Incoming... 2012!!

Stewart R: The turn of the year threw up a great many things to slightly derail the train that is Incoming... including a touch here and there of actual throwing up... *Ahem* An-y-way, 2012 is now in full swing and with a big year ahead for the comic book industry in its many forms I thought I’d take this opportunity to look at some of the things that I’m particularly looking forward to in the months to come.

COMIC BOOKS: Following year after year of disappointing Summer ‘tent-pole’ events from the big two publishers I’m not particularly looking forward to Avengers Vs X-Men that’s for sure. There doesn’t seem to be anything fresh in the way that this event is being promoted and at present it does just come across as an opportunity to wheel out those age old ‘who would win in a fight between...’ arguments. We’re also starting to reach the point where the DC 52 begins to stretch a touch thin in places and I’m not that convinced that we won’t see them struggle to replace those titles that haven’t made the grade. Admittedly some of DC’s writers and artists are producing work at exceptional levels of quality so I will say that I am looking forward to seeing them continue to work in that vein.

Okay, so I’ve started out a little negatively, but I am looking forward to a fair few comic books this year. Fresh on the shelves this week will sit Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice’s Winter Soldier #1 and I for one couldn’t be happier to see this title out. When Marvel seemed to cast Bucky Barnes’ current story to the wind a little in favour of promoting Captain America titles that would fly a little closer to the live action movie at the end of last Summer, I was worried that we wouldn’t be seeing the continuation of the awesome plot threads left hanging following Brubaker’s terrific Gulag arc. Now it seems we’re going to get a whole darn ongoing series to soak up as Bucky hunts down secret Soviet weapons of destruction that he trained. It’s an exciting premise and since I’ve dropped the other Cap titles over recent months it’s also well timed!

I would deem last year to have certainly been a creative, if not financial success for Image comics as they really did well in pushing brand new properties and titles from Spring all the way to the end of 2011. Titles such as Samurai’s Blood, Undying Love, Joe Casey’s exceptional Butcher Baker The Righteous Maker and Vescell really did impress me and showed the depth of talent flush with new ideas hoping to work with the publisher. Following a bit of a breather over the festive period it seems that 2012 will involve more of the same as Previews over the past few months has promoted a myriad of new #1s to tempt, tantalise and titillate the comic reading public in the very near future. Some might say that it’s a brave move for Image to be gambling on so many new projects considering the financial climate, but if they end up with just 2-3 additional, popular ongoing comic books at year’s end then it will surely have been worth it. The one title that I’d like to think will be a sure-fire hit is Bryan K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga which certainly seems to ooze promise and I’ll go out on a limb here and now and say that I reckon I’ll be singing the series’ praises this time next year.


CONVENTIONS: Having eased myself into the convention scene over the past three years with annual trips to Bristol I’m really excited to be presented with more opportunities to indulge in the comics scene away from my home town. We’re now only weeks away from the London Super Comic Convention in the fair capital and over the past few months some names I’d really been looking forward to possibly shaking the hand of have had to withdraw due to other commitments; Rick Remender, Rob Guillory and John Layman won’t now be in attendance (sad face) but that’s nothing new for this type of event taking place thousands of miles away from where such creators live and work.

The monumental news since that point though has been that mighty Stan Lee himself is going to attend the show over both the Saturday and Sunday and that is certainly a true coup for a debutant convention. Members of the Paradox Comics Group were definitely excited by the announcement and I dare say that we’ll all be making efforts to at least catch a glimpse of the legendary writer in the flesh while we’re up there. A recent interview with the organisers of the London Super Comic Convention highlighted how their persistence and dedication to their endeavour had born such magnificent fruit and I’m really looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere that’ll be circulating through the halls of the Excel Centre with the crowd all knowing that such a legend is only a short distance away. That said I’m also expecting to hear the word ‘Excelsior’ mentioned more times over the course of a single weekend than I’ve ever heard it said in the course of my life to date and I’m just hoping that I don’t grow tired of that before Sunday rolls around!

My personal aims for the weekend - aside from maintaining an ‘elbows out’ approach to my long box rummaging - are to possibly get one of my old Transformers UK comics signed by Simon Furman and Andrew Wildman - I might also take my favourite issue of Dragons’ Claws along for a Furman signature while I’m at it - and get an issue of Illuminati signed by the supremely talented Jim Cheung. At the very least I’d like to shake the hands of Fred Van Lente and Simon Spurrier and congratulate them for their respective Taskmaster and X-Club mini-series which have amused me greatly over the past couple of years. I’ve never really been one for gushing praise at those writers and artists that I respect and admire in person, but as my knowledge of, and appreciation for the medium increases year after year I realise just how much effort these people put in to their art and these occasions are a great opportunity to give thanks to those great minds that provide us with such gripping and entertaining stories.

It’s also been announced quite recently that Hellblazer penciller and prominent source of random entertainment/bemusement Simon Bisley will be at the show and I’ve managed to bump into him at all of the previous Bristol Comic Expos that I’ve been to so I’m looking forward to hopefully adding yet another amusing story to the collection should I cross paths with him once more...


CINEMATICS: The presence of comic book adaptations and superhero movies on the cinematic calendar is now pretty much the norm as the Hollywood studios continue to cash in on the spectacle that such movies offer to the eager film-going public. While 2011 was still about introducing new faces (Thor, Captain America:The First Avenger, Green Lantern) and taking tentative yet successful steps into reboot territory (X-Men: First Class), 2012’s roster is likely to prove that familiarity will certainly bring you the big bucks!

The Dark Knight Rises is arguably the most anticipated of all the superhero movies coming out this year following The Dark Knight’s devastatingly strong performance globally just a couple of years ago. It’s been noted several (thousand) times that Heath Ledger’s involvement and sad subsequent end probably helped to elevate attendances at the time, however there’s certainly no doubting that Christopher Nolan made a damn fine film that deserved every plaudit that it received. TDKR will bring the trilogy to a close and from the trailers promises more of what we’ve loved from the series so far but on a larger scale. It’s a really tough call this year but I’d have to say that I’m looking forward to the DC effort just a tiny bit more than the big Marvel player in town this Summer...

