For the most part, this was a good week for comics. This might also be my last week of regular comic reviews until December as Nanowrimo starts on Friday. I’ll still be doing these first impression posts at least, and I’ll try to do at least one comic review a week. For the most part I’ll be busy trying to write a full novel inside a month. Instead, I’ll be posting a couple times a week on my general progress and some of my thoughts on the way.
The Marvel comics I picked up this week include X-Men: Battle of the Atom 2 (part 10 of this year’s X-Men event), Avengers AI 5, Guardians of the Galaxy 8, Superior Spider-Man 20 and Scarlet Spider 23. For DC, I picked up the Nightwing and Action Comics annuals. I also picked up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 27 and Witchblade 170. Here are my first impressions – links to full reviews will be added as they’re posted.
X-Men: Battle of the Atom 2 review
I’ll try to do a third review tomorrow, but seeing as how I work 9 hours I won’t make any guarantees.
Avengers AI 5 was fun. Half of the comic is dealing with the aftermath of last issue’s fight, while the rest is revealing more about exactly what the amnesic Alexix robot is. There are some great Pym moments as well. If an AI based Avengers book sounds interesting, you should pick this up.
Guardians of the Galaxy 8 was good. Even though it’s an Infinity tie-in, it still stands well on its own. It explains itself perfectly for anyone who isn’t reading Infinity. The guardians are on a rescue mission for Agent Brand of SWORD as Gamora is heading out to attempt to kill Thanos. There’s some good action, some great dialogue and the comic’s ending was actually surprising. I’m not a fan of the simplistic art style though. This is worth reading whether you’ve been enjoying Guardians so far, and it’s a good starting point as well.
Superior Spider-Man 20 was great. It progresses a number of plot threads, concludes a few and opens up a few more. The interaction between Spider-Man and Black Cat is hilarious. The relationship between Spider-Ock and Anna continues to be charming. There’s so much going on in this issue, and yet everything is explained very well for potential new readers. Unless you hate the idea of Spider-Ock, or just don’t care about Spider-Man either way, this issue is definitely worth reading.
Scarlet Spider 23 was great. It concludes Kaine’s struggle with Kraven with some of this title’s most dramatic moments yet. It’s a shame that this series is ending soon, but at least Chris Yost will continue writing Kaine and Aracely in the upcoming New Warriors.
The Action Comics annual was alright. It kicks off this year’s Superman family crossover. There are some interesting ideas with Krypton’s Return, but I fail to see why we should care about H’el coming back. At least this year’s crossover seems to separate the three Superman characters so that each one has their own story. Unless you desperately want to find out the backstory behind each character’s involvement with the crossover though, I’d recommend skipping this one.
The Nightwing Annual was brilliant. As much as I’ve enjoyed Nightwing’s series so far, I had to drop it shortly after Death of the Family to cut back on number for a while. I picked this up partly because it involves Nightwing and Batgirl working together, and it makes me want to catch up on Nightwing’s series. The dynamic between Batman’s former side-kicks is brilliantly done, and both characters’ points in life are explored wonderfully. The case they’re working on is also intriguing. This is an easy recommendation for fans of either character, or anyone interested in checking out other Batman family books.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 27 was simply awesome. It’s the penultimate issue in the epic City Fall story arc. The foot clan has nearly taken over the entire city, Leonardo is struggling through his recent brainwashing, Bebop and Rocksteady make their debut and the final battle begins. There’s so much going on in this comic, yet everything’s easy to follow. While everything’s explained well for new readers, you might as well try to start with TMNT 22 (when the storyline started). For regular readers, you already know this is a must buy. If you’re a turtles fan who hasn’t been reading this series, why haven’t you started yet?
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