Hulk #109 - Earlier i asked why the Hulk didn't kill Black Bolt immediately after he defeated him. Seems he really is suffering from super-villainitis; he's keeping his enemies alive just so he can put them in a stupid death trap. This series has been great so far so we'll see where it goes but as of right now i'm advising the Hulk to stop with the stupid stuff and just kill them now. Overall, this continues to be a great story. Let's get Cho, Hercules, and Angel on their own team post-WWH (call it something better than the Rejects, though).

New Avengers #33 - Let's clear some things up. First, the Deathlolk in the vat in this issue is the original Deathlok from an alternate future, not the one who has recently appeared in Beyond and the FF. Second, the Hood and the Crimson Cowl are two different characters. I can see why you would be confused considering they both wear big red hoods. We do need to flag the fact that the Wizard is showing up here, presumably trying out a new power suit and looking for new tech after his (impending) defeat in the FF. I'm liking the Skrull paranoia thing. I'd like an explanation as to why it is affecting Luke Cage so dramatically but that could be coming up. I'm also interested in seeing more of the Hood; his appearance in Beyond humanized him a bit and made him seen like he could become less of a bad guy. I enjoyed that but was afraid of watering down his original personality - it seems we're not in danger of that here. On the downside, while Bendis writes interesting dialogue, i think this is a good example for his critics who say that basically the things he writes get inserted into the mouths of characters at random. Echo especially doesn't sound like a deaf woman raised in relative isolation, first on an indian reservation and then in the Kingpin's mansion. Still, a great issue over all - Bendis is back to having fun playing in the Marvel universe, as he was pre-Civil War.

Omega Flight #5 - Man, this poor team didn't even get to form before one of their members got stuck in a Hell dimension. I resent the fact that the Wrecking Crew were so easily defeated after losing their extra demon strength. Even without it they are still Thor-level bad guys, more than a match for the likes of US Agent. But we'll just chalk that up to post-demon strength disorientation. Good stuff over all once it got going. The sales numbers for this series seem to have surprised Marvel; hopefully this will get its ongoing status back, and hopefully Oeming won't squander it with another meandering 5 part story.

Punisher War Journal #10 - Lo, there shall be an ending. This was a fun 2 issue story, stretched out over about 100 issues. I guess because this issue something had to happen, it seemed better than the previous 99. I think i'm gonna stick it out for the next two issues, since they look like they will have to be more self-contained due to crossovers, but his series is officially On Notice.

Wraith #2 - Well, it's not ROM, so suddenly i don't care any more. This guy is just too impossibly good and his personality is essentially stolen from Clint Eastwood's The Unforgiven.

Nova #5 - I like the idea of seeing someone new inheriting the Nova Force (although it comes dangerously close to repeating the theme from Quasar). I would have went the route of "What makes Rich Rider special is his independence and tendency to fight with the Nova Force computer, whereas when a Kree soldier inherits the power, she follows its directions to the letter" and then show the plusses and minuses of that difference, but instead she also doesn't follow the computer's advice. So we'll see where this goes. It's well written in any event.

Daredevil #99 - My Silver Age readings have prepared me for quite a bit of stuff that we're seeing now. Zom in World War Hulk, Groot in Starlord, and now Mr. Fear. After a lot of legal and emotional stuff in Daredevil, i'm glad to see a more traditional super-villain story, and it is very well done. As an aside, i think the fact that Mila showed up at the Nelson & Murdoch office wearing pajamas was in answer to the criticism that she was previously shown to sleep in her underwear, which was a bit unrealistic. I guess last time she was waiting to surprise Matt, although why would a blind couple care about sexy underwear?

Wasn't the Hood kinda 'humanized' in his intro mini, caring for his girlfriend or something? I don't remember the details of that mini enough.

Get over the whole "wrecking crew are Thor level villains" bit. Noone cares anymore.

They even made a Clint Eastwood reference in the script of the Wraith, calling him the man with no name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_no_name

From my experience, sexy underwear (depending on the style) don't just appeal to the eye. I think her wearing pajamas here is more indicative of their marriage falling apart.

In the Hood's mini, he cared for his girlfriend but at the same time regularly visited a prostitute.

*i* care.

NA - i believe wanyas is correct in the hood being humanized in what i remember to be a crappy mini. some guys think caring for your gf/wife and having a little something else on the side are not mutually exclusive. i don't think success rate for that argument is very high when it is presented to the gf/wife, though.

i wish the artists would stop drawing "generic female character" so i could tell the friggin difference between them. if spider-woman hadn't walked off with the skrull corpse in the last issue, i wouldn't know if it was her or echo sitting half nekkid in the hotel. and why is she in her underwear when just about everyone else is fully dressed, minus luke cage's shirt which seems to fly off as easily as queen amidala's clothes.

also, why does everyone look bloodshot and pretty much like a reanimated corpse in this book? and i'm not just talking about the avengers who are on the run and haven't slept or eaten in days. is this more of that "style" you guys say i should be more accepting of?

OF - why isn't the US agent dead after the beating he got? no, really. why?

Punisher - i can't wait for the punisher to be over so we can stop buying it.

Nova - nobody ever listens to that poor world mind computer. this chick is even less experienced than rich rider at being nova but equally cocksure which is annoying. meh.

DD - she was not wearing sexy underwear. she was just wearing regular underwear. if she had sexy underwear on, then i could buy the whole "i'm waiting for my blind husband" thing, but no. she was just wearing your plain old everyday kind of underwear. that's just weird. no chick wears a bra to sleep in (i took a survey) unless their boobs are so big they need to in order to not hurt themselves when they roll over in their sleep. milla's not that big.

i wish someone would bring back heroes for hire with the creative team that i like.

and why aren't there artists who draw like jimenez running around? i love that jimenez but i'm sure enough time has passed by now that his art has started to decline like all the rest (e.g. gary frank) so i want a jimenez-like artist.

Re: the new avengers art -no one here likes Leinil Yu. Except me, sometimes, sorta.

I liked the Hood mini. Just couldn't remember the details. It also stood out compared to other stuff at the time.

Yu stinks. and needs an inker.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with your assessment of Frank, but as far as I can tell, Jimenez is as good as ever (if not better. I didn't used to like his noses, but I think they improved). He'll be one of the artists when Spider-Man is 3x/month. Plus, there's Perez, of course, still penciling.

in re to frank, i don't know if he's always done it or if it's a new thing. i started noticing it in that super-girl he did a long time ago. it's the mouths. they are kinda pointy and pinched. like the characters have been smoking for years and developed those lines around their mouths. then when he adds some teeth, it's even worse. mebbe he needs an inker, too.