...which of course is The Avengers! Everything on paper suggests that this should be a sure-fire hit and blow my socks off; tried and tested characters, returning actors from various franchises, Samuel L. Jackson doing his no-nonsense Nick Fury thing, Scarlett Johannson doing her Black Widow tight leather uniform thing and Joss Whedon helming the whole kit and caboodle! With roughly 100 days until release here in the UK and around the globe I’ve been impressed with the amount of restraint the studio has had when it’s come to trailers and promotion. This time last year we were being bombarded with visuals from Transformers: Dark of the Moon which gave us a pretty darn good idea of what we were going to experience in the movie theatre some 6 months away and that was a film with a near-guaranteed bumper pay day ahead of it. With The Avengers I really do have the feeling that we haven’t seen anything of the awesomeness that will wash across our senses over the course of some 120 minutes and I like the fact that such a big movie is managing to maintain an air of exciting mystery about it as the release edges ever closer.

While the big screen obviously has some treats in store, the animated original movie market should also not be underestimated! I for one am really itching to get my hands on a copy of Justice League: Doom which is due out at the end of this month. Loosely based upon Mark Waid’s JLA: Tower of Babel story and adapted by the late Dwayne McDuffie just before his passing, Doom will look at what happens when some of the most evil and powerful villains gain access to Batman’s contingency plans that offers strategies to stop his friends and colleauges in their very tracks. It sounds like a terrific idea - I’ve never read the source material - and to be honest I was sold on this project the moment Lauren Montgomery was attached to direct as I’ve loved all of the animated movies that she has been in charge of so far.


I’ve only grazed the surface of the potential this year appears to have but I have to say that it’s looking likely to be one exciting 12 months for the comics industry in any case!!

Incoming... 21/12/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: I’d been wondering about the December deliveries for a couple of months; in a year where I’ve picked up more DC and Image titles than ever before, dabbled with works from IDW, Oni Press and Aspen, and maintained a certainly plump, possibly overweight selection of Marvel titles there was always going to be the possibility that one or two weeks in mid-December were going to be classified as ‘mental’! This ladies and gentlemen, would be a week that quite clearly qualifies under that definition. It’s almost as if the publishers can smell the spending money in the air the week before Christmas and have decided they want a damn decent cut of the green action!

Oh ‘Ho Ho Ho’, here comes the forced segue people, for green action will of course feature heavily in that big, hard punching Marvel title this week... Invincible Iron Man #511! Everyone knows the Manadarin is green with envy over Tony’s success right? What, you were expecting another gamma-infused title to be mentioned?? (Har-de-har! Chortle chortle!) In all seriousness I’m really looking forward to seeing where Matt Fraction is going to be going with the plot now that he has brought three of Stark’s most dangerous and calculating foes together into one single co-operative, with the soul purpose of ruining him and destroying his life. Oh and they plan to take on the world while they're at it too! There are still some loose ends to be at least looked at following Pepper’s emotionally fraught entanglement with the Hammers and Grey Gargoyle in Paris, plus there’s still a mole lurking about amongst the workers as Stark Resilient to think about... exciting stuff all told and you just know that Salvador Larroca will make the whole thing look shiny!

Okay, so yes, Incredible Hulk #3 would actually be the comic that best fits under the description of ‘green action’ but it is a comic that is currently finds itself adrift in the sea that is my ambivalence. I have not been blown away by the first two issues and I’m thinking that this third instalment may be where I say goodbye. I’ve not been wowed by Silvestri’s scratchy art style and I’m finding manic, borderline-villainous Bruce Banner to be rather unappealing especially when taken as a double act with the disgruntled and isolated green Hulk. The sassy female agent who’s been sent to request the Hulk’s help in capturing Banner has added an interesting element but I’m not sure that’ll be enough to see #4 on my list for next month.

Jason Aaron’s other big title of note however, is in a different position entirely! Wolverine and the X-Men #3 marks the end of the first chapter for Logan’s new endeavour at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning and the last time that we’ll see Chris Bachalo’s epic art for a little while (he’ll return after the Nick Bradshaw run). Everything that Aaron and Marvel have said this comic would be has turned out to be the case so far and I’m certainly hungry for more. Wolverine is present but not hogging the limelight, Bobby Drake is obviously going to be getting more page time and there may be interesting romantic possibilities between some of the teaching staff at the newly opened(?)/destroyed(?) school. There’s definitely a over-riding sense of fun here which I was a little surprised about when Kade Kilgore and his Hellfire Club turned up on the grounds as Aaron seemed to be going along the serious-yet-creepy lines with these prepubescent terrors. Whatever direction he’s aiming in and mood he’s going for I dare say that we have the right writer on board for this title!

It seems that Image are looking to end their year as they started as we get yet another debut title from them in the shape of Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads The Activity #1. These creators will be looking at the affairs and adventures of a secretive, advanced intelligence agency whose mandate is to remain flexible at all times to battle all threats, using the very best in bleeding-edge tech as they go. As we’re on the cusp of a new Mission Impossible film at the cinemas here in the UK - a few of you may have seen it in the States already - I’m in the mood for some espionage, cloak and dagger action and I’ve hopes that this title might provide. Failing that I can always trust Larry Hama to offer up something similar, although a little more bold and brazen over at IDW. GI JOE: A Real American Hero #173 is likely to look at the tragic events that befell a member of the Arashikage in the last issue and to this day I appreciate the way that any death realised in these GI JOE comics really feels like a loss despite such a wide and varied cast.

There’s a wide selection of DC titles in my pile this week but I’m not quite sure which books may only be sticking around to the end of the first arc. Nightwing is looking likely to be in that category at present and I’m not overly confident that #4 is going to elevate this from being ‘reasonable’ to ‘compulsory’. Kyle Higgins is doing a decent enough job with Dick Grayson but I’m just not convinced by the shift from wearing the Batman cape and cowl to going back to his days at the circus and essentially covering those small villainous gaps that Bruce Wayne can’t cover. It feels like there has been too much of a jump to steer Dick away from his time as Gotham’s Dark Knight so come #6 I’ll be making a decision. Immune from such choices are the works of Scott Snyder and Peter J. Tomasi and I have to end this week’s piece by saying how much I’m looking forward to discovering just how Bruce Wayne will have gotten out of the Court of Owls crafty and explosive trap in Batman #4, and just how John Stewart is going to get on as a prisoner of war in Green Lantern Corps #4.

