march 28th in comics -Assembling your Avengers

All of this weeks Avengers books except for the secret avengers were heavy on the Avengers vs X-men promo AVSX 0...didn't add much to the tale we didn't know from the preview except for Scarlet Witch's un-welcomed home coming which is to say she looks to be written out of the main story there though ,not surprised if she appears as a wild card along side her family. New Avenger's wrapped up the dark avenger thread, Avenger's 24.1 focused on the Vision who goes and confronts Magneto...I would write Vision about as emotional as Dexter Morgan as he is an android, the break down at the end was a little much,Secret Avengers continues on this Apdaptoid war, the art continues to suck like Hulk's has been, Uncanny X-men brings the Avengers in to sort through and unexplained burst of random cartoon villany but it was entertaining and the Emma Frost training sequence was pretty hot , that works lots better as a uniform for her than her Victoria Secrets.
Moon knight-which i read for some reason was entertaining but confusing as to why Madame Masque can kick his ass, the art though is in the gritty pencil stuff i hate on secret avengers and hulk ... in news of good art Avengers art was improved and a skim through the ultimates the art was excellent to bad its being wasted on something non-canon
now onto d/c Aqua-man seven the art is outstanding black manta is back, thought arthur has always deserved a better nemesis but there you go , this introduces the mysterious the others in the soap operatic way geoff johns can get. the art in Teen Titans 7 continues to be incredible but they are kinda losing me with some of the scattered action. Dark knight 7 though was a great read art and story an example to D/C how it should be done .

Comics of the week

ok lets do this ... with some quick hits X-Factor 233...it didn't really stick to me , Longshot was underused, the art was decent but luke warm overall...Avengers/X-Sanction 4- liked the art overall it was a fight book with alot of cheap shots and no defined winner , hopefully this isn't a sign of whats to come with avengers vs x-men,...Generation Hope 17... much like the character Hope tis book has not caught on for me , even the art work which is above average can't redeem the convoluted writing Amazing spider-man 682 - this begins the ends of the earth, not a fan of the new suit it looks like an excuse for an action figure ...New Mutants 39- meh, the writing was decent in the sense there was a sense of threat and urgency underlying everything but just didn't feel the characters. Invincible Iron -man 514- pretty solid book in every area like the re-vamped villains and the fact as far as tone it feels like the movies but not compromising canon. Wolverine 303.., not a bad book for Wolverine fans ..everything you would want from his mythos , ninjas, Sabertooth, Mystique and Sliver Samurai, lots of action decent art.
Ok DC Justice League 7 - vs a weird monster thing the art work has taken a sharp dive and now looks like a Creepy magazine from the 70's , this is issue was what it was hopefully this isn't the direction the books continues in. Wonder Woman- 7 ..felt weird like I was reading an issue of Hell-boy instead. the story and art both reflected this not the best Wonder-woman story I 've read for sure . CatWoman 7- the art continues to excel, the story drags a little here, i think she would have been a better choice than Green Arrow for a tv show . Batman 7- starts this arch of the owl cult , they die it into dick grayson's past, the art worked enjoyable read even with not actual action.
Yet to get to Uncanny x-men this week so it looks like Iron-man might take it as the book of the week

This week so far

ok lets start with one I have been anticipating Avenger's 24, while i'm not as big of a fan of the newest dark avengers , this arch is well written and Vision is back. So Norman Osborn, gets turned into the Super Adaptoid, the Avengers having fought one of those know what to do, seems like that was handled a little abruptly and leaves new avengers hanging as far as continuity, maybe poor release scheduling. Think the art work on this book could be improved, this went pretty cartoon as far as resolution as well might as well have had Dr Claw laughing.

Incredible Hulk 6 - So six issues on this , i think some of the gamma animals could have been left out earlier on and we could have gotten to these meat and potatoes sooner, I do find it a little hard to believe after his last run in with a gamma bomb Banner would have safe guards in place so he didn't have another accident... the art is a little suspect, I don't like how they are drawing Hulk's face but I liked the Banner vs Hulk fight

You know Marvel is cashing in on the movie how can they not it's their number one promotional vehicle ...but where is this in continuity? I can see where it's picking up from Avengers 24, Unless it's a massive spoiler for Incredible Hulk number 7, why is there a stupid Hulk ? Seems like mental capacity is a key component in continuity. Other wise I like the art and the story aside from the dumb Hulk is entertaining.

