comics for the week of 05/08/13.

Iron Man 3 smashed records, Gatsby is out. Star Trek is coming. While movies are overloading my brain (Man of Steel!!!!) the comic book industry is in good shape. Also, SHIELD is coming to TV, right? It's a damn good time to be a nerd.

Avengers 11 – I've been firmly on record as hating Mike Deodato's art for a long while now, but damn if this isn't some fine work! His Shang Chi looks just perfectly like Bruce Lee and his Chimera opening is beautifully authentic. But no matter how good (well, that might be giving him too much credit. Let's just say that it's less bad than it has been in the past) the art gets, it's still Hickman's show. When he has Natasha deliver the lines she gets to, when he plays around with the mythical backgrounds of Shang Chi, etc. that's when he proves that he's doing something better than anyone else in mainstream comics right now. Yep, crown him, if you have't already done so. It's the most obvious succession in a long, long time: Jonathan Hickman is the best writer in the Big Two Universe(s). Period. He's got the best long-term plans, he's got the best grip on a variety of voices and he's got the best subtle touch on how to make things more than the sum of all their parts. Sam and Bobby getting drunk with AIM agents was fun, but Carol gambling was even better. The relationship between Jessica and Natasha is one that can be explored in way more detail and, while he got the short end of the stick in this issue, Shang Chi gets to revel in his victory in the end, proving that not every single little detail needs to be shown in explicit breakdowns in order for an intelligent reader to understand the story. Way to go.

Batman 20 – Well, Clayface stories stay shitty. Even with Snyder trying his new act of evolution to make the bad guy more scary, they still all have to boil down to the same 1960s trickery, which makes the story feel less authentic. However, the authentic bits did shine through at the end when Clayface started talking about Damian. And the bit with Alfred asking if he could watch, after Bruce claimed he wasn't losing it (I'm still not convinced...) came off as hokey, but I didn't mind seeing those tears (or just that single one, to be fair) roll down his face. The back-up's best feature was still the art by Alex Maleev, which is always stunning. The magical angle wasn't up my alley, but I don't really care; it's always nice to see Clark and Bruce getting to be friends, especially with the new focus on Damian. The art made it worthwhile.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 21 - I still love this story. Let's get that straight right off the bat. I love the Buffy storyline and almost all of the stuff that goes with it. That being said, this issue, and this title in particular, have been awful. While Angel and Faith have carried the baton for the Buffy line overall, this book has failed. The art is terrible. The faces look smushed and everything looks condensed. (It's funny that Willow aks Xander what happened to his face, but it's not an in-joke, it's supposed to be a reference to his bruises. Unfortunately, I think most people will take it the other way.) It's cute that Xander wears a BPRD jacket and that there are Ghostbusters, Hellboy and Akira posters hanging on the walls (and Batman and Spider-Man models, and Death Stars and TIE fighters, and Indian Jones posters...Jesus, we get it, you're making Buffy out to be a nerd, some kind of self-reflection of the culture that consumes her...), but the backgrounds don't make up for the fact that the characters look bad. Bad. The dialogue is also curiously off-kilter. It might be the transition from TV to comics, but that doesn't account for the season and (more than) a half that we've already gone through. This issue was egregiously bad with the Xander and Buffy talk, though, when he gets back from his beating at the hands of Severin and Simone. Also, the fact that there was so much foreshadowing to the lack of a surprise ending... I'm severely disappointed in this book. The plan of the guardians to the entrance of the Deeper Well literally makes no sense unless you think of it as a necessity for this bit of so-called duplicity in the plot. There's no way anyone would ever conceive of a defense like that, unless it was specifically designed to be beat by this sort of plan. (It's like the old comic about Bowser and Mario.) And Willow and Buffy (and a token human) are “more assailants than expected!”??? That's just sloppy writing, poor planning, and worse execution. I'm hopeful that after this season is concluded, characters will have a new arc they'll be settled on, but this puppy needs to be put to bed. I'm in shock over the amount of complaining that I heard over Season 8 and the little chatter I hear over this one. Maybe every one else has already jumped off the ship? I'm sticking with it, maybe out of misguided loyalty, but I've still got faith in the overall story of Buffy and the Scoobies.

The Private Eye 2 – This book is fucking incredible and I don't think that I have the words to either describe it or recap it to any adequate degree, but I'm going to try. First of all, though, you need to be buying this. Then, you need to buy it in trade when it comes out. But you have to get it now, too, digitally, because it is MADE for this era. Damn, it's beautiful looking and it's not just the art. The layouts, the panels, the colors, everything about it screams 21st century digital comic. OK, on to the story. With Taj dead, the press comes in asking questions. Big sis pretends like she doesn't know what's going on, but she runs into Patrick Immelman pretty quickly. She's convinced that it's his job to find out who killer her sister just like his chauffeur is and was and they re-connect in a way that says there's a lot of backstory to be told. The eyeshadow effect is a nice one, and I'm curious about what it means. The ending, of course, was not a surprise, if you speak French and could decipher the meaning of the call to the killer, whom we find out is named DeGuerre (which has some scary meanings in French itself). He's putting together some kind of plan, it sounds nefarious and we're going to get the opportunity to see our heroes try to stop him. It's a great story, and it might sound like I'm kind of skimming it, but that's not the point. The point is that this is a one-of-a-kind thing that's unfolding in front of our eyes, and you're a fool if you're not consuming it. Also, in the afterword, BKV says there's no plans for a print edition (which I believe will change) but you're always taking the risk, if you don't get it digitally that you will never be abel to get it another way. (The silver lining to that black cloud, however, is that digital is for [nearly] ever.)

