4 weeks of comics!

Iron Man #21 - The Knauffs are making good use of the post-Civil War status quo. Gravitron is one of my favorites, and i liked seeing him stomp some of these C-class Initiative heroes . I'm also enjoying the Mandarin's manipulations; i think going back and re-reading the Knauffs' run knowing that everything that is happening was set into play by the Mandarin would be rewarding.

Iron Fist #8 - I'm enjoying this. The last time i really enjoyed an Iron Fist comic, min pointed out 30 reasons why i shouldn't have, so i'm wary, but i'm looking forward to the Mortal Kombat battles starting next issue.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23 - I read online that this was the Spidey/J. Jonah Jameson confrontation that you've been waiting 30 years for, but it really wasn't all that good. It wasn't really a substantial argument, and the punching scene was stupid. That plus corny jokes. It wasn't terrible, but not what i was hoping for, which was a real examination as to why JJ has acted to irrationally over the years, plus a hard look at Peter and whether selling pictures of himself to the Bugle was actually crossing a moral line that put all his great power/great responsibility ethics into doubt.

Quasar #2 - Yay, Peter Gillis Defenders flashbacks!

Wraith #3 - All my non-long term comic geek friends like this series a lot, so i tried to look at it with fresh eyes (i.e., the eyes of someone who hadn't pinned all their hopes on Wraith actually being a re-incarnation of a character from the 80s who was based on a bad toy) and i actually did enjoy it. I think it helped that the Super-Skrull got to be a bad ass for a change.

Starlord #2 - This, i'm loving. Giffen has a great handle on these characters and even though he's clearly half-mocking them, he's doing a great job of making them seem cool and entertaining. I love Mantis. And they better not kill Groot! I'm liking the art, too; all the human characters look a little dwarfish but somehow it fits with the craziness.

Amazing-Spider-Man #543 & 544 - Having a little trouble figuring out where the various Spidey events start and stop. #542 finished the Spidey/Kingpin plot, so i figured that was really the end of the Back In Black event. But #543 is still Back In Black, i guess because Aunt May is neither dead nor recovered. But #544 picks up directly from #543, and that's the first part of One More Day. Anyway, it's all good stuff. They've really got Peter in a bad place and it makes for good character development.

Captain America #29 - This is an A+ comic. Fantastic.

Astonishing X-Men #22 - So as stupid as the 'Danger Room comes to life and attacks the X-Men' story was, the premise was that it accidentally killed a mutant in training, which destroyed the programming that prevented it from killing. Now we find out that that wasn't really true at all. I don't know; i guess i just can't get over the silliness of 'Danger Room comes to life and attacks the X-Men' as anything more than a one issue plot. Overall this is good, but we need to wrap it up now. I enjoyed Cyclop's death, but i know he comes back so it didn't have the impact it should have. I mean, he comes back, right??

Fantastic Four #549 - Wayne's right; it did feel like they wrapped up the Frightful Four plot, and especially the Klaw plot, too quickly so they could move on to the space menace and finish McDuffie's run, but it was worth it to see the Invisible Woman using her powers to their full potential. Also if it were anyone but McDuffie, i'd be complaining about using the 'multiple Watchers show up to witness the event' scene as a shorthand for "hey everybody, this is really, really important and menacing!", but it was done so well i admit i enjoyed it. I also liked the Thing's one-liner about Uatu ("I talked to him recently. He's in one of his 'sworn never to interfere' moods."). I think Millar's run on FF will be lots of fun (if they can get it out on time), but i will miss McDuffie. Problem: at the end of this issue, the Wizard is trapped on a lifepod headed to Earth and won't arrive for 79 months, but he's currently active in New Avengers.

Hulk #110 - I like Cho and i like the examination of the Hulk's backstory (although we saw these scenes and explanations back in Hulk #100). I think it could be damaging long-term to say definitively that the Hulk has never killed and never will kill; it defangs the Hulk quite a bit. But it's being handled well here. The scene at the end, where the Hulk was dying and Cho saved him by making him really, really mad reminded me of that scene in Secret Wars where he was holding up the mountain and Reed provoked him to keep him strong, so of course i liked it.

WWH: X-Men #3 - Wow, can you do that in a mini-series that most people were assuming was throwaway? You can make the Juggernaut a real character again, just like that? Gage has such a handle on these x-characters, i really wish they would put him in charge of the x-line. Actually, if i'm really in charge, i'd like to reduce all the x-books to just one, and let Gage write it. He's basically writing every character here and it works really well. Great stuff, even though as most predicted there is no impact to the larger World War Hulk storyline.

Super-Villain Team-Up #2 & 3 - My only complaint about this series is that they draw Puma with a puppy dog face. It looks weird and it doesn't look like Puma. Other than that, this is super fantastic. Great characterization, great use of powers. I'm enjoying the intrigue. It's funny, it's got action, it's got MODOK. Make it an ongoing! I love the "in the future we are all MODOKs" angle based on MODOK's origin involving an evolutionary ray. Problem: The son of the Mandarin is alive and has the rings, but we know this takes place after World War Hulk, so how does it all fit together with the Mandarin in Iron Man?

Iron Fist: it is not my fault that they had crappy art.