It's amazing how big a difference a couple of light weeks comic-wise and a week off work can make to getting through a stack of comics - I only have four comics left to read and I am 100% up-to-date! Wowzas!
Again, Venom wasn't out over here, so I am still yet to read the concluding parts to the 'Circle of Four' event, but I am reliably assured that they will be out this week. Fingers crossed!
The DC website has had a revamp, and it's a little more awkward to work out which comics are out and when than it used to be, but I just about have it sussed!
Some great comics out this week, including Fantastic Four, Journey Into Mystery, The Punisher, Batman and Robin and more! Read my fore-thoughts after the jump!
Avengers Assemble #1
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I'm not 100% sure that I'm going to get this, but I'm going to write about it anyway because it's kind of an interesting comic.
This is a comic released to create even more buzz for the ever-nearing Avengers film, and to latch onto anyone looking to get into comics because of the film, and features a lineup of heroes to match the blockbuster movie.
The comic will almost certainly have the obligatory introductions to the characters, just in case you haven't heard of some of them by now... And the team will be facing off against one of the most iconic Avengers villains - Zoidiac!
Though the book will feature a team-up of the characters in the film, the story is set in the mainstream Marvel continuity, so a little explaining is potentially required - I don't think Hulk is involved with the Avengers at all anymore, and some of the others belong to various spin-off Avenger groups, so who knows how they're going to wrangle these characters into one tale?
Had this comic been cheaper I would have definitely got it, but whether it's because Brian Michael Bendis has written it or to take advantage of the hordes of the movie-fans, this comic has ended up with a $3.99 pricetag, and in a relatively busy week I don't think it'll make the cut - unless my comic-shop has it priced against the RRP!
Battle Scars #5
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Well, the most obvious surprise since I've been reading comics was finally revealed last month! The identity of Marcus Johnson's father! I won't say here just in case anyone reading this happens to not have read the last one, but if you've been reading the comic it shouldn't particularly be a surprise anyway..
The trouble with keeping up-to-date with my comics is recalling what happened in the more forgettable series, which this book kinda firmly falls into. There have been some cool action sequences, but I can't recall very much happening story-wise last month other than the 'reveal'.
I do remember quite enjoying it though - Deadpool hanging around generally makes things exciting, so his appearance was welcome. And the clichéd "It's too dangerous, I gotta do this alone" was also present, with Marcus leaving a character he brought in for a mere two issues...
With only this and one more issue to go, the series is going to have to wrap things up a little but I can't see this being too great a finale. The identity of Marcus' father means that very little needs explaining anymore, and everything that has happened will lead back to him one way or another, so I'm not expecting life-changing narrative to end the story, but there should be fireworks!
Fantastic Four #604
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The last issue ended with quite an odd cliffhanger - future versions of the Reed children came bounding through a portal, apparently to save the day!
Seeing events such as this really show you just how powerful the Fantastic Four are - the mix of super-powers and super-science have meant they are about to defeat several massive threats to existence over the course of a couple of issues. The focus shifted from the Kree vs. the Annihilation wave to the presence of the Celestials almost seemlessly and, though things appear in a bad way, you never get the impression that the FF won't pull through - though that could be a thing in general with comics - despite the massive scale of the threats.This is another extra-sized issue and will end the epic three-year story that Jonathan Hickman set out to tell - if the whole arc was as good as the last few issues, I'll definitely be checking out the earlier stuff!
It has been announced recently that Hickman will be leaving Fantastic Four in the Autumn, with rumours saying he will be taking over Avengers, and I'm sure many will be sad to see him leave this series, but leaving a story such as this in his behind him will leave no-one wondering 'what could have been'.
Journey Into Mystery #635
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This series just continues to pull out all the stops! Last issue was another incredible comic! Taking place partly in Loki's mind it was filled with strange imagery and themes, including a superb breaking of the fourth wall.
