This week's picks

Tough week to pick the top three. There were a handful worthy of consideration and plenty that weren't (actually, I suppose, that makes it rather not tough to pick the top three). There are a couple books out there not on this list that I'd heartily recommend anyway (MS. MARVEL and IRON PATRIOT come to mind), but here are the ones I'd raise just a little above the rest.

Thunderbolts 26

I liked this one a lot anyway but it gets a special nod this week because it's Charles Soule's last issue on the book he helped really turn around and that he made enjoyable every single issue. It's been a fun team from the start but it felt like Soule took that team and decided to make the book match it, making the book more fun and setting it more in the true THUNDERBOLTS vein instead of trying to go too dark/mysterious intrigue. Check out this issue to see every member die (they get better) and to see a pretty good sendoff for, in the very least, Deadpool, before the book turns over. I have high hopes for Ben Acker and Ben Blacker as they take over on the series (my love for them is well-documented on this site, even if they've only written two Marvel comic books prior to this) but I can't help feeling like it was Soule who helped this book survive to 26 issues as is. Solid issue, great series.

Uncanny Avengers 20

The more I've thought about it, the more I've appreciated what I talked about in my review for this book: the idea that an ongoing is keeping to itself. UNCANNY AVENGERS has blasted past a couple of major line-wide events and shifts and not veered from its course (even though it was spawned from an event itself) and that feels really refreshing in this day and age. I don't want to bash the feeling of a connected universe because I think that can be really cool (though too often the events take advantage of that feeling and steer books off-course while they scoop up tie-in after tie-in) but sometimes it's nice to see a series just stick to its own story. And what a story this one is, huge and sweeping with plenty of characters and possible-version characters and threats as big as the destruction of Earth and the extermination of the human race. With all of that, Remender still makes sure there's time for character moments and quieter beats and it's led him to a really strong book overall.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 4

This issue (and this series as a whole so far) kept me invested from the very first page. It's a big action issue with the train crashing and a fight between Winter Soldier and the Drain and between the Drain and Ran Shen and the Winter Soldier and Ran Shen and, you know what, just everyone was fighting, and with the Drain making sure Mila can't fall into enemy hands even if it means losing the formula. Action issues have a tendency, for better or worse (kind of case-by-case there), to kind of lose focus on the characters in the fight. In this issue, though, Remender makes sure the audience is always aware of what everyone's fighting for and how the fight is affecting everyone. It's a really strong series for Ran Shen that gives us a look at the darkness within him and the start of his fallout with SHIELD and it also manages to be a strong series for brainwashed assassin Winter Soldier, who snaps out of it here for what will undoubtedly be a really depressing final installment. Remender's writing is complemented perfectly by Roland Boschi and Chris Chuckry on art and colors. This limited series is absolutely worth picking up.

This week's picks

Lots of solid comics to choose from this week. Eagle-eyed readers, though, will note that I said in my pre-game that there were 18 books to be reviewed this week and even eagler-eyed readers will note that I only ended up reviewing 17. What tomfoolery is this? I didn't review Marvel NOW What?, the kind of self-mocking issue with joke stories from all sorts of people. I read it but didn't really review it because it doesn't totally strike a chord with me but I'm pretty sure it'll be fine for others. That's my review. Not for me. ANYWAY, on to this week's picks!

Uncanny Avengers 13

This nearly didn't make the cut over Superior Carnage and a couple of other books but, the truth is, I'm a sucker for a well-done hearing-damage joke. In this issue, Captain America has extensive hearing damage from a direct blast from Banshee and it plays throughout the entire issue. Guys, it's pretty hilarious. On top of that, there's other far more serious things happening and Remender does a fantastic job balancing out the funny with the dramatic, pulling us back in after kicking the issue off with Cap's shouting and moving to Wolverine's extreme pain. There's a lot to really like in this issue and, as has been true so far in this series, one of the most impressive things about the book is that it feels like everyone on the team gets pretty equal screen-time, certainly enough to give us a sense of the characters and their personality while not depriving us (or them) of their story. Good book all around.

Venom 42

Honorary final issue pick. This has been a really phenomenal series all around and one that I think didn't really see a huge downgrade or upswing from Cullen Bunn's replacement of Rick Remender. That may sound like something of a slight but I don't think it is. I think Remender was doing a fantastic job on a hard book and Bunn came in and really kept it running smoothly. I don't think it saw the biggest of upswings because Remender had done a solid job with the character and Bunn felt that. Why change a good thing? I do think Bunn took his own spin on the character and the story so it's not like a Roy Thomas-Stan Lee thing but the book's quality never really changed. Just a really solid, pretty long-lasting book, especially for one that could have flopped out of the gate. Sad to see this one go.

Young Avengers 11

This book is just really good, you guys. It's very sharp, it's very clever, it's very fun, it's very tense. Everything about it is pretty much the mark of a good comic. The pacing is good, the writing is smart, the story is interesting, the characters are well-developed and deep, the art is amazing, everything. And, like the best books, there are wheels within wheels and stories within stories here that are all, each one of them, worth telling. This issue sees the transformation of Loki from the more innocent and, at one point, more trust-worthy Kid Loki to the new, more Tom-Hiddleston teen-early 20s Loki. Really neat character design, really neat story to prompt the change, just a very smooth transformation, which you can't always say about comics. Really fun book. Excited for the next couple issues as we're bound to start seeing massive cameos from other young heroes in the universe and the resolution of the Mother story, probably. Though, admittedly, sad to see Kid Loki go.

