Catching Up with Marvel

Agents of Shield started back. The appearance of the Robby Reyes Ghost Rider is a mixed bag as even my 6 year daughter expected him to be on a motorcycle. Not really blown away by the first episode, but it's darker and I guess we will see where it goes from here and how it is going to tie in with Dr. Strange though it looks like things like the spirit world and ghosts will factor in. It's gotten to the point of where Marvel is getting so contrived it's hard for me to even write about it . Sure I have the Unworthy Thor 4 issue series  and a She-Hulk series just called Hulk, which is a slap in the face to both characters, but even the big throw down in the 4th issue of Civil War 2 didn't feel that inspired. None of the fights were very decisive. Spider-Man finds most of the issue dedicated to Miles talking to Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, then goes back to the fateful day banner died, which really doesn't shed a ton of new light on any one's perspective. One of the better issues of Uncanny In-humans however does more to push the Civil War story along.

While it is the lesser of the two In-humans books, All- New In-humans finally finds Gorgon back on his feet in the 11th issue, the rest of the book is life on a ship and Crystal's birthday. While it's a little more hooked into the story, the 6th issue of  Black Panther finds the book still floundering. So the Crew which is a quartet of black super-heroes who have nothing else in common aside from race, gets introduced. The 7th issue of International Iron-Man is another waste of time, who gives a shit who Stark's parents, it's just more ret-conning.It's a shame that they writing went out of the window for the 10th issue of the Punisher. Jane Foster like Capt Hammer is the hammer is what we learn from the last issue of Thor which I can in some ways deal with better than her being Thor, but still have severe problems with booth this book and the character. None of the X-books including the Civil War tie in did much for me, though X-23's Wolverine book seemed to be the best of the bunch.

The 12th issue of Guardians of the Galaxy was well done and shows how they got screwed by teaming up with Carol. The 10th issue of Scarlet Witch was ok. Better than some and she fights an Oni, but in the grand scheme of things the book could be a lot better. Old Man Logan continues to squander it's potential in a similar fashion. The Unbelievable Gwenpool's sixth issue finds her more intent on breaking the 4th wall to convince Miles that he is in a comic book. The fight they get in is very one sided and makes this character even harder take seriously, with her getting jobbed like this. Speaking of silly books Dead-Pool's 18th issue was pretty decent. The 9th issue of Agents of Shield was pretty entertaining. The 11th issue of Vision might have been my favorite book as it was cool seeing Vision single handedly kick the asses of the Avengers. The beating he dealt the Jane Foster Thor the most satisfying. Amazing Spider-man's 18th issue really handled Doc Octopus's looming return well.