The Bill October 13, 2010

Coming off of the amazing selection of books last time, I almost felt bad for this week. Lucky for us though, this week battled hard and while it wasn't as bombastic as last week, everything was still pretty good. I'm digging this trend, let's hope it continues.

Anyway, let's dive into some specifics shall we? If you're ready, I'm ready. It's into the review void we go!




Best of the Week:

I am an Avenger # 2
Writers: Greg Rucka, Sean McKeever, Paul Tobin, Jacob Chabot
Artists: Michael Lark, Mike Mayhew, David Lopez, Jacob Chabot


What can I say? I'm a sucker for these kinds of stories. It's weird too, considering we're in an age where guys like Bendis will create whole story arcs out of some of these small conversations. Somehow though these get to the point faster and retain the emotion better.

The highlight for me was the two page Jarvis story in which we get to see all that he does for the Avengers and how much they appreciate him for it. It's a story that I wouldn't ordinarily clamber for, but I'm very glad that it exists. Plus it was great to see how the New Avengers team relaxes.

The other high point was the New Warriors reunion in which Firestar and Justice have an awkward post-break-up non-conversation. McKeever gets to do the thing that makes him great, and makes these characters real people that you could actually run into at a bar while you were getting a drink.

Fantastic stuff from all corners of this book, and while it may not be quite worth the four dollar cover price, I still don't regret picking it up.

I hope Marvel keeps these kinds of books up. You hear me, Marvel? More anthologies, STAT!




Surprise of the Week:

Superior # 1
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Leinil Yu


I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this book up, but I know it wasn't what I got.

Not that that's a bad thing. After KickAss and Nemesis being just drenched in blood, violence, and language, I was worried that Superior would end up the same way. Happily, that wasn't the case. Millar shows restraint with this one, instead focusing on the bad life hand that the lead character was dealt.

Of course I say that and by next issue it'll be all head explosions and titties, just because.

But while I surprised by the restraint, I can't say that I was really blown away by the book. I like the set up, I like the main character, but I wish more had happened to propel the story forward than what we got in this first issue.

I dunno. This is one of those books I'm going to keep my eye on and see what the reviews are for the second issue. As it stands, I'm thinking it'll be a trade buy, if anything.




There, that wasn't so bad, was it?

That's all I got for this week. If you want me to convince you how you should go out and buy Thor: The Mighty Avenger (and you should) or help me commiserate the fact that I couldn't find a copy of Strange Tales 2 #1, drop me a comment, a tweet, or just an old fashioned email. Whatever works for you! See you next time.