11 - Nightwing #5 (last issue - 11 out of 14 books)
I’m not so sure what I just read here. I get that we’re trying to show Dick on the road with Haley’s circus before things come back full circle, but this issue and the last have been more distracting than helpful. Then the not-at-all-surprising twist at the end of this one doubles back and negates any of the emotional stakes that were raised in the last issue. This series started out strong, but needs to do more to keep me in the fold.
10 - Suicide Squad #4 (last issue - 5 out of 10 books)
And one looooong day for the Suicide Squad continues. This was an odd sort of transition issue from the end of one mission to the beginning of another with some cute twists and the first sign that Harley Quinn might be in this for more than cheesecake and teenage goth girl fantasy #6.
Still, though, the too-quick introduction of Captain Boomerang to the squad leading to the next thing leading to the next left me feeling less like I wanted more and more like this was the transition issue of a disjointed story more than something that could ever stand on its own.
9 - Avengers #21 (last issue - 4 out of 14 books)
The good guys get taken down a little bit at a time, as Osborn has become the Batman of villains - showing exactly what he can do with prep time. Fun to read when you read it like that, but we didn’t get those wonderful “My diabolical plan is coming to fruition” panels that have been the hallmark of H.A.M.M.E.R. II: Electric Boogaloo across both of Bendis’ Avengers titles.
On top of that, the dialogue was uncharacteristically clunky for Bendis. Clunky dialogue is probably a risk you run with Protector and Vision, less so with Spider-Woman (whose voice Bendis practically dragged into modern comics). Probably a better comic than this, but if you’re going to charge me $3.99 for 20 pages, I’m going to hold that book to a higher standard and that standard wasn’t met this time.
8 - Uncanny X-Force #20 (last issue - 12 out of 12 books)
Eep, I’m not a huge fan of Greg Tocchini’s work here. Secondly, I’m not a huge fan of magicy stories. So that anything worked for me with this issue is probably a testament to Rick Remender’s incredible talent. While I don’t care for the nebulous reasons that the Captain Britains kidnapped Betsy and Fantomex (or rather, their nebulous jurisdiction to do so), I think the character work here is still outstanding.
AoA Nightcrawler showing Wolverine just how different a World Without Xavier can make a man (refusing to be called “Elf” is a fantastic touch), Betsy struggling with family and their knowledge of what manner of badness she’s been associated with, and Fantomex’s bravado in the face of dire charges were all pitch perfect.
Let’s just get the plotting and the art back up to par, shall we?
7 - Venom #12 (last issue - 10 out of 14 books)
The grand thematic for this issue was definitely there. Flash gives in to his inner demons one at a time when he’s pushed to the edge by an insane pumpkin man who’s clearly dealing with issues of his own stemming from how his father treated him. Got it.
it’s the execution that pushed it down the list. It read as a little too easy to both lose and gain control of the symbiote. Also, I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t thrilled even a little bit by what the package Flash was sent after contained and will be reliably frightened of when that’s going to peek its head out in this series again.
6 - Wonder Woman #5 (last issue - 3 out of 14 books)
Once again, a different artist is holding a book back. After one issue, I officially feel that this book suffers when Cliff Chiang isn’t around. With that off my chest, this was still some very good work by Azzarello & crew.
The introduction of more of Wonder Woman’s new family comes in a mysterious and playful form even as we see her starting to adjust to her new definition. We’re shown what’s at stake to keep us firmly rooting for the Wonder Woman who would protect us from the whims of the gods (which we are also reminded can be petty and vengeful).
I’m really impressed by how carefully and wonderfully Wonder Woman and her mythos are being eased out for those of us who were never able to buy in before, and I hope that longtime fans are just as pleased.
5 - Avenging Spider-Man #3 (last issue - 8 out of 9 books)
Not kidding, the Red Hulk’s reaction to Spider-Man’s day-saving prowess is worth every bit of cash you can spend on this issue. Every bit of disrespect Spider-Man absorbed in the first two issues pays off in a huge way in this issue with some good laughs to boot.
It was a little too cute in some places, but overall this was an incredibly fun read that I now officially look forward to reading more of. The Spider-Man family of books is looking really strong right now.
4 - Caligula #6 (last issue - 6 out of 6 books)The thing that’s been worrying me since I decided that I was actually going to start rooting for Felix to fall down the awful hole that Caligula had been digging for him was that we were never really going to find a satisfying conclusion for the revenge tale that we thought we were getting in the first issue.
When the time comes, there’s a catharsis that’s not the one we envisioned at first, but couldn’t be more horrifyingly perfect for the character that we’ve gone on this journey with. Brought to his absolute lowest, screaming out “Mine!” in a fantastic panel, Felix (now a very facetious name indeed) reaches the only conclusion he could have.
I wouldn’t have expected anything less nihilistic but engaging from David Lapham.
3 - Amazing Spider-Man #678 (last issue - 9 out of 14 books)
Dan Slott uses one of my favorite holes in time travel nerding to set the scene for this little two-part adventure, which is played with as much fun yet somehow simultaneous pathos as something premised on a literal door to the future can can be played with.
Slott gives us an issue of snappy dialogue while a desperate Spider-Man tries to repeat everything Spider-Man did in a world where Peter Parker’s breakroom of the future never happens. Julia Carpenter astral projecting, Jonah kissing Silver Sable’s royalness, and the gang at Horizon Labs all dropped in a just immense fun.
2 - Batman #5 (last issue - 13 out of 14 books)
I didn’t love this at first, but I’ve had some time to digest and I’ve almost done a 180 on it. That, in and of itself, is a remarkable thing for a comic these days.
Well, this was something. If Ed Brubaker is making Captain America question himself by making him question his relationship with America, then Scott Snyder has Batman questioning himself by making him question his relationship with Gotham City. The big difference is that Gotham City is a character in the Batman mythos to the point that something like the Court of Owls having existed in it makes Batman question his relationship with the character he’s closest to.
The result is a madness-fueled trip around a maze where Batman, referring to himself by his real name in his inner monologue in a way that wouldn’t be startling for any other character but is super startling for this one, is still trying to convince himself that none of this is real. The one crazed eye look from Capullo stands in a remarkable contrast to how his Batman looked in issue #1, when he was far more sure of his city and where he stood in it.
“Batman R.I.P.” may still be relatively fresh in our heads, but this there’s more to this wandering rambling Batman than a weird costume and Batmite. There’s the legitimate idea that even when he manages to beat the bad guy, some fundamental truths about the character will be different.
1 - Daredevil #8 (last issue - 6 out of 14 books)
Mark Waid saves the good heist movie stuff for the book he actively writes. Shrewd move, Mr. Waid. If the opening chapter was a little too playful and unfocused, this chapter of the two-parter put everything in its place in the context of the larger Daredevil story while also putting them in just the right place for the story.
I went back and read Amazing Spider-Man #677 and, sure enough, it reads wonderfully now that I have the rest of the detail. In this issue, we get the climax and the chicanery of the falling action that a good heist story is supposed to deliver (once again making me wonder how hard it would be to get a solid crime writer on a Black Cat ongoing and make that comic sell) along with some great chemistry between Daredevil, Spidey, and The Black Cat.
Emma Rios brought it hard (she would also be perfect for the afore-mentioned Black Cat ongoing, Marvel...I know someone is reading this who can make this happen, right?) and brought just the right shade of awesome to match the crime story feel in superhero clothes.
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