The story is getting some pretty good traction as well - evil/fear gods looking to take advantage of the fall of the Serpent during 'Fear Itself' are scheming in various ways, and one (Nightmare) is using Loki as a storage place for lots of "Fear stuff" left over and will use it to unleash an "ultimate weapon" - pretty vague storytelling, but I really didn't mind at the time!
This book may have also unleashed one of the most endearing new characters to hit comics since Bucky came back - I'm talking about Thori, the Hellhound! She steals every scene that she's in, and is so adorably 'evil' but without the power to do anything about it...yet!
Presumably, being a remnant of the 'Fear Itself' story, this arc will be wrapping up fairly soon since AVX starts next month, so I expect things will come to a surprisingly quick end this issue, but I can't imagine anything less than an awesome comic from this series, so I'm sure it'll work!
Scarlet Spider #3
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Being only two issues in, it's difficult to say whether this series is going to be any good in the long run; after all, it took Venom a good half dozen issues or so to get really quite good.
But signs are promising. Kaine has issues with a world that has beaten him down and tried to kill him on numerous occasions, but he appears to be a good guy, if he acts so a little reluctantly.
On his way out of the city, Kaine turned back when he saw something big was going down near the hospital - so he has some semblance of a conscious.
The fight with flame-boy was pretty cool too, and the standard twists and false-ends did nothing to diminish a stellar performance from our newest spider-based superhero! The crowd seemed to like it too!
It appears like there is a recurring story being hinted at involving the girl that keeps needing saving, but just what that is/means I couldn't possibly guess at this moment in time.
Enjoyable enough books to start with, the series is going to have to pull something out soon for the people for whom that isn't quite enough....
Batman and Robin #7
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Tables, if not turned, shifted somewhat last issue. We found out why Nobody has such a vendetta against Batman, and why he took such an interest in Damian/Robin, and after refusing to join him Nobody took Damian hostage.
Despite my protestations that this idea of Damian working against his father could have been drawn out and made more interesting, I now think a pretty good go has been made of it and the development of both Bruce and Damian has worked pretty well. Bruce now knows he can't keep Damian in the dark, and Damian understands the way his father does Batman the way he does a little better.
The arc looks like it will come to an end this issue, and I'll admit it turned out a lot better than I thought it would after the first couple of issues. Obviously, it's not as good as the phenomenal Batman with Scott Snyder, but I reckon it's a closer second place (in Batman-central comics) than I think most people are giving it credit.
Green Lantern #7
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I'm glad I stuck to Green Lantern, I'm sure what it was, but I enjoyed last month's issue tons more than what had come before. It might be that it was set on Earth; there were other human characters; we saw Hal Jordan kick ass - sans power ring. That last one was probably the most important in my opinion - for five issues, Hal had to do what Sinestro told him to do, or else he'd take Hal's powers away again - and he went along with it! It's not nice seeing the star superhero of a series look so impotent and practically submitting himself to the will of one with such a volatile and unpredictable past. Thinking back, it kind of resembled the relationship between junkie and drug dealer, though I may be reading too much into it...
Anyway, last issue was good! And it looks like we're going straight into the whole 'New Army' of Universe-wide protectors - good call in my book, that was the most interesting part of the first five issue, despite only being mentioned in passing on a handful of pages. I just hope that with Hal presumably going off with Sinestro again the series can keep whatever it was that made me enjoy issue #6 so much...
Also out this week:
Marvel
Avengers #24
Captain America #9
Carnage U.S.A. #4
Incredible Hulk #6
Ultimate Comics X-Men #9
Wolverine and the X-Men #7
DC Comics
Batgirl #7
Batwoman #7
Resurrection Man #7
Superboy #7
Dish Out!
Dish's Stack is where I talk about the comics I will be buying this week! Judge my taste all you like, but that's what this is! I will normally focus on my thoughts of previous issues and possible developments, but nevertheless be wary of minor (or possibly major) spoilers if you do not keep very up-to-date with series or previews, but I'll do my best not to reveal anything too surprising!
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