Comics Roundup for 3/6/13

Avengers #7 - ...and I'm done!  I realize that Jonathan Hickman has his fans, but this series has begun to bore me.  I've been having a hard time putting my finger on exactly what it is, but the big reason is that I just can't find myself caring about what's going on.  Yeah, I know, he's going for a "big picture" kind of a thing here, but by the seventh issue, I need something to hang on to.  You can be "big picture" and episodic at the same time.

For me, the big problem is that the initial story arc ended a bit too abruptly, but I was okay with that.  Then we got several issues with obscure characters from the Marvel Universe - most of whom I care little about.  The thing is, I can get interested in B-list characters.  Brian Michael Bendis got me to like Luke Cage and The Sentry, for instance.  But he made them work by having them react with all the characters one wants when he or she picks up an Avengers book.  I pick up an Avengers book to get the characters I like, and if new ones are worked into the mix, then that's great.

And now we're dealing with something from the New Universe?  That was a line of comics that came out when I was in middle school.  They tried bringing it back at least once, but comics fans everywhere were underwhelmed.  So, after three issues of barely getting to know three obscure characters (one of whom, I don't think Hickman even bothered to give us the name) there's some sort of incident involving a thing that I didn't care about two and a half decades ago?  That's it.  Reading this book feels like a chore.  I'll stick with Uncanny Avengers for my avenging fixes.

Green Lantern #18 - Speaking of a book that got me to care about all sorts of stuff I never cared about before...What can I say other than what I always say?  This was another solid issue, and it seems like Geoff Johns is setting up the pieces to wrap up what he's been building for the past few years now.  He hasn't let me down with this character yet, so I'm looking forward to where this is all going.

Winter Soldier #16 - This is a good book, but I just don't think that I'm interested enough to keep going with it.  I suppose I only stuck with Brubaker's entire run out of a sense of loyalty because I liked the character and everything that Brubaker did with him in Captain America.  However, I'm just not that huge into spies and cold war type shenanigans to keep reading this.

All New X-Men #8 - Here's another book where I'm running out of stuff to say.  I was entertained yet again, and as usual, the story moved forward.  Oh, and the bit of comedy between Iceman and Shadowcat was priceless.

Hellboy - In Hell #4 - I was a bit confused by what was going on in this issue, but I enjoyed it anyway.  Looks like I'll have to go back and reread some of the past couple of series to get caught up on what I've forgotten.

Superior Spider-Man #5 - This issue didn't have all the subplot stuff that I've been liking lately, but it was still a solid read.  Basically, the inevitable happens and Octavius shows that he's willing to cross a line that Parker never would - and just like Travis Bickle, he gets praised for it.

Age of Ultron #1 - The new crossover gets off to a pretty big start.  Bendis has been building toward this for a while now, and it definitely has some pretty serious implications.  It's easy to see why fans are predicting a line-wide reboot when this whole thing is done.  My only issue is that Spider-Man seemed a lot more like Peter Parker even though he's supposedly Otto Octavius in this issue.

Comics Roundup for 2/27/13

Punisher War Zone #4 & 5 - I missed the last issue of this series, but luckily there was still a copy in stock so I could have the complete story.  Overall, this was a decent miniseries, and it was fun to watch Frank take Tony Stark down a notch or two.  Nothing great, but it was entertaining.

Hawkeye #8 - Here's a question - is this really a superhero comic book?  Just like how the current Wonder Woman and Thor series are more along the lines of fantasy/sci-fi, this series almost reads like what Ed Brubaker was doing with Criminal.  Sure, it has some of the trappings of comic book superheroes, and you have a character who's a crime-fighter, but where's his costume?  His secret ID?  Hawkeye is definitely a superhero in the pages of The Avengers, but in this book, Matt Fraction is doing something different - and it works.  I never thought I'd still be getting this book by this point, but I'll get 100 issues of it if it maintains this level of quality.

Batman, Inc. #8 - Even if the Internet didn't spoil the death of Damien Wayne, the cover basically does the same thing.  Is he really dead though?  I've been reading comics too long to understand why the online comics media seems to be taking this at face value.

Uncanny Avengers #4 - Even though I might be on the fence when it comes to the main Avengers book, I'm still pretty enthused about this one.  Rick Remender is really doing a good job of giving every member of the team a clear purpose - even Thor, who I might have thought didn't fit.

Avenging Spider-Man #17 - I'm glad I stuck with this series.  This was another fun installment, and it's good to see that they're playing up the Ock/Spider-Man mind switch for all its worth.  And not that we expected this to last, but it's nice to get confirmation from time travelers that this will have an end.

Uncanny X-Men #2 - Nothing great, but a solid read here, and I'm looking forward to seeing them mix it up with the Avengers next issue.  I also like how Chris Bachalo is reigning in his art style a bit.  He's definitely talented, but sometimes he goes a little too crazy and the storytelling is hard to follow.  Perhaps he just works best with Bendis?