Sooooo many good comics this week! What a delightful early present from the publishers!

Incoming... 14/12/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: Well, we find ourselves only a couple of weeks away from the true belt-busting festive fun and it seems that the comic publishers are keen to give us a creative warm-up with another fat turkey of a delivery today! Once all of the feather’s have been removed it’s quite clear that this is a healthy bird with plenty of tasty meat on the bones which, having taken a fair time to cook through (thanks to the hands of many chefs but no broth here so no worries!), should take a good portion of my day to devour!

Always good to give up some time for a new comic and even though it’s from Marvel...and it’s a mini-series...and it’s a focusing on a fringe character I still think that Zeb Wells and Clayton Crain’s Carnage USA #1 could be a winner. Only a few nights ago I was asked by other members of the Paradox Comics Group if I would be picking this up because I tend to take a closer look at Spider-Man related titles than most of the other guys but I was quite ambivalent about the endeavour. Taking a look down the release list though, I came across it again and decided to have a look at some of the preview art, and, well, Crain’s one heck of an illustrator! That cover alone is something special and it looks like the the coming four are pretty decent as well. Carnage has never been one of the Spider-Man rogues gallery that has really appealed but, once again, Zeb Wells is a very good writer who does get into the mind of a Spider-villain and the combination of positives surrounding this book has seen it shoehorn its way onto my pull-list.

One title that’s managing to play with the big boys on said list is a comic that I had at one time suspected would maybe only last a handful of issues before being dropped. Now, Tom Morello’s Orchid #3 is out and I find myself looking forward to what potentially lethal adventures the unlikely team of Orchid, Simon and Yehzu will find themselves neck deep in this time. There seems to be a wealth of history that Morello is yet to delve into in this dystopian wasteland and he’s done a good job of ending each issue with a tantalising question. Provided that level of tension and intrigue can be maintained for the most part, I do believe that Dark Horse could end up with a series of critical acclaim in their catalogue.

Praise and plaudits have been heaped upon many of the DC titles of late and I’m certainly glad to see just how much of that appreciation has been pointed in the direction of Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason for what they have produced so far in the crime fighting exploits of Bruce and Damian Wayne. Last issue ended on an almost unbearable cliffhanger as father and son found themselves in the clutches of NoBody who was about to give the pair a cinematic lesson of some sort. In Batman and Robin #4 I suspect some twisted truths and secrets to possibly be revealed and we’ll hopefully get more of an insight into a villain that poses a real threat to the dynamic duo’s partnership. I’ve done a little digging and it certainly seems that NoBody is another new villain brought into being by Tomasi and, following his previous success with White Knight, it seems that he’s got a magic touch when it comes to interesting character creations.

Image have had something of a magic touch themselves this year and one of their true successes comes to its conclusion today. Owen Wiseman and Nam Kim have produced some fine, fine work on their tale of betrayal and revenge in feudal Japan and things will finally reach a head when we all get to delve into Samurai’s Blood #6. The three teenagers, Jun, Katashi and Mayuko have had a torrid time of things since their family and clan were brutally cut down and while revenge is on the cards I’m wondering just how simple or complicated this final chapter will prove to be. Wiseman has shown that while he can deliver a straightforward, simmering tale of samurai vengeance well, he’s also demonstrated a knack for throwing the odd surprise into the mix. Whatever the outcome of the blood-letting to come, I’m expecting happiness and joy to be in short supply!

And while I’m talking of an absence of such ingredients, you can bet your bottom dollar (or any dollars you happen to have hanging around - bookies don’t seem to be fussy!) that Uncanny X-Force #18 is likely to be a marvellous display of sombre despair. The Dark Angel Saga has been once of the unmissable arcs of 2011 and there’s part of me that doesn’t want to see it end/ There’s just something so compelling about the Rick Remender and Jerome Opena combination and I’m positive that it’s been their collaboration that has earned Uncanny X-Force the prestigious Best Ongoing Title award at this years Paradox ‘Oscars’. Remender has certainly brought a level of phenomenal danger and tension into a book that by all accounts should be held back by the longevity and near-immortal status of its cast. He’s even managed to get me believing that Wolverine may not be able to pull himself together at certain moments and when a writer is accomplishing that sort of comic book feat then you know you’re in the presence of greatness!

Incoming... 07/12/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: I do like it when we get some near-future technological ideas realised in comics. Matt Fraction has been applying Tony Stark’s repulsor technology as an energy solution withint he pages of Invincible Iron Man and until recently you could normally count on Beast to be concocting some doohickey in his laboratory to ease the everyday lives of mutantkind within the pages of Uncanny X-Men. Of course the loveable blue fuzzball is no longer to be found in Uncanny, or anywhere near Scott Summers who he has taken a nasty disliking to and so the scientific shenanigans on Utopia have been taken up in the past couple of years by Dr Nemesis, Madison Jeffries and Kavita Rao who have found themselves bound under the title of the X-Club.

These great minds have been fighting day and night to keep Utopia and its inhabitants up and running, making repairs, improvements and medical treatments and cures whenever the situation calls for it. Well now we’re going to have the opportunity to see them shine even further - or at least try, you know how temperamental an X-book can be! - in a miniseries dedicated to them which starts today with X-Club #1. Simon Spurrier writes and art is provided by Paul Davidson for a tale that sees the X-Club attempting to mend bridges with society burnt to the ground with the events of Schism. Suffice to say that their grand, beneficial scheme looks like it may be a victim of catastrophe or sabotage and they, along with robotic lifeform and begrudging X-Man, Danger will have a tough time in trying to clear their names. It sounds like a winner to me and I’m really looking forward to getting some further insight into these interesting fringe characters.

