New Warriors 11, She-Hulk 9

New Warriors 11

The Eternals have picked up the fight against the New Warriors on behalf of the High Evolutionary, making things infinitely more difficult for the young team. Justice gets dragged away to the Arctic Circle, trying desperately to explain to his captor that they just want to save everyone while Jake Waffles mourns the loss of Mr. Whiskers and the rest of the New Warriors gets pummeled or otherwise captured. Only Zuras of the Eternals, though, seems complicit in the actual plan, the rest of the Eternals clearly think something else is happening, with Zuras keeping them from the truth. Meanwhile, Justice comes to in the Arctic Circle, ready to rush back to the High Evolutionary's ship and get his team back.

It's a huge loss for the New Warriors here but the pieces sure are in place for an outstanding comeback. Yost and Burnham work together here to build our characters up while also developing the plot into something familiar but exciting. The key to making a familiar story worth reading is developing characters that the reader cares about and Yost has spent this whole series making sure that's true. Even the least developed character (probably Water Snake) matters and you care about what happens to her. In the spotlight in this one is Speedball, whose inner monologue keeps fighting but wonders if maybe this isn't for the best, as he recognizes that this is the second massive tragedy he's been at the start of. Poor guy. There's something for everyone and the book is doing a great job of keeping the stakes raised even as the end nears.

Total Score: 5/5


She-Hulk 9

The day in court goes rather badly as prosecutor Matt Murdock plays his cards the right way and keeps She-Hulk off-balance. We hear the charges lodged against Steve Rogers, part of a deathbed confession that accuses Steve of getting the recently deceased man's brother killed back before Steve was Captain America. The plaintiff, Harold Fogler, said that he had gotten in with some bad guys out on the West Coast while his smarter, more gifted brother studied to be a doctor back in Brooklyn. When his brother caught wind of the things Harold was getting up to, he made his way west with his friend Steve to try to get Harold home, only to get the two of them captured by the bad guys. Steve, of course, refuses to be silenced and his insistence on demanding the bad guys do the right thing leads to said bad guys shooting Harold's brother. Harold had kept his mouth shut even after Steve became Cap because he recognized that Cap was good, but he always believed Steve to be the reason his family had suffered for so long. As the day in court ends, She-Hulk isn't feeling great about the whole case and tries to train Steve for the stand, though Steve is prepared to go up and tell the truth without concern. Daredevil comes to visit She-Hulk at night, asking her to take a run with him. They run through the city as Matt tells Jen that he had declined the case, basically laughing in the face of the plaintiff, but that he warned Steve a case might be coming, whereupon Steve asked Matt to take the case and argue it to the best of his ability. Annoyed, She-Hulk heads back home and, the next day, calls Steve on to the stand, only to have him immediately say that everything Fogler said was true, to the frustration of his lawyer.

Rounding out this week's "soon-to-end" books, SHE-HULK once more brings forward a story and several characters that we can immediately care about and that we can be entertained by. I talked in this week's AVENGERS review about how I'm having trouble with the take on Steve, not because I think it's impossible and a terrible character change, but just because it takes his good qualities and pushes them too far, making them stubborn, bad qualities. Here his good qualities are on full display and they're pushed to, for She-Hulk, a frustrating place but still a ridiculously good one. It's the idea that his goodness will get him in trouble versus the idea that his goodness could turn into bitterness and obsession. While I think both ideas are potentially valid (when placed in the right stories), I much prefer reading this one, which also hinges on the humor of She-Hulk rolling her eyes and continually being taken aback by the way Steve does things. Soule and Pulido put in the perfect ending to this issue as Steve takes the stand and ignores She-Hulk's urging to tell his side of the story, instead saying that everything in Fogler's account is accurate, eliciting a gritted teeth "COME ON" from She-Hulk. Great moment, really excellent and fun book.

Total Score: 5/5

Comics this week

Shorter week than last on new releases, which is pretty neat, but I'm not altogether too excited by the slate of releases, which is less neat. Should I maybe keep that to myself in the future? Feels like it gives away some personal biases that you all surely already know.

