This week's picks!

New Avengers 4

I get the sense already that it's going to be impossible for this book not to land in my top three every time it comes out. I love the story, I love the characters, I love the questions it's asking, I love the understanding of superheroes in this world, I love the art, I love the colors, I love the interactions. This is pretty much a perfect book in my eyes. It occurs to me that this book ended with the first real fight scene this team will have, after fighting against something far more intangible the rest of the series. Somehow I'm even MORE interested in this book as we get to the point where we'll see the team work together. None of this even begins to talk about the underlying dynamics of the team, particularly Black Panther and Namor (though, really, anyone and Namor) and the way Beast feels about everything that's happening. Just an all around phenomenal title right now and issue four was no less fantastic than the other three issues.

Captain Marvel 11

Every time I read a new issue of this series I come away feeling floored by the amount of detail each book manages to cram in. I've appreciated from the very first how many non-super powered characters have made their way into this book and how well each one has been crafted just with a line or two every now and then. For DeConnick to then take those people (who, because of the work she's done, are truly people and not just set pieces) and make them integral to the plot and, more importantly, to Carol's life and Carol's sense of her own life is beautiful. In mainstream comics, you don't get a lot of examination of a character's life outside of superheroing and maybe one or two dramas here and there that are almost exclusively related to family or to dating. Captain Marvel has quietly built a life for Carol Danvers, from when she wakes up to when she goes to bed so now, when that life is in jeopardy, the stakes are much higher and it's a far greater payoff for the reader. Terrifically done and rewarding in every sense.

Captain America 5

This beating out Avengers or Hulk is almost entirely based on my own bias. I think it absolutely merits being up in the top three, but the reason that I picked it over the other deserving titles without much of a second thought is totally because of my own love for the character (fun fact: it's also why Avengers would have been my fourth pick; the characterization of Cap in that book, alongside everything else in the book, puts it a little ahead). I should stop being excited, probably, by how well I think Remender's characterizing Captain America. I've said plenty of times that there are easy ways to screw up writing Captain America (in fact, I think there are Marvel writers working today who don't write him very well) and, though I trusted and loved Remender hot off of Uncanny X-Force, I was admittedly nervous when I heard he was writing Cap. Not because of him, because I would have been nervous for anyone to write Cap. Nothing is worse than a poorly written Captain America heading up his own book. But Remender has blown me away with the look he's given this new series. On top of just going back into Steve's childhood, we're getting so much added to Steve without going against everything that's come before. It's really delightful, as a big Captain America fan, to not only watch the character done right, but to see him expanded on so much. Someone nervous about writing Cap could easily have just taken the Brubaker Cap and put him into more plots, focusing on story rather than on expanding character. Remender's doing both and it's working out extremely well.

This week's picks

I really need to stop prefacing these posts with a "gee whiz, but this was awful hard!" intro because it's a little worn by now. Is it hard to pick the three best comics Marvel put out this week in a totally subjective method? Yes. Most of the time. Well like, one third of the time. In that I usually have two picks or so right up at the top and need to whittle down the third. So let's start off with those two this week and see if I come up with the third one along the way.

Captain America 4

I don't think I can stress enough how much I'm enjoying this book. It has a leg-up on this kind of subjective "pick of the week" post because Cap is my favorite character, yes. I won't deny that, I'm biased. But after a huge switch from the Captain America veteran Ed Brubaker to Rick Remender there was the possibility that I wouldn't like this book as much and would write it off more easily than if Brubaker's run had just kept going. I am thrilled to report that is not the case. The look backwards into Steve's childhood tied with the present of his raising a child of (sort of) his own is a pretty delightful change. On top of that, the series is tense and rife with action and adventure and what not. I don't think Remender sacrificed any one aspect of the book to build on another; they're all there in seemingly equal parts. The art and colors are matching the tone perfectly. It's just a lovely book.

Captain Marvel 10

No surprises that this is on my list, as it keeps landing here and on my pre-game lists. The last two issues have received a boost with Filipe Andrade's art but they'd be landing here regardless. This is just a great series with a great main character and the fearlessness to add new characters to its pages. A lot of writers starting a new book would hesitate to build up a supporting cast and throw the book so deep into the Marvel Universe, but DeConnick has pushed Carol's fellow Avengers into this book in nice and easy increments while also giving Carol a few non-hero contacts to strengthen her personality. From the people she crosses every day to the people who live around her to the people she bumps into, Carol has a unique relationship with every single character she meets. That's a rare trait, especially in a comic. One of the reasons I've liked Fraction's Hawkeye so much is that he has an easy-going kind of personality with all the people outside of his world. It's similar to Captain Marvel's, except that Hawkeye doesn't have to ever switch from that personality into huge ultra-powered hero. Sure he still is a hero and does heroic things, but he can't talk to someone then fly off mid-conversation to energy blast some bad guys. I'm not saying Hawkeye's easier to write or anything like that because it has its own challenges, but for Captain Marvel to so believably transfer from that friendly conversational mode into hard-hitting action is no easy feat. Great book.

