In case you’re new here, it’s been established that I have much love for the hometown show known as NYCC. Granted PAX East and Heroescon are probably my favorite shows, NYCC is all the HYPE of SDCC and is only a subway ride away, making it TON more easier to get to than it’s west coast counterpart. More importantly, I’ve always had a great time at NYCC, so I’m excited for Thursday obviously! But we still have 4 days, so let’s take a look at what I dropped cash monies on this week. (Also make sure you swing by the store for the numerous signings and events we’re having over the next 7 days!)
All New X-men 17
Brian Michael Bendis/Stuart Immonen
$3.99, Marvel, 20 pages
One of the biggest joys I’ve gotten out of Battle of the Atom is watching my wife read this event. She’s still new to cape comics/events in the 616, and seeing her lose her collective sh*t over BotA has been great, considering I’m jaded towards these sort of things, even the ones I like. Chapter 6 of BotA plays off of the reveal from Chapter 5, doing some world building for the X-men of the future. Bendis had been hyping up the issue on twitter for a week, and while you can argue it living up to said hype or not, it’s still a fun read. Stuart Immonen, Wade von Grawbadger and Marte Garcia are still doing some of the best work in their careers, as this book continues to be a visual treat. And if you’ve been reading the X-books for a awhile and there’s a nice little homage to Jason Aaron‘s first Wolverine and the X-men story, which I enjoyed . The 2nd month of Battle of the Atom is off to a strong start, and I can’t wait for Chapter 7 to drop on the eve of NYCC.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man #4
Nick Spencer, Steve Lieber
Marvel, $2.99, 20 pages
Superior Foes continues to impress, as the Sinister 5 run into the Heroes for Hire, and things do not go well for our leads. Which is good, because they’re villains and they’re not supposed to have good things happen to them, right? I may be confused about that.
Spencer and Lieber are still firings on all cylinders here, and 4 issues in, we can see/enjoy a few fantastic running gags these 2 have established. If you would have told me that Boomerang was going to be one of the breakout characters of 2013 before this book dropped, I would have laughed at you. Now I couldn’t agree that statement anymore, although I do have some love for the female Beetle as well. And if you’re expecting some nods to Luke Cage and Shocker’s run in the Thunderbolts, you’ll get it. And the 2nd half of this book is fantastic, fleshing out Boomerang a ton, only to throw a hilarious black-humor swerve on the final page. Again, if you like Hawkeye and Daredevil or B/C-list villains you need to be reading this. book.
Avengers Arena Volume 2: Game On
Dennis Hopeless, Kev Walker, Jason Gorder and Riccardo Burchielli
Marvel, $15.99, collecting issue #7-12
The 2nd collection of Avengers Arena answers several questions the ultra violent series raised in the first volume, all of which are brilliant in their own ways. But then several more are raised, delivering a twist that could change how we’ve all looked at the series this far. Hopeless is blessed with 3 different and VERY talented artists for this volume, all who maintain a fairly similar art styles, which is nice if you’re a fan of consistency. And with most 2nd tier/new characters being used, it’s nice that the stakes in this death game still remain high. Marvel’s teasing a 2nd season of this title under a new name (which should be revealed at NYCC this week). Possibly the most violent Marvel title not being published under the MAX label, Avengers Arena remains a delight, assuming you don’t mind a book with high body count.