Amazing X-Men 12
I dunno, this one's been pretty neat since the inimitable Chris Yost took over. Probably one of the biggest Wendigo events I've ever seen. Anyway, it's been pretty cool and it's a short week and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to send in the ringers on this one (HINT: I rarely plan these out. This is what two years of this blog does to me).

Avengers 37
Do I remember what's happening in this series? No. Of course I don't. I bet it's related to AXIS? WAIT. I do remember, it's eight months later, Sunspot is pulling the strings on the Avengers and on AIM, which are both, suddenly, under the same umbrella. Despite that first sentiment above, I have been enjoying these issues. I just have a bad memory and it's late.

New Warriors 11
Beating out AXIS despite a strong last issue, NEW WARRIORS has been knocking it out of the park since its start and it's time (read: too late) to shine a bigger light on it. Know how I mentioned I like Chris Yost above? I really like Chris Yost and I don't understand how his books don't survive. They're constantly really well-written and a lot of fun. Also, the good will this guy built up from Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes might make him untouchable in my mind.

She-Hulk 9
This too is beating out AXIS since I remembered the last issue ended with She-Hulk preparing to defend Steve Rogers on the stand against none other than Matt Murdock as the prosecutor. Twists and turns abound. This is another book that's regularly been good but hasn't outshined a lot of its competition. Wrong time, wrong place, I suppose. But it's here now!

X-Force 11
I reread X-FORCE 10 a couple days ago and it was still great. This book has been one that I regularly reread and find myself enjoying even more, which should come as a surprise to my readers if only because I won't shut up about this series even on the first read-through. Maybe it won't be a surprise, though, because I also won't shut up about that X-MEN LEGACY book by Si Spurrier so, shocker, I love this one too. This one I predicted I'd love and features one of my favorite writers from the last year and a handful of great characters. Spoilers?

Death of Wolverine 4, Death of Wolverine - Logan's Legacy 1

Death of Wolverine 4

Wolverine arrives at Dr. Cornelius' laboratory to find the doctor majorly behind the Weapon X program and responsible for his adamantium skeleton has been trying to perfect his technique on what would be a fully controllable, adamantium, healing army, claiming that he wants to better the world in a way he couldn't with Wolverine. He derides Wolverine as simply a killer, even named after the only animal (aside from man) that kills for pleasure, and explains that he doesn't want his legacy to be making a killer better at killing. His problem so far, and why he's wanted Wolverine and others, is that he can't seem to perfect the healing factor the would-be soldiers need to survive the adamantium. Of course, that doesn't go so hot since Wolverine no longer has his healing factor and, after he puts down Cornelius' protection, forcing Cornelius to flee, he destroys the machines, causing the last of the adamantium Cornelius has secured and re-used for hundred of experiments to pour out over him. He grabs the last syringe of passable healing factor Cornelius has been using and follows Cornelius to the roof, where his getaway chopper pilot bails before the wounded Cornelius can follow him. Cornelius bleeds out on the roof asking what Wolverine has ever done besides kill. As the adamantium hardens on our hero, he decides he did enough, looking into the sun as he solidifies.

Wolverine has always been defined by a number of things, particularly his animal nature and the Weapon X program. Soule and McNiven crafted Wolverine's death story with that in mind and, as such, gave us a final Wolverine story befitting the well-loved dark and mysterious hero. It's a story that allows Wolverine to go out unquestionably as the hero, destroying a mad scientist's attempts at making an unstoppable army and ensuring no one else goes through what he's gone through, while doing it quietly, succeeding in a way that, as Wolverine himself says it, is enough. Most hero deaths, when they happen, happen in front of witnesses, ranging from the many to the few but always with shocked onlookers. Instead, Wolverine, despite the impact he's had (which we're going to see in great length all across the Marvel Universe in the coming weeks), dies silently, away from everyone he knows and loves. And it works really, really well. Great work by Soule and McNiven and though all the makings are there for his inevitable rebirth, it's the kind of death story that has meaning and works thematically with the character so well that you can understand why Marvel was willing to do it.

