Wrap up of Avengers VS X-men

O.k going to hit on the big even wrapping before touching on some single issue stuffers. The past couple weeks.

So the shark was jumped when the Pheonix force spilt into the five x-men, Becuase the basic just x-men vs avgners fight would have wrapped in three issues with the X-men getting their asses handed to them , which would have occurred no matter what side Wolverine or Storm fell on.

So it's no surprise this went the way it did , so o.k we undid no more mutants and made Cyclops look like an ass hole, tis is nothing new I have never read him as a likable character. Black Panther and Storm split , who cares? The biggest repercussion is now the X teams and Avenger at further blurred and distort the. Sense of identity. I mean the whole mutant metaphor running the books is the outsider prespective. So take that way and it's powers and tights. I think the avengers had that covered, the fantastic four has space handled and the xmen handled the mutant fringe. The marvel now wants to jumble this up no wonder they want to give avengers vs xmen credit for creating the mess to come.

Other repercussions it looks like I might get my wish of having Luke Cageout of the avengers, the new avengers team looks liked Black Panather lead team of the Iluminatti with of course the now lobotomized corpse of Xavier not counted among them.


Things got better and worse the past couple weeks in new comics. On the better end was " the incredible Hulk" Jason Aaron is unlike Matt Fraction as he will hit fr ever two misses, this issue was a lot of fun though not with out its holes in the story such as it feels out of character for Dr.DOom to seek an outside help from a company who brokers mind assassins. But this VOn Doom chick who has a thing for Hulks is a good addition to the supporting cast, I can do without her henchmen. The doom bots being a sentient cult worshiping Doom, was a twist though this could have been introduced in Fantastic Four and I would be none the wiser.

There was some smashing , and we are going to see him in between the rock and the hard place with the assassin induced head ache and the gamma monsters who didn't pose too much of a problem earlier in the run. So Aaron won't go down as Pak or David but hope he makes the transition to the reboot gracefully.

Avengers 31... The art was great in the sense it was a creative use of splash pages. The whole Red Hulk vs Wonder-man fight didn't make much sense, did he use the ionic energy to knock him out as it sure the hell wasn't with a choke hold. It felt more liken avengers book than it has in the past and worked Asa tie wrap up for avengers vs xmen.

In the worse would be the mess that was Amazing Spiderman, though Captain Marvel and Secret Avengers were not much better. I also tried to give Journey into mystery a chance but it was a mythological mess. None of the books had the sort of art which at least made it an interesting collage of chaos to look at.

The d/c zero titles continue to not having any appeal and the xbooks in the post avengers vs x- men story lines did not look appealing, though maybe ill get bored and give them a shot , this time traveling original team book I will give a shot as I will uncanny avengers, though expectations are low from what I have seen in the trade previews.

Yet to read red she hulk or uncanny avengers so I will write those up when. I do also look for me to a review of the arrow , the green arrow show premiering this week.

Catching up with even more comics

Just read the last two issues of Thor and while, the art was pretty good, it still suffers from some. Tedious story telling especially in the last issue's everything burns prelude, one of the current trends in comics is too much back story this destroys the mystique of the characters being enigmas behind the masks, so prelude is now code for okie me to tears, sure the r end of prequels sell I theater when're we are cashing in on a known commodity . If the writers need to write back story to give them abetter grip on the character that's fine but it doesn't need to be printed. Enchantress made a new version of the executioner, Donald Blake is a dream head of some kind who is talking to Thor, who in turn fights the executioner monster thing, all the meanwhile we have sulky metal kid drawin sigils and runes at school. Then cut Thore trying to put out afire with snow, it's special angry race of people who made a deal with Surtur, and Loki oh talks about the whole thing lots. Incredible Hulk # 12 is one of the better issues of the stay angry run, I like the wolverine and thing fight seeing him fight both at the same time and doing well with it means his power levels haven't been dialed back. But like the other books I find myspe for caring about what is going on becaus I have the pre re boot blues. In Avengers vs x-men stuff, we got a boring coffee talk with the illuminati which was a waste of some great art and further points the disorganization in this event as the cross over issues aren't lined up with the main book and event the vs title seems to be slow coming if any one even cares about that one now, whos even in the next one a black panther vs storm fight which occurred in the first issue? Professor x ran off pouting like Sookie stack house because he didn't like the thoughts he was reading, which raises the question can he also smell what the Rock is cooking. This really feels like pro wrestling writing as people are flip flopping from heel to face in the span of a couple of panels. This event had the potential to be great but even at its high points will go down as the worst summer cross over ever and maybe the reboot will write it out of continuity. Nothing really interesting has been happening in the spider man books and scarlet spider man is no exception even with the Rangers making an appearence so you know your are making a misstep if you can't entertain me with obscure seventies characters. My big hope now for avengers vs xmen is the bring back Mantis or Moon dragon. D/c well...batman and robin was alright, but I have pretty much reached a point to where I just don't care anymore, the Ben affect directing the justice league movie surfaced this week, and who cares they have missed the boat on building their cinematic verse and now anything will be too little too late , though the green arrow previews I have seen for the tv show look alright.

