Comics of September 19, 2018

I don’t have much of an intro this week – pretty much everything I wanted to say, I put into my post about summing up my swim workouts this summer. So let’s get this comic post started. This week, I picked up West Coast Avengers 2, Mr. and Mrs. X 3, Thor 5, Avengers 8, Star Wars 54 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 86. Here are my first impressions.

West Coast Avengers 2 is fun. The initial situation with the giant rampaging Tigress is solved fairly quickly by the mysterious BRODOK, after Kate’s team has trouble dealing with her. But that brings forth more potential problems. Not just with this team that’s been thrown together very quickly, but with what the real purpose of BRODOK may be. But as usual for writer Kelly Thompson, it’s entertaining. Not as much as her other comic of the week though. Speaking of which …

Mr. and Mrs. X 3 is great. This issue mostly reveals what’s going on with this cosmic egg that everyone is chasing after, and it’s a story that ties directly into both the X-Men and the Shi’ar empire. The dialogue between Rogue, Gambit and Deadpool is consistently entertaining, with the four page fight showcasing Gambit and Deadpool fighting their way through a ship being particularly great. As much as I’m also enjoying the new X-23 series, this could potentially take its place as the best X-Men series on the market right now. I highly recommend this for fans of either Gambit or Rogue.

Thor 5 is … ok. It mostly takes place in the far future, with Thor taking on the phoenix force and its current host at the apparent end of the universe. Not much else to say about this one.

Avengers 8 is good. I picked this one up on a whim, after thinking that I wouldn’t continue picking the series up, after glancing through and reading a couple story moments. This issue explains what’s going on with She-Hulk’s powers in a satisfying way, and it’s nice to see that she quickly embraces what’s happening. There’s also a fun moment where Captain America tests Ghost Rider’s combat abilities, even if we only really see the build-up. There’s a good conversation where Iron Man and Captain Marvel mostly make up after their Civil War II event. After what is mostly a well-written downtime issue, the ending introduces a fight that could turn into a major story arc. I didn’t care much for the opening story arc, but this issue shows a lot more promise than that. I’m not yet convinced to stick with it, but this issue is worth checking out, even if you didn’t like the opening story arc.

Star Wars 54 is great. While the Imperial trap on the newly expanded Rebel fleet is still ongoing, this issue shows the rebels starting to gain the upper hand. This issue really shows off Leia’s leadership abilities, how much people respect her, and how quick she thinks while in a dangerous situation. I won’t spoil what that situation is though, other than how the cover is slightly misleading on that front. Whatever the case, this series is an easy recommendation for Star Wars fans.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 86 is good. The triceratops mutants are still trying to get settled on an island that used to experiment on Earth creatures, when the EPF shows up to launch their assault. This issue is intercut with the beginning of the battle and the Ninja Turtles debating on whether they should intervene or not. There are also a couple flashbacks exploring the leader of the EPF’s motivations. This still remains a great series overall, but it’s getting increasingly hard to sum up these issues in a single paragraph. Highly recommended for TMNT fans, but it’s worth starting from the beginning. Otherwise you’ll be fairly lost at this point.