Take It Or Leave It – November 7, 2012

---

We’re back, last week was a bust for comics, Hurricane Sandy swept through the east coast, doing a ton of damage and delaying all kinds of things. Luckily things are getting back together, there’s still a ton of fixing to do and it’s not going to get better overnight. So now would be the best time to get some enjoyment in and read some comics. Since all the books were delayed last week we’ve got a mix of stuff from October 31, 2012 and November 7, 2012.

Chris
I had a lot of comics to try and get through this week, since it was two weeks worth of books. I enjoyed a lot of them, but unfortunately the two biggest let downs were the two new Marvel NOW! titles, hopefully that isn’t an ongoing thing.

	AvX Consequences 4 These event epilogue books usually don’t have much to them, last year we had The Fearless which went on far longer than it needed to. Consequences is different though, it works, it’s interesting, and it’s setting up Cyclops and his remaining allies to do something in the new era of Marvel NOW! This has primarily been a Cyclops book, we’ve seen Iron Man, Hope, Namor, Wolverine, Captain America, and several others dealing with the fallout of AvX but not nearly as much as we’ve seen Scott Summers deal with his consequences. Even if you didn’t read AvX this would be an interesting read. Confusing as hell, but interesting. I know a lot of people are pretty jaded on event comics, and the aftermath books that follow but for once Marvel is getting it right. Verdict: Take It
	Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 16.1 I don’t think it’s any secret that I haven’t really liked Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Miles just isn’t my Spider-Man. I know right now he’s super popular and everyone loves him, but I just don’t see it. He’s definitely improved in recent issues but not enough to compare to Peter Parker. His entire ‘career’ so far has been trying to live up to a person he never met, and hasn’t been all that original. Maybe it’s his lack of a decent supporting cast, but the only issues I’ve enjoyed are the ones with familiar characters like Captain America, Aunt May and Gwen, or this point one issue featuring Betty Brant. It’s definitely not a required read, like all the point one issues, it’s fun to see some characters that haven’t had their faces on a page in some time. If you’re looking for a Spider-Man book, this isn’t for you, no wall crawling here. If you want some old characters showing up, and some decent reporter scenes then this is a decent book. Oh yea, there is a pretty awesome reveal in the book too so if nothing else check out the last page. Verdict: Take It
	Ultimate Comics X-Men 18 I’ve enjoyed Ultimate Comics X-Men since the beginning, Nick Spencer had a really large slow moving story going that went all over the world covering pretty much every mutant character we currently knew. While it was interesting and I would have kept reading it, it was getting hard to remember what was going on with who. By the time his run ended we were left with a ton of unanswered questions, questions that Brian Wood said he would get to eventually. So instead of continuing with what Spencer started Wood brought things back around to focus on Kitty Pryde and her friends. And it’s been a pretty awesome ride. This past issue was a mix, like many of the recent issues, of Kitty talk about the events in a manor that suggests for her it’s already happened, and action fun sentinel killing action. Oh President America was there to make Kitty an offer too. If you haven’t been reading Ultimate Comics X-Men start, this issue might not be a great jumping on point but Wood’s story is easy enough to follow and I’m sure anyone would be able to catch up. Verdict: Take It
	Grimm Fairy Tales Myths & Legends 22 The last few issues of Myths & Legends were about a brother and sister filming a tv series and getting all of their friends killed by a witch in the process. Oh they ended up finding out they had special powers too. Now we’re getting into a bigger story. I back on issue 20 that I had just started reading Myths & Legends so I don’t really know all the characters yet, but from the looks this is going to be the book to read in coming months. Things are in motion that are going to get crazy very quickly. If you haven’t tried one of the Grimm Fairy Tale books yet, this should be the one to get you hooked Verdict: Take It
	Deadpool 1 I like Deadpool, he’s not my favorite character but he’s fun. That said I’ve never actually read one of his ongoing series before. He’s great in guest spots in other books and all but from what I hear gets a little stale if you read him in big doses. That said, I’ve heard some great things about what Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn had planning for Wade. I feel like it fell a little short though, it lacked something and I just can’t put my finger on it. It could have to do with it being an issue 1, but then again it may be the curse of Deadpool to not work in a solo series. If you’re a big fan give the book a shot, otherwise I’d said leave it maybe pick up the first story in trade in a few months and see if it’s worth it after that. Verdict: Leave It
	Iron Man 1 Matt Fraction had a super popular run on Iron Man, I read a good portion of it, and it was a great book and a very slow book. Now Kieron Gillen is stepping in to write Tony and his friends, I’ve got a lot of hope for this book. Gillen did a great job on Uncanny X-Men even with a good chunk of this last year being stuck in event tie-in hell. And as you read earlier I’m enjoying his AvX epilogue Consequences. This first issue was kinda stale though, with how Fraction ended his story, and the news from a couple months back that the first several issues were going to be one shots or very short stories left me hoping we’d seen Tony Stark out on his own doing a super hero soul search. Unfortunately we’re thrown into a book where Tony is back Pepper is there too, and he’s hitting on some blonde who was using him as much as he was trying to use her. That part of the story was actually interesting, it was Tony Stark being witty and Pepper trying to look out for him. Then he gets a call and the new story stops there. We’ve given another tale about something he’s already dealt with. I do think I like the new armor gold and black just looks kinda cool. I doubt it’ll last to long though the gold and red is what makes Iron Man after all. I’m going to be giving this book a little time to get going, and you probably should too. Verdict: Probably Take It
	Scarlet Spider 11 We’re in full swing of Minimum Carnage now, and while it started out strong I feel it sagging a bit in this issue. There just seems to be a little to much going on and not enough Venom, Scarlet Spider, and Carnage all engaged with one another. We’ve got a few issues left so I’m hoping for the best, Venom and Scarlet are two of the best books on the shelves right now, so if Yost and Bunn can bring the focus around to the characters we care about a little more this will go out on a super high note. All that said, it’s not a terrible comic, it’s fun and a lot does happen just at times it feels like to much. We’re getting a lot thrown at us with not always enough time to process. If you’ve been reading since the crossover started it’s definitely worth continuing. Verdict: Take It

Chris talks a bunch on PodQuest each week. He's also been known to write about stuff from time to time. You can Email Chris or follow Chris on Twitter @Just_Cobb or Facebook

Comments are closed.