Comics of February 4, 2015

February’s looking to be an interesting month in comics. The Black Vortex Crossover started today. Angela just got a new costume. Batman Eternal’s first year is winding down. Harley Quinn is photo-bombing a number of DC covers the way Deadpool frequently does with Marvel comics. And of course, two new Star Wars comic titles are starting this month, one of them Darth Vader by Kieron Gillen.

Anyway, here are the comics I picked up this week. Black Vortex 1, Ant Man 2, Angela: Asgard’s Assassin 3, Wolverines 5, Ms. Marvel 11, Vampirella 9 and Velvet 9. I also cracked and picked up Star Wars 1 and 2 by Jason Aaron, but haven’t read them yet. Of those I have read, here are my first impressions, and links to full reviews will be added when they’re posted.

Black Vortex 1 review + thoughts on Bendis leaving the X-Men

Ms. Marvel 11 review

Vampirella 9 review

Ant Man 2 is fantastic. Continuing off from where the last issue left off, this one still manages to feel like a one-shot in a sense, with a good characterization for Scott Lang and more scenes between him and his daughter. The story is fun, there are a couple amusing moments that also hint at further stories and several interesting characters are introduced. Whether you like Scott Lang or are interested in checking him out before this year’s movie, this is definitely worth picking up.

Angela: Asgard’s Assassin 3 is great. As revealed earlier this week, Angela gets a new outfit in this issue, and personally I like it. Beyond that, it continues the intense storyline of Angela running around with a baby she stole from Asgard while digging deeper into both Angel mythology and Angela’s backstory. I’d say this is a surprisingly good series so far, but then again Kieron Gillen is writing it and he’s rarely not good. This feels like a sort-of continuation of his Journey Into Mystery run and if that interests you, check it out.

Wolverines 5 is mixed. The writing itself is a lot of fun, with a great number of cameos in Mr. Sinister’s lab. The Wolverines team dynamic is tense as ever, with potential betrayals, arguments between X-23 and Sabretooth and Fantomelle trying to decide whether to help the others or just steal Wolverine’s body. The story is also starting to pick up steam. The situation feels truly hopeless until the ending cliffhanger when a bunch of other characters show up, promising a big fight in the next issue. On the downside, while the art has an interesting style, it’s often hard to tell what’s going on. Sometimes, body proportions also feel off. With such an action-heavy issue, it would have been better if we could see everything that’s happening. In short, this is a fun issue but the art holds it back a bit. This is still worth checking out if you’re interested in the aftermath of Wolverine’s death or you’re a fan of any of the main characters.

Velvet 9 is great. It continues where the last issue left off, with Velvet breaking an old MI6 agent out of an insane asylum. What follows is a mostly quieter issue with a lot of reveals and mystery building. That’s not to say everything goes well, and it’s readily apparent that the conspiracy behind Velvet’s framing job is more complicated than she first anticipated. This is Ed Brubaker at his best; telling an espionage series with his own characters. In other words, read it.