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

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of post yesterday. Time got a little bit away from me and suddenly I found myself across state lines and away from my computer watching a truly awful Super Bowl and a truly amazing Captain America: Winter Soldier trailer (why they didn't show the full amazing trailer on television is beyond me but WHATEVER). ANYWAY, here are the picks for this week on this special Monday edition of PICKS.

Superior Spider-Man 26

This one just edges out AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, which was a delightful little romp mixed with seriousness and fun, and THUNDERBOLTS, which I think is hurt a little bit by the fact it's been so good of late that a slightly slower issue looks weaker in comparison but still strong to everything else. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN was a nice travel through three separate storylines expertly guided by Dan Slott and a trio of artists perfectly matched to their portion of the issue. Really nice book, covers a lot of ground and gives us a sense of what we can expect in the coming months leading to the April resurrection of Peter Parker, just in time for May's Amazing Spider-Man 2 (the full trailer of which I also liked more than I thought I would. I think that Garfield's a pretty strong Spider-Man and I like the world they've created about him. Time will tell about the influx of villains and the look of said villains). Should be a nice little time coming up and it's presented and set-up well here.

Uncanny Avengers 16
Another issue separated into three or so storylines but this one with McNiven art throughout (I like Steve McNiven a lot and he's obviously a pro in the industry but I will say I still kind of miss Daniel Acuña after three issues without) and with the storylines merging and separating and merging and separating. I'd also say this has some of the best fighting I've seen in a book in a while with some great Cap moments and some great Thor moments (including Thor yelling "I CARE NOT" about a hundred times at varying degrees of intensity). There's been a lot happening in this book for a long time (Remender can get into some long arcs but they almost always prove worthwhile, as he's shown in books like UNCANNY X-FORCE and CAPTAIN AMERICA) and this issue might be the first time where you can really start to see that there could be an ending. It's been a great story but no story should go un-ended in comics (I know, crazy thing to say considering the nature of comics and the way I'll mourn, for example, the next book on this list). This was one of the books where I came away after reading it and felt like I needed to instantly read it again and make my girlfriend read it so that I could talk to someone about it.

X-Men Legacy 23

Spurrier again manages to do something completely unexpected and pause the game a little bit for something exceedingly necessary in the penultimate issue of David's run. This issue, typically reserved for part of the big battle or the culmination of the big battle or the wind-up of a series, finds David and Ruth finally officially getting together while the fight scene, which envelops much of the world, rages on outside. I don't know that pausing everything for this works with any other book or any other character but it not only works here, after reading the issue it feels like it was the only way this could have gone. It's a great story and, no matter the outcome of the final issue of this epic tale of the world's most powerful mutant, you can't help but adore the fact that David finally got something nice here. Also some wonderful Tan Eng Huat art and some great and appropriately jarring Jose Villarrubia colors to match it. Amazing stuff, waiting with bated breath for the final issue, as everyone should be.

This week's picks

There are five or six books I'm trying to narrow down to three for this week's picks and it seems like, at any moment, any three books could take the spots. It can be frustrating trying to whittle that many books down to three, but the upside, of course, is that I got to read a bunch of really good comics this week. Never going to be upset about that.

Daredevil 26

Daredevil has long been billed "the man without fear" and he almost always lives up to that title. Even if he's losing a fight, he tends to appear unafraid, just angry or depressed. His lack of fear often pushes him to keep fighting. However, here, in Daredevil 26, he is flat out terrified of what's going to happen next. After being soundly defeated by Ikari last issue and told that he'll be killed at some point, Daredevil is seeing threats everywhere. The really great thing, though, is that he's not necessarily wrong. Yes the people he's accusing could be completely innocent and appear to be after he attacks them, but each time something additional happens to show that he wasn't wrong. The issue culminates in a nice Matt/Foggy scene and in the reveal that Bullseye is behind everything. Daredevil gets back on track and finds Bullseye, taking out Lady Bullseye in the process. It's a great examination of everything Matt tries to be and what it takes to make him break. Great issue for comic fans and extra great for Daredevil fans.

X-Men Legacy 11

Like seeing Matt's resolve weaken under all his pressure and strengthen again after Foggy's pep talk, we get a chance to watch David tested over and over, by his own father's brain, by his own feelings about himself, and by the Red Skull. Instead of Matt, whose strength makes him aim to take down the villains he's facing, David's strength means giving up against Red Skull and sacrificing himself to save the world from the future he causes. The writing continues to be tight and David continues to be a perfectly broken protagonist. One of the great things about this issue is that it turns the expectations about comics on its head. As David keeps getting opportunities to turn tail or to discover that the facility he wants to use is, in fact, evil, his resolve continues not to break and he continues to want the chance to take his powers out. In every other comic that Marvel puts out, the hero MIGHT have made it this far, but then would have fought Red Skull and tried to think of another way or something. In this case, everything that piles up makes David say "I don't care, someone will deal with you eventually, the pill works, I want it." It's really brilliant and such a twist if simply because it's what he had wanted all along and he stuck to it. It's a twist without a twist. Fantastic.

