Rex Libris wasn’t all I bought in May; far from it…
All-New Atom #11 finishes the trip to Hong Kong with some handy firefighting-with-fire, but geez, it’s hard to connect with Ryan’s affection toward Jia.
The All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #2 continues the 2007 series with my great big AIM entry. I also covered Adam-II, Jean Paul DuChamp, Kronans, Clive Reston and Thena.
Amazing Spider-Girl #8 is told from Mary Jane’s perspective. It’s an interesting change of pace, but the sharp cuts from May to MJ in the last 3rd of the book didn’t do much for me.
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures Handbook must be the most unusual project I’ve contributed to thus far, and that’s pretty much why I volunteered to begin with. The most interesting thing I learned while researching is that Anita actually predates the TV version of Buffy. I contributed the entries on Burchard, the Church of Eternal Life, Ghouls, Malcolm, Valentine and Zachary.
Annihilation Saga presents my very first solo writing credit. That’s such a monumental statement in and of itself that I’m kinda wowed.
Astonishing X-Men #21 came out, but the story’s still not goin’ nowhere fast.
It feels like I’m the only person who enjoyed Avengers: The Initiative #2, but I understand why many hate it. Think of it as a Yellowjacket comic and it reads much better.
Blade #9 would have caught my eye if only for the Union Jack appearance, but I’m actually digging this book. Pity it’s about to end.
Cable & Deadpool #40 kicks off the title’s X-Men crossover, and that means Cable is finally back in the book.
McDuffie’s first FF story speeds to an end in Fantastic Four #546 that isn’t entirely satisfying in execution, but I can’t complain with the plotting. Hey, it’s got Gravity. That doesn’t suck.
We’re on a serious slow burn in Immortal Iron Fist #5, but it’s entertaining enough when it does come out that I can forgive it. I hope the rest of the readership is as forgiving as me, ’cause I want this book to run a good long time under these creators.
World War Hulk begins with Incredible Hulk #106, but it has as much to do with events going on in She-Hulk than anything.
Iron Man: Hypervelocity #5 is the penultimate issue of the mini and continues to provide all kinds of super-cool moments for Iron Man as the plot twists. The cover is so wrong…
If it hadn’t been 99 cents, I might not have bought Madame Mirage: First Look. True, I’m a fan of Dini’s writing, I was undeniably curious about the project, and for preview material it manages to be pretty entertaining. It’s just…so very…Top Cow. In the sense of udders. I feel almost ashamed to own it.
After hearing reactions on the net, I ran for a copy of Marvel Adventures: Avengers #12. It may be all-ages, but that doesn’t mean it sucks. Jeff Parker’s indy sensibilities serve him well here, as Ego the Living Planet descends upon the Earth with amorous intent. Humanity’s only hope is that the Avengers can make Ego realize (in the Hulk’s words): “Earth just want to be friends!” Absolute genius.
Richard Rider learns you can’t go home again in Nova #2, with some of the best post-Civil War reactions I’ve seen. For all the attempts to make Iron Man seem a futurist, I’m more impressed with Nova’s “big picture” thinking by far.
Omega Flight #2 continues the slow burn as the team gradually assembles.
Hey, I liked Runaways #26 a lot more than I did last month’s. I think Joss’ Molly dialogue sold me more than anything, and the Punisher confrontation was pretty funny.
She-Hulk #18 leads into World War Hulk as She-Hulk finally learns that Iron Man helped exile her cousin, takes him on, and loses her powers as punishment. It’s, uh, getting hard to root for Iron Man when he treats people as pawns.
It is hard to explain to the uninitiated why I enjoyed Storm Shadow #1 so much. If you grew up on G.I. Joe, then you know why it’s cool. If you didn’t, you’ll probably never get it. In this fan’s opinion, Hama still has it, and I’m eager to see where he’s going.
Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better #4 concludes his mini-series with some nice cameos, a good demonstration of how Zemo’s character has evolved under Nicieza’s penmanship, and a complete Zemo family tree as a bonus. I hope this isn’t the last Tbolts project from Nicieza, because he was really hitting a stride right when Civil War hit.
Perhaps I should have taken note of the creators listed in What Were They Thinking?!: Go West Young Man #1. No Giffen involvement this time, unlike the original What Were They Thinking, which I had enjoyed. This particular book is filled with lame jokes and is overall a wasted opportunity.
World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1Â has a decent enough recap by PAD himself, and a timely reprint of Mastermind Excello’s first appearance, but it would be worth purchasing on the strength of Giarrusso’s “Round Trip” story on its own — it’s a hilarious send-up of the Illuminati.
X-Factor #19 caught my eye with the obscure-character-o-rama membership comprising the X-Cell, former mutants who think their depowering is part of a larger conspiracy. As usual, this title is the best at dealing with the fallout from “M-Day.”
After been drawn to it for years thanks to favorable online reviews, I was finally convinced to try out Scott Pilgrim after meeting Lars back at the expo, and so eventually I found a copy of the first volume, Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. I don’t know what I’m going to do now, ’cause I’m hooked and volumes are getting hard to find around here. At first I reflected at what a great example of American manga this is for other artists to draw from; then I recalled that being set in Toronto, it’s as much as Canadian manga as anything. What do you need to know? It’s Scott Pilgrim. He has a band. He’s awesome. Sample dialogue: “Well, Knives and Neil are out there. Maybe they’ll spread rumours about how we rock, and then people will think we rock!”
And in back issues I hit Bloodstone#4, Dr. Strange #10,26,67,73,75, Dr. Strange Annual #4, Marvel Comics Presents #56 (has a great Speedball story — no lie) and Marvel Knights #7.
