What You Should Have Read #65

Comic Book Reviews

for the Week of June 20, 2012

This week’s issue of Avengers vs. X-Men is the best I’ve read so far. There’s enough dialogue to make this last more than a couple of minutes, and there’s a lot going on. I thought the hunt for Hope was pretty stupid. Leave Hope to Scott, and if you’re worried about the Phoenix, send your people to try and take care of it (which, yeah, that happened, but the whole Utopia strike team thing was ridiculous). It’s good to see the Iron Fist plot from New Avengers finally being brought into the main book. It didn’t clear anything up, but it’s good that those ideas are here. I’m enjoying the new art from Olivier Coipel. I have no problems with John Romita, Jr., but I find that his work doesn’t flow all that well. His panels look more like tiny pin-ups. Coipel is much easier to flip through. I knew the ending of this issue was going to happen, but I wasn’t planning on Cyclops being the one to utter the words. I was expecting it’d be Scarlet Witch. After spending the previous five issues wondering how disappointed I was going to be at the end of the crossover, I find myself a little excited to see where this is going to go.

This was my first issue of Avenging Spider-Man, and I picked it up because it was the “Ends of the Earth” epilogue. It was bad, but I don’t think it was really necessary as an end cap. Except for the beginning and ending bookends, the story is a flashback where Spidey recounts a previously untold adventure with Silver Sable who, despite the lack of a body (also no Rhino body), is in fact dead. Never mind the fact that Sabra and Kangaroo also apparently bought it while helping out Spidey. Sable was a friend; the other two were just random international characters that were easy cannon fodder. There was one thing about this issue that made me sad. An editorial box said that this took place after Web of Spider-Man #72. I had that issue! Anyways, Spidey tells Sable and Strange that he can’t get married because he has a girlfriend. Web took place well after Pete and MJ got married, so why didn’t he say he was already married? Because that was scrubbed. It made me sad when I realized Pete and MJ never got married. It was a great nod to current continuity, though. There was also a member of the Wild Pack. Yay ‘90s!

Not a single member of the Dark Avengers appeared in the Dark Avengers this issue. Not a problem, though, because the issue was awesome. We finally find out why the Thunderbolts have been bouncing through time. There’s a wonderful guest star that is firmly rooted in current continuity. The story looks like it wraps up rather quickly, but I think the issue flows wonderfully. The whole thing centers around the Man-Thing, and this new version of him/it is terrific. I’d really rather read more stories about this team than the new team, the Dark Avengers. Of course, I have faith in writer Jeff Parker to flesh out this new team and get me to care about what happens to them.

Truth be told, I was a smidge disappointed in this week’s Invincible Iron Man. Stane was taken out like the chump he is. The hostage situation made absolutely no sense. Why didn’t Justine have her soldiers take out Doug from a distance? A good sniper with a head shot would be able to take him out with no harm to Sasha, correct? And Spymaster took the easy way out? Really? Still, the art by Salvador Larroca was as great as always, and the dialogue flowed wonderfully, but I can’t get behind the actual plot…except for the Tony/Bethany/Rhody stuff. I was totally okay with everything that happened there. Despite my disappointment, I do like that I have no idea where writer Matt Fraction is going with the story. I like to be surprised.

The best part of this week’s Journey into Mystery was the recap by King Arthur. I thought the bit in the club with Hellstrom was rather pointless, since we don’t see him actually doing the job that Loki tasked him with. Loki could have just mentioned his plan to Leah, and we would have gotten a bit more of their excellent back-and-forth. Of course, then we wouldn’t have learned about the Trashcan of Doom. I hope that comes into play by the end of the storyline.

Ah, finally an issue of New Avengers that isn’t utter crap! Sure, it’s still all about the Phoenix’s connection with K’un Lun, which isn’t explained, but we do get to see a red-headed Iron Fist who becomes the Phoenix. Also, this issue also actually has two members of the New Avengers in it, and it’s Spidey who brings the issue home. I love Hope’s skepticism at her reason for being at K’un Lun and her complete and utter turnaround once Spidey gives his speech. Granted, it’s a speech he’s given to himself plenty of times, but it’s a wonder when we get to see someone else’s reaction. So, yeah, great bit of story. And the art? Wonderful. When he first started out, I was not a fan of Mike Deodato. Not at all. But now, his work is art, not just lines on paper.

