From the comic shop:
AVENGERS/THUNDERBOLTS #4: This mini seems longer than it needs to be. The first four issues have consisted mostly of internal philosophical arguments on the nature of heroism and trust and some impenetrable pseudo-science about an energy draining… thing. Maybe it’s the pending AVENGERS relaunch that’s making this all seem rather quaint, or it could be the fact that Fabian Nicieza’s take on the Thunderbolts doesn’t really work for me, but the title has become something of a slog.
DETECTIVE COMICS #795: Oh, goody. The Tarantula, who has vaulted to the very top of my “least favorite characters” list, brings her violent and irresponsible shtick to another comic on my pull list. DC surely can’t consider her a reasonable long-term property, can it? I have to admit that I’m not sure why this title is still among my reserves. I’ve been meaning to drop it since Greg Rucka left, but laziness and the general competence of the stories have prevented me from making the cut. Must do something about that.
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #6: This isn’t holding together very well. Largely a chaotic fight sequence (appropriate enough given the protagonist’s inexperience), the character development seemed shoved in with a crowbar. The chatty but fragmented dialogue was actually grating rather than endearing. It’s suddenly become kind of coy, though I’ll stick around to see what the new creative team does.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #60: Wow, the cover managed to be generic *and* misleading. Nicely done. This is a perfectly good book, though it falls squarely into the “empty calories” category of comic books. Engaging characters, clever action sequences, but very little seems to happen in the average issue. Of course, it seems like it comes out every week, so I guess the frequency of publication makes up for low narrative calories. Or not.
UNCANNY X-MEN #445: The Alan Davis art is gorgeous, and I like Chris Claremont’s script a lot better than just about all of his other recent work. Still, there was an unpleasant clenching feeling in my stomach when the issue kicked off with a very retro “Muties suck and aren’t to be trusted” set piece. A similar but unrelated cramping took place at the prospect of another Captain Britain story, given current events in AVENGERS. (That’s hardly Claremont’s fault, of course, but nobody said fandom was fair.)