Avengers 10, New Avengers 5, Uncanny Avengers 7

Avengers 10
Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and Martin (c)

One of the things that's been most impressive about this Avengers series so far is the fact that it's a long term story. It's not just a few arcs here and there and maybe an underlying story revealing itself over time. It makes no attempt to hide its main story, the new system that is spreading across Earth, and prefers to keep that in the open while building character bits around that. The last few issues have revolved around the creation of systems and what the systems mean and the Avengers, like the audience, are simply trying to gather information at this point. When you take away the fact that godlike beings on Mars are repurposing the Earth, the story feels more realistic than most comic stories. It's a realism in a major superhero comic that isn't often focused on because it's potentially less exciting. The Avengers are in fact-gathering mode. Maybe my assertions aren't fair to other comics (and don't mistake what I'm saying as a slam for other comics, I'm clearly a big fan of most, it just feels different), which do typically have at least a few issues now and then of set-up or decompression or other things that aren't really big action. That said, there are usually big reveals, showing a villain who's working his way to the hero or plotting against the hero. Maybe that's still happening here, we're just not recognizing the villain. Regardless, it gives the Avengers a different feel. I've talked about how I think the Avengers knows what its doing and doesn't really care if you know just yet; you'll either figure it out or you won't and neither option particularly matters to the book (obviously it matters because Marvel would prefer you keep buying it, but that's beside the point). I'd add to that sentiment that Avengers isn't really making a huge effort to let you in. It's not falling back on normal superhero book standards, throwing the obvious villain in to lure you into the book or giving you familiar faces for fan service. Everyone is there for a reason and Avengers doesn't particularly care if you know what that reason is. I think it's really incredible and it's exactly what a book like Avengers should be doing right now. The Avengers and Marvel have never been so popular. This is your flagship book in a lot of ways. Test the waters a bit. Very exciting.
The issue revolves around the suicide of a SHIELD agent who had accompanied the Avengers (under permission of Canada's Department H) to the new system in Regina, Canada. That system is the one Ex Nihilo deemed the "evolution" system. Heroes under Department H's jurisdiction had already gone in to see what was happening and had largely been killed. The Avengers are sent in, along with the SHIELD agent Michaud, and find a forest area instead of the city they'd expected. While in there, something happens that startles them enough to not tell SHIELD about it. Validator, who'd led the mission for the Canadian heroes, is still kind of alive, but has evolved beyond what she was into something new. She whispers something into Michaud's ear (we find out later that Michaud was her father), everything goes black, and the Avengers get out. Upon leaving, Michaud shoots himself in the head. Wolverine later explains to Manifold and Smasher that Michaud had decided that whatever he'd seen or heard in there was worth more as a secret than his life was. We find out that they had seen evolution in there, with everyone watching themselves evolve into something new (in many cases, this means everyone sees themselves aging or getting new uniforms down the line, but some things are more drastic, like Falcon seeing himself transforming into something far more bird-like). Validator told Michaud that the system was online. Another interesting issue that shows the power Ex Nihilo has used on the Earth. There are also some great little character pieces (like Falcon telling Captain America that he's going to feel really bad flying away when the little aliens inside the system lure them all into a trap and kill them, to which Cap requests Falcon say nice things at the funeral) and a great definition of SHIELD's relationship with the Avengers (SHIELD lies, the Avengers withhold, there's little trust and no reason for it). Very neat little issue on a neat little book. As always, this review has come in far longer than I expected it to and it's just one of three. Bad formatting, Tim.

New Avengers 5
Hickman (w) and Epting and Magyar (a) and D'Armata (c)