I’m giving X-Factor a second read because it was late when I started reading it and I really had to work at staying awake. That’s not a comment on Peter David’s writing. I was just really, really tired. Hell, I didn’t even notice that Jamie and Guido were talking over Longshot, who was laid out on a slab. While the last issue set up Rahne’s big journey, this issue set everybody’s new arc in motion. Rahne takes off with Rictor and Shatterstar to look for her abandoned son. Banshee and Havok head to Ulster, NY to see why it looks like Theresa is killing people. Maddrox continues investigating Far Sight’s death…right after he has a roll with Layla. And Lorna and Monet wait for Longshot to wake up. They have the easiest job. There was no action at all in this issue, but that’s par for the course with set-up issues. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a meaty issue. Dan Slott should be very happy with it. I know I was…on the second reading…when I was awake and alert.

My back issue purchases were Amazing Spider-Man #s 655 and 656.

Here are my planned purchases for next week:

Amazing Spider-Man #688

Spider-Men #2

Wolverine and the X-Men #12

What a gloriously tiny week. That makes up for the Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus that I pre-ordered a month or so ago and received earlier this week.

And if I can make a little gripe, DC also has the Infinite Crisis Omnibus HC solicited for next week. I’m not going to get it, but I wanted to check out what was included in it to make it an omnibus edition. The main mini itself wasn’t going to be big enough. Sure enough, it includes ALL of the Infinite Crisis minis…except the main one. If your book is called the Infinite Crisis Omnibus HC, shouldn’t you have the main series included in it? Or title it something slightly different?

If my LCS gets a Locke & Key Card Game in, I’ll buy it. That’s somewhat of an empty promise, though, because I’m 95% sure they didn’t order one “just in case.”

What You Should Have Read #63

Comic Book Reviews 

for the Week of June 6, 2012

Quick thoughts so I can play a bit of catch up.

Avengers vs. X-Men #5 – No. No no no. This is Marvel’s new go-to plot point in events? Give everybody the same power? Hulked Out Heroes. Fear Itself. Spider Island. Now there’s a handful of Phoenixes? No no no.

Dark Avengers #175 – I get why Thunderbolts was retitled, because all the team members are former members of Osborn’s Dark Avengers, but are we to believe that this is going to last? Regardless, it’s still the Thunderbolts program. Meh, in the long run the title doesn’t matter. It’s still a good comic book, and there’s a lot going on in this issue, a lot of good stuff.

Earth 2 #2 – Alan Scott is gay. Doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the title at all, so that’s all I’ll say about that issue. As for the rest of the comic, good stuff. I liked the Flash stuff, although the dialogue was a bit hokey. My favorite part was the Mr. Terrific/Terry Sloane confrontation. I might want to go back and read his latest series.

Invincible Iron Man #518 – Good, solid issue. Lots going on with Rhodey and the new armor, Stane and Mandarin, Stark and his rehab, Spymaster and Mrs. Arbogast, and whatever the hell is going on with Detroit Steel.

Journey into Mystery #639 – The Loki stuff, as always, was excellent. The Captain Britain stuff and the Manchester god thing were confusing as hell, though. So Otherworld went through this war in Uncanny X-Force, and now they’re fighting another one here? These guys just can’t catch a break.

Secret #2 – I don’t know what to think about this yet. I’ve learned, though, that Hickman plays the long game, so I’m assuming there’s going to be a good payoff, but right now it’s a slow start.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #11 – So, the Scorpion’s a tough son of a bitch. What excited me, though, was the cliffhanger with Aunt May. Pete had such a great supporting cast with May, Gwen, MJ, Kong, etc., and I’m not feeling that with Miles yet.

X-Factor #237 – What a wonderful done-in-one story. It’s a done-in-one story that brings up a past plot line and sets up a future story. Peter David is awesome.

My back-issue purchases for the week were Amazing Spider-Man #s 663 and 667.

Next week (or this week, actually), I’m planning on getting:

Batman #10

Shade #9

Boys #67

Amazing Spider-Man #687

Avengers #27

Avengers Assemble #4

Spider-Men #1

Uncanny X-Force #26

What You Should Have Read #60

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of May 16, 2012

Big week this week. Almost too big. So big that I decided not to get the Fantastic Four Point One issue that I had planned on getting.