Total Score: 5/5


Death of Wolverine - Logan's Legacy 1

Someone has captured Daken, X-23, Sabretooth, Mystique, and Lady Deathstrike and, supposedly, implanted them with a number of trigger words that should effectively control them. Together with their mysterious benefactor, they're meant to get to the bottom of a few secrets behind Wolverine's death.

Okay, this one wasn't nearly so great. It's just...the thing is, this one is so weird. I don't know if it's hindered by the slowed release schedule or if it was just planned to have a weird first issue, but it's unlike anything I've ever seen. The issue teases moments and character changes still to happen in this series. I legitimately wasn't sure of this and thought that maybe we were being shown clips from some infinite comic I hadn't read or something but no, it seems like it's just previewing issues to come. I...I don't get it. I mean, I get it to a point, but I don't think it's a good storytelling technique and it feels like it really doesn't benefit this series in any way. I'm hoping the next few issues will be better as they'll likely be in a more standard format. This one's just so strange though.

Total Score: 1/5

Inhuman 5, Ms. Marvel 8

Inhuman 5

The former king of Attilan, whose name has been stricken from the records and is referred to now as the Unspoken for the crimes he committed, has proposed to Medusa in the hopes of helping her lead New Attilan, though really to find more Terrigen. She, of course, rejects him, but does not imprison him, hoping to live up to her new welcoming stance and to find out the location of Black Bolt, which the Unspoken claims to know. As soon as he's left alone, the Unspoken enters a secret passageway which leads to a secret wealth of Terrigen, a depleted but extremely important resource for the Inhuman community and the source of the Unspoken's powers. Medusa, of course, never trusted the Unspoken and followed him down there in the hopes he would lead her to more Terrigen, assuming if anyone knew of any, it would be him. Unfortunately, he's able to take some of the Terrigen, allowing him to access his tremendous powers (he can pretty much do anything when he has the Terrigen) and he quickly takes over the city.

I've talked a lot about how the biggest flaw of this book is simply the timing. After numerous delays on the front end, this book is coming out about a year after the Terrigen Bomb went off in INFINITY, leaving Soule tasked with defining the past of the Inhumans, establishing the present of the Inhumans, and seeding for the future of the Inhumans, all while trying to do it quickly to keep up an overall series pace. The story itself is pretty interesting and the characters, when given a chance to breathe, can mostly hold their own, but the pacing tends to break down a bit as exposition wins out occasionally, like in this issue when Medusa gives a paragraph explanation of the Unspoken that is clearly only for the benefit of the reader and ends up being clunky and forced in the moment. I want to note here, because I don't think I ever really stress this, that isn't necessarily a dig at the writer; it's his job to tell a story and get people to understand that story and take interest in that story. It may even be an editor saying "hey, we need to explain who this guy is and we don't really have time to ease it out." Regardless of whose fault it is, though, it ends up hurting the book as a whole and it happens a couple of times. Hopefully the series will reach its potential as Soule gets the book to a place where he can feel confident just pressing forward.

Total Score: 3/5


Ms. Marvel 8

Ms. Marvel is having no luck finding leads back to the Inventor but is having luck finding giant Inhuman dogs as Lockjaw finds his way to Jersey and Kamala promptly adopts him. She and Bruno use the Facebook of the mutant teenager Wolverine had been looking for to try to learn more about her abduction. They use the location tracking on her last weird post to find where she was abducted and Kamala learns that Lockjaw is more than just a giant dog who likes hugs as he teleports her instantly to the spot. Together, Kamala and Lockjaw investigate the area and end up in a fight against one of the Inventor's big machines, this time powered by one of the kids she found at the house in Greenville. They take down the machine by removing the power source and she brings the protesting guy to the hospital, making her late for school and drawing more suspicion from her friends and classmates. That suspicion, sadly, isn't allayed as the Inventor sends another bot after Kamala at school after dropping a homing beacon in her bag. Will Kamala and the extremely helpful and great Lockjaw be able to save the school and keep her identity secret? Going to be particularly hard as Kamala can't seem to change her appearance!