Catching up on comics July

Cruising the comic forums , I can see the fall out among fans is Avengers vs X- men like a child game of pretend being played out caress with action figures as they go along. To many cooks n the kitchen, a common response to the piece meal plot lines dying out from left field.as they say in the movie spinal tap


There's a fine line between clever and stupid.


This should be the slogan for marvel now. Why am I leaning. Towards skeptical on this well look at the even it's springing from. D/ C seems to be going back to their old ways post reboot, with stories to obtuse to care and every panel epic godlike fights and no one has a reason to care. I find myself starting to cre less about aqua man with every passin tissue two of my favorite d/c characters swap thing and hackman have been rendered unreadable , this week I'm going to give swamp thing another shot for this rot world

We did learn Thor and hulk who is now going to be the indestructible  hulk are both getting new writers, mark wadi whose work I really only know from daredevil is going over to hulk, on daredevil his grasp of super powers is we'll nt on the scale of hulk but anything gold be better than what we have now which is me wishing for Greg paks return.

incredible Hulk- the stay angry arch needs some work, Kraven and some yetis making mischief , yeti shaman can make trouble for the Hulk and none of this really explains much of anything , lets just have him wake in random situations, the next issue he fights Thing and Wolverine so if that gets fucked up then I don't know what to say , the end game we have seen coming before the reboot is a showdown with Dr. Doom.

Avengers # 28 - Ross Hulk goes in to black ops mode to assassinate Cyclops, and runs up against other Phoenix forcers who arent having it. He has a better showing against them than most though in continuity are we saying this is before or after the Namor arm break? Or does it even matter as his healing factor is that fast? The art was fine Siminson seems to be dialing it these days , why don't they just go ahead and give him Thor ? Avengers academy #34 - I think it this book isn't making it to marvel now, feels like they are taking their time to wrap up loose ends, the de powered Mettle and Hazmat, Reptil getting his gem ripped out, this spoiled brat of a villian whose power level or even powers don't seem to be established what is he the son of count neferia? Seems like things are going south here . Defenders # 9 - if they are fighting Hydra then this book is really flying blind in the wrong direction and the writer would do well do go back and actual go read some defenders comics from the eighties to find out what this comic is about. Need some plot threads how about vs the vampire nation, throwing them into the weird inter dimensional time mess the thunderbolts are in, or the whole Mayan reign thing, va the alpha flight would be cool as well, but silver surfer could take out hydra with one hand. Dark Avengers # 178- well this lacks direction and seems to be chasing its tail, I love the concept of the dark avengers to thrilled about this line up,but really what's the point here? Sorry to see skaar caught up in this waste, it's like watching the dead letter office for c list characters , which luke cage should be numbered among if it wasn't for bendis fleshing him out so in his books, but not a lot is interesting about him to get this much Cage. Invincible Iron man #522 - the trend here is marvel is making mucked up messes with a lot of books this one just happens to be a pretty mess. Got stark is a prisoner of the Mandrain, and just when pray tell is this occurring while he is figuring out the Phoenix force? Now every one has armor so what's so special about it toney? Rescue throw her on the west coast avengers too many iron people . Now some new guy with the tRon mach 1 design. X- men legacy # 271 - ms mArvel and rouge team up to clean up this mess rogue hs allowed Majick to make with her hell prison, normally like the art in this but it didn't wow me, we see rogue gets removed from the chess board as she was going to cross party lines and I'm guessing this is what crosses her over in uncanny avengers and legacy goes bye bye.not that there aren't already enough x books. X-men # 33 - it was an improvement on all fronts, the best out there not so much, while I like me some  x-Ladies , the female heavy team isn't my first pick it could use some balance though after the re-boot it won't matter. Colossus feel much more like him self than in AVSX, this issue did balance the action and story which the previous issues had been dragging a bit ,

