Comics Roundup for 12/3/09

I apologize, but I must interrupt Movie-A-Day Month for the latest Comics Roundup:

I almost skipped going to the comic book store this week, as there wasn't much out, and I wasn't extremely excited about what there was. Imagine my surprise when I wound up liking everything much more than I thought I would.

Thor #604 - When Daredevil got a new writer, I gave the new series a few issues to see if I'd still get it. So far, so good. With Fantastic Four, I gave up after the first issue with the new writer. I figured that the same would happen with Thor, but I wound up liking this one even better than the last few issues with the last regular creative team. That's impressive, considering that I've never read anything by Kieron Gillen of which I'm aware, and I still don't love Billy Tan's artwork. That said, Mr. Gillen sure caught my attention with the first few pages, as he's doing a really great job of running with all the dangling threads of the previous creative team. Tan's work is actually pretty good in a lot of places - like the moment where Loki gets his nose slashed by Balder. Count me in for the next issue.

Siege: The Cabal - Looks like Marvel's new event is underway, but in all honesty, it just seems like a continuation of "Dark Reign". It looks like Norman "Green Goblin" Osborn is slowly, but surely, starting to crack, and this is going to be the big story that will establish a new order in the Marvel Universe. I'm curious as to where it's all going, as it looks like this just might be the story where the good guys finally win, but it will still need to end in a place where they have plenty of challenges still ahead of them.

Dark Avengers Annual #1 - This was actually the only one that I was really looking forward to (I had missed that The Cabal was coming out). It was pretty good. I have to say that while I once used to love Chris Bachalo's work (especially that Death miniseries he did with Neil Gaiman years and years ago) I haven't always been too impressed with his work lately. It's just all too damned busy for my tastes. With that said, this issue was a lot better, and it wasn't confusing to figure out what was going on. The only thing that I wish is that this came out after Captain America: Reborn ran to its conclusion, as it somewhat gives away how that story is going to end. (Don't get me wrong; it's not like it's a big surprise.) Anyway, I was wondering what had happened to the new Captain Marvel - this story answers that question and hints at what's to come.

The Flash: Blackest Night #1 (of 3) - I hesitated to get this one, but then I saw that Geoff Johns was writing it. Is it anything special? No, but it's a fun read, and if there are only two more issues, I'll stick around.