While I’m looking forward to one Marvel comic this week, there’s one that I’m really quite apprehensive about handing my money over for and that is Avenging Spider-Man #2. After something of a frustrating experience reading issue #1 and realising just how close I was to rip-off territory I really cannot decide whether to continue with the rest of the Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira arc or just cut and run now. Wells is a terrific Spider-Man writer and Mad can deliver some really dynamic art but in the debut it was clear that both were being held back by certain constraints that led to a far from satisfactory final product. At $3.99 for 22 pages I’m loathe to scream ‘daylight robbery’ but value for money really is starting to count a lot more these days. With this second issue also coming polybagged to supposedly prevent misuse of the digital download code contained within I’m starting to wonder if it’s actually more a method of preventing people counting the pages of story before handing their money over! This is one of those moments where I’ll have to wait until that last moment when stood inside Paradox Comics before deciding whether to part with my money or not.

While I’m certainly noticing that more of my money has been going on DC comics than ever before I’m definitely not sorry about the increase. From the relaunch we’ve now past the mid-arc point (assuming that the 6 part arc format is in effect across the board) and with some titles flying along at full steam already there are one or two that could do with knocking things up a gear or two. Having heaped a healthy amount of praise on it from the start I’m starting to feel that Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen’s O.M.A.C. is one such comic that may need a slight nudge in the hind-quarters. #4 will (fingers crossed) look a little further into just who poor Kevin Kho is and what sort of protagonist he’ll make as he’s been a passenger on the trip through three issues so far. I fully understand that DiDio and Giffen have been going for a retro, classic-Jack Kirby kind of feel and that has worked to an extent but it’s starting to cry out for some proper character development and as we edge further in to the series - I’d dare say that DiDio isn’t employing the standard arc structure as such presently - I’m certainly going to need more than a string of punch-ups to keep me entertained over the course.

There have been punch-ups aplenty through Judd Winnick’s tour of the African Batman’s realm so far, and a fair amount of gruesome machete action it must be said, but he really has been throwing in characterization, politics and drama by the bucketload too. Batwing #4 is going to bring us a ‘secret origin’ story of David Zamvimbi’s dark past and what troubled history he had to travel through before becoming a force for good in Tinasha. I think it’s quite brave of Winnick to tackle something as stark and horrific as the child soldiers that populate many of the continent’s militias and from what I’ve seen in the series so far I’m guessing he did an awful lot of homework before tackling this book. I was disappointed to hear that the brilliant Ben Oliver wasn’t providing the art through the entirety of the first arc - his work having been a heavy contender for best of the relaunch in my opinion - but if you’re going to have an artistic interlude it is far better to have it happen when the opportunity for a ‘flashback’ issue raises its head. Chriscross’ preview art looks good enough so this remains high on the list of comics fighting to be read first this week.

Up on that list will have to be Sweet Tooth #28 which sees Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt reach the conclusion of their ‘The Taxidermist’ story which has been looking at the part the Alaskan wilds may have played in the destruction of society and the plague that may have brought about the rise of the animal children. Lemire had been dropping the odd hint about Alaska being the destination that Gus needs to get to for quite some time so it’s been interesting to get some insight into why that might be. Kindt’s unique artistic style has been the perfect fit for this story and he’s managed to bring his own touch into the book while keeping it feeling familiar with what Lemire has done previously. I’m not sure if there are plans for him to do further work on Sweet Tooth as the series continues after this but I’d certainly welcome him back to the fold should Mr Lemire require another break at any point and the story allows.

Incoming... 30/11/20111

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: Wow, it’s almost as if the comic industry are taking something of a collective pause for breath before the inevitable avalanche that is the December festive push comes clearly into view next week. The deluge that has been the DC New 52 has dried up in entirety now that all of the third issues have found their way into our willing hands and minds and so the only token effort from them comes in the shape of Vertigo’s Spaceman #2 by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.

The debut installment was not quite what I had expected it to be with the ruined cityscape and modified english dialect - I’d been prepared for a far ‘shinier’ utopian backdrop to proceedings considering the title, but then there’s the lesson when reading new comics; prepare for your expectations to be flipped on their head! What we ended up with was a strange kidnap mystery with a rather low key, but nonetheless interesting protagonist and some decent artwork from Risso that certainly fits the Vertigo mould if I may say. It feels good to have another promising new title from the imprint as it seems to have been a long time since The Unwritten and Sweet Tooth came along.

After a barnstorming year for new titles over at Image it seems that their well of fresh ideas is starting to run a little dry as we head towards 2012 but I expect they’ll be slinging a heap of fresh creativity our way before too long. As it stands, one of their popular ongoing titles gets a fresh set of minds and hands as writer Joe Casey and artist Nathan Fox take over from Kirkman and Capullo on Haunt #19. While I’m prepared for something of a jarring hand over I’m also excited to see where the new team can take things. Kirkman has certainly left many plot points open for Casey to play with but it’s also not imperative that they necessarily get looked at right this minute. The first 18 issues it must be said kind of lingered around the same main plot thrust and on a couple of odd occasions it did feel as if an injection of ‘oomph’ was needed to get the tension and excitement cranked up. Casey has been having a very impressive 2011 with Butcher Baker, The Righteous Maker, a stand out hit for Image and his Vengeance mini-series for Marvel, lighting up a relatively dark period for fringe titles at the House of Ideas. With the guy on that sort of form I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do with the turbulent life/afterlife of the Brothers Kilgore.

Speaking of the House of Mouse Ideas, the most interesting this to see this week is just what occurs within the pages of FF #12 now that the Fantastic Four title is back on the scene. Jonathan Hickman seemed to cover a fair amount of ground in the bumper-sized Fantastic Four #600 last week including the Council of Reeds’ apparently failed plans and the reveal over just what Franklin and Leech had been up to in secret for months so it’ll be interesting to see what story points find their way into this issue and whether this will mark the juncture where the title starts to predominantly focus on the children of the Future Foundation. I’m hoping that there’s going to be a clear and fairly even split between the two comics with little in the way of cross-over material as I’d ideally like to only end up picking one to follow long term if that’s possible. Ideally that will be FF as I like the relatively unknown cast of characters and the huge possibility for fun and adventure considering the talent pool amongst them.