Another great team-up as Lockjaw finds his way to Kamala on the orders of Medusa. Though he inspires fear and alarm in everyone else who sees the massive dog walking down the street, Kamala instantly takes to him, giving us another great look at the spirit and character of Kamala. One of the most impressive things about this series is that it feels like Kamala has been around forever, even if the story feels new. It's a testament to G. Willow Wilson's writing that Kamala feels so real and deep after just eight issues. Perhaps more interestingly, I'm not a hundred percent sold on the story or the series villain and I'm still totally onboard with this book as a whole. I think there's certainly still intrigue there for the story and villain but that's been a little less defined than Kamala so far, intentionally so but still potentially problematically. However, Kamala carries the book so adeptly that you're absolutely willing to give the plot a pass for a while, happily entertained by the characters in the book.

Total Score: 5/5

Death of Wolverine 1, Rocket Raccoon 3

Death of Wolverine 1

Wolverine, on the recommendation of Reed Richards, has removed himself a bit from the heroing life while Richards tries to work on a way to reboot his healing factor. Unfortunately, the world doesn't stop moving just because Logan tries to step away from it. He finds himself on the wrong end of a bounty and suddenly has a number of interested mercenaries trying to cash in. One such merc is failed super soldier Nuke, who tracks Wolverine to the woods of British Columbia. Wolverine, who has already faced down a number of these mercs successfully, despite the toll it's taken on him, manages just barely to survive a fight with Nuke and learns that the bounty requires he be brought in alive and that the price on his head decreases the longer the bounty is out, making it a race for everyone interested. He also learns that it was placed by Viper, who also has Sabretooth in chains.

Strong first entry to the DEATH OF WOLVERINE event that seems primed to stand in the tradition of OLD MAN LOGAN sorts of stories (even going so far as to have McNiven still at the art helm). The problem with a shared universe, of course, is that Nuke has so recently had a big appearance in CAPTAIN AMERICA so I'm reading the whole thing trying to ignore that my brain is like "wait, Nuke's dead unless this is before the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA which would kind of make sense except that Steve's old now and I bet old Steve and Wolverine have appeared together since but maybe they haven't which would mean that this could all happen before that and that could be a link between...you know what, never mind." I don't like that my brain does that and I don't think it's fair that a single book be tied to the rest of the universe in a way it can't really help (though nothing specifically "Nuke" happens so it feels like they could have put any merc in his role and avoided all the confusion). Still, pretty good start as Charles Soule sets out to kill one of the most beloved Marvel heroes.

Total Score: 4/5


Rocket Raccoon 3

Rocket, Groot, and Macho attempt to fight off Rocket's ex-girlfriends, still unsure who they're fighting and why, when Macho uses one of his fish-themed escape plans to get them safely out of harm's way and on to Funtzel's home planet, which, coincidentally, puts them back in harm's way. However, the harm isn't too worrisome as Rocket quickly destroys Funtzel's guards and makes it to his compound to ask him a few questions. He knows that the guard who was shot by the impostor raccoon was one of Funtzel's men and figures Funtzel has done some sort of investigating to find the perpetrator, which is accurate. Funtzel says that he's barely gotten any answers back, just references of some tower and the book of Half-World, which astonishes Rocket though Funtzel calls it a fairytale. Before Rocket can tear into him for a perceived slight, the lights in the compound go off and Rocket investigates, finding the impostor raccoon on sight with Groot tied up behind him.

I've said it already but this one hundred percent feels like the book Skottie Young wants to be writing. It's often very rare that you see such a chemistry between a writer/artist and an idea but this book is so very clearly straight out of Young's imagination and Marvel should be lauded for letting him do his thing. A quick scroll through Young's website and his other work shows such a depth of ideas and creativity that would almost be wasted by just having him illustrating a book. Of course, he's a phenomenal illustrator so it's never a waste to "just have him illustrate," as if that's a minor achievement, but you see books like this or his sketchbooks or his warm-up sketches and you can kind of see how many stories he has wanting to get out. Here he's set Rocket out on his own, far away from the rest of the Marvel Universe, so it's very nearly acting like an indie book, which is very rare for a comic to do. Really strong stuff and extremely fun. It's not the kind of book I'll mention in the same breath as the heady and introspective HAWKEYE or X-MEN LEGACY or something like that because it's not going for that sort of feel, but it's certainly one that I'll recommend to anyone anywhere and would be astonished if they don't like it.

