After several big weeks in a row, it’s nice to have a smaller pull list. It’s also good since my room’s renovation will hopefully finish today, and I have a lot of stuff to move back into it. Because of this I’m not sure how many full reviews I’ll have time for, but I’ll write at least two.
The comics I picked up this week include New Warriors 1, Amazing X-Men 5, X-Men 11, Uncanny X-Men 17, Red Sonja 7, Supergirl 28 and Animal Man 28. Here are my first impressions; links to full reviews will be added as they’re posted.
Amazing X-Men 4 was alright. Nightcrawler finally reunites with the X-men in this issue, and his moments are easily the best. The rest of this issue continues with the repetitive, patronizing dialogue and narration, having characters wonder what’s going on when we already know. There are also a few too many reunion scenes as Nightcrawler meets up with everyone one at a time. I’d only recommend this to people who want to read of Nighrcrawler’s return, and I probably won’t read this series after “Quest for Nightcrawler” finishes … except for Kathryn Immonen’s upcoming issue of course.
X-Men 11 was great. After the overcrowded issue 10, this one feels a lot more focused. The villains take the spotlight with the return of a major X-Men villain, and the strange relationship between Anita Cortes and Lady Deathstrike is explored more toward the end. Also, the beach battle between the young X-Men and the sentinels gets intense in the last five pages. Of all the X-Men books out right now this has the most classic feel to it, and in a good way.
Uncanny X-Men 17 was also great. Cyclops’s new recruits are dumped into Tabala Rasa for field training. There’s some great action, several surprising moments and yet there’s still a lot of room for drama. The art sometimes makes the action difficult to follow though. Still, this series has been surprisingly good so far and this issue continues that trend. This is worth checking out for X-Men fans who haven’t already.
Supergirl 28 was … I’m not sure what I think. This is the issue where she becomes a Red Lantern, and while it seems to be handled well, I’m not yet sure what I think of this storyline. Isn’t she already powerful enough without a red lantern? Still, if you’re interested in either Supergirl or the Red Lanterns, you should at least read this.
Animal Man 28 was good but disappointing. It concluded one story, but the fight between Animal Man and the villain was over way too quickly. It also leads directly into another story that’s already begun. I first got into this series by suggestion, and while it’s usually been delightfully weird, I’ve been disappointed with the last few issues. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be sticking with this title since I’m trying to cut back a bit.
healed1337 
New Warriors was really good. Lots of fun.
AXM was OK. Didn’t blow me away, still. He hasn’t given Firestar much personality yet. Immonen has an issue coming up? Awesome. I’ll definitely buy that one. She needs an ongoing. Preferably a Storm ongoing, since Storm also needs an ongoing.
X-Men was good, but man, the disjointedness is a real problem, still. Even worse here than last issue. The story and characterization are great, but the Sentinel fight stuff actually drags it down, just because it feels so disconnected from the rest.
UXM was good. A lot of fun. Bendis does fantastic characterization, and this issue gives plenty of it to the students, who definitely needed some focus.
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Yeah, they announced it today in May’s solicitations – http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=50979 . Immonen is writing Amazing X-Men 7 because Aaron wanted a month off. It’s also guest starring Spider-Man so that he and Firestar can work together. Sounds good to me, and I agree that they need to give her an ongoing title.
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X-Men #11 had some serious problems. It had some really awesome moments but.. jeez, it was kind of a wreck, too. The last 5 pages were the best, though. So good.
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“I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be sticking with this title since I’m trying to cut back a bit.”
Well the series ends with the next issue. It looks to go out with a bang though with Lemire writing and illustrating while also being joined by the original artist as well.
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In that case I might as well pick it up.
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