Podcasts: 'Heavy Metal Album Cover' on 5by5's Giant Size

Here's the second half of the Marvel NOW scorecard discussion between Moises Chiullan, Matt Alexander, and myself on 5by5's Giant SIze (listen here or subscribe here). That talk segues into Age of Ultron for a bit, and offers some good recommendations as to what to read in the Marvel NOW line. In the second half of the show, Moises gets a few minutes with artist Jim Cheung. They talk about Cheung's background and touch on his upcoming work in Marvel's big Infinity event.

I Want My Marvel NOW: Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, and Wolverine

This one's been a long time coming. Long enough, in fact, that both Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy have already seen second issues (and we'll get to those). Soon I'll be running a sort-of Marvel NOW report card, revealing which titles I gave up on, which ones I went back and re-visited, which ones are really great underdogs, and which ones actually improved over time (hint: Superior Spider-Man). I didn't expect Marvel to keep up the new title announcements for Marvel NOW, but they're doing ongoings for Spider-Man's villains and the robot members of the Avengers, so maybe this column will keep going for all-time. Maybe not. Anyway, onward and upward...

​Cover for Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1, art by Steve McNiven. Marvel Comics.

Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1

This issue is constructed to introduce readers to the captain of the Guardians team, Peter Quill aka Star-Lord.​ It's a simple story, and you don't get a good feel for Quill's personality - only where he came from. In this case, where he came from is a deadbeat dad who also happens to be intergalactic royalty, making a pit stop on Earth and bedding an Earthling against his better judgment. Quill grows up aware of his heritage, but raised longing to know more about his father and the stars.

Frankly, I don't remember this being Star-Lord's origin. I have vague recollections of a cocky astronaut who manipulated his way into receiving the mantle of a Star-Lord, but maybe that was from a reprint of one of Marvel's old magazines. I don't know if those are in-continuity anyway.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis is carrying a lot of the Marvel Universe on his shoulders (Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, All-New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and this year's big event Age of Ultron), and this series feels a little like he's giving himself a bit of a break. It doesn't hint at the long-term planning of the X-books, nor does it get as particular with characterization as Ultimate Spidey does. It's lighter, and the lightness continues into the first official issue, one which sees Quill as a grown man, caught between defending the Earth and honoring the requests of his scheming dad. Steve McNiven complements Bendis's plotting with clean, effectively modern art that's pleasing to look at and accessible to all.

Will I Be Back for More? After two issues, I'm on the fence. I want to keep reading, because I'm interested in the team and how important they are to Marvel's cinematic plan, but this doesn't quite feel like a team book (yet?). It feels like a Peter Quill book with his Very Special Guest Stars Iron Man and Rocket Raccoon. I'll give this one a few more before I decide. Bendis doesn't seem to be swinging for the fences, and I think I expected him to, considering how all eyes are on this book right now.​

​Cover for Nova #1, art by Ed MCGuiness. Marvel Comics.

Nova #1

Didn't I just get done describing an origin issue in which a kid grows up without a decent father figure because Dad has ties to some larger cosmic ​adventure? In this one, it's not Peter Quill; it's Sam Alexander - an all-new character created by Jeph Loeb, replacing fan favorite and former New Warriors stalwart Richard Ryder as Nova. The set-up has Sam wondering just how much truth is in his father's stories of exclusive membership in a space-faring group known as the Nova Corp (Marvel's answer to DC's Green Lanterns, no doubt about it). There's a lot of Teen Superhero 101 in here, with Sam getting picked on by bullies, riding a skateboard, and drawing the attention of the school's alt-girl outcast (which comic books almost always predictably depict as a sassy bookworm with funky colored hair and fishnet stockings).

Loeb's real hit and miss as a writer. Other fans really have it out for the guy, but I've missed some of his real stinkers (Ultimatum) and enjoyed a lot of his stuff over the years (Spider-Man: Blue comes to mind, as does Superman: For All Seasons).​ At his worst, when his comics aim for "fun," they sometimes feel as if they're talking down to the reader, and I think some fans react negatively to that. That kind of thing is more evident in Nova #2, a comic that's so decompressed it's basically just Sam putting on the Nova helmet and discovering he can fly. It's a bit like slapping a $2.99 price tag on the montage scene in any given superhero origin film where the hero tests his powers. That's not really a story.