Total Score: 5/5

THUNDERBOLTS ending with 32

Sad news out of the October solicits this week as it's been announced that THUNDERBOLTS 32, by writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and artist Kim Jacinto, will be the last of the series. I've really enjoyed this series, particularly since Soule took over and so far I've enjoyed Acker and Blacker's run (one issue by the time of writing this post, though issue two of their run comes out THIS VERY DAY) so I find myself particularly sad to see this happening, though not entirely surprised. I think we've been fortunate to get even 32 issues out of this one so there's not a lot of room to complain. Hopefully this acts as something of a test run for Acker and Blacker and that they have more opportunities in coming days.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier ongoing, Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy mini announced

Couple of news announcements this week out of Marvel and they're pretty big ones (well, one is. The other is fairly predictable). The first is the announcement of a new ongoing, BUCKY BARNES: THE WINTER SOLDIER. Writer Ales Kot (SECRET AVENGERS, IRON PATRIOT) and artist Marco Rudy (MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN, NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL) plan to take Bucky all around the Marvel Universe, having him do his spy work anywhere and everywhere. It's an interesting move, one that was certainly bound to happen given the success of the movie and the success of the character, even pre-movie. I'm still lukewarm on Kot, not enjoying his SECRET AVENGERS pretty much at all but finding myself liking IRON PATRIOT. On the other hand, I'm already anything but lukewarm on Marco Rudy, absolutely loving MK SPIDER-MAN and his recent Dr. Strange-centric NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL. It'll be interesting. BUCKY BARNES: WINTER SOLDIER is set to debut in October.

The other new announcement is the follow-up to the anticipated DEATH OF WOLVERINE series later this year with a mini-series entitled DEATH OF WOLVERINE: THE LOGAN LEGACY. A seven-issue mini set to run through October, November, and December, will alternate creative teams, placing the focus on various villains, mostly (with a nod to X-23). The first and the final issue will both be written by DEATH OF WOLVERINE scribe Charles Soule. It has drawn comparisons to the post-Captain America death book FALLEN SON. So that's two more new books coming with big, long titles, because apparently Marvel doesn't care about bloggers who have limited tag-space on a given post.

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

Lotta good books out there this week. Makes it tricky to pick the top three and it's helped none by the fact that so many books got full 5 star reviews from me, even some that didn't necessarily strike me as much as others (technical five stars count just as much as gut-feeling ones! That's all this is, really, gut feelings! And maybe I should stop bringing that up so much!). HOWEVER, as there were so many good books this week, I want to shine a light on a few different books, worthy of this list but would undoubtedly be unseated by the likes of BLACK WIDOW and MOON KNIGHT (both of which I do still wholeheartedly recommend). So let's talk about some different books this time.

New Warriors 4

NEW WARRIORS has an interesting story and some compelling characters, enough so that it would warrant a look even without the strong writing and art. Simply put, it feels like a book that's doing everything right so far. This one is certainly more of an all ages book than some of the other books/team books that are coming out right now (though parents be forewarned that there are some bleeped out swears here and there, mostly from Kaine, so if that's something you worry about your kids seeing, maybe read through the book yourself first, or maybe do that anyway?) but there's still plenty there for everyone. The characters are all worth learning about and the team has set itself up as something fairly diverse without going for blatant diversity. The book is the whole package, story, characters, writing, art, and everything else. Strong, strong book.

Punisher 5

There were a number of really fast-reading books out this week that struck a chord because of the pace at which they moved and the way that the art worked with the writing. PUNISHER was a prime example of this and reads extraordinarily well because of it. We're getting some good glimpses of character here and there (although Punisher is perhaps a character more set in his ways than most) and some really interesting story stuff. Mitch Gerads' art feels like a perfect fit for this story and for, really, any Punisher story that's ever happened. As opposed to going the common route of bigger and more cartoonish (that's not what all Punisher artists do but it's one of the directions some artists go in light of such big and brutal stories), Gerads' realism (even in the shape and design of someone like Castle) hits on a very poignant note and carries the series into a spot that lifts the series into another realm.