I guess that’s what I’ve been enjoying about another of Marvel’s monthly ongoings as the cast involved there are an unpredictable bunch an unpredictable amount of the time and the writer at the helm is certainly good at keeping us on our toes! I am of course referring to Jeff Parker and his run on Thunderbolts has really seen the title rise to the top of a rather mixed Marvel barrel in recent years. #166 arrives in your local comic book shop tomorrow and the time travelling half of the Thunderbolts - mostly made up with those former criminals and villains more inclined to get out of there membership if possible - now find themselves in the back streets of London in the latter 19th Century! With Mr Hyde hulking in the ranks at the moment this is a perfect opportunity for Parker to have some fun messing in history and by all accounts there may be the odd meddling in the affairs of Mr J.T. Ripper as the rumours go! Serial killer high jinks abound!

So in this relatively quiet week, what, may I ask, are you picking up?

Incoming... 23/11/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: It’s a week like this that reminds me what my pull list used to be like before the madness that was/is the DC relaunch as I find myself looking at an order incredibly heavy on the Marvel titles and limited on the works by other publishers.

The most talked about book on the shelves today is more than likely going to be Fantastic Four #600 by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting thanks to a big media push by Marvel and a lot of spoilerific attention from various websites and media outlets. I tried my very hardest to avoid the spoilers for #587 earlier this year - I couldn’t evidently as I had the outcome arrive in a work email which I was none-too-pleased about - but so far I’ve managed to keep my ears and eyes away from any hints, tips or reveals as to what might happen. While I will be picking this issue up I have a decision to make moving forward as to whether I continue with the return of the Fantastic Four book, or whether I stick with the Future Foundation (or FF as it will be continue to be known) for my does of the family Reed fun. I’m resolved to only get one of these moving forward and at this point I’m leaning more towards the Foundation as I find the dynamic amongst the various powered, brainiac children more interesting that Reed Richards’ constant battle with his own genius. We’ll see if this milestone issue - which curiously isn’t coming polybagged for once, presumably due to the large media focus that will generally spoil everything - can change my mind.

Wolverine and the X-Men #2 is my most anticipated book of the week, primarily down to Chris Bachalo’s artwork but also because Jason Aaron did such a damn fine job with the first issue last month. While Uncanny X-Men remains something of a high-brow, ideals and politics X-book (with a good amount of destruction and fun still to be found within it) Wolverine’s title had that feeling of a high-school comedy with some serious undertones and adept character work. With the cast he has at his fingertips, Aaron is in a position to make this a very fun book indeed as Logan struggles to steer the ship that he has set adrift upon the tides of the uncertain mutant future. Certainly the crew are an incredibly mixed bunch and I like the fact that some alien students have found their way to the Jean Grey School as that adds an extra dimension to proceedings. The fact that Bachalo isn’t getting to do the first ‘7-10 issues’ as he had hoped back in May is a little kick in the teeth but understandable considering the couple of years that he's had and I’ll certainly enjoy whatever the maestro manages to provide.

Matt Fraction finally leaves Fear Itself behind and cracks on with his two ongoing titles in the form of Invincible Iron Man #510 and The Mighty Thor #8 today. Having involved Invincible so heavily with Fear Itself - something that none of the other main ongoing Marvel titles seemed to suffer from much - it’s going to be good to get back to Tony Stark’s continued battle to make the world a better place from his current position as the business underdog. Certainly events over the past year, including the magic lamp of drunken disaster he once again had to rub during FI, have made his job even harder. Pepper doesn’t seem to have come away from her fight with the Hammers and the transformed Grey Gargoyle in Paris without some psychological wounds and I’m guessing we might see new tensions ahead for the Stark/Potts partnership. Whatever happens I really have to commend Fraction and Larroca for sticking with this title for the length of time that they have as it’s been consistently brilliant over the course of their tenure so far!

The Mighty Thor #8 on the other hand may have to up its game a touch to maintain the interest that was to be found when Olivier Coipel pencilled those initial 6 issues. Pasqual Ferry, while a competent artist in his own right, is not quite in the same league as Coipel and with the titular character currently in a deceased state, I’m not sure that people will be so enthused to continue adding this to their pull list each month. Admittedly the mystery surrounding Tanarus’ appearance and the fact that his presence seems to have overwritten that of Thor in the annals of history is an interesting concept, especially with Loki being the only individual so far to think that something is amiss, but will it be enough? I’ll more than likely see this arc through to its conclusion but I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground to see who’ll be picking up the pencil on the next arc before possibly placing Mighty Thor on the chopping block.

And the chopping block is where one DC title might end up finding itself in a couple of issues time! Batman: The Dark Knight has been a reasonable read so far but when I’m thinking back over the DC relaunch and the comics that I have stuck with so far, I don’t remember being ‘wowed’ by Jenkins and Finch’s effort - I’m also having a mental blank after reading each issue of Superboy but that’s a problem for another time - and it’s up in the air as to how long I will stick with it. #3 hits the shelves today and I’m really hoping that the Batman vs the Venom-enhanced Joker will be a humdinger and that we might get a little more insight into just who the alluring White Rabbit is and what her motives may be. Finch rarely disappoints the reader’s eye so there is also that to look forward to as well!

Heck, what’s not to look forward to when we have dozens of fresh comics hitting the shelves of our local comic book stores each and Wednesday? Happy reading folks and happy holidays to our friends in the US this weekend!

Incoming... 16/11/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: With DC’s recent efforts it seems that every week is a bumper week for my pull list these days as the number of Marvel titles I pick up hasn’t waned much this year and Image continue to have a regular presence scattered amongst my pull list. This week is a perfect example of that with 5 DC books, 3 Image, 6 Marvel and one lone IDW title making up the collection of reading material awaiting me at Paradox Comics today.

Of those 15 titles the one I’m really itching to get stuck into is undoubtedly Green Lantern Corps #3 from Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. The two preceding chapters have been awesome and I do like the way that, despite having a presence across the galaxy, the Green Lanterns can still come up against numerous and deadly foes that they have never encountered before. Although this is a book that focuses on the two human lanterns - Guy Gardner and John Stewart - Tomasi is generous with the amount of attention and exposure that he gives to the other alien races that make up the Corps and I’m glad to see the likes of Isamot and Hannu involved in the fight in this series so far. Of course there’s no guarantee that any of the Green Lanterns are going to make it out of this current tight spot alive...