Wolverine # 311-oops I saw this is coming out next week, but thanks to the crafty ways of the inner webs I went ahead and found it so here we go , Sabertooth is back, though it seems he has already been back so how many times he is going to get killed and brought back I dunno this one and others came of of test tubes. Romulus has a hot twin sister who makes herself known and the art work is great one of the better books I have read this month.

Dectective comics # 12 The art saved this one as the action and story got pretty muddy. The villian twirled his mustache a little much and the tone of the book descended into what looked like a marketing ploy for a Batman in his new anti toxic armor. Action Comics # 12- one of the better D/C books , largely in part to Grant Morrison , who tackles the sacred cow that is Super-man , he doesn't follow the normal formula used with Clark, and takes full advantage of the reboot, thrown into an established Super-man , I am not sure how he would fare as it feels like he had to show up with his own sand box to play in. He art is ok, the story I like how it's handled but gets obtuse in portions but that is how they like to roll at d/c .

Swamp-Thing # 12- it feels like it wants to be Sand-man on almost every level, this book along with Animal-man is getting critical acclaim for reasons unknown to , me the change in Swamp things appearance still doesn't work for me, and this rot has being going on for 12 issues now give it a rest .    

Comics July 4th and My thoughts on Marvel Now

Well, the fire works of this week have not been pleasent with the new of now marvel doing a relaunch after they publicly said they would not be following d/c's footsteps in this manner. So prepared for them to spit in the fact of canon, using time travel to bring the original X-men back. So with that in mind we are trying to enjoy this week's comics

Avengers vs X-men # 7.- the Full implications of Scarlet Witch being back are glanced at. Hawkeye got fried crispy by a powered up Emma Frost, at this point does the amped Phenoix force really count as them fighting the X-men? Still absurdity aside it was one of the more entertaining comics of the week so not sure what that says about quality over quanity.
Wolverine #310- well.. the art was beautiful ,the story all over the place but il ike where it ended up... I mena if you had to bring Sabertooth back .

and in the quick Amazing Spide man- typical for where it's been heading with the lIzard thing , though this one focused more on the Living Vampire Mobeius, and underused spidey villian in my book.

Iin Hulk we had more Mayan mess with the Alpha Flight it reads much more like a Greg Pak book as as equally messy, nothing happens even amid the action, and how is old Ross macking on this chick, Hulks have bigger libido's not affected by age, i think the red-hulk is going to be a casuality of the re-boot

Action Comics was entertaining, but not memorable aside from his little talk with Bruce Wanye

o.k back to marvel Now

Marvel we have been down this road before, it's where your problems started and after things like brand new day , you haven't learned from past mistakes when you put marketing beyond content, the core fans are going to be your bread and butter after you have sold your movie tickets who is sticking by , cartoons are a better entry point that screwing thing up with re-numbering ,  let d/c foul thing up themselves, these characters have stood the test of time and don't need re-imagining , they need writers capable of thinking outside the sand box yet playing with the toys in new ways  that do not veer from cannon, after all thats what give marvel the human edge over the d/c characters who bat-man aisde struggle to translate well to film for this very reason.

Why does Thor need swords?

Hulk does Hulk need a robot? or any sidekicks for that matter ?

You want nick fury , then keep sam jackson in the ultimate verse.

