Agents of Atlas #5 - The Avengers were very well handled here. Great characterization, especially of Spider-Man (Using his science knowledge to figure out that something was fishy, and "Hey, i have to eat"). Reasonable use of Wolverine's power levels. Good balanced fight. Min complains that they always have the ladies fighting other ladies, but i almost think in this case it's more reflective of the fact that the ladies (Ms. Marvel and Namora) are the powerhouses of their respective groups. Anyway, love the intrigue, love the crazy characters, good plotting, etc., etc. Let's you and i just admit that this is a great book and leave it at that.

The Hood #1 - So far it's more of a full Masters of Evil (or whatever they are) book than just a Hood story, but that's fine with me. More great characterization from Parker. I'm not so sure about the character who shows up at the end being an interesting antagonist for this series, but that's just based on the costume design, so we'll see where it goes.

Captain Britain and MI13 #13 - There's something just wrong with this book. Not sure if it's the pacing or the dialogue or what, but it's just dull. All this stuff is happening that should be awesome if you think about it but it all comes across as just bleh, here's what's happening now, moving on to the next scene. Plus everyone just seems incompetent, to the point where i'm thinking it's misdirection for next issue. In any event, it's missing some kind of oomph.

Captain America #50 - They're totally cheating with the numbers because this issue they get to celebrate issue 50 and next issue it seems they're reverting to the old numbering system and celebrating issue #600. But it's a nice character issue for Bucky. Sets off my panic button a bit because if they're giving him such a retrospective now, it could be because they're ready to bring back the real Cap, and i think it's too soon for that. I really liked the bit with the gun, though. Still miss Epting on art, especially since they seem to be inking and coloring as if it was Epting and it just comes off looking like bad Epting, and i'm sure Luke Ross would actually be a good artist if he was drawing in his own style.

Guardians of the Galaxy #14 - Seriously, who needs the actual War of the Kings mini? Everything's happening right here. Good stuff. I like the foreshadowing of Warlock turning into Magus, and i'm looking forward to the Cosmo/Lockjaw meeting next issue.

Nova #25 - So the answer is, Ego has possessed the Worldmind. I like it (and appreciate the footnote!), but i still say it was unclear from the end of the last issue. I'm glad Nova is done being Quasar, even though i liked seeing Rich Rider using the powers - especially using his old bedroom as his visualization of a 'safe place'. Not thrilled with the idea of the Worldmind having to update its personality as a result of having been compromised by Ego. I liked the old personality and i think the new one won't have as fun a dynamic in its interactions with Nova. Still, good book, as always.

New Avengers #53 - Wo, dere! Brudder Voodoo! What 'da hell is wrong wit' you people? Tings are pretty bad dere, but dere is some hope of a consteetutional seddlement! I guess he would talk kinda like that, but he never did in the past. I was a little impressed with (what i thought was) the misdirection last time. They went to New Orleans and instead of Brother Voodoo, they showed Daimon Hellstorm instead. But in the end Brother Voodoo shows up after all. This was a great issue. Madame Masque was a total badass standing on that roof firing those guns. Great art. I liked the silhouetted fight scene with Spider-Woman. And again, i liked seeing Wolverine get shot up and not instantly recover. Something to do with Tom Brevoort's recent post on Wolvie? I thought Bucky-Cap trying to hand out Masque's guns after the fight was hilarious, even if Bucky probably isn't all that oblivious to how modern super-heroes operate at this point. Very good book. Put Billy Tan on my new favorite artists list.

Hercules #129 - Oh boy. Sure this issue was cute. But most of you people have no idea what you're in for next issue. I'm talking about Armless Tiger Man. Oh yeah. (And i hope Jack of Hearts isn't really coming back.)

Secret Warriors #4 - This was more of a Nick Fury issue than anything. But that's not a bad thing. Hey, is that the first time that Gateway has ever talked?

War of Kings: Ascension #2 - Still not sure why i'm reading a Darkhawk comic book. "Everything you know about Darkhawk is wrong!". Honestly, i didn't really know anything about Darkhawk.

X-Force #15 - Well, we blew it on this crossover. We're missing out on half the story. I still don't care much about this plotline, and i'm not sure if the writers really know what they're doing. Bishop just looks completely incompetent in his failure to kill the kid. So it doesn't bother me too much. This is really a Cable plot that is being dumped into X-Force for no good reason. But it's definitely disorienting to be missing every other issue, even if i'm sure that the Cable parts wouldn't be very good. Still, the Deadpool scenes are funny and i like the Angel/Apocalypse interaction, so we'll muddle through.

I really enjoyed seeing the retro ad of Jim Shooter and the Marvel Try-Out book. You know who won that contest? Mark Bagley, that's who. The Evil Knievel ad was a little less interesting. But are these retro ads really just because they're celebrating their 70th anniversary, or is Marvel having trouble selling ad space?