She-Hulk 4

I continually give Charles Soule a lot of credit for taking THUNDERBOLTS, a book that I thought had a fairly strong premise and a really interesting team but had already gotten bogged down into its own stories, and making it a book that was both exciting and really fun. Now he's jumped on to SHE-HULK and immediately made it his own, giving it the same tone of fun and excitement and real story-telling that's made THUNDERBOLTS such a success (look, I think it's a success, I don't know what the numbers say). Jennifer Walters is a delightful character who gets handed problems and finds ways to solve them. The writing is fun, the characters that support her work well with her, and the art is working wonderfully for the tone. Can't ask for anything more out of a series than that.

THE DEATH OF WOLVERINE limited series announced

With his healing factor gone for nearly a year (by that point), it's time for Wolverine to go into the light. Current THUNDERBOLTS, SHE-HULK, and INHUMANS scribe Charles Soule along with art pro Steve McNiven give us a weekly four-issue limited series called THE DEATH OF WOLVERINE, set to launch September 3rd. In an interview with EW, new X-editor Mike Marts talked about Wolverine being the "eternal victor," someone who doesn't lose a fight because he can always jump back into it before asking what happens now that he can't always get back into it. Soule hopes that the death will feel appropriate to the character and that it will feel like the definitive end to the character. As comic fans, we all know that second "feel like" is kind of the key. This is Wolverine, Captain SellsBooks, so it's hard to imagine he'll stay out for long but this is another in a string of high-profile "deaths" in the Marvel Universe of late, like Captain America, Nightcrawler, Johnny Storm, and, most recently, Spider-Man. All of those mentioned have returned within the last few years but still, that doesn't mean the story of each's death wasn't engaging. We'll see how this one reads in September.

This week's picks

Tricky week this week. There weren't many that were true standouts based on the impact they had or the glee I felt reading them. I toyed with just knocking the "top three" down to one or two but the day I can't figure out three comics worth reading shall be a very sad day indeed. This isn't, then, necessarily the three comics that, if you're going to buy comics, are the ones you should go for (with the exception of MOON KNIGHT). Instead, these are the ones that really went for it this week and certainly are worth mentioning.

Moon Knight 1

A pretty good first entry, giving us a look at our hero and the problems he'll be facing this time out. Of course, they're in the same ballpark as the problems he's dealt with before, but Ellis is taking a slightly different approach to them, giving them an almost more mythological feel to them, which is, of course, a nice move. Shalvey and Bellaire are incredible and the series is off to a solid start. This one should be fun and I'm sure it's going to be one that really makes us think and that will be different than everything we've seen from Moon Knight before.

Punisher 3

This series continues to really press on what makes a solid PUNISHER book. It's raw, it's calculated, it moves with logic and reason, and it's not afraid to get its hands dirty. I don't know that it's in my list of favorite books being released by now (geez PUNISHER, BLACK WIDOW took literally no time to crack that list, it's taking you upwards of three issues) but it would have to be a really phenomenal book to win me over to a PUNISHER solo series. He's not my guy, I get that. With that said, Edmondson's put together a compelling book with an interesting lead and some good supporting characters. Mitch Gerads, for his part, has done a terrific job selling me on LA and on the sort of war Frank is fighting. Keep an eye on this one.

She-Hulk 2

I'm in favor of the SHE-HULK series in just about every aspect. I've immediately come to like Charles Soule (as has, it seems, the entire comic industry, given the raves I've heard about books like SWAMP THING over at DC), I like the idea of more female-led books, I like She-Hulk as a character well enough, and I'm happy to check out Pulido's art. Still though, the book hasn't exactly gripped me the first couple issues out, though it's certainly putting a lot on a book to ask that it work for me right away like I'm expecting. I'm not necessarily asking for that, I think, just stating that this one hasn't burst out of the gate like so much HAWKEYE, BLACK WIDOW, or NEW AVENGERS. Regardless, it's certainly establishing its world and its tone, both of which will be paramount for the book ahead. If it can keep this up and keep pressing, it'll find itself in an awfully favorable position when the stories start hitting.