The same kind of uncertain tension over team members’ survival exists in Jeff Parker’s Thunderbolts and #165 hits the shelves today with a healthy ‘buy me’ thud. I’m always a little wary of time-travel in comics as it does often seem to be a recipe for disaster when it comes to continuity. Parker though has proven that he is a writer who thinks about the little details as well as the grander plot points and this World War 2-based arc is keeping the themes of causality and paradox at the very heart of the story and the characters’ concerns. With Baron Zemo making an appearance now it really does throw the Tbolts into a world of the unknown as to return to the future that they recognise he must surely survive, but then so must Captain America and Namor! Quite the quandary indeed and it’s that sort of writing that has kept me coming back for more and more of Parker’s work over the past couple of years.

I’m certainly glad that Larry Hama has managed to find his writing mojo of old again and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #172 should be another unmissable chapter of what is turning into a great series for IDW. I will admit that continued amount of emphasis that gets placed on Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and the Arashikage clan through various Joe titles does grate a little on the nerves to a similar degree that the presence of Wolverine in Marvel titles does, but Hama seems to be keeping the ninja action to reserved quantities for the moment thankfully. This issue is looking like one of those times when we will spend the majority of the page count following what the deadly martial arts masters are investigating and the backstory to the Russian offshoot of the clan has made for some interesting reading that’s for sure. Plus there’s also the awful life and death decision that Flint was left to make at the climax of last issue, with Lady Jaye and Darklon’s lives hanging by a thread and I suspect we’ll see just what choice he was forced to make in this issue.

Speaking of decisions, I’m really hoping that I’m not going to have to make a tough one after I read Haunt #18 this week. Gone will be Robert Kirkman and Greg Capullo, to be replaced on #19 by the rather awesome Joe Casey - he’s knocking it out of the park with Image’s Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker and Marvel’s ` at the moment - and Nathan Fox. I was actually under the impression that the long delay we’ve been subjected to since the last instalment was down to the changing of the guard but it seems that the outgoing creators were holding one issue back in reserve. With things becoming the tiniest bit clearer as to Daniel and Kurt’s purpose as Haunt last time out I’m interested to see just where Kirkman leaves things before Casey picks up the writing reigns and also if Capullo’s efforts appear to be rushed at all considering how quickly he seems to have made the jump to Batman over at DC (and what a magnificent job he’s doing there!).

It’ll actually be good to have that side-by-side comparison today as, would you ‘Adam-and-Eve’ it, Batman #3 is also available for purchase this very Wednesday! There’s seems to be small similarities that have been linking the other Batman-related titles to this main book written by Scott Snyder; Batman: The Dark Knight had an Arkham Asylum riot and the similar focus on a philanthropic Bruce Wayne, while Batman And Robin also sees the Caped Crusader facing off against a new, dangerously talented and unrelenting foe. The Court of Owls, while remaining mysterious at present, appear to be linked to Gotham’s history much in the same way that the Wayne’s are, and with an attempt on Bruce’s life almost being seen through to success in #2 I’d say that things are going to get ever more complicated for the city’s pointy-eared guardian!

Phew, I’ve only covered a third of the titles that I’m picking up here and looking through the rest of the list there are some quality comics that I don’t have the time or space to talk about unfortunately! Maybe they’ll impress enough to get a review out of me later this week. Happy reading guys!

Incoming... 09/11/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: Brace yourselves people! Joe Madureira’s back in the artist hotseat and this time he’s going to be tackling Spider-Man’s actiontastic antics! Yes, Avenging Spider-Man #1 hits the shelves of comic book stores everywhere this very day and as excited as I am to see the artist responsible for Battle Chasers back in the comic book world, there’s the sceptic in me looking back at the sub-par Ultimates #3 and the previously witnessed schedule changes and delays that this talented penciller has been known for in the past. There has been a big enough lead in time to think things will work out okay on the timekeeping side of things and the preview art is certainly looking tasty. Better still is the fact that this series is written by the very talented Zeb Wells who I rate as one of the best Spider-Man scribes in the game today alongside Amazing regular Dan Slott - just see his Lizard-focused 'Shed' arc through Amazing Spider-Man #630-633 for proof of his story writing skills. The Wells/Madureira combination here could well provide an unmissable Spidey read indeed.

Another unknown quantity swaggering out of the Marvel barn doors today is Fear Itself #7.2. Last week’s Captain America instalment from Brubaker and Guice was a superb read, albeit being more about what Brubaker had set in motion in the Cap title several months ago than Marvel’s big event of the Summer, but this Thor-centric issue is more likely to be an epilogue to Fear Itself since Fraction is writing it. With that in mind I suspect that a few out there may well pass this by having come away from the event somewhat underwhelmed and, from talking to a few comic reading friends, the recent shift on Mighty Thor to an Asgardian history lesson hasn’t helped that feeling either. Having never read Simonsen’s immortalised run on Thor, a lot of the backstory appeals to me and so I’ll be picking up #7.2 to see just what occurs through Odin’s period of grief at the loss of his son. Of course the Adam Kubert art should help as well.

Over at DC I finally get up to speed with Suicide Squad #3 today, having had to pick up the previous two issues with reprints as I was slow arriving to this particular back-stabbing party. The comparisons to Marvel’s Thunderbolts aren’t completely misplaced but the prime difference with Adam Glass’ team of desperate and deadly villains is that they’re simply fighting for survival, not trying to be heroes, especially considering that the unscrupulous Amanda Waller is pulling the strings. The interest here lies in the completely expendable nature of the roster - although we might assume that at least one of the current cast a pretty safe considering their status in DC lore - and the tension arising from not knowing who could find a bullet lodged in their brain on the next page makes it an enthralling read. The use of two artists in Federico Dallocchio and Andrei Bressan is a little jarring from time to time as their styles aren’t exactly a match for each other and I think I’d rather see Dallocchio carry the book alone given the choice.

The art teams to be found on DC’s other #3 books this week seem to be working well however! Patrick Gleason has done a damn fine job with Bruce and Damian Wayne’s crime-fighting escapades so far and Batman And Robin #3 will no doubt be of a similar high standard. J.H. Williams III is often on the receiving end of a huge gush of praise from the Paradox Comics Group members - Tom P often pauses after each compliment, as if he’s on the verge of falling into the very artwork itself, such is its power over him - and while I’m not convinced that the man has the writing chops to best Greg Rucka’s steering of Kate Kane in the DCU, his artwork has not yet faltered and we should see more non-standard panel magic from him again in Batwoman #3.