I realize Loeb is aiming a little younger here, and I appreciate Marvel NOW having something that's aimed at that audience, but a kid should get a full story for his dollars, not just a part of a story. Loeb is off the book after this set-up arc (due to a full plate with Marvel's TV properties), so maybe the next writer, Zeb Wells, will squeeze in more bang for the buck. Even Ed McGuinness, so good at drawing oversized heroes, feels restrained here. Not that the art is bad (it isn't), but that it's a minimal effort artistically. It doesn't wow in the way that McGuiness can wow. I'd chalk it up to him trying to work in a style that he can actually consistently produce on a monthly basis, but he's leaving the book as well soon, with Paco Medina batting clean-up.

Will I Be Back for More? I'll give it another go when Wells and Medina take a crack at Sam. He's a likable hero with a cool costume, but this isn't a must-read right now. Again, if you're a parent, this is one of Marvel's more "safe" books while still not being too kiddie, so keep that in mind if you've got a little one around who digs the superheroes.

​Variant cover for Wolverine #1, art by Oliver Copiel. Marvel Comics.

Wolverine #1

Wolverine is an odd duck. I don't think Wolverine's solo book has ever felt quite like a straight-forward superhero book; it's always had its own specifically Wolverine flavor. It's a little dirtier, a little meaner, and it typically feels slightly removed from the Marvel U. Paul Cornell and Alan Davis saddle Wolverine with an unusually clean-cut superheroic vibe, with the title character assisting police and flashing his Avengers badge when necessary.

I gripe a lot about books where nothing much seems to happen, and Wolverine is one of those, but...there's something at work here. I was intrigued, even while I was disappointed that the first issue isn't a tale with a beginning, middle, and end. It's a set-up where not even all of the pieces of the set-up are fully fleshed-out. The story begins with Wolverine's healing factor allowing him to take down a mass-murderer at a shopping mall (told you it's a more mundane Wolvie - what's he doing shopping at the mall?) and then getting mixed up in uncovering the motivations for the killings (the killer was using a very high-tech, sci-fi weapon, not your standard assault rifle).

Will I Be Back for More? I'm going to give this one another issue, but I can't strongly recommend it at this point. Wolverine #1 isn't going to appease the more bloodthirsty Wolverine fans, and it's probably too far removed from the X-Men to rope in the X-fans. I've been pretty good about pinpointing where certain comics' appeal lies with me, and honestly can't get a decent grasp on what it was I liked about Wolverine #1 other than the overall New York City superhero vibe. That's a terrible recommendation, but I can't muster up anything stronger than that.

I Want My Marvel NOW: Uncanny X-Men #1, Secret Avengers #1, and Fearless Defenders #1

Uncanny! Secret! Fearless! That's a lot of leading adjectives; some carry more weight than others. Uncanny is, of course, the X-Men legacy title (not to be confused with the title X-Men Legacy). Secret Avengers is a book that's been riding the brakes since its inception, switching writers several times and suffering the burden of being a "sidebar"  for multiple cross-overs. Fearless Defenders is yet another revival of the Defenders team, hot on the heels of Matt Fraction's version (which was a sales non-starter - but this brand is pretty much always a sales non-starter).

Cover to Uncanny X-Men #1, art by Chris Bachalo. Marvel Comics.

Uncanny X-Men #1 is more or less a spin-off from All-New X-Men, the other X-book by writer Brian Michael Bendis, and the more satisfying one, to be honest. We're still dealing with the aftermath of AVX, which saw Cyclops committing an act so heinous, he's been ostracized by (most) of his fellow X-Men. Bendis is casting him as a reckless mutant revolutionary leader, snapping up mutants as quick as they appear for the greater good of...something.

Scott's vision of what it means to be an X-Men isn't exactly clear to me. He seems defined by not wanting to be either Professor X nor Magneto, but what does that mean? What's the middle ground? Bendis lets us know (in All-New, not here) that Scott's building of a small army is an attempt to redeem himself, and the first issue reveals a major stumbling block in that plan.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? Too many X-Men books! Right now, this is my third favorite after Wolverine and the X-Men and All-New, so I can't guarantee that I'll stay with this one. To be honest, though not a bad book, I'm not terribly interested in Cyclops or the band of angry mutants he's surrounded by (Emma Frost, Magneto, Magik).