THUNDERBOLTS writing change

Hey guys, here's some news that is incredibly interesting to me both in who is leaving and who is coming. As CBR reported, Marvel has announced that Charles Soule will be replaced on THUNDERBOLTS by the Bens, Acker and Blacker. That's right, Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, who wrote last year's THUNDERBOLTS ANNUAL and DEADPOOL ANNUAL and are the creators and writers of the amazing and incomparable Thrilling Adventure Hour stage readings and podcast, will be taking over as THUNDERBOLTS writers starting in June. This is mixed for me as I've been a huge supporter of Charles Soule on THUNDERBOLTS. He's taken this book and really turned it into something incredible and massively fun after it started off a really compelling team and a less compelling story. So it's been great and I expect it to continue being great up until June, when the Bens will probably also do great but it may be a different kind of great and will undoubtedly mean that I read someone's voice as Croach the Tracker.

This week's picks

Geez, didn't quite realize how hard these three would be to choose until I actually started to think about it. Sometimes I'm not particularly confident in my pre-game picks so the pull list is pretty up-for-grabs. This week I was totally sure of my pre-game, barring possible freak inexplicably bad issues from really talented creators, so I had a good feeling that was where the picks would go. With the exception of one possibility jumping into the fray, I'm torn. The worst part is I know two of my three picks already. Alphabetically, though, they're the last two and I just hate working out of order. Well, let's see what I decide! It's a journey for ALL OF US!

She-Hulk 1

GUYS, this was a really tough pick and I'm writing these words without knowing if I'm going to use them or delete them later. SHE-HULK beats out, just by a hair, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 27, which gets lots of points for tying together all of its plots and constructing a very interesting upcoming arc to lead us back to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, and WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH, which established an amazing tone and is just a really well-constructed book. SHE-HULK wins the day, though, as it's hard to come away from a first issue with such a good grasp on who this character is and what to expect from this book. I'm not going to say that things won't change or that the book won't be dynamic or anything like that, that we're just going to get this style of issue every time out; quite the opposite, in fact. SHE-HULK shows itself as an interesting and quirky book with a real sense of its main character and of the world she inhabits. I can't imagine how hard it is, though Soule is helped by his many forebears, to take a character who is constantly giant and green (by choice, mind you) and drop her into a real world and make it still relatable and not crazy. Soule does it, though, with absolutely no problems and with a nice little flair for humor and personality through every single character. This book was almost hurt by the next book on the list if only because I don't want to look stupid when I say that "number ones are rarely this good" twice in one post but, hey, whatever, I think I've proven just how stupid I can look already.

X-Force 1

Number ones are rarely this good. This one doesn't have the kind of shock value of the sheer beauty of something like BLACK WIDOW or NEW AVENGERS but it has such a well-defined sense of itself and such a wonderful sense of the narrative that anyone, whether they're new to X-MEN, new to X-FORCE, new to Marvel, or probably even new to comics, can, I would speculate, pick up what's happening in this book so far. Despite the amount of information that kind of comfortability requires, Spurrier makes sure the book isn't loaded with exposition. It leaves us with exactly the right amount of questions and the right tone for this series as it moves forward. Our team is well-established, their purpose even more so. Spurrier even knocks it out of the park with the decision to cast our initial narrator as Marrow, easily the least visible member of the team in recent years. He took the risk of alienating readers by putting in a relative unknown with a relatively unknown point of view and a rather crazed perspective as our narrator and it pays off well, allowing us to understand her better than we would have if it were, say, Psylocke or Cable's more tempered narration, or no narration at all. Rock-He Kim's art flows well with the book and I look forward to the way that Spurrier and Kim continue to improve as they work more and more together. There is, of course, also a measure of trust in this pick. As I said earlier, the book leaves us with exactly the right amount of questions by the end and the trust comes in as I trust Spurrier to eventually reveal those questions before they fade into "does anyone really care any more?" territory. I think one of the big problems with, say, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is that they prodded the watchers to ask so many questions (and like, explicitly told them to ask, unlike something like Lost where the characters were just as in the dark, or lost, even, as the audience) and refused answers that it's gotten fairly monotonous and annoying. I don't want to have to ask questions that I know you have the answers to and that you'll only divulge at the right time. That is, I don't if you don't overstay that time. Like a good mystery novel, the satisfaction is in the figuring it out, not in the asking. I trust Spurrier to lead us to that point because he's done it so masterfully across his other works.

