Take it Or Leave It – October 03, 2012

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After missing last week we are back with a new pile of books to talk about. AVX ended, Rise of the Third Army is just getting started, Fairy Tales are getting real, and the Spidey-verse is getting into all kinds of trouble. So keep reading and find out our thoughts on some of this weeks releases.

Chris
I was pretty excited for this weeks books, with the end of AVX, the start of Minimum Carnage, and the final story arc for Amazing Spider-Man before the infamous issue 700. Luckily for the most part I wasn’t to let down, a few the the books weren’t all I had hoped they would be, and one might be a getting dropped soon, so lets get started.

	Amazing Spider-Man 695 This was a really strong issue, but definitely not for a new reader. To much happened that required you to know what has been going on in the last year or so of stories. That said, it was fun to see Pete back at the Bugle and mixing it up with characters like Robbie and Norah again. I just wish it was for more than just to ask Robbie not to post an article. I like what Slott is doing though, he’s definitely setting this story up to end with a bang, and Pete’s spider-sense going all wacky added a lot of humor and suspense to the book right up to the last page. There isn’t much else I can say without giving away a lot of spoilers, just make sure to check out the ‘vision’ Madame Web has and see how many heroes and villains you can pick out. Verdict: Take It
	Avengers Vs. X-Men 12 Finally after 6 months of reading and buying we get the big payoff, the ending chapter to Avengers Vs. X-Men. Was it everything it could have been? No not really, but it was a good read and a fun book. It jumps back and forth a bit between planning for the fight against Cyclops from last issue and just after he becomes Dark Phoenix. There wasn’t a ton of action, but for any Nova fans out there he gets a fun little part in the story. It actually makes me want to pick up a Nova book whenever they start printing one. As far as the rest of the story goes, I was honestly surprised at how it ended, I just didn’t see it happening that way. And it really just goes to show you how much three little words can do. If you’ve been following along with AvX it’s definitely worth picking up to see the outcome, if not and you’re just mildly interested wait for our full review of Act 3 coming early next week. Verdict: Take It
	AvX VS 6 This was probably my favorite AvX Vs book, the rest were fun and had some interesting match ups, but this one was just goofy fun. The first fight is all Hope and Wanda getting out some frustrations and you definitely get an idea of why Wanda is a force to be reckoned with and why Hope is the known as the Mutant Messiah. Now as fun as that fight was the rest of the book are just quick one or two page brawls from all over the place, my favorite being the argument fight between Cap and Cyclops. It’s crudely drawn and definitely now what we’re use to with these books, but the humor is perfect. It’s only one page, and I would buy this book again just for that page. Verdict: Take It
	Minimum Carnage Alpha 1 I’ve been waiting for this story to start for months, two of my favorite books on the stands right now Scarlet Spider and Venom in a crossover against Carnage. I don’t really know what Carnage has been up to, I read the Carnage story form a while back, but skipped Carnage USA which I now feel like I should have read. Luckily we get a brief recap of the story, well at least what we needed to know and than it’s off on a new adventure. This issue is split the first half featuring Venom and the second focused on Scarlet Spider. Oh and a little Carnage thrown in there too of course. Unfortunately this issue was pretty much all plot build up and very little character development. I’m alright with that though for an opening chapter. Yost and Bunn have been doing a great job on their characters so far and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Based on that last page we’re bound to start off the next issue with a bang! Verdict: Take It
	Uncanny X-Men This has probably been the best Uncanny X-Men issue since AvX started, which honestly isn’t say much. I like the X-Men and it actually really good up to AvX but like most books that get tied into a big crossover event it suffered for a while. Last issue was alright, but didn’t really give us anything other than an awkward dinner date between Scott and Emma in their minds. Much like that issue this one is taking place during AvX 12 and is focused just on Scott. He quickly recaps pretty much his entire life into a little over a page and goes on a power trip with the Dark Phoenix. Not much action happens but I did really enjoy all his inner dialogue and as long as you read AvX 12 first some of these pages are actually pretty sad. Then of course you find out just how big of a douche Cyclops really is, no big surprise there but still a good book, not really a necessary book though. I would say take it if you have been following all along, otherwise feel free to skip it you’re not missing anything ground breaking. Verdict: Probably Leave It
	Green Lantern 13 I’ve enjoyed Green Lantern up until now, but this issue was just boring. So far I’m not really liking the new guy with the ring and I’m confused as to how everything fits together. I don’t read Justice League, I only read the first arc and then dropped it because I realized I don’t like half the team. So when they mention that Hal quit the League recently I’m confused. When exactly did he have time, he’s barely been on earth since the New 52 started, and when he has been he didn’t have a ring. I guess it’s one of those times where I should read the source material if I really wanted to know, but at this point I’m not sure if I do. DC is going to have two crossovers happening soon, Death of the Family and Rise of the Third Army. Each are going to require 15-30 books be purchased for the whole story, and I’m not sure if I care enough about Green Lantern now to do that. This whole issue was about the new Lantern Simon Baz, it’s not that he’s a bad character it’s just we’re seeing his family and getting back story without having a reason to give a damn about him yet. He hasn’t done anything, we didn’t even get a glimpse at Hal and Sinestro to see what’s happening where ever they ended up. If Baz, or something doesn’t become more interesting next issue that may be the last for me, at least until after Rise of the Third Army. Verdict: Leave It
	Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Bad Girls This has been a fun story so far, and it’s really picking up which is the best part about limited series. When you’ve only got 5 issues to work with you pack as much awesome into them as possible. Within the first pages we see Red chopping off a monster head, and then fighting a pack of said monsters. My one complaint is for a book called Bad Girls the villains really aren’t showcased to much. They got 2-3 pages in this issue and that was it. I would expect a book with that title to focus on them a little more. Either way its’ been a fun story and I’m looking forward to the final two chapters. 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

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