This weeks list presents a good mix of book and they are thoroughly enjoyable too. Avengers is running at full pelt and the new Avengers title had a reasonable start. There is a nice blend of indy books. DC put out a lot of books once again, as part of villains months but only a couple were worthy of pulling. It seems that the creator change has led to poor written stories that try to rewrite origins or confuse current continuity. Both the Riddler and Black Manta books too time to understand what makes these people bad guys in the absence of their nemeses. Battle of the Atom took another dull turn and the obvious twist ensued with complete lack of inspiration. But there was enough good to get by.
DC
Batman #23.2 – Riddler
This was a surprisingly good book with an excellent story about Nygma passing the time waiting for Batman to return. The riddles are great and work well within the confines of the story and it relates to the Zero year plot too.
Aquaman 23.1 – Black Manta
This was actually an original plot for the motivation of Black Manta as a villain. To the point where the crime syndicate has eliminated his drive for being the bad guy. This was refreshing and surprising at the same time.
Marvel
Mighty Avengers #1
I know it has not been long but its great to see Luke Cage back in a kind of Avengers capacity. The other characters are fresh and it is great to see Spider-Ock being difficult as always. A good opening issue.
Deadpool #16
What a fantastic issue. We are now three story arcs in and the book is still maintaining a high standard in art and writing. To see Deadpool question himself and reverse roles with his inner voice is a novel idea.
Captain America #11
You will not have seen this book on the theatre list of late. It lacks that storykiller angle and the art has always been a little off. This book changes artist and is a great stand alone story about letting go of the past. I am also happy to see Jet acting fiercely as expected!
Avengers Arena #15
Now this is an issue we have been waiting for. Its is exciting and foreboding alike, knowing we would have some damage inflicted to the team. The origins have all been told and has become interesting when you develop rapports between characters. The art is also fantastic.
Avengers #19
The infinity storyline is making great progress and we have another issue of posturing and subtly revealing in the motivation of the bad guys. It is compelling and exciting a read. Check out my preview of this book!
Independent
Ghosted #3
This book finally lived up to its title and we had a climate worthy of ghosts and ghouls. We are beginning to see sublet scary moments and they are effectively delivered artistically. It is interesting to see where this book goes next, as the spirit world is hardly an unrealistic concept in the realm of comics.
Manhattan Projects #14
This book remans my favourite Hickman book of them all. The pacing and delivery on a character level is perfect and the scientists are all under threat by one of their own. Pitarra & Bellaire are exceptional as always.
X #5
This book has played itself out as a Batman-esque book with X being a bitter hero with a reluctant side-kick. I enjoyed this issue particularly because it looked at the level of acceptable violence for our protagonist. The line is so further pushed that X then becomes far from a Batman book.
House Of Flying Scalpels 