Big Stack o' Comics: Even Bigger

I'm starting to wonder whether these posts are a good idea. There's a reason I usually don't review or otherwise write about every single comic I read - I just read too many, and a lot of time I don't have any real insight or strong reaction to the things. Even a book generally enjoy may not elicit a reaction from me that's worthy of broadcasting to the world. But I promised to write something about every single book in my stack this time, and gosh-darn it, that's what I'm going to do, continuing now.

Mighty Avengers # 28: This book is pretty good, but it has this weird vibe that makes it seem that no matter how big the events depicted are, this is just the off-to-the-side Avengers book thrown in by Marvel as a sop to Avengers traditionalists who hate what Bendis has done/is doing to the books that really count.

Dark Reign - The Hood # 4: Maybe I'm just a Mighty Marvel Mark, and will buy whatever crap they throw at me, but I really think some of these Dark Reign miniseries are being severely underrated. Jeff Parker turns in an excellent story here, portraying Parker Robbins (the Hood), not as pure evil, but a family man struggling to do the right thing for his wife and kid, in too deep in his life of crime, in too deep in his dealings with the demon Dormammu. All the while, the Hood has to deal with maintaining command of his organization, and a hero who seems to be on the verge of going too far and targeting Parker's family. One of the best thing a mini about a villain can do is show another, more relatable side of the character, and this one does that to great effect.

Dark Reign - Zodiac # 2: I'm not as enamored of this one as some in the blogosphere, but Joe Casey does do a good job in this tale of villains bent on pure chaos, making them just as much an enemy of Norman Osborn's new status quo as the heroes. Pure, sociopathic fun is the name of the game in this one, folks.

War of Kings # 6: A satisfying conclusion to this solid mini-series showcasing the oft-overlooked cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. We get a great fight (probably one of the best fights I've seen in a comic this year), a clear victor, and a set-up for future events that doesn't lessen the impact of what went on in this series.

The Stand - American Nightmares # 5: If you like the Stephen King novel, you'll probably like this adaptation. That's really as far as I'll go on this one, except to say that while I understand the strategy behind breaking the massive novel into several mini-series, the break points aren't necessarily intuitive. Seems they could have just as easily had an on-going series and broken it up into multiple trades, as there is so much carryover in the story (after all, its all one novel) the breaks seem really artificial. Its a minor quibble, though, for an otherwise well-done adaptation.

Greek Street # 2: I really love Peter Milligan, and want to like this series, but so far I'm on the fence. There are good bits, there are bad bits, and hopefully it will come together into something greater than the sum of its part as it goes on. In my experience, some of Vertigo's best series don't really gel until almost a year in, and I'm willing to give Milligan a chance to show me more with this, as there are glimpses of greatness in the general averageness of this issue. Part of the problem is the very large cast, which means that no character really gets a chance to engage us before we move on to another one.

The Boys # 33: Being edgy and transgressive means walking a line between the truly shocking and the so-over-the-top-it-becomes-mundane. The Boys too often finds itself on the wrong side of that line for my taste. The total evisceration of Avengers analogues "Payback" just came off as flat and ho-hum for me, though I was intrigued by the promise of more on Stormfront, who is basically, if I'm not mistaken, Thor as a Nazi.

The Amazing Spiderman # 601-603: Mary Jane is back. The Chameleon is actually menacing (which should really put to rest any question as to whether the Obama story was in-continuity, right? Right?) Peter Parker's personal life is interesting again. Things are humming along very, very nicely in this title right now. The book, for once, lives up to its billing - amazing.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape # 4: The reveal at the end of this series better be damn good, because as much as I love random mind-bending events in my pop entertainment, this series is starting to wear on me after a good start. Kind of like a TV series where the premise sets up well, then about halfway through the run you realize they are making it up as they go along and none of the stuff set up earlier will ever be satisfactorily answered, this thing is starting to worry me. Maybe Brandon will pull out the good stuff in the next two issues, tie it all together, and make a masterpiece. But right now I'm not holding my breath.

Ultimate Avengers # 1: Like a good summer blockbuster, Millar and Pacheco invite you to bring the popcorn, turn off your mind for about 10-15 minutes, and enjoy the spectacle. This is the book Millar was made for, and he shines on it in a way he doesn't quite stand out in his regular Marvel Universe work. Good stuff.