Young Avengers 5

I like everything that happened in this issue. There's a lot of really fun stuff and anything that could be construed as cheesy is pointed out to be cheesy right away, before the reader can do it himself. What really boosts this book over other books this week like Avengers or Fantastic Four or Journey into Mystery or Superior Spider-Man is the Loki discussion that it generates. Loki finally reveals himself to the audience to be the original Loki posing as the much more lovable and kind of trustworthy kid Loki but there's a twist; kid Loki is still there as Loki's conscience of sorts (he points out that he's not real, of course, but he's still in there). For anyone who loved Gillen's run on Journey into Mystery (if you didn't, maybe go read all of it this instant), there's tons to be excited about going forward. There are lots of directions to go with this series and with these kids and with Loki. The book jumped right in and clearly intends to keep at this level even as the first arc winds down. This is a near perfect book for anyone. I would recommend this title to any comic reader and to a whole lot of non-comic readers.


Best Cover

Again, a lot of good ones out there. Superior Spider-Man had a weirdly haunting cover, Daredevil's cover is more beautiful Samnee art and Young Avengers is a really neat concept well executed by McKelvie. However, this run of X-Men Legacy covers have kind of blown me away one after another and manages to continue to do so here. It's a great image of David sliding on a bunch of pills, a bit out of control, as the pills form up to make the Red Skull. It highlights everything that needs to be highlighted that will come in the story and that the character is going through without giving the whole book away. Also, the art is solid on it and the very basic color scheme makes the image stand out even more.

This week's picks!

Bit of a hectic week, what with my vacation and all. Still got it in just under the wire though and now, to complete the week (the morning that I start the new week), let's delve into my overall picks. I think I want to add a couple things to the "this week's picks" posts. Not a hundred percent sure what that's going to be yet. I'm thinking at least of highlighting favorite covers or art or something. I don't know. Maybe favorite scene. Maybe a favorite panel. I don't know. Maybe I'll do a few things. Or maybe I'll pick three comics and I'll be done. I guess we'll all have to wait and see, hm?

Captain America 6

This was a tricky pick for me. Obviously I'm biased where ever Cap is concerned but even with that, it's hard for me to point to this issue and say it was the best issue I've read of this series. I don't know that it is (not that that would mean it's undeserving of this list) and I'm not sure it beats out some of the other strong books this week. However, it stuck with me more than any other book this week and it was the one that I most constantly looked back on. Actually, all three books I've chosen this week are ones that, after I finished reading (and I read each of them twice), I found myself thinking back to at any given moment. For this book, it was the angry Cap characterization I talked about at length in my review. I've talked about how much I like this book and how I appreciate the desire to look at Cap from different angles. He's been around for seventy years, it's not easy to come up with no approaches to the character. However, it's strange that simply "being angry" counts as a new approach. Make no mistake though, it definitely does. And it comes off strongly but appropriately in this issue. I think the next issue will be more on that lines with Cap angrier than ever and possibly crossing a few lines here. It's exciting territory for Remender to enter with Steve. And this book might stick with me more than it sticks with others simply because I like Cap over most other heroes but the fact is it still stuck.

Daredevil 25

Like with Captain America, this book stuck with me because it featured the lead character feeling something new. Not necessarily entirely new for his long history (as with Captain America) but new enough and one that's not typically seen out of the main character. Cap got angry. Daredevil gets scared. This is the issue we've been building up to for a long time now. In fact, we're not all the way there even yet, but we've gotten right to the breaking point. Now Matt has to deal with a mysterious figure in the shadows who knows everything about him and knows everything about his powers. On top of that, he's created Ikari, a near-clone of Daredevil but with sight on top of all his other enhanced senses. It begs the question of whether or not Ikari's sight is also enhanced. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it just begged me that question. I don't know. Anyway, it's interesting to see Matt paired up against someone who matches him so completely. It's not like Bullseye, who is as obsessive as Daredevil and maybe just a hair more unhinged. Ikari's powers are exactly like Matt's because they are Matt's, only Matt didn't anticipate how good he'd be with them. On top of that, the art continues to be fantastic and the colors match the book perfectly. It's particularly impressive because I didn't feel, reading it, that Matt was conveniently toned down in his abilities or anything of that nature, or that Ikari was getting impossibly lucky. It felt like Matt came in strong and was just outmanuevered. Maybe he would have been more successful if he didn't start off as confident, but that's how Matt would have entered the fight. It's another great issue and it's another great demonstration of how Waid understands the character.