X-Men Legacy 24

If you didn't think this book was going to be on this list after the "review" I posted this week that was less review and more open love letter, I can't help you any more. This is the kind of book that will stay with me for years to come and this issue has been on my mind as much as anything else in the last week. I can't stress enough how much I want you all to read it. I've made just about everyone who's come into contact with me in the last few days read it because I need people to talk to about it or even just to know it exists. Every bit as meaningful as the comic itself was to me, so too was Spurrier's little letter to the audience at the issue's conclusion. There's so much to love about this and it's so hard to be sad that the book's over since, you know, kind of the point of this is that we shouldn't be sad that it's over. David himself told us not to be, you guys. As a whole, this series has been one of the best Marvel, or any publisher out there, has put out in quite some time. David is one of the most well-characterized and, despite all of his power and the scale of his problems, relatable characters I've seen. Check this title out and tell me what you think. Am I overblowing it? Maybe. But I suppose that's my right, isn't it?

This week's picks

There are weeks where I know I'm going to have a tough time working out what books to choose for the top three and know not to make any calls until I've checked them all out and given some time to process. There are also weeks where two books lock in to the top three from the moment I read them and I have to carefully think about the other books to figure out which one is third. This week is the latter.

Daredevil 35

I was wondering how, with only two issues left, DAREDEVIL was going to really shake things up before its relaunch. My fear, especially with the ending of last issue, was that they would kill Foggy. I don't really believe they would but it seemed like we were awfully close to the end and Foggy took a turn for the worse and I just didn't know, okay? This is much better and far less...cheap, I suppose. A character's life is always important, especially one as fundamental to our title as Foggy, but that often means that they could be used to raise the stakes for our hero. Instead, we get Daredevil choosing to turn his whole life upside down to make a play that his enemies won't expect. It's so Daredevil that I can't believe no one's done it before. It feels, now that it's all said and done, so perfect for the man without fear to refuse to be part of the game that the Sons of the Serpent would play with him. It's also nice that Waid's (first) run didn't conclude without seeing Elektra and similarly nice that she was so influential in his decision. Just a really well-told story.

Thunderbolts 20

This book was the one that still, even as I write these words, is trying to fight off other titles to stay on this list. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN was my stand-in pretty much all week for this because of the surprise of the reveal and I can't help wondering if it wouldn't have made the cut if it hadn't been spoiled early in the week. However, there were also some really choppy lines in there that broke flow and maybe a little too much exposition from every angle to keep it up there. In fact, INHUMANITY - SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN might have beat it out if THUNDERBOLTS hadn't, thanks to stellar Chris Gage writing and unbelievable Stephanie Hans art. But THUNDERBOLTS, as it has so often of recent, takes control as it again stands out with its dialogue and characterization. It feels like every line in this book is there for a purpose, that every line advances plot or characterizes someone. Charles Soule is writing a really good book and Marvel has done a solid job finding him artists that match the tone, as Carlos Barberi shows off some skill on this one. Really fun, really engaging title. Check it out.

X-Men Legacy 22

As I said above, there were two books that, from the moment I read them, I knew they'd make the top three. Sometimes you just know. It's a mix of sheer greatness from the book and gut feeling and the level of competition out there for the rest of the week. There was never any doubt with X-MEN LEGACY but even if there had been it certainly still would have garnered serious consideration because, like with most weeks when it's released, LEGACY stuck in my head far longer than any of the other books out this week. I really enjoyed DAREDEVIL and if I think back on it I can recall exactly what happened and what I liked about it. I loved X-MEN LEGACY and I don't have to think back on it because it's pretty much at the front of my mind, days after I read and reviewed it last. This series has turned from one that I loved for its kind of slow burn into one that I love for its immediate impact AND the slow burn as I think about it later in the week. I'm very excited to see how this one wraps up and also a little devastated inside that the hole this book filled will reopen (though hopefully some of the new books launching from Marvel will ease that pain).