Cover to Secret Avengers #1, art by Tom Coker. Marvel Comics.

I think writer Nick Spencer may be on the cusp of being a Next Big Thing, but Secret Avengers #1 shares some of the problems I have with his creator-owned book Bedlam, and it's clarity of storytelling. Reading Bedlam, I thought it was just my comprehension skills being called into question. Now I suspect that Spencer isn't always a crystal-clear communicator. He's good with characters and his books feel dense, but the finer points of the plot get muddled in my head. If you caught me right after a Spencer book and quizzed me on what I just read, I would probably fail.

Secret Avengers #1 returns the title to being a full-on espionage book, in which various Avengers are recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle missions so precarious that they have to have their memories wiped upon successful completion. The first issue throws Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Nick Fury Jr. (as I'll be referring to the Samuel Jacksonized Fury from here on out) into a case involving a mystic cult.

It's funny - I read this month's Avengers Assemble the same night as Secret Avengers, and both books had Hawkeye and Black Widow going on secret missions away from the Avengers team. Assemble's story was quick and basic; Secret's felt edgier and more convoluted. Immediately after, I thought Secret was the superior of the two, but if you asked me right now, I could tell you exactly, beat-for-beat, what happens in Assemble. I can't do that from memory for Secret. Take that as you will.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? Ehh, no. It has its audience, though, and it's nice to see the book swing back into a distinct spy flavor of Avengers that's different from the flagship book.

Covert art for Fearless Defenders #1, art by Mark Brooks. Marvel Comics.

We love B-movies, but is there such a thing as a B-comic? One you feel a little guilty for enjoying? Fearless Defenders #1 is a an action ride that really exemplifies how comics aren't just the writing or just the art, but an overall package of all that plus storytelling plus concept that add up to one unique experience. Cullen Bunn and William Sliney have turned the deadest property of the Marvel NOW line into a scrappy underdog of a book.

I don't know much about Misty Knight, but she's appealingly tough and she has a golden cybernetic arm. Valkyrie is a Defenders mainstay from way, way back, and has had a little more exposure over the past few years during Fear Itself and its extended epilogue The Fearless. The two ladies team up here to fight re-animated Viking corpses brought back to life by the song from a mysterious artifact.

It ain't Maus, but it's thrilling in its own slam-bang way. Bunn's work feels refreshingly pressure-free, not trying to stand out as the Most Important Marvel U Must-Read, and Sliney's thick linework and mastery of action sequences display a foundation in simple cartooning that's a welcome change from Marvel's typical well-rendered talking heads.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? Lord help me, yes. This is my new guilty pleasure book - the one I will recommend while sheepishly dragging my toes on the ground. I hope it doesn't let me down.

I Want My Marvel NOW: Savage Wolverine #1, Uncanny X-Force #1, and Young Avengers #1

Cover to Savage Wolverine #1, art by Frank Cho. Marvel Comics.

When I started reviewing the Marvel NOW line, I didn't realize that the branding would eventually be on every single Marvel book. In the past, I've taken on some of the existing series when they've been slapped with the NOW label, but I simply can't afford to review every single Marvel book, and what's more - the NOW on the cover doesn't really mean much for some of these books. Wolverine and the X-Men and Hawkeye were typical issues (meaning excellent and you should read them), and recent releases like Captain Marvel #9 and X-Factor #250 don't display anything beyond what they deliver on a continual basis. The bad news (which isn't that bad) is that I'll only be covering the first issues, unless a title is getting a mid-numbering kick in the pants with an all-new creative team (which happened with Avengers Assemble).

Savage Wolverine #1 is what I'd call a "vanity" title - when an editor gives a series to someone hugely popular simply because they want it. The artist plays to their artistic strengths for a couple of issues then they leave, often leaving the editor without a clear reason for the title to exist (most recent example is Avenging Spider-Man, which was borne from Joe Maduriera wanting to do Spider-Man for a month or two).