Outside of the big two publishers I will be picking up two other titles this week. Following a very promising debut I’m hoping that Orchid #2, from Tom Morello and Scott Hepburn, will expand on the strange future world that the story takes place in and perhaps offer further insight into just how the caste system came to be. Considering that she only had a bit part to play in the first chapter I’d also like to learn a little more about the titular Orchid as she seems to be something of the swamp-wise protagonist that a series such as this deserves. The other book to be picked up is Unwritten #31 and I mention it here for update purposes only as I predict that I have some 16 issues of Mike Carey’s Vertigo series to read before I’m completely caught up. With the expansion to a twice monthly format edging ever nearer I’m thinking I should maybe start that little reading project sooner rather than later...

Incoming... 02/11/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: My focus has shifted away from DC’s New 52 a little in recent weeks in order to concentrate on what Marvel have planned with the end of Schism and the ‘Regenesis’ that is now taking place amongst it’s X-Men titles. Last week’s Wolverine and the X-Men #1 was a superb start and with two books out this week to follow up with, I’m hoping the high bar of quality set by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo can be reached once again today with Uncanny X-Men #1 and X-Men #20.

I’ll admit that I’m one of those individuals who questions Marvel’s need to renumber the leading and long-running X-comic in what appears to be a thinly veiled stunt to try to belittle its major competitor’s big marketing move. The constant attempts to lure in ‘new’ readers never seems to work that well with a one title move, and perhaps they’d be better off trying to regain the readership lost over previous years and state that that is in fact what they are trying to do when doing it. Either way Uncanny gets a new number on the cover and an altered cast for Kieron Gillen to weave tales with. It’s the limited characters at his disposal on Utopia that slightly concerns me now as I was enjoying how he was essentially guiding the entire mutant populace via Scott Summers’ leadership through the past year and I thought he had a perfect grasp on the overall picture. Now it seems that he’s been left with the majority of the big egos and reformed villains to play with and I just hope that it doesn’t become a political bicker-fest. Gillen is certainly an accomplished writer who has truly made Uncanny his own over these past few months so I’m sure if anyone can see this new status quo through, it’s him.

X-Men #20 writer Victor Gischler, on the other hand, has a slightly better time of things (I would think) as he can utilise any of the characters on Cyclops’ side of the fence but do so in a more liberal and fun way as his X-Men continue to fight battles around the globe that they’re best suited to engage in. The latest instalment is going to stick closely to the events in Aaron’s Schism plot as Storm and her team find themselves jetting off around the globe on the hunt for rogue Sentinel units that have fallen into the wrong hands. Gishler has done a good job of utilising characters from the greater Marvel Universe throughout this series so far and by the looks of it we get a nice helping of War Machine this time out for good measure.

Meanwhile, DC continue into the third month of their relaunch and at this point I’ve discarded those titles I wasn’t sure about, stuck with the ones that proved themselves and so far I haven’t looked back. I’m happy to see all four of the titles that appear on my pull-list today and I’ve my fingers crossed that all of them make it beyond that all important 6-issue mark to become proper ongoing efforts. Of them all I’d say that Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man #3 represents the series that can sit back smugly as the presses roll for a third printing of the debut issue. It’s been a very impressive beginning for such a fringe DC character and the additional horror element - aided impeccably by the haunting art of Travel Foreman - has certainly gained fans in a short space of time.

One of the comics I’m enjoying the most and unfortunately probably sits at the arse-end of the overall popularity charts is Dan Didio and Keith Giffen’s O.M.A.C. I dare say that #3 will no doubt continue to see poor old Kevin Kho dragged from pillar to post by the overbearing Brother Eye satellite and I’m still enjoying the fact that the protagonist is something of a mystery to us at this point. While the clouds of secrecy remain over certain motives and details within the book, it’s good to see that the rumours in various media have now been cast aside and we’ll definitely be getting a small crossover between the O.M.A.C. and Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. titles in January. Whether or not it’ll be enough to improve the reader numbers on O.M.A.C. we shall have to see but I’m taking it as a sign that DC don’t seem too willing to wield the axe to readily with any of the New 52.

The other two titles I will be picking up are newly created properties in their own right and I’m interested to see if they make it through the first year. Provided that Ben Oliver remains the lead artist on Judd Winick’s tale of the African Batman I’ve a feeling that we could have a truly winning combination on our hands. Batwing #3 will show us the ongoing brutal actions of the murderer known as Massacre and it’ll no doubt be a stomach-churning read of adrenaline-pumping proportions in places. The key to that though has been Oliver’s amazing artwork and while the DC website has him solicited as the artist for #5 (Chris Cross will take on #4) we have been bamboozled by the publisher’s tendency to not update the website details in the past. Here’s hoping we end up with a long-serving writer/artist partnership for this comic.

While I’m sure that the team-up of Peter Milligan and Ed Benes is only a temporary one - I’d be surprised to not see Benes move to one of the bigger DC titles at some point after the 6-month marker - it has been working very well so far and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into Red Lanterns #3 this week. Milligan seems to be broadening the scope of this army of rage as Atrocitus is on the verge of making the most important decision for his Corps; he’s going to promote one of the unthinking weapons of hate that he commands to be his lieutenant and who knows what that extra level of sentience could result in?! A recipe for carnage is likely to make the menu I would say!

Right, I’ve made you read enough of this you delightful lot, back to that fresh new pile of comics with you! Enjoy!

Incoming... 26/10/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: Wow! This, ladies and gentlemen is no ordinary Wednesday! This... this is the Wednesday when we, the comic reading public, get our hands upon Chris Bachalo’s new ongoing series!! He and Jason Aaron are teaming up to bring us Wolverine and the X-Men #1, as the six-clawed, Canadian grump sets up his new school on the grounds of the old one in Westchester. While I’m not convinced that Schism was quite the rank splitting event that it could have been, I am looking forward to seeing just where Aaron is going to take his side of the story now that the division has been set up and the various players are in place. Being the huge Bachalo fan that I am, I’m also really looking forward to seeing what he and inker Tim Townsend bring to the table on a monthly basis, and of course just how long the run can go before a substitute penciller is required. According to his own website, Bachalo started work on this title some months ago in order to build up a nice buffer so I’m confident that we should get a run of 6-8 issues before we see any change.

