So I picked up a lot of comics this week. This week’s X-Men comics are Astonishing X-Men 54, Gambit 3, X-Men Legacy 274, Wolverine 313, Wolverine and the X-Men 17 and X-Men 36. The other comics I picked up are The Amazing Spider-Man 694, Aquaman 0, Batman Incorporated 0, Secret Avengers 31, Witchblade 160, Space Punisher 3, Ninja Turtles 14, Captain Marvel 4 and Winter Soldier 11. These are my first impressions. I’ll add in links to full reviews as I post them.
Gambit 3 was good. This issue has a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe to it, except Gambit is the main character. He’s forced to work with a woman he can neither predict nor trust. Gambit fans will probably like this.
Wolverine and the X-Men 17 was great. This issue focuses on Doop, a character that’s been making cameos throughout the series so far. It explains what his actual job is, while simultaneously introducing him to people who have no idea who Doop is. This issue is simply entertaining and it has nothing to do with AVX. It’s definitely worth checking out, although it won’t be for everyone.
X-Men 36 was great. It continues the Proto Mutant storyline by introducing a proto mutant who is still alive. I can’t say much more without spoiling the issue, but it’s an easy recommendation for anyone who’s been reading this series since Brian Wood took over.
Secret Avengers 31 was excellent. Venom and Ant Man are the only two Secret Avengers unaffected by the spreading of The Void. They’re alone against a legion of people, some of them super powered, who have been overtaken by the void. There’s lots of great action and a situation that keeps getting worse. This is an easy recommendation if you’ve been reading Remender’s SA run so far, or if you like Venom and/or Ant Man.
Witchblade 160 was great. Sara continues her fight against a rather twisted “messiah” figure and her followers. It’s weird, it’s dark, and it’s very entertaining. Not much else to say at the moment.
Space Punisher 3 was fun, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two issues. Space Punisher takes on the most powerful gangsters in the Galaxy, but he takes them out a little too easily. The last page is simply awesome however. It’s an alternate universe with the Punisher in space and if that sounds awesome to you, you’d probably enjoy this.
Aquaman 0 was good. Like all the other 0 issues, it’s an origin story retelling. This issue is about Aquaman just after his father dies. He heads out to find Atlantis and saves a few people on the way. I don’t know how it compares to the original version of his origin, but it’s worth it for new Aquaman fans.
Ninja Turtles 14 was good. There are a number of small plot and character moments spread throughout and it’s hard to talk about them without spoiling things. If you’ve been reading the series so far, this is an important issue. This isn’t the greatest starting point though; it touches on a number of plot threads and there isn’t any action.
Captain Marvel 4 was fun. This issue concludes the fight between Carol’s all-female squad during World War 2 against Kree Technology. I found the ending a little confusing, but that could be because I read all 16 comics inside two hours and this was one of the last. Still, this is an easy recommendation for anyone who likes Miss Marvel or for anyone who wants to support a female solo title.
FF 22 was good, but like Fantastic Four 610 it feels a little rushed. This issue deals mainly with Bentley, a clone of the Wizard who joined the FF kids early in Hickman’s Fantastic Four run. At last, he confronts his “father” and makes a vitally important decision. Bentley’s scenes are very well done, but the other scenes feel a little dry. This is still an easy recommendation for fans of Hickman’s FF run despite its minor flaws.
X-Men Legacy 274 was alright. It deals with the relationship between Magneto and Rogue that Mike Carey began. Spoiler – They break up by the end of the issue – End Spoiler. It’s handled very well, but you can also tell Christos Gage’s run is winding down. If you’re interested in this relationship, this is an easy recommendation. If not, it’s probably better to skip this issue.
Winter Soldier 11 was great. The brainwashed Black Widow is on a rampage as Bucky gathers a team to bring her in. There are several plot twists in this issue so if I say too much about the plot, it’ll spoil the fun. It’s a great espionage comic that’s self-contained and everything you need to know is on the recap page. That said, it would be better to start from issue 6 to get the full story.
healed1337 
First off, you’re wrong for not picking up Journey Into Mystery. Also, Punisher #16 was amazing.
Anyway, this was easily the best issue of WatXM. I suspect Aaron probably just told Allred – who’s awesome – to do whatever he wanted. It was ridiculous, but so was X-Statix, and that was an awesome series.
Legacy was strictly OK. There was nothing outstanding about it either way.
Space Punisher was terrible. The first issue was bizarrely fun, but the concept seems to have run out of steam with amazing speed.
Winter Soldier was great. Secret Avengers was pretty good. Astonishing X-Men was weak. Amazing Spider-Man was . . . good, I guess. FF was pretty good. X-Men was great. Gambit was really good.
Captain Marvel was great. I really want that title to succeed. Female-fronted solo, female writer, great character, great writing – it deserves to do well.
And Wolverine, of course, was awful. Because Jeph Loeb shouldn’t be writing comics.
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By this point, I’ve missed pretty much all of Gillen’s Journey Into Mystery series, so I’ll just have to pick up the paperbacks once I catch up on all the other paperbacks I’ve bought over the last few months. I do appreciate the recommendation though.
On its own, Legacy was just ok – fully agreed. I do like that it ended the Rogueneto relationship though.
I also agree with you on Space Punisher. Keep in mind that this post was about my first impressions, and it’s hard to keep a clear head with first impressions when you read 16 comics inside two and a half hours. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much on my second reading.
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