Thor God of Thunder 8 – Modern Thor talking to old Thor (the Thor-force still kills me!) has got to be one of the greatest things in recent comic history. He (our Thor) starts this issue by saying he's battle-starved! I mean, come on! (Plus, “Polish thine hammer,” has got to be a euphemism, right? Good one Aaron!) I'm glad we got an explanation on who the ladies were, too, since I don't mess with the AR-stuff, no matter how good people say it is. Looking forward to seeing more of them in the future. (Pun!) Beyond the rudimentary recap, which is coming, no doubt, let me say that I'm finding this storyline, two arcs in now, to be fascinatingly theological. The idea of a god of bombs helping to make this bomb, of Gorr's origin story, his son, his own nickname (the Redeemer?! Shit!) and his idea of a joke, wherein he lets the gods rest on the seventh day? These are all tremendously weighty concepts. I know you can get the story and enjoy it just fine without all the religious backstory, but it sure is better for me, having studied the various belief systems to the degree that I have. All right, so, the story itself in this one: Great, great stuff where we see that the Godbomb's been worked on for 900 years, that the builders have a plan to set it off before it's done and we get to see young Thor do his heroic thing. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Fortunately, it means we're going to have a hell of an exciting issue next time. This book is fantastic.

The Walking Dead – Fun times in the Kingdom. But honestly, this felt like a pretty light issue, the Micchone and Ezekiel stuff aside. Sure, it was a big step forward and yeah, it took up a lot of space, but I'm not convinced that it's that big of a deal. I'm ready for the fight. Let's see it.

Book of the week goes to The Private Eye. Brian K Vaughan is an inspirational force, but there's a lot of credit that should go towards Marcos Martin as well. Superb work on a fundamental seismic shift in the landscape of comics.

comics for the week of 05/01/13.

Happy May Day! I hope everyone made it in to their local comic stores for Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, which is weird to write, since I'm doing so before it's happened, but this will post after it's passed. Also, go see Iron Man 3!

All New X-Men 11 - Delighted to have been proved wrong. It wasn't Jean Grey joining Slim's team. Really glad it was dealt with in the first two pages, too, and not in the oh-so over-hated Bendis-style of decompressed storytelling. Get it out of the way and move on. And move on they did. We get lots of great dialogue between Kitty and young Jean, which is turning out to be one of the great hallmarks of this book (another dialogue-driven one: Bobby's conversations with himself. Unfortunately, we didn't get any of that this time). We also get to see how shape-shifting really would be the best mutant gift ever, since everyone in the world is so stupid, they fall for Mystique every time, no matter how out of character it would be for Pepper Potts to just walk in, out of nowhere, and make a demand like that. And then...of course...the good guys show up to accuse the poor young kids of things they would never do. Here's to hoping we won't have to go through the tired old trope of superheroes fighting each other, because they avoided it so well at the end of last issue and the beginning of this one. I just don't think that Cap, Havok and Thor wouldn't listen respectfully to Wolvie as he explains that they were nowhere near there and that they all know about Mystique. Let's move on.

Animal Man 20 - A disclaimer: I didn't like the last movie issue. So I'm not going to pretend that I liked this one. I get that he's trying to continue the proud meta-tradition of Animal Man, but I'm just not into it. This book has been teetering on the edge for a while with me and if next issue doesn't truly blow me away, I'm going to have to drop it. Sad to see yet another one of the highlights of the New 52 fall so hard.

BPRD: Vampire 2 - Another lush issue, full of gorgeous pencils and, as requested, quite a bit of progress insofar as the story itself. We have a brutal leader who may or may not have become a vampire, returning throughout history and his evil bride. We have a town that's totally devoid of men and we have a tour guide who is probably a bit more than she seems. The standouts, though, are the ways that the artists play with the figures of the characters and the interaction of light & shadow and present & past. The scenes showing the past, the memories, if you will, are subtle enough that they stand out in just the right way. More than anything, I'm just delighted to have more work from Ba & Moon again.

Hawkeye 10 - All right, so I've got to admit: I'm not sure that I totally understood this issue. I mean, I get that Kate met the clown from hell at the party and she came home (after an awesome flirty interaction) and talked to Clint and the clown followed her and he was at the window...But when did the scene with Grills happen? Before all that? After all that? Who was he there for? What's going to happen with Kate? What's going to happen with Clint? How awesome was this issue, even though I didn't fully understand the timeline? God, Francavilla has been killing for so long and he's such a great fit on this issue. Hawkeye really is a gem amongst Marvel's generally pisspoor output these days. I love the relationship dynamic between Clint and Kate, but the scene of the issue isn't her calling him a clown, but rather flipping the tables on the clown himself. You don't get to do the cool guy walk away. I do! "Hawkeye out!" She's amazing. Poor Grills. Still.