X-23- while a really unique and interesting issue about a character who could have easily turned into a girl wolverine knock-off ...powers aside no she's not. we have a silent ..no dialogue vision-quest. I Know the series is coming to a close and she will be on a team book , prolly a better place for her so marvel doesn't fall into the trap of a whole section of Wolverine clan books like Bat-man is in.

Fantastic Four I have mixed feelings about as it defines jumping the shark in comics and is a mess of cosmic proportions, we have multiple Reed Richards and family members waltzing in and out of alternate time lines..The redeeming elements comes from the very human emotional element, its the touch stone of Marvel writing and what has always made me feel more connected to the characters than DC...sometimes Super-man captures this Bat-man feels blank, as does Wonder-woman and Aqua-man. When Franklin flies it felt real, a well drawn panel , the art in this book is a mess , get the suspense of disbelief together even on the space epics and there is powerful potential in the family dynamic as displayed here.

Speaking of Dc ..Super-boy 7 was the perfect blend of action and story , since he is a clone you don't have to worry about pesky little things like emotions and the art is fantastic, I like this book a little more with every read. The key hear is it doesn't feel like he is another member of the Krypton clan.

Deathstroke is where thins start getting gritty for the week, the kind of violence I was surprised to find in a DC comic, ok maybe not on the level or the Sentry ripping Ares in half , but swords through heads, the book is fun and despite the father son cliche arc it was satisfying all the way around and this is from a character I know next to nothing about

Up next Kick Ass 2 issue 7- or i think, I'm out of the loop on this one but the pieces were easy to put into place though I am sory to hear that I missed the Red Mist's big rape, will have to go back and find that one. It seems the empathy for these kids has gone down the drain and Hit-girl is chopping heads off , so they are trying to go for the shocks which I think were more effective when you had a little more invested in the characters ...I'm sure it is selling though.

Another Week in Comics

Ok we are going to hit Marvel First, and lets start with Amazing Spider 681... this is the prelude to the ends of the earth arc with Dr Octopus, and closes the story of Torch and Spidey rescuing the Jamerson boy from a space station invested with Octo-bots, fun read, space adventures normally aren't my thing , save that for the Fantastic Four but for what it was entertaining, While we are are web-shooter how about Venom 14...
This arc wore thin for me ...which is a problem as the Red Hulk was in it, the art did not wow me at all, and the action seemed scatter brained. It leads into Venom's induction into the secret Avengers .
the segue into Avengers Academy...I like this book it has the feel of West Coast Avengers, another gay hero comes out though it seems mainly for publicity, gay is the new black in comics, how large of a demographic is gay readership? My guess is not very.Issue 27 here features a guest spot by the Runaways, I know it's supposed to be a big deal but they have stayed off my radar seemed like a cross between the Power Pack and the New Mutants, even though they left a decent first impression I'm not off base on that assessment.
X-men 26 raises the bar pretty high for a comic book to kick ass, the art and action are both perfect if i was giving stars on something like Comic Book Resources this one would get 5 of 5, this is how to write them kids just like the good ole days.
Wolverine 302 was a mixed bag and it was a stylistic choice with the varied art, and shift in reality perspective, Sabertooth, Mystique and Sliver Samurai all back no wonder it feels like i have read this book before
Now moving on to D/C and starting it off with a book I went from loving to hating Swamp Thing, I hate it because they have taken 7 issues to turn Alec Holland into the Swamp-Thing, ... he turns here but then you never really get the full reveal as they are being so artsy ... give him wings ...uh come on
Detective Comics 7 is a well done Bat-man book, all the way around , great artwork and the Penguin is not one of my favorite Bat-man villians but oh well they worked with the choices they made
Action Comics...by getting the suit back on, and out of his every-man attire I think the book is symbolically taking off, Brainiac makes an appearance will be interested in seeing the rest of Super-man's rogues gallery introduced