Comics Roundup for 9/8/10

I thought I'd start off today's comics roundup by reminding everybody (myself included) what the point of it all is. I don't aspire to have a formal "comics review" blog, so if that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed. For the most part, I write this for myself. Why do I do it? Because I sometimes find that I'll buy certain titles out of habit more than the fact that I'm enjoying them. I've found that by doing this particular exercise, where I have to write a little something about every comic I get, I've been able to focus more on getting the stuff that I'm really anxious to read rather than the stuff that completes a collection. With that said:

The Amazing Spider-Man #641 - Now we know everything that happened in between "One More Day" and "Brand New Day". From where I sit, it all makes as much sense as a story that undoes past stories possibly can. A lot of people really bagged on "One More Day", but I kind of liked it, mainly for the reason that it was the first time in quite a while that I cared about Peter and Mary Jane's relationship. With this particular story, I feel that way again, and we can see that she'll continue to be an important part of his life. Also, their break-up makes some sense, and it would probably have been harder for them to get divorced under the same situation. One thing's for sure, if they ever plan on undoing the undoing of the Spider-marriage, it's not going to be any time soon.

The Amazing Spider-Man #642 - I picked this up in spite of the fact that Paul Azaceta's artwork. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - while he is a good artist, and actually an above-average storyteller, he isn't quite the right fit for Spider-Man. Still, this issue seemed a bit better than what he's done before, and there weren't any shots of Spider-Man that made him look like he was having a hernia. What's better, the story by Mark Waid is really fun, and we get Peter Parker at his Peter Parkeriest, what with his roommate selling all of his clothes off so he can make the rent, leaving him with just an ugly sweater that he has to wear while going on a date on a hot day.

Green Lantern #57 - One thing's clear with this issue and it's that there are many story possibilities left over now that there are several different Lantern corps throughout the universe. Also, there's a lot left to tell now that it's established that each corps has its own entity. This one deal's with "the predator" of the Star Sapphires, and it gets to the issue of why the Star Sapphires would seem so screwy even though they're supposed to represent what's thought of as a more positive emotion - namely, love.

Hellboy: The Storm #3 (of 3) - This wasn't so much a complete story as a prelude to what's promising to be a larger epic tale. Still, there's a bit of a character arc for the titular character, as Hellboy continues to do things his own way. Recently, he discovered that his destiny of being the harbinger of the end of the world wasn't so clear-cut. There was another option. Still, not liking the idea of being manipulated, HB is going for a third option - an option that he hasn't completely figured out yet. Anyway, I think that I say it pretty much every time, but this continues to be a must-read series of miniseries. To think that I've been sticking with this character for fifteen years, and the best stuff is the most recent. I can't wait to see what's next.

The New Avengers #4 - I sure hope that other people think that Stuart Immonen is hands-down one of the best artists currently working on superhero comics today. Every page is fantastic, and he only seems to be getting better and better. Of course, the stories are pretty engaging as well. As I've mentioned before, this was the Avengers book that I was the most skeptical of, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Batman and Robin #14 - I'm glad that I recently reread every issue of this series, as I actually had some sense of what was going on. Grant Morrison shows us why The Joker will always be Batman's greatest villain, and it's interesting to see how this whole thing is becoming more about him versus Black Hand than the Dick Grayson Batman versus Black Hand. I must also point out that I really dig Frazer Irving's artwork, and I even had a strange dream last night that seemed to mimic his artistic style.

Astro City Special: Silver Agent #2 (of 2) - I think that I need to read this and the first issue back-to-back, as I didn't really remember what had happened in the previous one. That said, I still enjoyed it well enough, and it's good to see that this story was finally told. It certainly was an ambitious little tale, and the character is definitely more than a Captain America-type as I would have figured.

Wolverine #1 - I actually got this one for free, as I took my son, Logan, on his first trip to Flying Colors Comics. The owner, Joe Field, gave this to him, but I asked Logan if it was okay if I borrowed it to read, and he seemed cool with it. Anyway, I liked it enough that I'll probably pick up the next issue. I was especially pleased to see Renato Guedes handling the artwork, as I really enjoyed his work on Superman. Personally, I'm a bit confused by all of the different Wolverine comics that are out right now, and I don't know why the adjectiveless title has been rebooted. Whatever, it was a fun read.