Swamp Thing 20 - Yep, another one down the drain. Maybe some people will enjoy following Alec Holland on his latest quest where he eventually realizes he's not a monster, despite giving up his body to the Parliament of the Green. Maybe some people thought it was cool to have this young, new Superman advise him on how to do so. I'm not one of those people, and I'm not even going to give this book another issue. I don't care about the character and he's stopped being captivating. There's no reason to spend any more time on him.

Winter Soldier 18 - While the book overall is fantastic and the origin of the Electric Ghost is fascinating, I can't help but admit that two things overshadowed it, for me: First of all, was that Colonel Sanders in the background with Nick Fury? Secondly, why don't I keep up with comic book news so that I would have known this book has already been canceled? It's a damn shame, because this is a good one. One of only a few that Marvel's putting out right now. I've little doubt that it'll be back (and it'll probably be pretty good) before the movie, but... Anyway, I digress. The girl gets her revenge. The line of the book goes to the question of 'if' and the center of life and the recurring theme of nothingness that plagues her throughout her life. Her revenge obtained, the Ghost is fully in control of her newfound power and she's going to do some serious damage. I'm interested to see how they wrap everything up in just one more issue. It's not like there's that much already happening, but there's the potential for so much that it'll kind of seem like a cheat if something major doesn't happen.

Book of the week goes to Hawkeye. The rotating artists don't hurt on this book, proof that it can be done in a great manner.

jason collins comes out as gay.

On Monday morning Jason Collins penned a first-person essay that was released in Sports Illustrated where he came out as the first active player in one of the four major sports leagues of North America as a gay man.

While the chatter about breaking the barrier for sexual orientation has focused on the possibility of four NFL players, Collins said, "I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport...If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand." By taking this mantle up for himself, Collins has both inspired people and courted controversy, even if some people see that as not totally justified.

The NBA family, at least those who have spoke out publicly, have done an admirable job welcoming this news into their lives. There are certainly going to be more opinions, though, whether they get expressed or not, that fall into the category of fear or disdain. In fact, just earlier this month, Phil Jackson, seen by many in the NBA as one of the most open-minded individuals, spoke out in a manner that was very difficult to understand - was Jackson dismissing the possibility or the disdain that individual would face?

With so much regarding the gay population of America in turmoil these days and a Supreme Court case to be decided this summer, there's a lot to be said about stepping out into a leadership position on this issue. There will be no lessening when it comes to these kinds of issues, only an intensification. The quicker that individuals can set themselves up as leaders, the easier it will be for the next domino to fall.

comics for the week of 04/24/13.

Holy moly. What a huge week. There were some amazing things out here, too, but let's talk, just for a second, about the movies that are reigning over everything else at the box office recently. If you look at the big movie picture, the nerds have definitely won. Comic book movies are franchises unto themselves. The most exciting thing is that they keep getting better. It's a great time to be a nerd.

Angel and Faith 21 - A great nod to the fact that Dawn's fading from existence and her magic is running out opens up this issue and gets the ball rolling to get Spike back over to the mainline book. Plus, Angel's got all the pieces to get Giles back to the mortal coil. All he needs is just a tiny bit of magic. Well, after a bit of back and forth, he gets it, and the gang begins their final quest. The only problem (at least insofar as this issue, ignoring the possible HUGE repercussions that they'll have to face next issue, if something has really gone wrong?) is that the bad guys finally find Aldasair's home and make off with his massive collection of magical items. So, you know, that's pretty bad. Especially since Whistler isn't exactly aiming low. He's going to do some real harm with these things and if Giles is truly back, he's going to be disappointed in all involved that they didn't do a better job keeping those baddies away from the treasure trove. I've gotta say, I love the way these books are wrapping up and I fully expect Giles to be back in the course of the finish. It's shaping up to be a good little season, and, at least in my opinion, a great path to a new future in Season 10.

Avengers 10 - This is a truly odd book. I don't feel like I'm ever close to getting the full picture, but I do feel like it's worthwhile almost all the time. This is one of those times. Here we got some Alpha Flight, some Canada, some Department H, some alternate futures, and some suicide. It was awesome. But I definitely don't understand most of it. A guy in Department H has a daughter and she's Validator and she goes into the contaminated zone and she gets infected, but then it turns out that maybe that's a good thing? And the Canadian government has nukes and Logan knew it, and Bruce Banner goes with them, and they get fucked up (no surprise) and they come back and they lie to SHIELD and the Canadian government? OK, so far so good. But there's also the question of the system and the fact that it's now online and the massive crop circle (or not so croppy, but whatever) and the ongoing dilemma of what the eff is happening worldwide when the Avengers, with their huge, expanded circle, can't even figure it out, much less solve it. Chalk this one up to another solid issue of Hickman kicking ass and, don't forget to mention, Deodato doing way better than I expected him to.

