Battle of the Atom is now at its half-way point, Guardians of the Galaxy finally gets its sixth issue (two months since issue 5) and Gambit ends this week. There’s quite a bit to talk about this week, so let’s get started.
The comics I picked up this week are Wolverine and the X-Men 36 (BOTA part 5), Guardians of the Galaxy 6, Uncanny Avengers 12, FF 12, Gambit 17, Avengers Assemble 19, Scarlet Spider 22, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 26 and Mass Effect Foundations 3. Here are my first impressions – links to my full reviews will be added as they’re posted.
Wolverine and the X-Men 36 review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 26 review
Guardians of the Galaxy 6 was decent. There’s some good action and some good story development with Thanos, but parts of it felt a bit dry. Maybe I’ll enjoy it more with a second reading, and maybe it’s partly because the last issue came out two months ago. Still, this is worth reading if you’ve enjoyed Bendis’s Guardians so far.
Uncanny Avengers 12 was alright. My biggest complaint is that I’m starting to get a bit confused about what the exact tone for this story is supposed to be. The Apocalypse Twins are interesting, but half the comic seems to be portraying them as good guys while the other half is treating them as villains. And it seems a bit odd that they’re mentioning Red Skull as a threat when the Apocalypse Twins seem to be portrayed as well out of his league. Not sure whether to recommend this or not, but it’s worth skipping if you’re growing tired of Remender’s writing.
Gambit 17 was alright. It concludes the thieves guild storyline in a satisfying way, but the storyline wasn’t as good as earlier stories in this series. Still, Gambit fans should pick this up.
Avengers Assemble 19 concludes Kelly Sue DeConnick’s tie-ins to infinity, and it’s a satisfying conclusion. Even though there’s a lot of action in this comic, it still has enough focus on Spider-Woman’s character to make it feel like a personal story. As always, DeConnick’s dialogue is a highlight. This issue also compliments last week’s Captain Marvel. This is an easy recommendation to Avengers fans, whether you’re reading Infinity or not.
Scarlet Spider 22 was great as always. None of the plot twists in this issue were all that surprising, but the action and character focus remain strong. I’ll miss this series when it finishes, and I hope there will be somewhere for both Kaine and Aracely to go (if they survive) Yost has done great work with both of them. As good as Superior Spider-Man has been for the most part, I actually enjoy this series more.
Mass Effect Foundations 3 was alright. It’s about the fall of Eden Prime – acting as a sort-of prequel to the first game. It chronicles Ashley’s life on the colony before the attack, but not as much as I was hoping. You briefly meet some of her co-soldiers, but there isn’t enough characterization to get a feel for their characters or her relationships with them. The whole comic feels kind of standard and you don’t really learn anything. I haven’t read the first two issues of this mini-series yet, but if this is anything to go by, this mini-series probably isn’t worth it.
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WatXM was better than usual, since Aaron couldn’t make it cartoonish. And I always enjoy seeing Scott shooting Wolverine.
GotG was . . . OK. Thanos was awesome. But I don’t care about Angela. So that fight, while well-choreographed, was a bit of a bore. Angela beating them all around was frustrating, simply because all I know about her is that she’s a ’90s Spawn character, so seeing her kick all their asses made her come across as a bit of a Mary Sue.
UA was better than usual. It felt less dark than usual, and I’m glad Remender’s finally really addressed Wanda’s sense of guilt and responsibility for M-Day.
FF was a lot of fun, as usual. What a bizarre, insane story. I love the use of different art styles. Duplicating the covers from the comics shown, and the shojo anime style. So great. And Allred’s normal art, of course, was awesome as usual. I love Allred. And Lee Allred’s scripting was pretty hilarious. I also love how the green Leech was the one saying that green is a villain colour. Just a bit ironic.
Gambit was OK. I always like seeing Wisdom show up. And Faiza.
Avengers Assemble was good. Very nice character stuff with Jessica.
Scarlet Spider was cool. Kaine is growing into a proper hero. Maybe. Kraven is great. A really compelling and kinda disturbing antagonist.
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Oh. And ME Foundations was OK. Not as good as the previous issues, which were much more fun.
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