Comics Roundup for 7/21/10

I didn't go to the comic book store last week, so here's what I got this week:

The Amazing Spider-Man #637 - This concludes the "Grim Hunt" storyline which saw the return of Kraven the Hunter. Here I was thinking that they'd never bring him back, but considering that he's one of Spidey's classic rogues, I suppose it was inevitable. Still, the original "Death of Kraven" story came out when I was in middle school, so he's stayed dead for quite a while. Anyway, as I mentioned with the last issue, this series saw a good use for Kaine, the defective clone of Peter Parker, as well. I was worried that just as he was getting interesting, he was going to be gone. It looks like that's not the case. Anyway, all in all, this was a highly enjoyable story arc.

The Amazing Spider-Man #638 - Speaking of old Spider-Man stories, this issue actually reprints a good deal of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, as we finally get an explanation as to exactly how Peter and Mary Jane didn't get married after all. I couldn't help but notice that at Flying Colors, this particular issue was owner Joe Field's recommended title of the week. I've discussed the whole "undoing" of the wedding with him, and he definitely wasn't a fan of the whole thing. It's interesting that he liked this one enough to have it be his pick. I'm wondering if he knows something that I don't. When discussing it with him, he said that it was only a matter of time before everything would be put back, and Peter and Mary Jane were going to be married yet again. Is that what's going to happen? Personally, I think that now he's been single for a few years, they should just leave it alone and keep him single. One thing I can't stand is constant undoing and redoing of stories.

The New Avengers #2 - Last issue, everything was being put into place. This issue, we get a whole lot of action. However, there are some nice character bits, and I especially like how Jessica Jones gave Spider-Man the responsibility of looking after her baby. There was also some good Spider-Man/Wolverine banter. There's something about these two characters that just make them a natural pairing for comedic purposes. No wonder they're both in this book and the standard Avengers title. Speaking of which...

The Avengers #3 - I was hoping that we'd get a little bit more on how the Maestro (an evil, future version of The Hulk) tied into all of this, but that just wasn't meant to be. Still, there were a lot of good moments in this issue, and I wonder if they're going to deal with any ill-will between Spider-Man and Iron Man. There certainly seemed to be a bit underlying the moment when Spidey saved him. There's definitely some potential there considering how much these two characters interacted during Civil War. I also wonder - do the rest of the Avengers know Spidey's secret ID? I know that a lot of the New Avengers do, but what about Iron Man, Thor, etcetera?

Batman #701 - This was a compelling read, but it didn't really do much more than just fill in the gaps between Batman: RIP and Infinite Crisis. Hopefully we'll get a better explanation as to exactly why he's hopping through time with the next issue.

Echo #23 - The plot thickens, the characters interact more (and get on one another's nerves), and yet again we have a solid issue with some great Terry Moore artwork. I think I'm going to have to write a special blog entry devoted to this series one of these days.

Astro City: Silver Agent - I finally got around to reading The Dark Age in its entirety recently. It was a pretty good story, but it probably ran a bit too long. (Sixteen issues over five years!) With that said, it's nice to have a simple two-parter on a character who played a big role in that particular story. I guess in a sense this is an epilogue, but it follows a different character and is more of a standard superhero tale, so it's all good.