Hulk #40 - Listen, i know i said last time that i was easing up on my Zero/One (and especially Black Fog) hate, but that didn't mean we had to stick them in the middle of my long awaited Omegex battle. Same with General Fortean. But as long as i can continually open up my Hulk comic book and see a picture of the Red Hulk punching the Watcher in the face on the recap page, i guess i'm happy. As for Omegex itself? It lived up to my expectations, which were, of course, unrealistically high. I think i have an answer about my continuity confusion though. I thought that the Planet Red Hulk story was some sort of flashback; i don't remember now how i got that impression and finding the relevant issue is currently a challenge. But in this issue, a newscast says "It's confirmed that this is the creature that interrupted global communications back in June". So i guess he showed up and then went away again, which is different than what i thought.

Man, i can't even follow a simple comic book story. What's wrong with me?

New Avengers annual #1 - So i guess Wonder Man is nuts now, too? Seems like Bendis likes to make people go nuts. And then blame the Avengers for it! In Wondy's previous appearance, i thought he had a good reason for telling the Avengers to disband. Access to secret information or at least a decent argument. But blaming the Avengers for Ultron is crazy. Henry Pym created Ultron in his capacity as a scientist, which he would have done Avengers or no Avengers. The Avenger at least have stopped Ultron a number of times. Blaming them for the Hulk? Norman Osborn? Ridiculous. Etc., etc.. So knowing he's ridiculous, why are these other guys following him? It's a motley bunch and i can't speak for all of them (Ethan Edwards is apparently another Superman pastiche). But I don't know why the new Goliath, who we last saw being relatively friendly to the heroes in the Damage Control mini, or Atlas, who, last I saw of him was a reasonable guy, would follow a clearly rage-addled Wonder Man.

All of that said, I enjoyed the big fight. I know min and Wanyas will disagree but i actually liked the art. I really liked Alias grabbing Goliath by the nose! I liked the "these guys are heroes but they're fighting us" angle. I enjoyed Victoria Hand looking everyone up on her iPad or whatever and shouting out who they were; i needed some exposition for some of these characters and that was a fine way to work it in. So yeah, i thought this was good. Looking forward to the conclusion.

Thunderbolts #163 - When Wanyas gave me my comics this week, he showed me this cover and asked "What do you think happens this issue?'. When i failed to guess "The evil Thunderbolts go back in time and fight Nazis alongside the Invaders", he put it back in the pile without comment. Frankly, "The evil Thunderbolts go back in time and fight Nazis alongside the Invaders" is all i need to say about this issue, but i'll just point out two really good character scenes as well: Luke Cage being receptive to honest feedback about his actions that led to the evil Thunderbolts escaping, and Satana being giddy about the Man-Thing's developments.

Omac #1 - I have to say, honestly... not Kirby enough. It's an expectations/hype problem, clearly. But every panel with a bunch of office workers standing around talking was a panel where a big blue mohawk guy wasn't fighting "Gobblers", or a Build-A-Friend wasn't pulling a laser cannon out of her mouth. I enjoyed the Brother Eye/Omac interactions but the rest of the dialogue felt really mundane and a better scripter would probably help this book a lot. I still thought it was cool and next issue promises "Things get really weird" so we should be good to go. How much more awesome would it be if this were a Marvel book, though?

NA: poor D-Man.

mebbe Wonderman's argument should be that the Avengers should disband because they're such a bunch of losers that even a hastily put together group of random, disgruntled superheroes who've never worked together and, from comments made by them after the fight, have rarely won a fight, could hand the Avengers their asses within minutes and therefore the Avengers could have no chance of saving anyone at anytime.

do you think Ms Marvel gets those boots specially made or does she paint lightning bolts on the bottoms of every pair she owns?

TB: who didn't guess Nazis from page 1?

can someone explain why Mr. Hyde fantasizing about succubi results in him eating thru all of the emergency rations? shouldn't he be busy doing something other than eating in that fantasy?

OMAC: how many assistant directors of bio-engineering firms wear to work a ruffled plaid skirt that's so short, it reveals the pair of spandex bike shorts she's ALSO got on? actually, how many people with mirrors and functioning eyeballs would wear that outfit to anywhere?

the long, beaded cross necklace with the tank top completed the stylish ensemble. is she being dressed by 1980s Madonna?

she wasn't alone either. in one of the crowd scenes, there's another shorty short skirt chick. some hippie's got shorts on. and for a major research facility, there's a definite lack of lab coat wearing scientists in the group.

all the normal people were annoying or uninteresting. Omac was a big, dumb ape. and the 2 most interesting characters got smashed - Dubbilex and the build-a-friend.

The new Goliath is easy- he probably joined up because he resents Reed and Tony for their roles in Bill Foster's death. It's the others that make no sense.

I guess i just thought any resentment issues were resolved in his Damage Control mini. It's been a while since i read it, but i seem to remember that ending with him reconciled or at least without a chip on his shoulder. Seems a stretch for him to be following a clearly crazed Wonder Man. I dunno...

And min, Ms. Marvel clearly wants you to know who's kicking you in the face.

i thought it was cause the other chicks in the mansion kept stealing her boots.

My Thunderbolts bit wasn't 100% that you should be able to figure out what happens based upon the cover, but, that the cover spoils the big reveal/ending. Once you see that cover and the mystery is set up, you can figure it out on the first page (like min said).

I'm fine with OMAC just being one big fight each issue with barely any character development. I also doubt we've seen the end of any of the characters. As far as the '80's clothes...who care's? It's comics!

And I agree 100% with min on the annual.