What You Should Have Read #12

Let’s see if there are any comics to look forward to this week.

Boys #39
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #32
Invincible Iron Man #23
Siege #2
Superman: World of New Krypton #12
Ultimate Comics X #1

Holy moley this is a tiny week!

Siege and Invincible Iron Man will probably be my top two books of the week. With the final issue of World of New Krypton out, maybe we’ll finally get Superman back in his other books. Jeph Loeb pretty much ruined the Ultimates, so I don’t really have high hopes for this new mutant series, but it’s the Ultimate ‘verse so I’ll give it a try.

Siege Books

Okay, despite any earlier misgivings, I actually enjoyed the second issue of Siege: Embedded. Volstagg, I think, is going to make this really enjoyable. Ben Urich is not interesting enough to carry even a mini-series. He’s a great supporting character, but no, I don’t want to read a comic about him reporting the news. Let’s hope he and Will run into Volstagg wherever they end up running to.

HOLY FUCKING GOD THE SENTRY KILLED ARES!!!! Hmm, I guess I should’ve mentioned something about a spoiler, but oh my God that was brutal…and totally unexpected. I have no idea what’s going on with the Sentry over in Dark Avengers, but he and Ares were the only two on the team with any hint of morality. I am glad that it didn’t take long at all for Ares to have his eyes opened to what Osborn is doing to his godly chums with the Siege. Since he was left out of the resistance group, I hope Phobos finds his way to Oklahoma and hands the Sentry his ass. I never cared for him as a character because his past was so confusing and he was so powerful that he had to be taken out of every fight pretty early just so the rest of the Avengers would have something to do. Speaking of the resistance, where is Pym’s team of Avengers? The Young Avengers were there, complete with Stature and Vision, who are also a part of the Might Avengers. And don’t tell me that Hercules wouldn’t be right there in the thick of things attempting to defend his friend Thor. The final page was excellent, but I imagine the next issue will actually start with Osborn catching the shield. And as much as I want Osborn taken down, it needs to be Spidey that does it, not Captain America, someone who hasn’t even been around for Osborn’s recent machinations.

Realm of Kings Books

I still have to go back and reread the Son of Hulk books to figure out what exactly happened. How/why does Hulk have two kids from Sakaar? And why is this one such a brat? I would have liked to have given up on this particular character, but the Realm of Kings crossover drew me back in. And I’m drawn into the “resurrection” of the Micronauts? That’s kind of cool, but only if Mari and Arcturus have a run-in with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Bug, their old teammate. I’m also wondering if this is somewhat of a setup for this kid to also play a part in the Fall of the Hulks storyline, since he ended up on K’ai, where the Hulk had another kid (a daughter) who is currently tearing up things on Earth and is about to make her presence know in the FotH crossover. I think a massive family reunion is in order. As a quick note, I thought it was neat that the Hulk statue on K’ai looks like it was created by Sal Buscema, artist on The Incredible Hulk for the issues when he was on the planet.

I enjoy a good fight, but too many single fights in one book can be a bit much. There were five battles raging in Nova, yet only a couple of pages were able to be devoted to each. That meant that we weren’t privy to the whole fight, or the writer had to shorten the fight to accommodate the space. Distracted or not, I find it hard to believe that Basilisk would have been able to defeat Black Bolt. Hell, Punisher kicked the crap out of him recently. I want to see more of Darkhawk and his fight against the rest of the Raptor fraternity.

X-Books

The done-in-one story in Wolverine: Weapon X was darned good. Wolverine gets himself a girlfriend, and he pretty much has to talk himself into it by having conversations with the important women in his life. The art was a bit dark and scratchy, but it seemed to suit the story well. I like Melita and hope she isn’t just cannon fodder for one of Wolvie’s enemies.

Ultimate Books

So far I am unimpressed with the story presented in Ultimate X. The art is fine, but I’m no longer blown away by Art Adams like I used to be. I like that James and Heather Hudson, ultimate versions of Alpha Flight’s Guardian and Vindicator, were introduced and are regular Joes, but nothing was presented that made me care one bit about Wolverine’s kid. I don’t know where this story is going to go, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but any direction that seems doable also seems awful.

Other Marvel Books

Torch was okay. Having the Torch be less human doesn’t really excite me as far as a series go. I’d be much more interested in Toro getting his shot. The team up of the three Torches was cute but predictable. The Alex Ross covers are very pretty, though.

This issue of Invincible Iron Man was kind of like the calm before the storm. It’s the penultimate issue of Stark Disassembled, and it sets the stage pretty well for Tony’s return and a fight with the Ghost (who I would imagine would just turn tail and run once he finds out that Tony isn’t as easy a target as previously thought). I expected more from Dr. Strange, a bit of magic at least, but he worked well as a guide for Tony. I liked the awkwardness between Pepper and Maria when they both found out that they both recently slept with Tony. Even when his world is falling apart around him, he can still get him some.

Blackest Night Books

I was never a fan of the Question, and having never been interested in Batman or his cast of characters, Rene Montoya’s assumption of the role meant nothing to me. So to have Vic Sage rise from the dead (from three strands of hair, no less) and fight Rene (and a visiting Lady Shiva), eh, I’m over it. The only thing I thought was neat was how the characters were able to mask themselves from the Black Lantern by suppressing their emotions.

I think the Blackest Night: Wonder Woman wins the prize for worst mini to come out of this crossover. I don’t mind Wonder Woman as a Star Sapphire, but the three issues just seemed to stray so much from the previous issue. I don’t even know what the first issue had to do with the other two. I get that the second dealt with her as a Black Lantern and this one dealt with her as a Violet Lantern, but the stories just weren’t that good.

Superman Books

I thoroughly dislike it when mini-series end with a cliffhanger. The whole point of a mini-series is to have a self-contained story, a beginning, a middle and an end. But apparently that’s not the case for Superman: World of New Krypton. Now we’ve got to pick up a random issue of a monthly series (which, granted, I was going to do anyways) and then what I assume will be the end of the story in a one-shot. That’s a lot of work to try and enjoy a story. I hope it’s worth it, because right now it’s just a hassle.

Other DC Books

Magog was never written like a team player, so him being on any version of the Justice Society of America was a stretch. He’s got his own book now, so I’m glad he’s gone. But really, with him out of the picture, shouldn’t the All-Stars fold back into the main team? I know Power Girl had some misgivings about the direction of the team, but Magog was the ringleader for the split.

Other Books

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a comic nerds wet dream. And with comic nerds Xander and Andrew in the book, it was doubly awesome. So Buffy can do more than just fly, and Xander just starts throwing tests at her. And the Kitty Pride stuff was a neat little in-joke to all the people who know about Joss’s love for her. I wonder what he thinks about her return to the Marvel U in a few months? Anyways, excellent issue.

Wee Hughie’s relationship with the superheroine is finally discovered, and I don’t think Butcher is going to take it so well. I wonder if he and the rest of The Boys will see that neither of them actually knows who the other really is. I don’t like that Annie is becoming somewhat of a deviant. I liked the wholesome approach. I also thought the small scene with Mother’s Milk and the hooker was unnecessary.