Also hot off the presses is another $1.00 effort from DC/Vertigo in the form of Spaceman #1 by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. The story will focus on a hulking man-ape called Orson - part of a project to create humans hardy enough to survive the harsh conditions of space - who never got his chance to fulfil his purpose but may get an opportunity for some limelight when he finds himself in the midst of a kidnapping plot. I’m always willing to give these bargain debuts a go and Vertigo haven’t done wrong by me in the past with them. For a dollar, what can go wrong?

The bigger gamble for me today is picking up Incredible Hulk #1 by Jason Aaron - a busy man this week! - and Marc Silvestri. I’ve only picked up comics involving the green behemoth a few times in the past and have had a brief flick through some issues when perusing the shelves over the past couple of years and not been convinced to invest my money. With a new creative team, a renumbering and a new world of hell for Banner to live through I’ll definitely give this a look today but it could well be the one and only issue of the series that I buy. It all depends on how interesting the separation of Bruce from the Hulk proves to be.

‘What about the DC New 52 efforts’ you may well ask? Well I’ve already decided that Green Lantern: New Guardians is just not going to be a title that I want to invest my money in after just one issue. I get what Tony Bedard is going to try to do, and to be honest it does interest me a little having read the future solicitations, it’s just that I’m really not into Tyler Kirkham and BATT’s art in the slightest and I find that it distracts from my enjoyment of the read. I certainly hope the series does well as it sounds like a story that needs to be told, I just won’t be reading it now. Batman: The Dark Knight #2 on the other hand remains on the pull-list as I think this will be the Bat-title that delivers that constant ‘punching crime in the face’ action that we like to see alongside the the detective smarts and familial politics found in Batman and Batman And Robin. I would have called you a crazy person if you told me a year ago that I’d be picking up three comics dedicated to the Caped Crusader any time soon!

Time to give Image a little love I think as they have four books down on my list today and it’s been a while since that occurred. One series I’ve stuck with but haven’t been convinced by is Jonathan Hickman’s Red Wing which reaches it’s conclusion with #4 this week. I’ve found the time travel ideas to be interesting but feel that there’s been a slight lack of character and plot to drag the story along - once again it’s a Jonathan Hickman comic that’s been missing ‘something’. A comic with a bit of everything so far however, has been one of the newer titles to gallop out of Image’s stable. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into Vescell #3 as the previous two instalments have been packed with comic goodness, combining science fiction with a fantastical mysticism and a small dollop of sexiness too. I’ve been really impressed with how much content we’ve received each time for just $2.99 and I dare say that Image are rivalling DC in terms of quality and quantity of material per issue, per dollar handed across the counter at the moment.

Incoming... 19/10/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: With Marvel’s big event coming to its conclusion today I’m guessing that’s the signal that the Summer is really over (the weather in the UK seems to agree all of a sudden too!) and that we’re headed towards the new year and the next ‘big thing’. It seems that a fair few comic readers that I know couldn’t really give two hoots about Fear Itself #7 coming out and many of them jumped off a few months back, leaving any tie-in titles behind in the process. To be fair the series didn’t really show any clear direction until well after the midway point, so it’s not surprising that many figured that Marvel were once again missing the mark with their tentpole title of the year. I’ve been enjoying it though and I’m looking forward to seeing just how things pan out now that Iron Man has finished preparing the weapons for the final battle ahead.

That will also mean that Invincible Iron Man #509 should be read before Fear Itself #7 as Tony gathers said weapons and bids a farewell to Svartalfheim as he heads off to confront the Serpent’s Worthy followers. It’s been a little telling that Fraction may have been distracted by writing duties on Fear Itself - and possibly Casanova as well - as Invincible has seen a dip in quality over the past 4 issues or so. That’s a shame considering the heavy personal cost that Tony has had to pay in order to get access to Odin’s forges. Thankfully it seems that things will get back on track from #510 onwards as Stark is forced to face his personal demons as well as some reappearing faces from his past!

...Wait....Wuh, what the....NO! You’re kidding? Mark Millar has actually managed to get two issues of one comic out within a three week period!! Wow. Superior #6 arrives in stores some twenty one days after #5 following a good few months absence for what has been a really entertaining title. Obviously there was some breakdown in the process - possibly from Leinil Yu’s other artistic commitments - but it’s good to see some sort of regularity now. The way things were left last issue, with the pint-sized space monkey (yes, that is a touch crazy) Ormon offering young Simon a heavily loaded deal having already teased him with his temporary superhero powers, this latest instalment could be a real page-turner. I have a few issues with Millar’s projects but one thing he does seem to get is pacing and with Superior he hit the ground running and hasn’t let up since.

I suppose the same could be said for DC’s relaunch so far as the slew of #2 issues that we’ve seen to date have been impressive. This week, 5 of the 13 comics released make my pull-list and I’m pretty confident that all 5 titles will be still there this time next month. Batman #2 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo will no doubt explore that surprising cliffhanger ending that implicated one of the Bat-family in a nasty murder and I really can’t wait to see Snyder get Batman into full detective mode! Then there’s Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin’s Green Lantern Corps #2 which may follow a similar detective theme, as Guy Gardner and John Stewart investigate the brutal murders of several Corpsmen. I think these two very different human Lanterns are going to make a really interesting team, almost having directly opposing methods of policing the galaxy, and with the extended cast of familiar faces this certainly adds that little ‘something else’ that Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern seems to be lacking at present.

One other title that I think worthy of a mention this week is Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta’s Vengeance #4 from Marvel. I had no clue who the Teen Brigade were heading into this miniseries but now that we’re this far in I’m really enjoying reading about a team of young superheroes acting well under the radar of any of the other ‘big’ Marvel teams and characters and ultimately influencing much of what transpires in the world with their actions. The villainous covers are possibly a touch misleading as those featured baddies may only sparingly feature in the overall plot but that’s not been detracting from an otherwise damn fine read! Casey will be dragging the youthful prince of mischief into the action today as Loki gets a meeting with the Young Masters so we’ll see what sort of trickery unfolds.