Also, spoilers, because it’s hard to have a spoiler-free discussion.

I thought the Ends of the Earth one-shot was pointless. I kind of wish I would have flipped through it before just buying it sight unseen. Spidey recruits some international heroes to thwart Doc Ock’s plans in their respective countries, but personally, I would have been fine with this all happening between the panels of the regular ASM comic. If you read the most recent issue of Amazing Spider-Man, you know that ONE of these international heroes died. This comic was a smidge vague. I assume both Kangroo and Sabra were killed by Lady Deathstrike and Crossbones, but there’s no confirmation. Sure, Lady D slashes Kangaroo in the midsection and we see some decent blood spatter, but that’s it. And it sure looks like Crossbones hit Sabra with a headshot, but all we see is her face-down in a bit of blood. Out of the two ambiguous deaths, I’d say hers is the least ambiguous.

I hated Walt Simonson’s artwork in the previous issue, and his work in Avengers #26 is only marginally better. The stuff with Noh-Varr was pointless. He was character that Bendis did nothing with other than give him a new identity and a girlfriend. He wasn’t fleshed out at all, and he’s on my deadpool as the guy to get whacked in this crossover. He was great in Grant Morrison’s Marvel Boy mini-series, and he was decent in the Secret Invasion crossover. Since then, though, he’s been pretty useless. I also don’t understand why he’s so loyal to the Kree. These aren’t his Kree. He’s from an alternate dimension/universe. I really think Bendis is dropping the ball with the crossover issues in both this title and New Avengers.

So far this was my favorite issue of the mini-series. From the opening with Wolverine wearing a polar bear (not a polar bear pelt, but the whole damn animal), to the end with Thor crashing to the moon and the Phoenix showing up, it was all pretty solid. I like that they didn’t draw out the Phoenix’s arrival. With such a big thing happening so early in the series, I’m really interested in seeing how this is going to play out. The Thor stuff doesn’t quite line up with what happened in Avengers #26 this week, so it looks like we’ve got to wait another week to see how that ended. He WAS the only one to return to Earth (the Moon) though. I was okay with Wolverine duping Hope, but I’m wondering why he didn’t just try and end her right there. Scared? I don’t need to read Versus to know how the fights turn out. I don’t really care. I thought the first issue was poorly thought out, and I’m okay with just seeing a couple panels for the fights. I’m enjoying John Romita, Jr.’s artwork, but I think Colossunaut looks stupid. I don’t have a problem with the Peter possessing the power or anything like that, I just think is a cumbersome look, and that isn’t JRJr.’s fault.

Did anyone really believe Tony was going to quit being Iron Man? Nope, didn’t think so. Although solicits for this issue touted a new man in the armor, I don’t think the identity was much of a surprise, especially if you’ve seen the cover for the next issue. Flip to the back of this issue and you get the cover for the next issue. The suit is black and silver/gray. The suit has a ghost mode. The suit…well, other than it looking very Tron-ish, there’s nothing else that might betray the wearer’s identity, but c’mon, it HAD to be Rhodey. Fraction is doing his part to rehash (in a good way, I’m truly loving the series) old storylines. Tony loses his company. Tony gets drunk. Tony isn’t Iron Man anymore. It’s his greatest hits. So who subbed for Tony before, had a suit of his own that was black and silver/gray, and who’s latest suit had a ghost mode that was heavily used? James Rhodes, War Machine, of course. The same James Rhodes who was fake killed…last issue? So the last page shouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody. Rehashing or not, like I said, I’m still loving the book. I loved Tony’s scenes with the extraction of his current armor and the revelation of his latest armor. I loved Stane’s determination and the flashbacks of both men. I loved the Spymaster stuff and how Cabe was such a badass. The only thing that threw me for a loop were the Detroit Steel pages. It looked like some sexual roleplay gone wrong. I guess we’ll learn more about that later.

The end for the series of Locke and Key series is quickly coming to an end. I have yet to read a bad issue. Hell, one of them made me cry. In the last issue of the Clockworks mini, we get the resolution to Rendell and Dodge’s (and their best buds’) adventures with the keys. It satisfying, and it does a good job of setting up the final mini-series. Man, I HATE that the pilot didn’t get picked up by FX. If anybody reading this has run across a copy of it (or, if maybe Joe Hill is reading this and wants to drop a brother a tweet?), I’d love to see it.

