Okay, new rule. A lot of books are going to start running twice a month, so if that be the case, sometimes I’ll review them together (if they are part of the same story). That way, things like X-Factor can’t have two slots in an increasingly larger reading alone (seriously!). So now, on with it. Also, there were a ton of close calls. Lots of good stuff this month.
10) Astonishing X-Men 36 (Daniel Way)
I think Daniel Way has done some interesting work with Wolverine–sometimes missing, sometimes excelling. But when Marvel announced that he would be taking on Astonishing X-Men, following Warren Ellis and Joss Whedon, I couldn’t figure out why. This series was for premier, special guest writers. Now, while Way may not be a premier writer in the way Ellis or Whedon might be, but his first issue was just as enjoyable as…well, we’ll say the worst of Whedon’s and the Best of Ellis’s. Now, he’s going to be alternating with Chistos Gage. We’ll see how it all works out.
9) Heroes for Hire 3-4 (Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)
I misread the credits before and said that Lanning sucked as an artist. I meant to say Brad Walker wasn’t right for this series, and in issue four he’s replaced. But the writing in issue three is much better. Paladin vs Iron Fist? Moon Knight vs a raptor? Awesomeness all the way.
8) Secret Warriors 24-25 (Jonathan Hickman)
Hickman is just pushing Fury to some freakish points. What more can he possibly make this man go through? And it’s so much that I can’t spoil it. Read it. See the hell Hickman puts Fury through.
7) X-Factor 216 (Peter David)
Well, it seems David remembered the reason his mission statement when X-Factor was renumbered to 200: They are the detective agency for the superhero community. Now they are taking a case from one of the Marvel U’s most fearsome villain–J Jonah Jameson! What will Spidey say? Well, we’ll have to find out, and hope for an awesome few issues.
6) Avengers Academy 9-10 (Christos Gage)
Both of these issues offer touching moments for, well, various characters. We even get a wonderful scene with Taskmaster! I never thought I would feel for Taskmaster, but Gage’s writing really shines and allows it. But, as great as the characterization was, the plots are a little watery.
5) Thunderbolts 153-154 (Jeff Parker)
154 is good. But 153 is fantastic. The Thunderbolts are a team now, and you do not fuck with a team of criminals. As Hyperion learns, they will fuck you up like no one’s business. And the way Parker writes Juggernaut is amazing. I would actually like to see a limited Juggs series by him.
4) X-Men Legacy 245/New Mutants 22 (chapters 1 and 2 of Age of X) (Mike Carey)
I have no idea where Mike Carey is going with this small event, but these first two parts sold me on it so far. He’ll have to really screw it up for it not to be good. I can’t wait to see where it goes.
3)Wolverine 6 (Jason Aaron)
This is the Wolverine I was waiting for. Jason Aaron is finally reminding us why he is one of the best Wolverine writers in recent years. From Cyclops’s plan to take down one of his best friends, to the X-Men’s reactions, it’s wonderfully written. We can only hope he gives us more like this.
2) The Amazing Spider-Man 655 (Dan Slott)
I should really call this a tie for first, but I think this was just a tad behind, if only for its ambiguity at the end. But this is the perfect time to say: Spider-Man is good again! Well, it’s been good since “Big Time” started up. Dan Slott made Spider-Man enjoyable, but 655 shows that he still knows how to make the series have strong emotional weight. It’s a bright future for the wall-crawler!
1) Uncanny X-Force 5 (Rick Remender)
And Rememder still reigns supreme! Still! Even though his first story arch is finished, he sill moves forward As a new plot begins for Fantomex, the rest of the characters discuss what happened on the Moon with apocalypse–oh, Apoc turned out to be a kid and Fantomex SHOT HIM IN THE FACE! Turns out, even Deadpool has a problem with this. In fact, Deadpool drops all of his kidding to make X-Force discuss what happened. I’ve never seen a serious Deadpool, and I loved it.
Let’s break it down:
Avengers: 5
X-Men: 5
Well, in the top five, it was X-Men with 3, so the they owned this month.
Writer(s) of the Month: Dan Slott. He saved Spider-Man!
Artist of the month: Can’t decide.
The David Caruso Sunglasses of Justice Award (because WordPress auto-formats the ’8′ and ‘)’ as a smiley wearing sunglasses): Secret Warriors 24-25
Looking forward to: Right now, anything X-Men
See you in a bit.