This book continues to be stunning. The story, the art, the characters, it's all a nearly perfect book in my mind. We learn a bit about the Black Swan in this issue as Panther allows her out of the cage he's kept her in. She has only stayed in it because of a high yield bomb she discovered underneath it, though Panther gives another to her on a necklace as he frees her from the cage. She explains that the incursions of worlds has always been happening and will always happen, as they are a sacrifice to the great destroyer Rabum Alal. Her world was destroyed long ago, but she was able to escape through a passage in her world to a sort of way station to the multiverse (since destroyed). There she was raised by the Black Swans (now scattered) and taught about Rabum Alal. She has destroyed worlds to escape her death. Her goal at this point, and why she's chosen willingly to help the Illuminati, is simply to stay alive. She says that one of the ways to avoid everyone on the planet dying is called "Shading the Apocalypse." It's the "eighth way" and involves evacuating the world and destroying it completely. She says it's the cowardly way, but chosen often and, in fact, often orchestrated by other Henry McCoys. More on that in a second. The team wants to hear more of the ways to avoid the incursions but before they can continue, she senses another incursion and their infinity gems light up. The cliffhanger for the next issue? The newest incursion site is Latveria.
The tension builds after the team allows Galactus to destroy another world, though capturing Terrax in the process. He remains an option for them, they think, in terms of getting information. A showdown with Doctor Doom leaves the book open to go in many different directions, all of them pretty interesting. More interesting is the characterization of so many of these characters, particularly given how much plot is going on around them. Every character is written very specifically, to the point where Panther interrupted Reed from off-panel just saying "no" and you knew it was Panther talking. The timing, saying 'no' at the point in the discussion he did, and the brevity he speaks with all play a role in characterizations of all the characters. Perhaps most compelling so far (other than, I'd say, Panther simply because he's always the most compelling character whenever he's around) is Beast. Beast has been remarkably quiet since his introduction to the team only a few issues ago. Beast is often written as very talkative, though clearly brilliant. He certainly comes across as more lighthearted than most of these characters (save maybe Tony) in almost every other appearance. However, it doesn't feel like a poorly written Beast. On the contrary, it's a seemingly perfect fit for the character, one who has seen the mutant race decimated and reborn at the cost of one of his best childhood friends killing his mentor and losing control of himself. One of his first lines in the series was telling Captain America that Cap was asking the man who had seen his race decimated if he would make the morally right choice no matter the cost. It was very defining dialogue for him and the fact that he's keeping so quiet is even more defining. When Black Swan tells him that the name "Beast" is famous in the "great game of worlds," he isn't struck by the horror of his other selves destroying worlds to save his own, nor is he impressed by them. He only asks if it would save his universe. It's brilliant characterization to keep him quiet except when he's needed to speak, not launching into the sorts of jargon-filled speeches he normally goes into. Just another example of a wonderful book.

Uncanny Avengers
Remender (w) and Acuña (a and c)

Three different Avengers books reviewed today (and released today, though my next review today will have the two other Avengers-related books, not including A+X so holy crap, there are a lot of books out today) and three completely different feels to all of them. Even between Hickman's two books, no tone feels exactly the same (I wouldn't have said that about the last volumes of Avengers and New Avengers) and each, instead, represents a very different team facing a very different threat. Now Uncanny Avengers (I consider these three the main Avengers books, with Young Avengers and Avengers Arena sitting in the backseat; not because they're lesser books because I love them both, but because none of them feature anyone who you'd consider a main Avenger, nor do they claim to) comes in and continues to feel a little like an older style story in the telling. There is a bit more exposition and it comes largely in the form of narrative captions. It's a completely different feel from the other two Avengers books but still totally fits its story and art. It's, truth told, a little jarring to switch from one Avengers book to the next to the next, but it's all totally worthwhile. Also, what's the deal with the Celestials popping up everywhere?
As the Horsemen of Apocalypse accompany Genocide (Apocalypse's son) to be deemed the new Apocalypse by a Celestial, they are shocked to learn that the twin children of Pestilence and Archangel (from his time in Remender's Uncanny X-Force as the new Apocalypse) have indeed survived and are coming to claim their birthright (they would be next in line for Apocalypse-dom, as Archangel was the most recent Apocalypse. This terminology is getting very confusing and I apologize for that. I guess you should probably just read Remender's X-Force). They attack and kill the Celestial (not an easy thing to do, despite what the X-Termination event opened with) and attack the horsemen who resist them (War and Famine). They offer Genocide the chance to serve them as their new Death, but he is mad about them stealing his spotlight and about how they just killed a Celestial. Valid concerns. Anyway, they head towards the Peak, headquarters of SWORD. Meanwhile, Alex tries to bench Rogue, keeping her out of the spotlight and on the hunt for Magneto while her killing of Grim Reaper (the charges were cleared as she acted in self-defense) fades away but does so with very little success. Scarlet Witch and Rogue continue to fight before Scarlet Witch meets privately with Wonder Man, who is in love with her. She pushes off his advances after he opens his all-red eyes. I don't think that's being shallow; if I had to guess it has to do more with the look of Vision or maybe it's her being scared by Wonder Man, WHO KNOWS. Remender, probably. Anyway, they get called by Cap and Sunfire, who are meeting with SWORD about the Celestial death and the oncoming ship. The Unity division is called to aid them but will arrive too late, as the ship crashes into the Peak. Sunfire pushes Cap into an escape pod before regretting his decision to stay behind. Thor, who saw footage of the Apocalypse twins wielding Jarnbjorn, has a whole bundle of regrets himself and takes off away from the UA to go on ahead. It honestly feels like too much happened here to really dive in (as this post is already absurdly long) but the character relationships here are some of the focuses. As I said, it feels like an older story and that relationship aspect definitely comes straight from that feel. The other two Avengers books cares about the way the characters interact but treat them very differently. Avengers has too many moving parts to see the team living together and bonding every day or something and New Avengers has stuck together characters who already have a rapport and are major players in the Universe while also putting them up against a plot too big to leave them with much opportunity to hang out. UA feels like an older Avengers title in the way its told but also in the sense that they're all living together (more or less; it at least feels that way) and in the way their relationships are so far at the forefront. Three very different Avengers titles, all knocking it out of the park at every moment.