I won’t lie, this is not a normal book for me. I got it only because of the crossover with Journey into Mystery. I probably won’t continue to get the book after the crossover ends, but I was not unhappy with having to purchase this issue. As crossovers go, it’s working well for me. It’s pulling on threads exposed earlier in Journey into Mystery, and the tie-in with New Mutants is logical what with them having a Valkyrie and some sort of Hel dog in their group. I also like that the writers of both series are noted in the credits. Just because Gillen writes JiM and not NM doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a bunch of input on what’s going on in this title, and vice versa. Also, even though Thor is in this, this could KIND OF be an unofficial AVX crossover. Kind of. Also also, the ending caught me by surprise. I like it when that happens.

I guess I’m okay with the way Thunderbolts ended. I haven’t been reading the title for the last 174 issues, only since Warren Ellis took over the writing chores. I think it’s because of that that I didn’t really have any feelings for the Fixer’s fate one way or the other. I mean, it sucks what happened, but dude brought it on himself. At least he had the wherewithal to man up and take one for the team. I’m more interested in seeing how this is going to transition into Dark Avengers. I like the idea of a dark Avengers team, and while I liked Osborn’s original team more than the most recent iteration, I’m interested in seeing where Jeff Parker is going to take the team and how quickly he’ll be able to get rid of Clor. Seriously, get rid of that shit.

One of the highlights of James Robinson’s Starman was the Times Past issues. The fact that he’s bringing the concept over to The Shade is a treat. This series is slightly odd. We’re learning so much about the Shade’s history, but as of yet we still haven’t learned how he got his powers, and I don’t think we will. Despite the murder and demonic possession, this was actually a sweet comic. The Shade meets his grandson and sees his wife one last time. There wasn’t much action, but I find that Robinson doesn’t really excel at that. His forte is history and storytelling. The thing I’m wondering most about this series is how it fits in to DC’s New 52. Although the Knight family hasn’t been mentioned, it seems like everything that we know about the Shade from that series is still in continuity. But there is absolutely no way the Knight legacy can still exist. If I understand the new continuity correctly (and the only two series I’m reading are Batman and The Shade, so I could be totally wrong with this), but Superman was the first superhero to show up, right? So there were no mystery men during World War II? So Ted Knight wasn’t Starman, and there is no Starman legacy. I don’t know, I’m just confused. In my mind, it’s all good though because I can enjoy all of those stories regardless of current continuity. But, if there’s a chance Mr. Robinson is reading this (‘cause imma tag you on Twitter, yo), please please PLEASE explain how the Shade and the Knights fit into The New 52.

Wow. X-Factor was kind of depressing, and Shatterstar and Madrox were almost useless. I mean, sure, Shatterstar saved the day and killed the bad guy, but how many innocents were killed first, some of them while Shatterstar was RIGHT THERE? I’m not 100% familiar with X-Factor’s recent history. I originally started reading the title when Peter David first came on board in the ‘90s, and I was pleased. I stopped reading it when I stopped reading all X-books, right in the middle of the Phalanx Covenant. I got back in when the current series was renumbered starting with issue #200. I need to go back and get the David issues that I missed. Anyways, all that to say…is that Mr. Tryp manipulating Far Sight? I’ve only seen him when Jamie was bouncing around the alternate timelines, and I have no idea who he is or what he can do. Like I said, I’ve got some back issues to find.

My two back issues for this week were, Ultimate Spider-Man #s 158 and 159, and I picked up a small packet of Justice League Adventures comics, issues 4, 6 and 8, for my son. He was happy.

Here’s my list for next week:

Fables #117

Amazing Spider-Man #686

Journey into Mystery #638

Oh thank God this is a small week. The past two were horrible. Hmm, that’s going to make for a small blog entry. At least I should be able to get it posted at a reasonable time. Grr.

What You Should Have Read #56

Thoughts on Last Week’s Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #678 – Spidey sees the future and realizes he’s the only person who can prevent the destruction of New York. It’s a really good story, but the best parts are the Peter Parker moments in the beginning. Once he gets his Spidey duds on, things move incredibly quickly to an uncertain conclusion. Good issue, but I can’t really say if I’ll like the story as a whole until it’s finished.