The superstar in this case is Frank Cho, who brings back Shanna the She-Devil to mix things up with Wolverine in the Savage Land. This means Cho gets to draw apemen and dinosaurs and bikini babes, but what happens when he's done with that? Where does this book go? What is its purpose? Because, right now, there's no shortage of Wolverine in the Marvel U, and with more to come at the hands of Paul Jenkins and Alan Davis, I'd hate to be the editor who already knows that Cho has scratched his Wolverine itch.

I'm just speculating here, but I would be shocked if this was Cho's book for the long haul. I'm thinking six issues, and he's gone. What's here is a fun, if not remarkable, action comic.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? We are getting to the point where there are so many good Marvel NOW books, that "fun enough" is simply not going to make my cut. Cho is a great artist, but my interest in Wolverine as a character is only as strong as the book in which he appears. Savage Wolverine is serviceable; always pretty, but not must-read entertainment. I might be too harsh on it, so try it for yourself.

Cover to Uncanny X-Force #1, art by Ron Garney. Marvel Comics.

Uncanny X-Force #1 also suffers from "why does this book exist," but offers more intrigue in its first issue than Savage Wolverine. Psylocke and Storm are tipped off by Puck that Spiral is dealing drugs to mutant ravers. Meanwhile, Bishop shows up in a scene that means next to nothing if you don't know who he is, or in my case, where he's been.

Sam Humphries pushes the envelope a bit with lots of block-censored cursing from Psylocke and the dirtiest joke I've ever read in an X-book. It's not quite MAX-level, but it gives the book a little spice on what would otherwise be Just Another X-Title. Coupled with Ron Garney, the comic captures some of the spirit from the late days of the Claremont/Silvestri Uncanny X-Men run. Some of it in a visual sense, and some of it in the way that the story doesn't make concessions for new readers at all. Plus, it stars Storm and Psylocke, and the last time I ever remember them sharing this much interaction was in the late 80s.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? I might give this a second issue, simply because the first one doesn't establish at all what the book is going to be about. I like some of these characters, and I really like Garney's art, so if the second issue doesn't gel - hey, no big loss for me.

Young Avengers #1 is the only Marvel NOW title to truly disappoint me, as I had high hopes following Allan Heinberg's initial series and the exemplary Avengers: Childrens' Crusade. I realize I set these expectations on myself, but other titles (like FF) have certainly risen to meet my enthusiasm. Young Avengers #1 (by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie) is a capable teen book, with some nice moments, and almost no real sense of drama.

Variant cover for Young Avengers #1, art by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Marvel Comics.

Drama's important. I've mentioned before that a lack of conflict sunk Thunderbolts #1 like a stone, and Young Avengers #1 doesn't really get any until its final page. It mostly coasts by on charm. Kate Bishop, Hulkling, and Wiccan are all appealing characters, and I like spending time with them, but there's got to be a little more meat on the bone. I'm not even talking about supervillain battles; I'll take soap opera. In this issue, Hulkling has major issues with his relationship with Wiccan, but instead of this providing a thread of conflict, the matter is resolved within a page or two.

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? Maybe one more. There's room in the market for a good, old-fashioned superhero teen book right now, so it could find its place. It just needs sparks.

The Trophy Room: Wonder Woman, Bedlam, and Brubaker

Hello, folks. I've asked Jacob Hall to come up with a regular feature, and this is it - The Trophy Room! Jacob is a writer for Screencrush.com and Movies.com, and a lover of storytelling in all of its forms. With The Trophy Room, he'll give weekly awards to the comics that he thinks stand out. Take it away, Jacob...

Comic That I Wish I Liked More: Young Avengers #1

There is so much to love about Young Avengers that I feel a little guilty for not falling head over heels in love with it. Kieron Gillen and James McKelvie have created a book that's bursting with personality and character, but strangely short on plot or momentum. As someone unfamiliar with the history of the Young Avengers and Kid Loki (which I'm rectifying right now), I found myself completely lost regarding the status quo of these guys and girls. A #1 issue, especially one this breezy and, charming, shouldn't be so uninviting to newcomers. But hey, at least I was lost with a bunch of characters who instantly liked. That's a start.

