{"id":2948,"date":"2010-03-09T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/?p=2948"},"modified":"2010-03-09T08:44:38","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T13:44:38","slug":"spent-time-reading-comics-this-past-weekend-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2010\/03\/09\/spent-time-reading-comics-this-past-weekend-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Spent Time Reading Comics This Past Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HeyInstead of blogging <\/em>about comics, this weekend I actually read <\/em>some! I\u2019ve literally got stacks and stacks of comics I\u2019m behind on reading. I only got through 17 comics this weekend, most of which were Marvel Siege<\/em>-related titles.<\/p>\n

Here are the titles I read and some quick thoughts on them (and they do contain SPOILERS):<\/p>\n

Blackest Night<\/em> #7 – Pretty good issue.\u00a0 Overall the Blackest Night storyline has been great, but I was somewhat disappointed with the previous issue.\u00a0 I didn’t care for the idea of Earth “deputies” for the various colored lanterns.\u00a0 Now that I have accepted the “deputies” as part of the story, I thought they were handled quite well in issue #7.\u00a0 I especially loved how Luthor and Scarecrow turned on everyone.\u00a0 That’s exactly what would happen.\u00a0 The arrival of the white entity was no shocker, but I liked the selection of the White Lantern.\u00a0 Glad it wasn’t Jordan.\u00a0 I hope next issue provides a strong closing.<\/p>\n

Siege<\/em> #1 & #2 – Ignore the haters, this is a good story.\u00a0 To boil it down for you, it’s a story of one man’s hubris thinking he can take on the gods.\u00a0 Norman Osborn (arguably the most politically powerful man in America) has decided to declare war on Asgard.\u00a0 Many Thor comic fans are outraged saying there is no way humans could take on the gods, and they are right.\u00a0 I have no doubt that Osborn’s forces are going to get spanked.\u00a0 However, Osborn starts Siege <\/em>with two god-worthy tools in his arsenal: the Sentry and Ares.\u00a0 Those two guys open the door for Osborn’s forces to make an initial assault.\u00a0 When things start to fall apart, there is a battle between the Sentry and Ares… OMG!\u00a0 That was shocking and pretty freakin’ awesome!\u00a0 One more random thought.. I like the idea that Osborn manufactures the incident at Soldier Field in order to gain more power.\u00a0 It’s a nice play off the Stamford incident and the kind of thing people do when absolute power corrupts.\u00a0 Osborn’s going down and the fall is going to be fun to watch.<\/p>\n

Siege Embedded<\/em> #1 & #2 – If you enjoyed Civil War Frontline<\/em>, then you’ll like this book.\u00a0 It’s a journalistic view of a major Marvel event through the eyes of Ben Urich.\u00a0 I’ve enjoyed nearly everything written by Brian Reed, so while this series isn’t critical to Siege<\/em> I’ll be sticking with it.<\/p>\n

Avengers: The Initiative<\/em> #32 & #33 – By all rights I should not enjoy this book.\u00a0 In its current incarnation, it’s about really terrible people running the Initiative.\u00a0 I don’t typically like books about villains with no redeemable qualities.\u00a0 That’s why I dropped Thunderbolts<\/em> during Warren Ellis’ run.\u00a0 The other storyline is about the Avengers Resistance, which is essentially the New Warriors.\u00a0 I stopped caring about the New Warriors a long time ago, so seeing Night Thrasher in action really puts me off.\u00a0 With all that said, writer Christos Gage has managed to keep this book engaging.\u00a0 Bizarrely enough, I enjoy reading about Taskmaster. Who would have guessed.<\/p>\n

New Avengers<\/em> #61 & #62 – Great issues.\u00a0 I’ve loved New Avengers<\/em> since the beginning and it continues to be a good read.\u00a0 In these issues I especially liked the interplay between Spider-Man and Spider-Woman.\u00a0 It was also nice to see the recently-returned Steve Rogers along with Captain America Bucky back-to-back in battle.\u00a0 Two small disappointments.. 1) Steve Rogers saying, “Son of a bitch.”\u00a0 That seemed out of character.\u00a0 2) The insanely tiny print of Steve Rogers whispering to Carol Danvers turned out to be gibberish after I search 30 minutes for a magnifying glass in my house.<\/p>\n

Dark Avengers<\/em> #13 & #14 – Again, by all rights I should not like this book.\u00a0 It’s about terrible people posing as Avengers.\u00a0 These guys are the definition of irredeemable.\u00a0 Yet, Brian Michael Bendis has managed to spin a great series that I’m disappointed is coming to an end soon.\u00a0 These issues were Sentry-centric.\u00a0 For the first time since New Avengers<\/em> began, Sentry was worth reading about.\u00a0 We’re beginning to find out more about the character.\u00a0 My biggest worry the last few weeks was that Sentry would turn out to be Marvelman.\u00a0 I’m so glad that isn’t the case!<\/p>\n

Mighty Avengers<\/em> #33 & #34 – Probably the weakest of all the Avengers current titles.\u00a0 Hank Pym is an unlikeable hero and not someone you can relate to.\u00a0 It’s such a huge departure from his previous depictions that it’s hard to swallow. The only thing I’m looking forward to with this title is the coming of Ultron. Dan Slott’s Avengers: The Initiative<\/em> was pure gold, so this series is a bit of a disappointment.\u00a0 Especially since this team has the most classic-like line-up of Avengers.\u00a0 I won’t be sorry to see this series go.<\/p>\n

Ms. Marvel<\/em> #43 – #46 – This has consistently been one of Marvel’s best superhero comics.\u00a0 It’s a real shame it’s coming to an end.\u00a0 I’m not sure whether its poor sales or Marvel has other plans for the character, but I’m bummed about this going away.\u00a0 These issues conclude the “War of the Marvels” in which the Moonstone Ms. Marvel is battling the recently-resurrected Carol Danvers Ms. Marvel.\u00a0 They’ve already published the last issue (#50), but I’m still catching up.\u00a0 Brian Reed has been writing this comic since it’s inception and he’s been graced with a number of fantastic artists.\u00a0 If you’ve missed it, start picking up the trades.\u00a0 It’s a great straight-forward superhero story with a strong female lead.<\/p>\n

There you go!\u00a0 Have you read anything good lately?\u00a0 Feel free to share in the comments.<\/p>\n

Tell the world about ONCE UPON A GEEK:<\/h3>