X-Men Legacy 9

Another great entry for X-Men Legacy that proves what Spurrier and this book are capable of. It starts with a reference to Watchmen, a fitting reference that connects David to Dr. Manhattan and asks a well-informed comic audience what it would take for David and his power to disconnect from humanity in the same sorts of way that Jon Osterman did. The book then promptly goes on to ask if killing a once-hero to possibly save hundreds of mutants IF David's visions are accurate. We tend to believe David, as he's our focal point for this book and we know he's capable of powers that would allow him to accurately see the future, but it's worth questioning. Even if it IS true, is Ruth wrong in saying that they can't stop Aarkus before he comes to Earth? Is there no other way? You could start trying to get into it a little deeper, asking if maybe David couldn't have tried a little harder. Yes, he needs to stop Aarkus from destroying mutants. Yes, if all else fails, maybe it's worth incapacitating him to do it. And yes, it does seem Aarkus has gone a bit mad without any sort of filter, anyone to bounce his ideas off of and talk to. But he's not so far removed that David couldn't have maybe brought this to Wolverine and Wolverine couldn't have simply checked in with Cap and said "hey, your old bud the first Vision? We're not totally sure on this, but we think he might hate mutants. Could you maybe check with him and see? Maybe stop him from genocide, if you could? Thanks." But, at the same time as I say that, there's a voice in me screaming that David wouldn't think like that, that he wouldn't bring the X-Men or Captain America into it. It's entirely possible that he wouldn't dig into Aarkus' history beyond the basics. So now he's the judge and it's definitely worth Ruth asking how he could think himself worthy of that weight. Another great issue.

Best cover:

This was actually a really tough one. I went in thinking it was going to be one book, then remembered a handful of other worthy covers (including both X-Men Legacy, which always deserves mention for its cover, and Daredevil) and then ULTIMATELY decided to go against even my first thought (Venom), only to settle on this one. I've really liked the Thunderbolts covers so far and I've loved the color scheme of the team. This matchup of the brutality and tension between Deadpool and Punisher while also perfectly fitting in with this line of covers and the colors the book has centered on. Making the background the standard T-bolts red too was an interesting choice but it worked really well. Deadpool is still defined well enough and both his belt-buckle logo and Punisher's bloody shirt stand apart enough to draw attention to the images. On top of that, it definitely draws the eye to the cover and gives people an idea of what's to come. For those not reading the book, there's still not really a way for this cover to attract attention. Exciting cover.

This week's picks!

I say this a lot but this was a pretty hard week to pick. Here's the thing: there weren't any huge standouts this week. There was no book that I read this week that I put down and thought "that book's one of the best this week. It doesn't matter what else I read, this makes the top three." That doesn't mean books weren't good; in fact, that's rather the problem. Plenty of books were good, but around the same level of good. So I decided to take one from three different areas this week.

Young Avengers

I didn't really know I was going to pick this over Uncanny Avengers for the Avengers area until I just wrote it down. It was a big toss-up. I liked a lot of what happened in Uncanny and I like some of the nods towards tradition that I saw. However, Young Avengers steals it with a great, fun feel and phenomenal art. It's tough for anyone to compete with Jamie McKelvie's art when I'm the one making the decision. We still have yet to see the whole team converge with one another, but we have 4/6 present right now and we saw the other two in the first issue and have heard from Kate texting Billy in the last couple. Really fun issue with a lot of interesting developments, especially with Loki admittedly playing the Tyrion Lannister role and presenting a case why he should be given Billy's reality-twisting powers for a few minutes. It's not easy (nor probably wise) to trust him but do the Young Avengers have a choice?




X-Men Legacy 8

My intent all along had been to pick Astonishing X-Men over Legacy to represent the X-corner of the Universe. I found Astonishing X-Men, the second chapter of the X-Termination event, to be pretty exciting, even if it was a little crowded. As someone who should know everyone in that book, I came in with something of an advantage, but still found myself unsure of everyone's motivation. Still, the book was a very fast read and certainly enjoyable. It's set itself up for a solid event. However, at the end of the day, X-Men Legacy continues to be the book I find myself talking about and thinking about most. I really like the idea of Santi Sardina's power and I think it's a perfect example of the way David wants to change the world. Throwing in the drama between the monster in David's head and the Charles Xavier there just made the book that much more exciting. I love a lot of what this book is doing and I find myself consistently pleased with it. I'm excited to see where the book plans on going; will David continue to find himself in little once-off scenarios or will the arc that's dying to be told bubble up to the surface soon? We'll have to wait and see.

Fantastic Four 5AU

Unlike X-Termination, I'm not totally sold on the Age of Ultron event. Obviously I have some personal biases here (considering the writer for the event and the characters he's chosen to kill in the event of late) but the truth is I'm having some trouble understanding the weight of an event like this. I like big, grand stories as much as the next person but this one seems like it's a little too grand, especially since there's a whole universe of other things happening. Don't get me wrong, I'd be infinitely more upset by this event if every book had to take a couple issues out to tie-in, but that does have a certain appeal. Now it just feels weird and misplaced. However, the tie-in Fantastic Four issue gave the event more weight than I think even the main book could. Suddenly it feels like it's set in the regular Marvel Universe. Suddenly it feels like there are real consequences. Suddenly it feels like people are affected by this event. Fraction did a great job to show the team off as the family they are. The losses in the eyes of the children are an easy way to understand how meaningful this event would be in this universe even if, as readers, we're jaded by the fifteen events we seem to get per year. Great tie-in issue that really went out of its way to stabilize the event some.