Fine bring back Grey but time travelling not in the tardis well.. this might be the most intersting part but - X-men and Avngers mixing takes away what defines the characters place in the world.

Comics for June 20th

First off I know I have a bunch of new readers these days so if you haven't caught on I'm really just giving a quick quality control assessment of the weeks book and i'm ver stream of consciouness manner , got it ok then lets get on with it

Oh.. the hits keep coming , while in it's own way well written, Avengers vs X-men #6, is quite silly, taking the absolute power corrupts absolutly it went like I called it with Wanda coming in to save ,the day and if it hurt Cyclops in his Pheonix state just to touch her expect that to be foreshadowing of the smack down to come. Sure the no more avengers thing was supposed to scare us into thinking he could do what she dished out but looks like they will just be taking on the role of heel. The fight whihc never really came about gets called a draw.
spoilers...

Secret Avengers # 28 was a fun read even though I didn't care for the pencils , they don't capture Thor's muscle bulk very well, I'm good on Kree for awhile now. The Binary appearence was cool and once again Marvell's power set was used liberally to say the least but looks like he's back to dust .

Avengers Academy - # 32 Lets get one thing straight .. this book kicks ass, the character feel real the art is top notch, a must read, X-23 is finally handled in a way that gives her more depth than a wolverine knock off.  Feels more like an X-men vs Avengers book than anything else I have read this week.

 New Avengers # 28- the was beautiful but wasted on a book where nothing happens, despite the cute interaction between Spide-man and Hope. The whole Iron-fist things feels forced and silly in the i can't believe they are jumping the shark like this, way not that we haven't seen these types of meeting go down in Dr. Stranges abode, they just make more sense and the need for exotic locations is getting over done..one more trip to the savage land and it's clobberin time.

for all the hype and political correctness the book was mediocre, im sure it will be a collectable if you get such an such variant cover ..big whoop, i do like the Alpha Flight.

D/C well caught Super Girl which was the weakest  the art really took a downward slide , the story equally silly, Night Wing was pretty strong and was Green Lantern

Playing Catch up on June

Ok playing catch up from last week Marvel just dished out the worst comic book I have read in some time in Avengers vs X-men-# 5 -sure there are going to be spoilers but I'm saving you 5 minutes of your life that you will never get back after reading it. The books main problem is knowing this type of silliness is canon. Yep preserved in our mythology we have a whole team of Phoenix forced up X-men. Not only this but the strength of the arguments both teams had was a key selling point as neither was the antagonist, so now the X-men are clearly the bad guys . Of course from solicitations worse bad guys are showing up Mr. Sinister..who I have been underwhelmed by since his inception. Vs # 3 Thing vs the Jugger-Colossus, which went to Colossus , made sense to me and Majick vs Black Widow..which Majick won, though I question that a little but looks like they are turning the tide in X-men's favor for now and at the last minute Scarlet Witch is going to bring it all home for the avengers , this is my prediction just based on solicits X-men Legacy # 268 was three minutes i'm never getting back as it focused on Fury, the black girl not nick and was an origins story of sorts can Ms Marvel kill this bitch next issue? X-men-# 30 - Marvels striking out all over the place, the art in this book is fine and good , the story over all is too X-files bores me X-force # 26 - Omega red is back and who cares, his feeling are hurt and the book just didn't grab me the presentation of the story in general felt disjointed Dark Avengers # 115 - I liked the story, but hated the art, Skaar will keep me reading it but the art is really doing his character a dis-service and making him looking like Solomon Grundy from the batman animated series. Oh yes and by the way I found the 6" Skaar figure and will be buying it the day I get my hands on that once forgotten thing called money. This line up of the Dark Avengers is far from my favorite...if I was going to write a Dark Avengers team that was non-Osborne related I would use...Moonstone, Crimson Dynamo, Skaar, Wonder-man, Sentry, and Enchantress Thor Annual 1- well... what else do you expect from this type of thing, why is Sliver Surfer even in the story, this would have made for a good Beta Ray Bill appearance and you can take Wonder-man out of my Dark Avengers and replace him with Beta Ray Bill, it would have to work like when Sentry was originally in the Dark Avengers and he is manipulated onto the team or make it 7 members works too. Hulk # 53...mmm like the art seems like with the Alpha Flight in on this things are going to get a little cluttered but we got a Sasquatch vs Red Hulk fight so thats fine by me not sure about the Mayan arc... the sept sollictations do not have this title listed so cancellation ? Incredible Hulk # 9 ... was o.k, not really wowed , lacked iconic moments and this story seems to be lets just throw Hulk in these different environments randomly rather than focusing on a story almost like a monster of the week thing Supernatural gets into and it creates a rut on that show so this is no exception.The art is better but almost too cartoony, this the guy who did those boring Thor post siege comics. Fantastic Four #607 - another boring book and I'm combining two weeks worth of books so not a good sign on pacing and direction from the company in general. Actions Comics and Justice League International #10 were both , messes of a script though in all fairness Action Comics did better with the scen of Super-man taking a leave of abscene from the Justice league. Marvel redemption comes in Avengers #27- It's classic 80's feeling writing while it's a line up of Thor, Beast, Ms. Marvel,Vision and War Machine , I say throw in Scarlet Witch or Wasp and this team is a keeper. if you are going to get away with not really doing a avngers vs x-men tie in then give me a story like this and it works Scarlet Spider # 7, meh, feels off track and not different enough from spider-man to be intresting even bringing in Kraven D/C Green Lantern # 10... too bad the movie sucked because this book was a lot of fun, the art was great and the stroy moved avoiding the murk of space operas it tends to sink into Batman # 10...a boring chase of sorts that was filler til the cliff hanging tease to a fight , batm-man's brother really ...like sands in the hourglass these are the days of our lives. Bat man & Robin #10- o.k you want character development, what could have been filler to bridge over into the story still kicked ass and kept it intresting while still working a fight into the mix , because what are super-heroes if not for the fighting but guys in tights ... Batgirl #10- the art is strong , the story was fun even though it's nota book i normally read it was an easy connec the dots.

