Comics of May 14, 2014

This week, I picked up an Issue 1, 2, 3, 4 and a 5. How often does that happen? On the non-comic front, my PS3 died again, so I’m probably going to sell it in exchange for a newer model and include the game that’s stuck inside. That’s the stupid thing about the older PS3 models by the way; once they have the yellow light of death, there’s no way to remove any disc short of taking the whole system apart or having it repaired first. Thankfully all my saves are backed up, except for a game I have no intention to play again anyway. In the meantime, I have an Xbox 360, a PS2, and a Wii U to play while I wait. Also, Mario Kart 8 is releasing on the 30^th.

On the writing front, I’ve contacted a few potential editors for the first book I’m going to try to get published. I’m also preparing for the second draft of the novel I wrote last June (my favourite first draft so far). But that’s enough about non-comic stuff.

The comics I picked up this week include Justice League United 1, Nightcrawler 2, Captain Marvel 3, Avengers: Undercover 4, X-Force 5, All New X-Men 27 and Batgirl 31. Here are my first impressions, and links to full reviews will be added as they’re posted.

All New X-Men 27 review

Nightcrawler 2 review

Justice League United 1 review

Captain Marvel 3 review

Avengers Undercover 4 was alright. It mostly deals with the aftermath of last issue’s ending, with Hazmat frying Arcade in front of hundreds of cameras. There are no real surprises. The kids are arrested by SHIELD (as seen in the preview pages), some of them are visited by their parents, and then they’re teleported into Zemo’s base. It appears that the “Undercover” part will begin in the next issue.

X-Force 5 was fun. While I found Marrow’s narration annoying in the first issue, the “baby” is both more subdued here and balanced with a lot of her backstory being told. This is actually a very dark issue, with an ending I didn’t see coming and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. Still, if you’ve been enjoying X-Force or want to check it out, this is worth picking up. Similar to Simon Spurrier’s X-Men Legacy, the title is consistently unpredictable so far.

Batgirl 31 was good. This time, Batgirl must save her roommate from a very flexible villain called Ragdoll. There are several great twists by the comic’s end, and the promise that things are about to get complicated. While not quite as good as Scott Snider’s Batman, Batgirl is a consistently strong title that’s been on a roll lately.