're getting close to the end of Scarlet Spider (sad, and so close to losing Venom. Where are our non-Spider-Man Spider-Man books going?) and I'm excited to see how this all goes down. I thought the last issue was pretty powerful, showing Kaine, despite the urging of Prey and the intense situation, fighting back against Kraven without killing. Of course, the twist now is that Kraven wants to be dead, so, you know, tricky.

Ultimate X-Men 33
This spot was almost given to Battle of the Atom 2 because I'm that excited for that event to be over, but, ultimately, I'm still not looking forward to actually reading that book. This one, though, I'm very much looking forward to. This continues to be one of the strongest books out there and the strongest Ultimate Universe book right now, maybe ever. Very strong story, great characters, incredible pacing, smart writing, good art, just a very good book all around. Every arc feels like an event without the downsides that tend to come with events.