What You Should Have Read #1

I'm changing up my comic book review a bit. I read a lot of comics, but I've got very little time during the week to read them, so it's usually the weekend before I can get around to it. So reviews from the previous week will appear on Mondays, and while I probably won't be in time to dissuade you from purchasing something awful, maybe I'll be able to convince you to pick up something on your next trip to the comic shop that passed over the previous week.

So here's the first installment of my review column, What You Should Have Read.

It was a pretty mediocre week for comics. A handful of books came out that I was looking forward to, but nothing really grabbed me while I was reading it or really satisfied me when I was done.

Here’s my reading list:

Adventure Comics #4

Brave and the Bold #29

Flash: Rebirth #5

Justice Society of America 80-Page Giant #1

Outsiders #24

Superman/Batman #66

Amazing Spider-Man #612

Dark Avengers #11

Dark Reign: The List – The Amazing Spider-Man #1

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #5

Incredible Hulk #604

Mighty Avengers #31

Punisher #11

Realm of Kings #1

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1

Spider-Woman #3

Stand: Soul Survivors #2

Thunderbolts #138

War Machine #11

Wolverine: Origins #42

Wolverine: Weapon X #7

X-Men: Legacy #229

Irredeemable #8

Dr. Horrible #1

Out of all of those, I’d have to say the best of the bunch was The Stand, and that’s probably because it’s my favorite book and is adapted perfectly. It’s just like reading the novel, except with pictures. Dark Avengers was pretty good with the Molecule Man facing down each “Avenger” one by one, and the football game in Incredible Hulk was nice. This is a MUCH better book than the adjectiveless Hulk book. The infighting and manipulations in Thunderbolts were entertaining, but this team doesn’t compare to the previous team.

Dr. Horrible was a bit of a letdown, mainly because I think it’s so difficult to capture the same feeling as watching the, what, half-hour? musical. I like it best as a done-in-one (or three, I guess) web series. And really, it’s a musical. That’s a big part of it’s draw. Can’t really capture that part in a comic.

Comics that made me cringe: Adventure Comics with Superboy Prime, Flash: Rebirth (I am so totally lost here…it’s all over my head), Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth (the premise was cute for maybe a mini-series, but I’m done with Headpool), and Punisher (Frankencastle? Really? No thank you. And the series was so good until this issue).

Everything else was just pretty bland. We’ve got a big storyline beginning over in Amazing Spider-Man, but you couldn’t tell from this blah Electro story. Realm of Kings isn’t filling me with excitement like Annihilation and War of Kings did. I’m really hoping Quasar hasn’t been effed with since we just got him back. Spider-Woman was okay. After the events in his mini, I expected more from a black ringed Solomon Grundy in Superman/Batman, and Bizarro gives me a headache when he talks.

Next week, though…wow. Lots of good stuff to look forward to next week.