Before Watchmen: Comedian 6 - Woooow. This was a complete shit show and I don't even want to talk about it. For as terrible as the rest of the books in this series were, this one really takes the cake. This was a disasterous mess, it's an insult to the original Watchmen book and to the character of the Comedian. (Also, in general, modern political history.) Stay away.

BPRD: Vampire 2 - Couldn't find it, will review it next week.

Invincible 102 - One of my favorite scenes from Powers (and one of the reasons I still kind of stand by what it's become) is when Calista comes to get Walker, when he doesn't have powers, and picks him up and flies with him, and he's trying to yell at her the whole time, and when she finally lands, he explains to her that she can't just do that. Normal people can't breathe when they're moving so fast, in such an unexpected way and that she could have killed him. It was such a humanizing moment, such a common sense thing, but I'd never seen it before and I was delighted to get to see it then. The beginning of this issue felt a lot like that scene: to see the terror on Nolan's face as he realized that his wife was being sucked out into the vacuum of space, to see that she was already having trouble, was genuine and refreshing. He can survive a battle with Thragg. He can take his time and really get into it with him. But there's so much more at stake. The focus on this issue is solidly on the human aspect, which is weird, since almost everyone in the issue (Eve and a briefbriefbrief cameo from Cecil aside) is an alien. But it just goes to show that humanity is not limited to humans. It's a great issue, with lots of good revelations that we've had clues about for a while. The ending is tinged with that weird bit of suspicion that we always feel when something so truly strange happens, but it's immediately righted with a bit of happy news that comes from out of nowhere, but is completely expected at the same time. Another solid issue from Kirkman and company.

Jupiter's Legacy 1 - Yep. That was cool. Quitely does good things with pencils and Millar doesn't go overboard with stupid shit. That's about as good as I expected it to get, but it was even cooler - nice premise, good follow-through. Now let's just see that they don't bollocks it right up, huh? So far so good: There's good guys, they went to a crazy place to get powers because a crazy guy dreamt that they could, they saved everything, but now we live in the world we live in and their kids were born with gnarly expectations. Things are going to get crazy. I like it so far.

Mind MGMT 10 - Another fantastic issue from Matt Kindt. This issue reminds me of the beginning of Rising Stars where we saw a neat method (obvious in retrospect, in the way that the best things make happen) for killing someone who can't be hurt. Here we are presented with the dilemma: How are the gang going to surprise someone who can see the future? Well, turns out, he can't see the future. He can just read all the things happening around him and make the most likely conclusion. That's an important difference and, while it worked to their benefit here, to intercept him, I think it's worth keeping in mind later, when he's on their side and they're relying on his abilities. They've already proved that he's not infallible and it's imperative that someone on their side recognize the distinction: there's no telling the future. There's just the ability to make predictions that are most likely. Again, the sidebars told an important aspect of the story, beginning with his ability to read everyone (and everything) around him. Then we continued the murder mystery story, and Duncan revealed more than ever before that Lyme and Meru have some very complicated secrets in their shared past. This book is never boring and always excels. It's almost hard to compare any other comics to it (maybe other than Saga) because it honestly feels like it's just operating at another level. The art, again, was superb, perfect in that sparse style that fits the story so appropriately. The fact that all of these characters have been shown to be real people, with actual histories is even better.

New Avengers 5 - First of all, I just want to note that Reed Richards' descriptor on the page listing the Illuminati is "Universal Builder" and that there's a HUGE storyline happening over in regular Avengers involving Builders and their Code. If it turns out to be nothing but a coincidence, I'll be shocked. Hickman is too good. So, for now, onto the book itself. We get to see that the Illuminati conquered Terrax on the other Earth and that they didn't leave one of their own behind - presumably because they didn't have time to grab the Infinity Gems and build another glove? Presumably because that world was already dying? There was no point? It's not explained, but they're back, they have Terrax and they let out the Black Swan to tell them a story. And what a story she tells: "All I have, all I have ever known, are scary stories. And they are real." A lot of the stories I've been reading lately, at least in my eyes, have had a heck of a religious bent, and, even more importantly, have stressed the power of stories themselves. And when this story ends, we're going to, hopefully, see some huge changes in the Marvel Universe. These guys simply cannot continue on the path they've set themselves on. They're going too far, getting in too deep, people are going to find out and they're going to have a serious problem. And it's going to be more than just a Captain America, whom they can simply mind wipe. (Add that to the list of things they're going to get in serious trouble for, BTW.) For now, though, the issue ends with the problem of yet another incursion occurring, this one in Latveria. That's going to present quite the problem. But, there was mention of at least eight ways to stop the incursions. I don't think this means they stop the incursions at all, for what it's worth, but rather, that they dodge them. None of these paths are going to accomplish what any member of the Illuminati wants, because that is to win. To end it. The (at least) 8 paths are ways of avoiding the problem. None of them will be satisfied with that.