comics 4/11

New Avengers 24...Well drawn, though the red-Hulk could have been bigger, the focus is on Luke Cage and Jessica Jones and looks as if New Avengers is focusing on Cage's view point of the X-men vs Avengers throw down. This is a tie but appears it is going the same way as the Siege series did, no real fights at this point , in fact it doesn't give you any more than the first issue of AvsX did.

Thor 12.1..while the art was staggeringly well done , the story was one of those remember when ...? that didn't move the canon story further felt like they were stalling, I hope they keep this artist on board.

Avengers Assemble 2.. pretty heavy handed tie in to the movie as once again the second issue leaves me wondering how this ties into the Hulk's continuity. The art is good and the book is fun so thinking of it in the same way i think of the cartoon and try to not ask to many adult questions.

Secret Avengers 25...not convinced about this line-up . The art well you know how I feel about this pencil scribble scrabble. The super adaptoid story could still be lingering as we see at the end as the next issue ties into AvsX.

Scarlet Spider-Man 4 ...not sure what the point of this book is aside from the fact Ben is a compassionate as the punisher, so is this for those who want a book where a spider-man really

cuts loose? , the art was pretty good and it was fun.

Wolverine 304..was it a dream , did that really happen in cannon, all his enemies ...well lots of them in one place and he can waltz in a do that , little suspension of disbelief please. the art wasn't suited for the character for sure.

now onto D/C

Deathstroke 8.. felt like the weakest of the series so far, the art even felt a little slack, the story typical family bs.

Speaking of family bs it continues in Bat-man and Robin 8, the father son talk is like an aside on Dexter , the art is good but overall issue is boring.

Deadpool 53...or something, this book has been run into the ground by a bunch of moronic nonsense, the writing just pulls everything out of it's ass, we get that Wade has a death wish, it is hinted next issue is the last one, remember when he was like Wolverine and had 4 different books , proff Marvel can wear out a character's welcome and I'm still think the depiction of him in the Wolverine movie didn't help things.

It's a weird week in comics when Green Lantern is the best book going, the art was great and the story fun despite how convoluted this space opera can get and the whole mythology tends to stumble itself into knots but I got the gist right away and kept up, they need to keep this up.

