I'll post the issues/series I picked up, do mini reviews/comments on them, then move on to a small list of other items I picked up, commenting on these items only if I have a good (enough) reason.
The Pull List:
(For some reason, I can't get this image to stay horizontal. Just tilt your head, it's an interactive blog today!)
The Ravagers #1,2 - Picked this series up simply because they are starting to integrate Gen 13 characters into the regular DC universe. So far, it's alright. I'm not as familiar with the Wildstorm characters or the DC characters in this, so it's interesting. Group of kids were captured and trained/tortured into becoming "Ravagers", specially trained killers. First issue has Caitlin Fairchild (formerly of Gen 13) and the group on the run. There seems to be some back story I'm missing, I'll follow up when I can. This will keep as long as the story pans out to be interesting.
Spider-Men #1 - New run starting this week. (Amazing) Peter Parker was teleported by (Ultimate) Mysterio to the Ultimate dimension. It will be interesting for Peter to see a world in which he died. Personally, I think this is more of a gimmick hoping to increase sales of the new Ultimate Spider-Man, but we'll see.
Star Wars: Blood Ties #1,2 - Picked these up on a whim (the tag "Boba Fett is Dead" caught my eye). Seeing as how these take place before the films, it's obvious Boba is alive and well. It's a decent revenge/hunt story, better probably if you read earlier Blood Ties runs. Interesting note: they show Boba's face. First time I've seen it (outside of young Boba in films -- and, I suppose, Jango Fett, the man Boba is a clone of). Will probably finish this series up.
Scarlet Spider #6 - This issue was a perfect Super-Hero comic issue. Good action and interesting story developments occurring. Here's hoping this continues to pan out -- Kaine as the Scarlet Spider is going better than I expected, as long as I maintain the capacity for suspension of disbelief.
The Amazing Spider-Man #687, Annual 39 - Coming to a close on The Ends of the Earth. This issue apparently sees the death of a relatively major Marvel character. Not sure how I feel about that, but we'll see how well it sticks in the next issue. Spidey may finally lose the pretty terrible tagline of "Nobody dies!"
Ultimate Spider-Man #11 - USM finally had a decent action issue. I really DON'T like (Ultimate) Scorpion. Also, the whole aspect of Miles being really new to everything is getting fairly old, they need to stop dragging it out. The (Ultimate) Prowler is interesting, and I like the family conflict, hopefully it accelerates upcoming issues.
Age of Apocalypse #4 - Not liking this series as much as I was hoping. First, I obviously missed a few major events in the AoA timeline (no clue when Jean and Sabertooth lost powers). So I need to do some back tracking. But I also don't care for the team this follows (the X-Terminated). They remind me of a watered down Watchmen. Still, I've got hope that this will pick up, and I like the idea of Wolverine as a villain. Wish the Wolverine vs Hulk fight was done in more detail here, but I suppose that fights been done before.
Avengers vs X-Men #5 - Interesting plot twist at the end. Otherwise, not much to see here. At all. They're pushing the ancillary issues from other series too much with this event, I think. The main story could have been told in three well done issues, and it's still going on. Hopefully the twist leads to an interesting conclusion (though I expect a non-conclusive reset button coming up, just like World War Hulk).
Batman #10, Annual - This series is picking up, but I guess I'm just not enough of a fan of Batman. Owl story line concludes in one more issue. Mildly interesting plot twist just occurred, I'm interested to see how it turns out. After that, though, I'll probably only give it a few more issues for it to prove itself as a Pull List item. My problem with the Bat is that there are too many series featuring him, similar to Spider-Man before the shut down most of the additional series. I'm not getting the whole story just reading "Batman", but I'm not shelling out more money to follow "Detective", "Dark Knight", etc...
Random Pick Ups:
Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #1 - Generic spy story with a super advanced robot doing the combat. Not for me, though I liked running into Han Solo.
Highlight of the Month (and probably year):
The Amazing Spider-Man #300! My wife, who obviously loves me very much, picked me up this rare issue for our "paper" anniversary gift. This issue features the first full appearance of Venom, one of my favorite villains (and characters) of all time -- and yes, I know every issue he appeared in in the 90's was pretty terrible. I love them anyway. This issue is now the prize of my collection, followed up by an artist-signed issue of Maximum Carnage number one (... incidentally, also bought by the wife... I think she has more rare comic books than I do!).
Also, just got Spider-Man vs Wolverine in the mail!! Looking forward to this issue especially!
Next time on Thunder, Like Lightning: Comics for Beginners conclusion and Suggested Reads
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