Rachel Rising 16 - Oh man, this story is really messed up. I feel like it's obviously continuing to build, which is awesome, but I'm also understanding more of the overall arc now, too. It's getting really good, and I could see it going on much, much longer than I originally anticipated. Here we get to see Rachel, Jet and Aunt Johnny getting together to compare notes, which is super realistic and I wish would happen in more plots. People usually don't just walk blindly into their fates. On the other hand, we have Lilith initiating some sort of change, while her underlings watch her burn herself - presumably not to death. Finally, we have Zoe, looking for refuge from the world, hiding in a church, but finding herself in the worst possible place, with a freaky priest who ties up a ram, waiting for the sacrifice to happen. He delights when it does, of course, but his co-worker isn't nearly as pleased with what he sees - which means he's got a price to pay. There are a lot of pieces at play in this work, and we're only starting to really get to any kind of understanding with them, but I'm loving the scale and the fact that each issue seems to matter now. Earlier, this title was a bit scattered, but now that we've got some sense of the scope, I feel like it's really got its feet.

Ultimate Spider-Man 22 - This issue started poorly, had some great sequences in the middle and then finished in a manner that I just know is going to piss some people off, especially with the homage cover that we got previewed for next month. Here's the thing: I don't mind the re-treading of ground covered in the 616 Universe. But it's got to be a little bit more. I don't understand the point of doing the same things just to do the same things. And this is a criticism that my buddy Dave leveled against this title a while ago and I defended it. But now? This feels tired. I like that it seemed like his mom knew even before that. I like that Maria Hill urges Miles to do the right thing, regardless of her later intent. I like the fact that Venom turned out to be some dude that we didn't know and not just another callback to Peter Parker - although the fact that he was a Roxxon employee and that we get to see Roxxon himself again bodes poorly for that idea. But what I didn't like is the fact that we're now doubling down on the tragedy that Miles is facing but none of it is unique in any way. I get that all stories are derivative in some manner or another, but this felt a bit cheap. I didn't even tear up at the end, either, when Miles woke up and had his slow realization, because the moment was pounded over the head with the melodrama of him tearing up his costume. The good things about this issue was that Gwen and MJ moved into more solid supporting character status, as opposed to one-note generics, but that was about it.

Unwritten 48 - So, Pauly's an even bigger asshole than we thought. And Tom remembers. And Lizzie is exactly where we thought she'd be. And the kids come back at the right moment to save Tom. But....then we go through the portal and we end up...in a different land of the dead? (What is this, Journey into Mystery?) Wilson's down in Hades, being tortured by Pauly, so I think we'll probably need to pick him up before we all leave. But that's a problem for the future. For now we're going to have to face off against the Devil (an appropriate visage for Pullman to take) with God's favorite pet or toy. (Again, appropriate.) This book is getting deeper and deeper and while I loved the beginning of this Orpheus tale, this one wandered a bit more than I thought it would. For containing so many revelations, it felt a bit flat. Don't get me wrong, it's still head and shoulders above the vast majority of the superhero books. But when you're expecting solid gold, even silver feels a bit off.

Wolverine and the X-Men 22 - Well, at least the conclusion had some cool notes to offer us. The story of Dog and his intrusion on the instruction of the students at the Jean Grey School is over. Thank God. Now, it looks like next issue, we're going to peek into the future. Future + X-Men usually equals a good time, so I'm excited for that. Insofar as this one, though, we got to see Quire near what he could be if he wasn't focused all the time on being such a jerk. We saw Glob reveal his true colors (and we saw that he's a true idiot - can't wait to see Sauron eat him). We saw Idie and Broo, still making a cute couple, in that weird way of theirs. And we saw Dog...maybe learn a lesson? Maybe mature? But then he still just bailed via time travel, and he was getting beat up by someone who...looked like his own future self? He's a pretty worthless character if this is all he's going to do, and that's a shame, because Origin still holds a lot of potential. I'm still not a fan of Perez on this book, but I like the fact that Jason Aaron is so comfortable with the character of Wolverine and uses his to narrate so much of the happenings. Here's to hoping this will improve with the next arc.

Young Avengers 4 - Oh. My. God. After the magnificence of that page in Daredevil, I didn't think I'd be so obviously drooling over another one so soon. But this double page spread that shows Noh-Varr making his way into the club is broken down into so many good parts. The architect-like plans. The corners of detail. The sparse wording, both from the narrator-position, as well as his own interior monologue, detailing his time with Hawkguy. The inclusion of more music. This is amazing. The fact that it concludes (not the issue, but rather just the brief sequence) with his homage to the Terminator is just a superb bonus. Then we get the dialogue, the faking it of Noh-Varr, the Kirby engines, and the interlude with real Cap and Thor. It's just amazing. But then we get to the real dilemma. The problem in this book was never going to be the shape-shifting bad guys - the good team always wins against them. But when we've got Loki, even the kid version, involved, we're going to have some serious wordplay. And here, in talking with the improbably dashing prince, he plants the seeds of doubt that he's so renowned for. Once he's done that, it's only a matter of time before things start going his way. For what it's worth, I'm not so worried about the cliffhanger, because this book's got to last a long, long, long time, and Kid Loki's got to be a huge part of it. So he's going to be back next issue and they're all going to defeat the bad guys, but even in their victory, no matter how total it is, those seeds of doubt are there, and they're going to play all kinds of wonderful havoc with the dynamics of this team. God, this book is so good.

