Marvel Overload

Wow, I read lots of comics. My Marvel pile from a few weeks back is 20 comics deep. 20 comics for a couple weeks of backlog is a lot.

Marvel Adventures: Hulk #7: Silver Surfer vs. Terrax. Bruce banner wants to help, but can't get Rick Jones to hit him to provoke a Hulk-out. Monkey saves the day. One of the funniest things I have seen in comics since Babe the Blue Ox in Jack of the Fables. Great issue.

Marvel Adventures: Iron Man #8: Tony Stark is attacked by Jolt, who I thought was a regular old hero in normal Marvel continuity. She made a decent villain for him in this one. The Amish/"The Village" town was frustrating, and a little stupid. Steam-tech Iron Man was cool, though.

Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #31: Made of awesome. Shopping trip gone wrong, with Sue and Johnny saving the day. Loved the hero worshiping security guys, and Reed commenting on how he is usually seen as the smart one. Best part was anything related to the Thing in this issue.

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #19: So-so story with one of my favorite villains. Super-Adaptoid is such a fun idea, and this was a great variation on the theme. I like that they didn't try to shoe-horn every character in. They used who they needed to, and left the rest out of it. Once again, proof that the all-ages comics can often be better than the regular stuff.

The Mighty Avengers #6 & #7: Beautiful work by Cho, as usual. Thought bubbles are still annoying. Shame this was delayed so much, since it interfered with the follow-up. We already know what happens with the symbiote plague. We already know about Spider-Woman leaving the other Avengers team for this one. All-in-all, would have been much better if it all would have been on time. Also, what was up with the art in #7. Bagley's stuff is usually great, but it was off in this. I am assuming it had something to do with poor inking, as it still looked mostly like his usual quality. Just a bit off, somehow.

Thunderbolts #118: This was not too bad. In general, I have not really been liking this series much. I like the initial premise of the Thunderbolts, but not the revamp making them more of a Suicide Squad. This issue, however, was fun. Just enough interesting plot advancement to make me want to see the next issue.

The Order #6: I love the background bits we get on the members of the team. Fun to see some insight into why they are the way they are. I felt bad for the mutant lizard things. I know I shouldn't, but I do. The Namor plotline that was randomly introduced here seems out of place to me. Hopefully, now that the news of the series' cancellation is out, there will be enough time and space to wrap it all up in a non-annoying way.

Nova #10: A bit of a let-down, but still good. I was really looking forward to seeing the Phalanx homeworld. This diversion was good for the character development between Nova and Gamora. Sort of explains how they got to where they are in terms of each other. It was a good issue to have, but not what I was looking forward to reading. Next issue, though. I hope...

Avengers: The Initiative #8: Ant-Man vs. Stature vs. Yellowjacket. What a great idea, and well played. I am surprised nobody has done this before. The original Ant-Man, the daughter of the last An-Man, and the guy trying to become the new Ant-Man. When you see it all laid out like that, the story is obvious. Taskmaster as the trainer for the new recruits is pretty sweet too, and just sort of makes sense. The MVP clone thing is really turning ugly, and I like to see that play out. Also, Geldoff. Wonder how Bendis feels seeing his creation making its way into regular Marvel continuity.

Captain America #33: Like we all didn't see that coming. Winter Soldier is hardcore, even with only one arm. The more I think on it, the more i realize that they new costume, while not popular (and reasonably so), makes sense for who is wearing it. Not much to say about this one, as the next issue is the one to watch.

Immortal Iron Fist #11: Davos is pretty badass, isn't he? The fight didn't last long at all, which is kind of a shame. I wanted to see more of that. But, still, using your chi to replace a severed hand is pretty sweet. Enough so that I can forgive the fight ending that fast. I also loved the whole "Hydra Guy. Hydra Guy. Old Woman. Hydra Guy." panel. Cracked me up.

Annihilation; Conquest #3: The shit is really hitting the fan here. Adam Warlock is going to be so much more awesome than he used to be, and it is nice to see Him come back. High Evolutionary's return is nice too, though don't know how much that is worth what with teh whole explosion of his ship thing. Starlord's team is still pretty fun, and the ending of this issue was a nice non-cliffhanger. So glad I am reading this as it happens, instead of in trade format. Much better episodic, I think.

Terror Inc. #4: By far one of the most disgusting comics I have ever read. Which is why I love it. Nothing else need be said.

Foolkiller #3: I would read this as an ongoing. I don't read the Punisher. That in and of itself should say something.

Ultimate Power #9: This deserves a post for itself. Some time that is not now.

Ultimate X-Men #89: A one-shot issue before the Apocalypse stuff happens. Introduction of the Shadow King. Handled pretty well. Really only important for the fact that it lets Storm split from Wolverine and get back to Beast.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #49: This was fun. I like how the Ultimate Red Ghost was not who I was expecting. I also like how her powers were much more strange, and interesting, than the 616 version. I think this will be a fun recurring villain, if they ever decide to bring her back.

Ultimate Spider-Man #117: Father vs. Son in the ultimate Goblin beatdown. Peter handled himself pretty well in this one, and it served as a pretty good end for the Green Goblin. The end was very touching. I think this story was handled well. Can't wait for the next arc. I loved that show.

Ultimate Human #1: Ugh. A 4-issue minseries made just to tie in with the upcoming movies. I am never a fan of that happening. From a marketing standpoint, I get it. I still don't like it. I also don't see why it had to be an Ultimate title. Mainstream America doesn't care about the ultimate stuff, and won't know to look for it. If this was going to happen, it should have been 616 Marvel to suffer. I will admit, the introduction of Ultimate Leader was kind of cool to see, even if it was also the introduction of Ellis's pet mutant Pete Wisdom as well. Still gonna buy the rest of this, since I will buy anything Ultimate. I am a sheep.