Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

X-Factor #257

Avengers #13

Kick-Ass 3 #1

Thunderbolts #10

All-New X-Men #12

East of West #3

Green Arrow #21

Astro City #1

Archer & Armstrong #10

Thanos Rising #3

Iron Man #11

Daredevil:  End of Days #8

Locke & Key:  Omega #5

-WHY DON’T I ENJOY KICK-ASS ANYMORE?

This is not a rhetorical question;  I would actually like to know.  I ascertain that it may have something to do with the original series being very grounded, playing up the small moments so that when the big moments happened it felt like it had a massive effect on their world, and Kick-Ass 2 and 3 feeling more like a below-average superhero comic populated by dumb, unlikeable kids.  Regardless, while I somewhat look forward to the movie adaptation I think I’m done with this wing of Millarworld for the foreseeable future.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

X-Men #1

Fury MAX #12

The Wake #1

New Avengers #6

Angel & Faith #22

-INTERNET FAMOUS

A funny thing happened over the weekend when I went to a Chikara show (possibly the LAST Chikara show, but that’s its own conversation):  I was recognized by another human being for the things I’ve done on the internet.  He pulled me aside to tell me he loved what I was doing with my comic reviews, that he’d seen them after watching the Chikara is Vaudeville video I did last year, and that he doesn’t read many comics but he’s recently gotten into Saga.  So a special shoutout to this man for helping me feel like I’m not just throwing these videos into the aether.  It weirded me out but in the best way possible.  Thank you.

This is another way of saying that this was a really light week in comics and I don’t have anything more interesting than that to talk about.  Next week I hope to stop congratulating myself on how awesome I am and actually earn my paycheck*.

*Jesse does not get paid to be on the internet.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Grand Gestures #1

Uncanny X-Men #6

All Star Western #20

Fantastic Four #8

Uncanny Avengers #8AU

Powers Bureau #4

Avengers #12

Unwritten #49

Young Avengers #5

Green Lantern #20

Daredevil #26

-A PROPER SENDOFF FOR GREEN LANTERN

I don’t know how they could have wrapped up Green Lantern every better.  Every character got their moment in the sun, but it didn’t feel overpacked or cluttered.  It evoked the feelings I got from the very best Geoff Johns GL stories.  And it gave a proper conclusion for any character I might still care about.  Perhaps it wrapped it up TOO well, as I have little to no interest in jumping in to any of the series with their new creative teams.  I might check out New Guardians just because I want to see what Justin Jordan would do, but Kyle Rayner is one of my least favorite Lanterns and the promo art looks like ass.  The appeal of Red Lanterns for me was in Atrocitus’ story, and that seems to be over in lieu of Guy Gardner getting a red ring for nebulous reasons.  And I don’t know or trust Robert Vendetti in the least, so that kills off the two principal series.  At least there’s always Larfleeze?

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Thunderbolts #9

Baggywrinkles #4

Legend of Luther Strode #5

FF #7

Wonder Woman #20

Batwoman #20

X-Factor #256

Ultimate Spider-Man #23

Fables #129

Fatale #14

Iron Man #10

-SUPPORT INDIE COMICS

I came across Lucy Bellwood entirely by accident when she followed a terrible alternate Twitter account I do, looked at her profile and realized that she was actually a super-talented human being!  I don’t much care about ships but I find her love of them infectious, and will give a shot to anything she does in the future.  She is a delight and Baggywrinkles is a delight.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Batman #20

Constantine #3

Harbinger #12

Deathstroke #20

Walking Dead #110

Archer & Armstrong #0

Thor:  God of Thunder #8

Avengers #11

Uncanny Avengers #8

-OH MAN, WAS BATMAN REALLY THAT BAD?

It was not!  One of the only good parts of cutting down on the amount of comics I buy every month is that on some weeks I’m only reading good comics.  Batman #20 was one of my least favorite Scott Snyder issues yet, but it was still pretty great…the other eight books I read this week were just that much better.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Top Shelf Kids Club 2013

Valiant Comics FCBD 2013 Special #1

Free Comic Book Day 2013 (Infinity) #1

Free Comic Book Day 2013:  Judge Dredd Classics

2013 Free Comic Book Day Flip Book (Mouse Guard/Rust)

Superman:  The Last Son of Krypton FCBD Special Edition #1

2000 AD (Free Comic Book Day 2013)

Walking Dead FCBD 2013 Special

Atomic Robo/Bodie Troll Free Comic Book Day 2013

Marble Season (Free Comic Book Day 2013)

-DROPPING THE BALL

For the past few years Marvel has shamelessly promoted their summer movies with their free comic offerings.  Hell, the year when both Thor and Captain America came out they released a Thor/Cap team-up book!  So I was surprised that this year they chose to promote an upcoming event book and, to a lesser extent due to Thanos’ involvement, 2015’s Avengers movie.