Book of the week goes to Mind MGMT, but Young Avengers was so much fun it deserves a nod. Hard to compete with chess-players, though, if you're only playing checkers. Matt Kindt is serving up a clinic.

comics for the week of 04/17/13.

While I'm busying myself week to week with the super hero stuff, I also got a chance to read Habibi this week. It was incredible and if you haven't read it, but fancy yourself a lover of indie comics, I'd highly recommend that you do so.

Batwoman 19 - Trevor McCarthy proves himself on art again, JH Williams is writing great stories, and this book is excelling as the best DC title. When we called it one of the top five of the New 52, I don't think any of us anticipated how good it was going to be this far out, nor how drastically the rest of the books that were previously in its company would have fallen. First of all, the story is great. Williams is certifying that he can writer a solid script. He's got a great grasp on Batwoman and Kate Kane, as well as her domestic partner, Maggie. The use of dreams can come across like a cheap ploy, but it works perfectly here. Then, he shows that he's got a graph on writing the family dynamic, with dad, Kate and Bette all playing together, but in totally different ways, but once again differentiating it by not having the twist play out like last issue. (BTW, love the snark between the cousins, especially in regard to the Bat symbol and the control freak aspect of Bruce and Kate.) Take it a step further with the Bones conversation with Batwoman, his desire to unmask Bruce and the ultimate twist, which we already knew was coming, but it plays out for great effect. And, I haven't even mentioned the art yet! The breakdown of the fight, seen twice actually, once in 'real time' and once on the iPad, is glorious. It's an emulation of Williams, sure, but if you're going to emulate any artist in the comics biz these days, why not him? Shit. This is just phenomenal stuff here.

Daredevil 25 - Wow! A fantastic issue of a fantastic series! I hope Ikari sticks around for a lot longer, he's got rich potential as a new Bullseye. Every bit of this issue was great, but the panel showing Matt using his hearing, sense of smell and taste, broken up into those panels was just amazing. The reliance on his moniker, the man without fear, was appropriate, given the villains' purpose. And fight was well-done and the conclusion was truly surprising. (I mean, not the END, but the revelation.) I'm so delighted by this title. It feels like a superhero comic should, with continuing adventures month after month, but there's also that overall arc that I crave in my stories. The fact that the sub-plots are sometimes more affecting than the overall is the sign of a master writer, too. Foggy's issue still stands above the rest, but this one comes the closest. It's great, great stuff overall. Can't wait to see who's pulling the strings and how DD gets over Ikari, even while I'm hoping that his victory is only temporary, so that this great new baddie can have some staying power.

Daredevil: End of Days 7 - So, we get the super-unambiguous church at the beginning, then we go to the Church of the Hand. (In between, we have Urich's phone call to the Bugle where Suki answers. I don't know if this is new or if I just blocked it out from before, but that is some straight up racist, stupid shit. Come on, Bendis!) Then we have the opportunity for an awesome encounter between Urich and a Hand Ninja, but just when the ninja's extracting info from Urich's head via some wacky ninja mystical stuff, Urich just escapes with no explanation. Then he wanders into the apartment that he originally went to the place for, which the ninja had told he he couldn't see. Then he finds some files on a computer that freak him out so much that he doesn't notice at least 7 ninjas sneaking up on him. Then, new Daredevil takes them all out with one well-bounded billy club. New DD tackles Urich out the window and, because they wanted a cool page FULL of arrows, the next panel, where ALL those arrows somehow miss both DD and Urich, they run. They duck for cover, DD jumps out and fights the ninjas (hundreds of them, all firing arrows) and Punisher jumps into the fray, spilling automatic fire with no discretion. Somehow, despite all of this, new DD escapes without any wounds, although his costume does appear torn in several places in the final panel. And we get the reveal about who the new DD is, but I won't spoil it here. Suffice it to say that this issue, just like the rest of the series, is a hot piece of shit mess. I've stuck with it simply out of curiosity and I'll be glad to see it finish with the next issue, but damn. This could not possibly be recommended for anyone.

Fables 128 - "Through A Glass Darkly" - The battle I've been waiting for! And then...it starts to change. Death by a thousand cuts. Amplifying the spell. (And, of course, the weird wedding arrangements between Beast and the Lady of the Lake on the part of Gepetto and the Blue Fairy.) And...the ultimate reveal of Brandish's deadly weapon. So, the battle doesn't exactly go as we'd planned or hoped. But it does leave hope for the next issue with Snow White proving herself yet again. She's always been one of the strongest characters in the book, and she's proved it time and time again. She's going to get some serious revenge on Brandish next issue, but I'm curious to see the price she has to pay. She's got to live for a while still, so she's not going to die, and I don't get the feeling that she and Bigby are going to split, so it's going to be something out of left field. Meanwhile, gone unmentioned is the fact that Bigby's abandoned (albeit only temporarily, for sure) his quest for his kids, so we'll have to wait even longer to see them return to the fold. Fables continues to tell incredible stories using characters that sat in popular culture for so long, proving that there are, in fact, new stories to be told.

