Posts tagged captain america

Hoo boy - end of the month already? November kind of flew by and after last week’s bonanza of good books, this week seems a bit slow.

A friend of mine who works at Toronto’s Silver Snail mentioned on her blog that November technically has five Wednesdays, which throws off the shipping of comics a bit. I’ve never considered that before, and it’s kind of interesting.

The off week doesn’t necessarily mean that the books this week aren’t good; check out my picks below!

Marvel Comics (Click names for links)

Thunderbolts #166 - Jeff Parker writes a lovely Thunderbolts story, but I feel like I’ve either missed the last issue of this book, or it hasn’t come out in quite a long time. I’ve been following this book since a little bit before Fear Itself, so it’ll be interesting to see it settle into its own book.

Wolverine #19 - I blogged about the sexy-ass cover to Wolverine #19 a couple weeks ago, and now I actually get to read the issue. Matt Fraction’s Fat Cobra showed up last issue, as well, so the comedy’s going to be laid on thick. It’s no coincidence that #18 was my pick of the week two weeks ago: this story reeks of awesomeness. Bring me my wenches of reading!

Daredevil #6 - Mark Waid’s run on Daredevil has me the most interested I’ve been about the character since he was impersonated by Iron Fist. The art, the story, the old-school vibe: it’s super-heroing without complications, and that’s needed sometimes.

Red Skull: Incarnate #5 (of 5) - Controversy aside, David Aja’s covers for this series are works of art. I love the old-school design, and the story within is gripping, detailed and almost surreal; after years of demonizing the Red Skull, it’s weird to think of his back-story. I’m not saying he evokes sympathy - no, he’s quite the bastard - but Greg Pak gives another side to the megalomaniac murderer.

Image Comics (Click names for links)

Skullkickers #12 - I have nothing but good things to say about Skullkickers, as it tugs at my D&D nostalgia heartstrings while bringing the comedy. I’m heartily enjoying the saga of Baldy and Shorty, and just picked up the second trade, which came out last week.

This week’s issue looks to be a series of short, contained “tavern stories” between major story arcs: give it a look if you want a taste of what the series has to offer.

DC Comics

DMZ #71 (pictured above) - Oh gosh, the series is almost over. This is one of my favourite books of all time, so it’s a bit sad to see Matty Roth get put on trial for war crimes. If you haven’t read this book before, you’ve got some catching up to do before the finale in #72. Author Brian Wood said that this one is “the big one” in terms of story resolution, and I fully expect to be blown away.

Flash #3 - Francis Manapul’s art is awesome, and this comic is the first book to make me care about Barry Allen. I’m really enjoying the giant set-pieces that he’s drawing, and the whole “vibrating a plane through a bridge” scene has been set up/previewed for a long time.

Shade #2 (of 12) - Wait, The Shade’s series is out, and I wasn’t notified? Time to catch up! I wrote a column about why Shade needed his own series awhile ago, but it turns out that web site has stopped publishing; oh well. Bad-ass villain turned bad-ass character.

Image Comics

Invincible #84 - I’ve been a bit disappointed by this book as of late because of the large hangover period that came after the story’s major story arc. Mark Grayson has been making a growing series of bad choices as a superhero, and to see a complete 180 in such a small amount of time is disconcerting. 

Next issue marks the return of Cory Walker to the book, which I’m quite excited for; nothing against Ryan Ottley, but I just prefer the former’s work. This seems a bit dumb, as, well, the latter has been working on the majority of Invincible’s run, but for some reason the latest arc really turned me off.

I don’t really like when comics I usually enjoy reading unsettle me; I’ve written about this before, and sometimes Invincible’s gore and violence make me want to put it down for a bit.

Marvel Comics

Captain America and Bucky #624 - I’m reviewing a bunch of Marvel books for ComicVine this week, and this issue of Cap & Bucky is the first one I’ve ever read. Shall be fun diving into a new series, and I may pick up a couple back issues in order to get an idea of where the series is.

Invincible Iron Man #510 - Quality from Matt Fraction as always; can’t go wrong with Tony, Pepper and the boys at Stark Resilient. Another review for ComicVine on the way.

Mighty Thor #8 - I’ve been liking this series because it’s relatively continuity-light, and they’ve done some lovely things with Galactus and the Silber Surfer. I’m looking forward to the Fear Itself fallout and seeing some of this “New God of Thunder” business.

Secret Avengers #19 - Warren Ellis. Secret-y things. Beast, Moon Knight, Captain America and Black Widow. Hi-jinks. Secret Avengers is like a more serious Nextwave, and I enjoy every minute.

Hello ladies and gents! Here’s my picks for this week’s comics. I picked up:

• Sweet Tooth #22 (Vertigo, Jeff Lemire)
• Superboy #8 (DC, Jeff Lemire)
• Secret Six #34 (DC, Gail Simone)
• Avengers Academy #14.1 (Marvel, Christos Gage)
• Fear Itself #3 (Marvel, Matt Fraction)
• Amazing Spider-Man #663 (Marvel, Dan Slott)

Good haul this week; I don’t really like Marvel’s “.1” series of issues, but I picked up Avengers Academy for completion’s sake, and because I’m really liking this series. Fear Itself surprised me with some twists, but Secret Six was definitely this week’s pick. Check it out!

Here’s the reviews I did for ComicVine for four of the above issues. Spoilers abound, people!

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