A vs X Don't believe the Hype

I can't believe i fell for it. Time and time again,the creator interviews saying this book is all about these two teams fighting and there more action on every page than any book I have worked on blah blah blah.... it's the equivalent of a metal band saying this is going to be our heaviest album yet and then putting out some shit like
"the Black Album" I will speculate the Bendis and Fraction involvement plays the biggest role in this crime. Not fighting really occurs here , Hope and Cyclops sparring or the one optic blast which was blocked at the end of the book, please. Avengers vs X-men is really getting off on the wrong foot.In this economy , shelling out four buck for this kind of tease is the same offense that inspired people to start pirating music ,when the influx of 2000's one - hit wonders began to dominate the air waves.Between the previews and issue zero we already had enough back story, if you want to see how a vs team story should go ..then wander back into the 80's and re-read Defenders vs the Avengers. The whole Nova thing two pages would have sufficed on top of what you already showed us. This begins the case for comic torrents.Color me disappointed .
Marvel's redeeming moment for the week was Amazing Spider-man 683- the ends of the earth arc is more entertaining than I anticipated if we think around the sill new action-figure suit Peter is wearing. The Avengers vs the Sinister six , it was the movie line-up plus Spider-woman. Which Is a smart move but where was Vision ? the art got the job done nothing mind blowing or that iconic but not a distraction.

Avengers Academy 28 wraps up the Run-aways arch seems well like a lazy cop-out anytime your problems magically solve themselves even when the dark arts are involved you ruin the suspension of disbelief and cheat your characters and the cartoon art doesn't relay seem to be trying that hard as well.

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

So far this year

Ok catching up a little after picking up a few books last night , lets start with Marvel , who is planting the seeds early for this year's Avengers vs X-men book,... mean do you really think the Avengers can lose considering Marvel Entertainment owns the rights to the Avengers films and fox entertainment owns the X-films? Not to mention if you line up all the big guns the X-men are out classed even adding Phoenix to the mix and how divided loyalties are going to be considering Wolverine, Beast , Namor Quicksliver and now Storm have Avenger ties.
Ok before i go fan-boy on this Avenger's Annual comes up and after all the re-launches are we bothering to number them at this point ? Good art , what could have been an epic throw down turns into the Avengers using a bunch of clever tricks to school Wonder-man's team in minutes after they had clobbered Luke Cages guys , so Cage is just leading a bunch of b-listers even though they have Spider-man and Wolverine ?
Next up Hulk # 47, has the Red Hulk really carried this many issues ? The book trade places as for every issue Parker surpassed The Incredible Hulk he digresses into something like this father daughter non-sense which is the only reason i can see Ross-Hulk not punching Red-hulk back. I am kinda over Machine-man tagging along , why do Hulks need side kicks?
Avengers... I love the concept of the Dark Avengers , though this version is not really doing it for me aside from Skaar, which is the main draw for me , the new avengers art is waaaay better than that of the avengers book , i think this needs to change switch the artists or something. Osborn is more thoughtful in his approach to baiting the teams , though the main team hasn't really assembled in my opinion and would like to see how Norman does when Thor comes back , i'm guessing he is out of the picture because of what is transpiring in his own book? Thor wasn't pulled for me so not sure if i am behind on that one or not.
In other marvel stuff , Thunderbolts has stalled for me in their time travelling , which the X-men are following suit in this department. Need to catch up on Defenders and Alpha Flight. Spider-man is so-so and Venom seems promising as X-23 and Red Hulk are showing up.

OK dC ...going hit up some of the other books, Action Comics jumped the shark on some time travel but it is Grant Morrison so maybe he will pull it together, like he did with the return of Bruce Wayne, have like Jla , will see where Aqua-man is heading this weekend , Hawk-man was a mess and I ma giving Swamp thing another issue to bring in the actual Swamp- thing and spar me of the further adventures of Alec Holland. Yes i have a bit of dc catching up to do , i think the books i am most interested in like Cat-woman, and Dark Knight haven't come out , the last Bat-man and robin was meh, looked like different art to me .