Hulk #41 - Not a lot to say about this, but i enjoyed it. Omegex rules, it all being part of a little scheme by the Watcher was a nice twist, and i guess i've finally been won over regarding Zero/One.

Captain America Corps #4 - Who doesn't enjoy reading Roger Stern write half the Marvel Universe? I know this book is selling in the single digits, but maybe after this mini they'll move Stern up to a regular title. Preferably with a better artist. I don't know if he'd consider it regressing, but i'd love to see him on an Avengers title. There's plenty to go around.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7 - I guess i'm only now realizing why this book doesn't have "Young Avengers" in the title. They're basically spectators in this series. Still, it's well written (except maybe Cyclops is coming off a bit too angry and unreasonable). I'm wondering what the twist will be; i'm half wondering if this really is the Scarlet Witch or just a Doombot.

Avengers #17 - Well first of all, if you're going to have a cover with Spider-Woman and Hawkeye making lovey-dovey, maybe that should, in some way, depict something going on inside the book. The whole Hawkeye/Spider-Woman/Mockingbird thing needs a lot more 'splainin', so don't go reminding me about it unless you're going to address it. As for what actually is depicted in this book, all i'll say is "dear god, why won't Fear Itself ever end?".

Captain America #3 - You'd never think a giant Captain America robot controlled by a Nazi mad scientist would be such a fun concept... ok, now that i just typed it, i realize how ridiculous that statement is. Like the Hulk, i'm enjoying this but don't have a lot to say about it. So i'll just gripe about Cap's armor again. Because seeing the scalemail-that-should-be-chainmail on Ameridroid as well as Cap just reminded me how annoying it is.

Thunderbolts #163.1 - I didn't realize this was a .1 issue until Songbird started hallucinating and suddenly we were seeing the entire history of the Thunderbolts, and i was like, "What is this, a .1 issue?" Der. It was good, but definitely treading water and not moving the main plot forward much. I can't really think of any story... movie, book, etc., where the characters are searching for clues about something and they go to the completely wrong place and find absolutely nothing, not even a hint, about what they're looking for. But the Valkyrie showing up at the end was a nice touch, the scene with Spidey was great, and in general it was a well written book. I know that the art isn't being well received, but i'm able to look past that. I really think this is my favorite book currently.

We recently picked up Umbrella Academy #1-6 for a friend and i figured, why not read it? Well, after the first issue i was like, "Man, this is great!". An interesting set-up, a great group of little kids with cool powers, Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffel, a dude with a gorilla body, and a talking chimp! Then starting with issue #2, it just gets really... blah. I thought the series would be flashing back and forth between when they were kids and when they were all grown up, but it's grown-ups the whole way through. And everything's just really obvious... the girl that is set up to turn on the group does, in fact, turn on the group, the ending is really anticlimactic, constant and obvious bickering between the members, and it just all feels really by the numbers once the set up is done. Phew! For a minute there i was thinking i might have to branch out and start reading more non-Marvel comics on a regular basis. I don't have time for that!