Comic Book Day: August 6 Comic Book Reviews

Happy Comic Book day to everyone! This week I will not be posting any personal reviews because none of the books I'm currently reading had new issues and I mainly focused on catching up on old issues. I do have some reviews coming out on readcomicbooks.net, though, which include Quantum & Woody #2, Sidekick #1 and Robocop: Last Stand #1.

Next week, be on the look out for my reviews of Marvel's Infinity #1 and Hawkeye #13! Speaking of, the big, new event for Marvel is starting on my birthday next week! That's right, my birthday is going to be the next Comic Book Day. I feel as though it was meant to be. Anyway, this event should prove to be an interesting one and will feature many of the Marvel Universe's loveable misfits such as Thanos, the Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

 Marvel is really playing up the hype for this event, and I'm about to binge read all of the Thanos and Infinity Gauntlet story arcs on Marvel Unlimited this coming weekend. Since I am now finished with writing for Vox Magazine as well, I feel that doing nothing but comic book reading is an appropriate use of my first, and only weekend in my short lived summer vacation.

Short blog post this week since there wasn't anything actually worth saying. So this is basically a waste of blog space, if that were a thing.

Enjoy your new comic books this week!

My Blog Needs More Comic Book Stuff: A List of Current Series I Follow

While you may be able to guess what books I'm following diligently from the weekly reviews that I try to put up, I've never formally announced what series I actually am reading. So I thought I would put together a short list of all the books I'm reading and that I am trying to catch up on! For any of my readers who don't really read comic books but want to get into the comic book world, picking up any of the #1 issues for these books would probably be a good starting point, especially if you want to get into the Marvel Universe, since I am a HUGE Marvel fan.

Here is what I am currently caught up with and reading on a consistent basis: 

• Young Avengers by Keiron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie 
• Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue DeConnick and various artists 
• X-Men Vol. 4 by Brian Wood and Olivier Copiel 
• Guardians of the Galaxy by Brian Michael Bendis and various artists
• Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja
• Captain Ultimate by Joey Esposito, Benjamin Bailey, and Boykoesh

And here are the series that I am working on catching up with: 

• Avengers by Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena
• Adventure Time by Ryan North, Aaron Renier, Braden Lamb, and Shelli Paroline
• FF Vol. 2 by Matt Fraction and Mike Alfred
• Nova by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness 
• Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender and John Cassady 

OK so I never realized how many series I am actually reading until I wrote them all down. Thankfully they don't all come out in the same week so I'm not shoveling piles of money into Marvel's bank account. And to think I want to find even more series to read! 

Comic Book Day: July 31 Comic Book Reviews

So apparently I'm too lazy to actually write my reviews when I say that I am going to. I completely skipped last week's review of Hawkeye Annual #1 and I forgot to even attempt in getting it up this week. So this is an apology to any readers who were looking for my reviews last week.

ANYWAY

Since I didn't announce it last week because I goofed, I'll make the announcement this week. I will now be writing reviews for readcomicbooks.net! I'm pretty excited to be working with this group of people and I look forward to sharing my reviews with more people than I would normally be able to. I'll be reviewing several of my current series for the website as well as some surprise series along the way. For this week's pull you can find my Captain Marvel #14 review on the website. You can also find my reviews from last week for Young Avengers #8 and Tomorrowland #1 there too! But on to the rest!

As always SPOILER WARNING FROM THIS POINT ON.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5

Guardians of the Galaxy #5 cover by
Sara Pichelli & Justin Ponsor
Image courtesy of comicbookmovie.com

The latest issue of Guardians introduces a new adversary for the galactic group of vigilantes and is beginning to show some of the rippling effects from the conclusion of the Age of Ultron. Peter Quill seeks help to find out why he is able to feel the break in reality that resulted from AoU. Bendis is handing out some solid writing in this issue, creating a sense of mystery around Peter. After some of the more explosive issues we've been seeing, the search for answers behind what is going on is a nice break that doesn't make the book feel stagnant. One thing I wish Bendis would focus a little more on is the characterization of the rest of the characters. We've seen plenty of Peter Quill, Stark and Gamora. I want more of Drax and Rocket and Groot. Drax is lucky if he gets a page to himself in these issues, even though he has the potential to be a really interesting character. Sara Pichelli has provided some good art throughout the books, complimenting the writing from Bendis. Her lines are a bit more angular, and more severe when it comes to the characters, but this actually works with the solid feel of the book. The final scene between Peter Quill and Thanos sets the next issue up for some really interesting answers to the questions that Bendis is asking throughout this issue. With the reintroduction of the Mad Titan I'm also intrigued to see how the events from Guardians of the Galaxy will tie into the Infinity event that is coming later this month. (FUN FACT: Infinity's first issue comes out on my birthday).

Verdict: 7 out of 10. Bendis and Pichelli have been giving us some good stuff, but I'm still waiting to see the great stuff.


X-Men #3 

X-Men #3 cover by
Olivier Copiel & Laura Martin
Image courtesy of Marvel Wiki

This latest issue of X-Men is the wrap-up issue of the opening arc for this adjective-less X-title. With the limitations of a short arc and the stopping point of last issue, Brian Wood finished on a definite strong note. While there are still many questions to be answered, their are definitely hints at the end of the book that the next few issues to come will give us what we're looking for. This book did feel a little disjointed because of the page hopping from Storm and her team in Budapest and Kitty Pryde at the school trying to stop the Danger Room from destroying everyone. Even though they were connected by Arkea, the two stories didn't mesh well together. Wood makes up for the script, once again, through the characters. The x-team that is not an x-team works really well together, it's fun to imagine what they could potentially accomplish in coming issues. Olivier Copiel's art once again knocks this book out of the park. Every panel is visceral, gritty and exciting. Copiel has a knack for taking these characters and making their emotions and actions pop off the page and into your head. This creative duo has given us some very exciting stuff and together I think they can bring this book to the top of the x-titles that Marvel is putting out right now. With the Battle of the Atom event coming up in September, it will be interesting to see what tie ins we get from this duo and how the events from this book will play a role in that story, if they will at all.

Verdict: 7.5 out of 10. A nice, neat wrap up that leaves me asking for more answers and action. I'm definitely looking for the next issue this month.