Avengers #21 – This issue went by WAY too quickly. We get at least a glimpse of everybody, but they’re all getting their asses handed to them. It’s not very reassuring. No Osborn, either. I guess he was busy over in New Avengers.

Avenging Spider-Man #3 – Are these Asgardian mole people? Their language “looks” Asgardian, or what I seem to recognize from Fear Itself and the Thor books. Rock trolls or something? Doesn’t matter, I guess. This story was kind of tricksy. It wasn’t so much a Red Hulk/Spider-Man team-up but instead a Spider-Man/JJJ story, and a pretty good one, at that. I’ll admit, I was skeptical when this title was first solicited, but this was a good start. I’ve always enjoyed the various Spider-Man team-up books because the character works so well with other heroes. He’s like super Jerry Lewis to everyone else’s super Dean Martin. I love that analogy. Feel free to use it, but give me credit. ;)

Daredevil #8 – The relaunch of this title has been solid. Not crazy-awesome-good like it was when Bendis was writing it, but still good. The crossover with Spidey? Also good. I like how it wasn’t just cobbled together just to get these three (can’t forget Black Cat, can we?) characters together. No, it flowed nicely from events happening in both books. The kicker for me in this issue was when Spidey discovered Matt and Felicia. Man, that was heartbreaking, and it’ll stay with me for a while. I’m assuming it’ll stay with Pete, too.

Fables #113 -  This is a filler issue, but really, are any issues in this series TOTALLY filler? Even the ones that seem ridiculously out of place? No, I imagine the sorcerer king will show up again, as well as either the porcupine or the witch who cursed him. Maybe even the turtle. It was a good enough issue, but rather plain all by itself. I’ll be more excited about it when I relive it after the eventual pay-off.

G.I. Joe #9/G.I. Joe: Cobra #9/G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes #9 – These two books have been great at showing how each side has acted during the meteoric rise of Cobra, but now they’re starting to overlap more. Really, this could have been one book/title. That’s not a slight against the story or the books themselves. I’m impressed how everything is flowing and coming together. I know that Cobra eventually has to lose, but right now I’m enjoying their successes.

Invincible Iron Man #512 – Not a lot of action this issue, but tons of set-up. Set up for all the bad guys: the main one, the lackeys, and the ones who don’t even know they’re bad guys. Tony thinks his world is in the crapper now? It looks like things are about to get exponentially worse, and that always makes for entertaining storytelling. I love the idea of the Stark Resilient Lifearmor. It also makes me think, Marvel could have quite an event in the future, the kind where everyone becomes an Iron Man. House of IM instead of House of M. Iron Island instead of Spider Island. Crisis of Infinite Iron Men instead of…whoops, wrong company, but you get the idea.

Moon Knight #9 – I’ve said before that I’m a Bendis whore, but it’s a somewhat selective whoring I practice. Anything new? Sure. But I haven’t read EVERYTHING. I don’t read Powers. I wasn’t that into the guy when it started hitting shelves, and I just haven’t gone back and picked up the series yet. I want to, though, especially with the TV show ending up on FX…assuming the pick up the reworked pilot. Anyways, not everybody can hit a homerun each time they’re up to bat is what I’m saying. Moon Knight is one such not-a-homerun. I was about to drop the title, then I read that’ll it’ll be ending with issue #12, so I guess I can stick around for a bit more. My biggest gripe with it is that it isn’t fun. The same schtick is being used over in Deadpool, and it’s being done better. MK’s voices aren’t clever (even Spidey) or insightful or anything. They’re just there to narrate things. That’s just boring.

Thunderbolts #169 – I’m enjoying this trip through time. I was less impressed with the Jack the Ripper stuff than with the Invaders stuff, but this Camelot story, especially after reading the last few pages, looks like it’ll be awesome. I find it hard to believe, though, that either Fixer, Centurius, or Moonstone don’t recognize the name Black Knight or his weapon. He was a pretty important Avengers for God’s sake.

Ultimate Spider-Man #6 – Good, solid story. I like that, this isn’t a story about Spider-Man, it’s more about Miles. Just like the first series (Ultimate, at least) was always more about Peter than his alter ego. The only thing I don’t like is the new Scorpion. I say new because you might not remember it, but there was already a Scorpion. He was a clone of Pete. Now, I’m not saying that I have any love for him, but Bendis couldn’t think of a new name for this new guy?