Wolverine and the X-Men 20 - Well. I'm torn on this issue. I had no idea that it was going to be written by Matt Kindt, who is one of my new favorites ever. Also, it was pencilled by Paco Medina, whose work is always gorgeous. On the other hand, it was typical Marvel crossover bullshit where the story that was told was one that had literally nothing to do with what came before and I'm not interested in. I'm not reading Age of Ultron. I'm not going to read Age of Ultron. There's almost nothing that could make me interested in Age of Ultron. But...I wasn't really digging the previous plots on this book anyway, right? So might as well have a well-written (but it wasn't Kindt's best work, IMO) and beautiful distraction? I'm not sure. Sue Storm as a women who's lost it all is semi-intriguing, and her interference with the past was a nice humanizing touch to see, but I didn't care very much, Likewise, it was kind of funny to see Logan help the Brood to evolve into something much more deadly than they would be all on their own, but, again, don't really care. I'm not a Previews guy, so I never really know when these writer/artist changes are coming up, and I don't know if this is going to last more than an issue, but even though I'm not enjoying it like I Have in the past, Wolverine and the X-Men is nowhere near my chopping block.

Book of the week goes to Daredevil. Batwoman was a close second with how great it is proving itself to be, but Daredevil was just pure fun, mixed with that veteran artistry on all levels.

boston marathon attack.

While the attack at the Boston Marathon is still being investigated, the stories have already started rolling in concerning the human cost, putting names and faces with the sobering numbers.

In the aftermath of an event like this, there are so many angles to take. And while there are reporters who are digging into the whos and whats of motive, perpetrators, etc. it can be somewhat reassuring to see the kindness of people in uniting to overcome. There were the initial reports of people running straight from the finish line of the marathon to the hospital to give blood; always something in short supply after a tragedy. There was Patton Oswalt's reminder that mankind's goodness has almost always outweighed those who would do harm. There was, of course, a nod to Mr. Rogers.

This taking place at a sporting event, though, there were uniting factors beyond the above-mentioned. The Boston Bruins have postponed their next game, originally scheduled to take place on Monday night. The Boston Celtics have canceled their last home game of the season, originally schedule for Tuesday night. And more than the logical steps of Boston stepping up security and delaying or canceling events, there have been showings of support from near and far.

Chicago - no stranger to misery in regard to sports, nor in terms of tragedy in their own streets - showed unity in their newspaper. New York had monuments that were thrown up quickly and will, presumably, show much more support, both emotionally and financially. Even the London Marathon, amidst worries of their own, showed mental fortitude.

When disaster strikes, whether man-made or nature-related, there are so many different ways in which people react. It's incredible to see the world of sports doing what they can to contribute to the good.

comics for the week of 04/10/13.

I'm backtracking over the Journey Into Mystery run from Kieron Gillen, thanks to @mfeige. I'm also continuing to read The Walking Dead, but after my experiment with reading it monthly ended so poorly last time, I'm not going to put it back in these reviews until I'm confident that I'm going to stick with it.

Avengers 9 - Wow, this book is really transforming. The long arc seemingly gets put on pause by the end here, and the connection between this book and the New Avengers gets made much more explicit. The fact that Starbrand and Nightmask go to see the Builder and that he gives them a pretty significant reveal will have a lot of influence on where this is all going. But for now, after a fight that could have really messed things up, there seems to be a calm that we're in for. Knowing Hickman's writing style, though, makes me suspect that things will not be without consequence. Even with those two locked away, even with the focus (seemingly) about to change, there will be ramifications to what's going on in this book for the long-term future. I love the fact that this team is so big and it's got so many different people who, on their own, could change the course of any given battle. Put them all together and it seems like there's nothing they can't do, but I'm pretty sure that we're going to see some tremendous odds for them - much, much later. Ex Nihilo, also, will be a player in that future. Great stuff.