Daredevil 23

I had to go back and read this issue before choosing it. My plan was to read the few that were up for this spot (Thor, Superior Spider-Man, Avengers, Nova) but I got to Daredevil first and, by the end, there was no question. The emotional punch that this issue packed teamed with the fact that there's a real long-running story going on here made for a pretty easy choice after all (though it's always hard not to pick Thor). On top of the fact that this issue ends in a gorgeous and heart-breaking, near-wordless page about where Foggy's going from here (pictured at left), not to mention that the rest of this issue beautifully showed Matt and Foggy's friendship, the individual behind a recent string of direct attacks on Daredevil is taking new and extreme steps to challenge the man without fear. This issue shows an attempt to replicate the accident that made Matt into Daredevil, using prison inmates as subjects. There are lots of places for this series to go right now and I think pretty much any of them are going to be exciting. Also, Samnee and Rodriguez are killing it on art and colors.

This week's picks

This week is maybe a little tiny bit boring for picks simply because they're all coming from my pre-game picks Tuesday. I would say it's a shame because there weren't necessarily surprises this week, but that's not true. It's just that, with the slate of books that came out this week, the strongest three were stronger than even I anticipated.

New Avengers 2

I'm going to keep talking about how excited I am about this book, okay? I'm really excited about this book. I think the personalities here are just brimming. I can keep feeling Panther's rage and Namor's arrogance. The art is beautiful and the faces are expressive. The coloring is perfect. It's good all the way around, guys. My girlfriend thought that Cap overreacted a little in this book, a little uncharacteristically. Even that, though, seemed rational to me. The guy's been against the Illuminati from the start and is only really willing to partake because he wants to represent the people and the people shouldn't be forced into "necessary evil." Still, this book asks questions like that and it doesn't have any signs of stopping. Off-topic, you can check out my girlfriend's representation of Cap and Wolverine over at her blog.

Captain America 3

So my bias might still be coming out here, picking Cap over other positive entries this week such as (but not exclusive to) Dark Avengers, Punisher: Nightmare, and Venom. I really do like what's happening in this book though. There's probably not another hero on Earth that's so associated with a place as Captain America is to, well, America. As I've said, he hasn't been written as an over-the-top patriot in a long while but the guy still wears a flag on his chest. He still recognizes that he's the symbol of America and Remender has taken him and put him in a place that isn't America and that has no knowledge of America. Remender's also stuck him with a kid and put him up against enemies he doesn't understand. A lot of things to love about all of this. Add to it that we're seeing lil Steve Rogers' background and this book is going places no other Cap run has. You should read it even if you're not a Cap fan (it legitimately might make you one, especially if you've passed him over as just an America nut) and you should definitely be reading it if you are a Cap fan.

Captain Marvel 9

On top of being another great issue of a very good book, I recommend this one over others this week because it is a perfect place to jump in. You get a good sense of who Carol is and who she hangs out with without needing to understand a big story around her. I think there were great character moments in issues prior to this but, aside from the first of either of the previous arcs, they require some knowledge of the ongoing plot. With this, knowledge of that plot doesn't hurt but it certainly isn't necessary. Also, Andrade's art is different than you'll see in almost all other comics and the pacing of the book keeps you wanting to read it but never wanting it to end. It's a pretty near perfect standalone issue and this book is definitely worth getting into. Like I said, this issue is the time to get onboard.



Well, that's interesting. All three of these chosen books were reviewed on the same day, along with Daredevil which I'd put somewhere in a recommendation pile, slightly below these ones. Look, I hope you're reading (and enjoying) all of my reviews but BOY they are long sometimes. Just, I guess, read Wednesday's if you're short on time. That's where all my picks came from ANYWAY.

Wait, just kidding, read all of them. They're all good?

Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow. Or you'll see me, I suppose. I don't see any of you, you're all just numbers. But I do love you. That is one hundred percent true.