Uncanny X-Force #20 – I’ve got problems with the issue, and that makes me sad. I’ve loved this series, but bringing in the Captain Britain mythology put a hurtin’ on my noggin. That and the muddy art. It’s weird. The art is good, even beautiful, with individual, smaller panels. For the big panels, splash pages, or double-page spreads, it’s just muddy and confusing. But back to Captain Britain. I read Excalibur for about three issues during the X-line reboot of the early ‘90s, but it never grabbed me. Because of that, I never got into Brian or his history. I’m hoping this isn’t too confusing for me.

Wonder Woman #5 – Well, that’s surely an interesting form for the god of the seas to take. I like it. Why assume that all the gods are humanoid in form? This was the only DC comic (Well, regular DC comic. Fables doesn’t count.) I got this week. I’m enjoying it, but it’s not because of Wonder Woman. It’s the story and the people around her, and I worry that that might eventually lead me away from the book. With Aquaman and Deathstroke, I’m enjoying the characters and what they’re doing. Not Diana, though. I just can’t get into her, and I feel like not enjoying the character that the book is named after will eventually wear me down. 

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas bills here and an unsure/shaky work situation. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Read #54

Thoughts on Last Week’s Comics

Animal Man/Swamp Thing #s 5 – These aren’t main DCU books, these are old-school Vertigo books, and I love them both. As much as I’d like to see some of these non-JLA characters and books stand on their own for a bit in this relaunch without crossovers and team-ups and stuff, Animal Man writer Jeff Lemire and Swamp Thing writer Scott Snyder have done a wonderful job of weaving The Red and The Green together. I think that NOT having a crossover would be a disappointment. I like how this is shaping up to be a battle between the kids, Maxine vs. William, with probably the obligatory Animal Man vs. Swamp Thing superhero misunderstanding as an undercard.

Avengers Annual #1 – Gabriele Dell’Otto was a wonderful find for Marvel, and it pains me that he hasn’t been used as much as he should be. I’m guessing it’s a speed thing? He’s my new Alex Ross, which is a pretty poor comparison considering their styles are so different. Dell’Otto doesn’t drip with realism like Ross does, but he’s got energy. Now, you know I love Brian Michael Bendis, but I was expecting more from this issue. I was expecting a battle royale, but I guess we got all our fighting from the New Avengers Annual (with just a bit here). All this annual seemed to do, though, was set up more stuff. So the world is going to start looking at the Avengers with a bit of mistrust? They’re going to turn into the X-Men? If anything, I expect Beast to do exactly what Simon asked of him. He took Cyclops to task, why wouldn’t he do the same thing with Steve or Tony?

Avengers Academy #24 – Too much hand wringing and self-justification from Reptil to really make this issue enjoyable. It was the brief interpersonal moments that barely saved it.

The Boys #62 – Looks like everything is about to hit the fan. I’m enjoying the ride that Garth Ennis is taking us on with these amoral superheroes, but I REALLY want them to get their asses handed to them, every single one of them.

Defenders #2 – This was a rather quick issue. The Defenders get their butts kicked, they get captured, they escape, and they hear the “villain’s” plans. That’s a lot of stuff for 22 pages.

Thunderbolts #168 – Really, who would have thought that Luke Cage would have been such an important fixture in the Marvel Universe? This issue felt like filler. Luke is trying to round up some of the Raft escapees while Songbird and Mach-V have it out with some suits. Yeah, kind of boring, since Luke spends most of his time in his own head. I’m hoping we’ll get more action or quasi-villainy next issue.

Uncanny X-Force #19.1 – So X-Force isn’t actually in this issue. This is all a set-up for the Age of Apocalypse…mini-series? I don’t think it’s an on-going. I know UXF writer Rick Remender isn’t writing the mini, but as long as it keeps the quality that this issue brought to the table, then I’m going to enjoy it.

Villains for Hire #2 – Like Purple Man, I’m not buying the Misty Knight thing. Something else is going on. As good as the writing is, though, it’s getting really tough to care at all about what’s happening to these fourth-rate villains.

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas bills here and an unsure/shaky work situation. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!