Batman 19 - Well, at least in my opinion, Batman has been seriously suffering since its strong start. The Court of Owls was an amazing revamp, but it quickly fell off the rails, and the book hasn't been right since then. The Death of the Family suffered from the same fate, and this issue didn't improve things at all. Clayface is back and he's not threatening, just like he wasn't before. I'm unimpressed and close to dropping the book...but then! Alex Maleev pencils a backup tale featuring Superman, where the dialogue gets close to the Batman we all know and love and would expect to encounter in the wake of Damian's death. Pitch perfect. Contrast this with Bruce merely looking at videos of old Damian footage in his cowl in the main story, like some parent in a depressing feature film. I don't know who James Tynion IV is (apparently he's writing Red Hood and is going to do Talon [or already is, if it's out?]), but the fact that he's got a better take on Bruce's response to tragedy is worrying for my faith in Scott Snyder. Snyder's still got a lot of room, but the troubling fact is that DC's track record right now is less than spotty and they seem to be squandering the good will they engendered with the handful of good books that came out of the New 52.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 20 - Remember when we all kind of hated Xander? (But also, remember The Zeppo? And how that showed us we shouldn't? But then no one really learned the lesson? At least not permanently?) Well, we're being played right along that angle again. Sure, the fact that he's not the hero of the book (or even of his own life) must get to him every once in a while. (Or most of the time.) But even if he's just putting himself in position to blow this evil plan out of the water, it's frustrating that the writers can't think of anything new to do with him. It's such backwards momentum. He's a great character who just keeps being reduced to being the same plot beats over and over again. He deserves better. And, speaking of that, so do all the characters and their looks. The art on this book isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not good either. It's amazing to see Willow back in the book, but it's hard to see that it's even her. Andrew looks flat the whole time he's on page. The best bits of this book are the BPRD jacket that Xander wears and the fact that we're getting an art change next issue. Sad to say that those are the highlights of what used to be a top-notch book. Hopefully, with the minis over, the arcs wrapping up and the synthesis of the Angel & Faith plot with this one, we'll be able to look forward to a strong conclusion.

Hawkeye 9 - Oh man. I don't know how else to tell you guys this: If you're not reading Hawkeye, you're missing out. This comic is exactly what people talk about when they say working class. You know how there was that stat about Bush that said people liked him because they could imagine having a beer with him? Well, that's like Hawkeye, except he's not turning out to be a miserable failure. (Not partisan! Just some Google humor!) It's so ordinary. It's so gritty. (But not in the Frank Miller/80s way.) It's so street level. And it's so damn good. It's just Clint Barton trying to live his life when he's got some pretty extraordinary circumstances surrounding him pretty much all the time. He's trying to do his best most of the time, but he's pretty damn flawed. It's not that he's a bad guy. It's just that he's human. The art, by David Aja, almost makes the book, but it's another great example (two this week!) of collaboration between artist and writer. Matt Fraction is creating something entirely new here. It feels almost like voyeurism in its honestly. It's so straight forward that sometimes it feels awkward to watch. And when Jessica slaps him, repeatedly, we feel it. Things are building up for Hawkguy and we get to see, by way of that last page heart-stopper, that the amping up is going to get significantly more intense very quickly. Fantastic stuff.

Invincible Universe 1 - Well, I've loved Todd Nauck for a long, long time, and I've got plenty of faith in Phil Hester, but I'm just not sure that this book is for me. I don't find myself caring enough about the Invincible universe enough to get into it. It's just like the Wolfman book: great, great stuff that I just don't have time for. If someone I trust tells me that it gets phenomenal, I'll go back and get after it, but for now, if you love the Kirkman-verse, definitely get this. If not, you can probably feel free to skip it. I loved the art, I thought the story was engaging and I don't regret reading it. But it's not compelling enough to make my stack month after month.

Saga 12 - I can't believe this issue got so much press for all the wrong reasons, especially because, upon reading it, that 'controversial' part was so little! The issue overall has so much more, and so much more that is truly praise-worthy that it's shocking to me that people focused on such a small part of the issue. Therefore, I'm not going to get into it any more than I already have. Let's focus on the great: the little creatures that Prince Robot runs into when he lands on the author's planet. I know this is another small thing, but come on! Just look at the detail and the imagination that went into that! Fiona Staples is working with BKV at a level that we rarely see in this collaborative art form. Plus, the backstory that we get from the Robot makes him a bit more of a relatable character. The position he's put in by the land forces also help us see him as a bit more human. And then, his conversation with the author... Wow. We kind of got that double sense from the beginning, but I love how quickly they both turned into their true selves. And, of course, the ending was fantastic. Didn't see that coming and looking forward to the waiting game of next issue. Of course, that brings us to the only bad double entendre of this issue, because in the letters column, there's the confession that it's time for another little chunk of waiting. The only bad thing about such a great product is that sometimes it takes a bit longer to come out. For something this good, we should all be willing to wait.

Thor: God of Thunder 7 - We see the title reflected in a nice revelation at the end, but way before that, we get to see old Thor team up with young Thor and it is an absolute delight. Highlights include the "Thor-force" and "By my beard!" God, this book is incredible. I love how deep the mythology is getting, and, for that reason especially, I'm glad that I'm getting into the backlog of JiM. But here, Thor is front and center, and he's an incredible force. We get to see some instantaneous growth, thanks to the time-traveling nature of the story (maybe time-spanning is a better term) and it's great to see how different each of his incarnations is. The young(est) Thor is incredibly naive. The old(est) Thor is so jaded, even if it's justifiably so. And Gorr continues to demonstrate that he is more than a capable foe, tricking the Godbomb into existence. I can't wait to see Odin-Thor and middle Thor go into battle together and I can't wait to see what they're going to be up against.

Book of the week goes to Hawkeye. I'm giving it to Fraction & Aja over Saga because of the fact that they're working on a Big Two book and they still have the guts to make it this great. Incredible.