DC on the other hand put out a Superman book to push awareness for Man of Steel, but it was a reprint of the first part of a storyline that had NOTHING to do with the movie!  Just a complete waste.  Luckily the smaller publishers brought their A-game and put out a lot of winners, and for that I am thankful.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Swamp Thing #20

All-New X-Men #11

X-Factor #255

Harbinger Wars #2

Fairest #15

Green Arrow #20

Thanos Rising #2

Iron Man #9

Hawkeye #10

-I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO SAY

I have nothing else to say.  I already blathered on about Hawkeye needing more Hawkguy flavor.   I already talked out my problems with X-Factor a few weeks ago.  All-New X-Men, Harbinger Wars, and Iron Man just pushed things forward and gave a good last-page taste of what should be a much more interesting issue.  Swamp Thing did a whole lot of nothing.  Fairest and Thanos Rising did exactly what I expected them to do.  I have nothing else to say today, but my video for Free Comic Book Day is right around the corner and that writeup shouldn’t be this disposable or boring.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Justice League Dark #19

Guardians of the Galaxy #2

Uncanny X-Men #5

Avengers #10

Fury MAX #11

All Star Western #19

Fantastic Four #7

Ultimate Spider-Man #22

FF #6

East of West #2

New Avengers #5

Angel & Faith #21

Unwritten #48

Jupiter’s Legacy #1

Before Watchmen:  Comedian #6

I, Vampire #19

Young Avengers #4

Uncanny Avengers #7

-AVENGERS OVERLOAD

This week I bought Avengers, New Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, and Young Avengers, not to mention Age of Ultron (which I did not buy).  I want to chide Marvel for not spreading the titles out into separate weeks, but they kinda do;  they just double- and triple-ship so many titles that this sort of thing is inevitable.  Hell, Uncanny and [adjectiveless] also shipped together two weeks ago.  I understand wanting to capitalize on the Avengers name, but it’s a bit ridiculous.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

X-Factor #254

Captain Marvel #12

Thunderbolts #8

Wonder Woman #19

Fables #128

We Will Remain #1

Thief of Thieves #13

Iron Man #8

Batwoman #19

Daredevil:  End of Days #7

Daredevil #25

-OH X-FACTOR…

I don’t want to stop reading X-Factor.  I gave a chance to a mini-series called Madrox  almost ten years ago, and I loved it so much that I wanted to read that character forever.  That spun off into a new X-Factor series in the same vein, and I loved that book too.  It had its ups and downs, and sometimes it got sidetracked by big dumb X-events, but at its core the team was a family and Peter David was not afraid to make huge choices for emotional effect.  Characters left, or died, or fell in love.  So why is it that the book does almost nothing for me anymore?

Is it that that core family no longer exists?  When they brought in Shatterstar, Longshot, and others it felt like it was starting to lose its focus, but the connections were still there.  By the time they brought in Havok and Polaris for no real reason, the storylines might as well have been from any generic X-book, but you could generally depend on some good wisecracks or novel storytelling methods.  But now more often than not, X-Factor deals with massive events that WILL CHANGE THE TEAM FOREVER (TM) on a regular basis, and it’s landing with a dull thud.  Maybe it’s because Madrox has become a bit player when he was once the centerpiece that his recent marriage to Layla Miller barely even registered, both with me and with his fictional teammates.

The book started renumbering itself after issue 50 gave way to issue 200, so including the Madrox mini and a handful of one-shots I’ve spent something like 115 issues with these guys.  I miss loving them, and I don’t want to miss where they’re going to next, but every month I wonder why I’m still here when it’s not the book I want to read anymore.

Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:

Ultron #1AU

Deathstroke #19

Sex #2

Harbinger #11

Suicide Squad #19

Constantine #2

Fantastic Four #6

Thor:  God of Thunder #7

Avengers #9

Batman #19

Walking Dead #109

Secret Service #6

Archer & Armstrong #9

Uncanny X-Men #4

Uncanny Avengers #6

Saga #12

Hawkeye #9

-DISAPPOINTED BY SEX

Two issues in, Sex is starting to come together but it’s not there yet.  It’s not a terrible premise, it’s just not being fleshed out quickly enough for my liking.  The titular sex isn’t so titillating (not that it’s necessarily supposed to be) to keep me coming back every month, but I may revisit it in trade form if I hear it shapes up into something special.