Special Prize For Regained Comedic Footing Following a Heartbreaking Story Twist: Chew #31

The events of Chew #30 were so dark and mean and drastic and horrifying and game-changing that I was wondering if the book could ever go back to the way it was. The answer is yes and no. Tony Chu's life has been forever altered and he has a new mission in life (and possibly a new disposition), but after the grieving is done, the series immediately and without hesitation becomes the goofy and imaginative romp its always been. Chew's greatest asset has always been its ability to effortlessly leap between genres and tones and #31 brought both the tears and giggles in equal measure. There's no reason for Chew to ever work, but damn it, here we are. Whatta' series.

The "Going Out in Style" Award: Winter Soldier #14

Cover to Winter Soldier #14, art by Daniel Acuna. Marvel Comics.

And thus ends Ed Brubaker's stint with Marvel. While his final issue of Captain America definitively closed the book on his version of the character, he concludes his Winter Soldier run with a big question mark, putting Bucky Barnes in a situation that is best described as "shitty and no good and horrible." Although a new creative team will attempt to throw him an emotional lifeline with the next issue, this tragic conclusion is straight-up Brubaker: noir-tinged superhero espionage that begs to be read with a tumbler of your finest scotch. I'm going to miss his distinctive voice in the Marvel Universe.

Best Example of Being a Bad Comic Book: Uncanny X-Force #1

Here's the dirty secret about Marvel Now: so many of the new books are good that I'm having a hard time keeping my pull list at a manageable level. So I'm almost relieved that Uncanny X-Force #1 is one of the worst books in the Marvel Now line-up and that I'll never have to buy another issue. In addition to being impenetrable, obnoxious, crass and full of '90s "kewlness," the issue doesn't even bother to tell a complete story or properly introduce its cast. This is the kind of comic that reminds me why I spent years actively avoiding comics.

Best Comic to Use When Judging Other People's Opinions on Art: FF #3

Good God, Mike Allred. You are the best penciller working in comics today. Never change. Your critics are people I judge immediately and harshly. Anyway, FF is proving itself to be a solid series on its own, but Allred's art lends the book an absurd amount of personality.

Default Best DC Book of the Week Because It Was the Only DC Book I Read This Week: Wonder Woman #16

Wonder Woman is still a really good comic book, but the fact that it was the only thing published by DC that I read this week is telling about the company's entire line-up. They need to do something drastic to get me back…and a Vibe comic isn't the trick.

The "Why Do I Like This?" Award: Deadpool #4

As a general rule, I don't read Deadpool comics. But I think Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan's writing is hilarious. I think Tony Moore's art is gorgeous. I love the fact that this book essentially co-stars Ben Franklin's ghost at this point. So, somehow, I'm still reading Deadpool. Keep it up, guys.

Runner-Up Comic of the Week:  Bedlam #3

There's no getting around it: Bedlam is an upsetting series, a horror comic that takes a familiar superhero/supervillain dynamic and turns it into a genuine nightmare (although the series' main inspiration is already getting a terrifying treatment of its own over in Scott Snyder's Batman). The latest issue doesn't necessarily propel the story forward - this is a dense book, but it's also deliberate - but it continues to turn the screws on our hero, a medicated and reformed supervillain and mass murderer, in fascinating ways. If you can deal with Bedlam's frequent cruelty (the first three pages of this issue feel like they're daring you to keep reading), you'll find a series with an infinite amount of promise. And of course #3 ends with a major cliffhanger. Of course.

Cover to Mind MGMT #7, art by Matt Kindt. Matt Kindt/Dark Horse Comics.

Comic of the Week: Mind MGMT #7

It's rare that I spend $3.99 on an individual comic and feel that I've truly gotten my money's worth. With Dark Horse's Mind MGMT, I feel no shudders of guilt and feel no need to mutter about costs to the person ringing up my purchase -- writer/artist Matt Kindt crams so much content into every individual issue that I feel like I'm reading more than one in a single sitting. Take this week's issue (the first after a two month hiatus), which tells not one story, but four of them, with several running simultaneously. After a twenty-panel recap of the past six issues on the inside cover, the series launches back into its strange sci-fi conspiracy tale, all drawn in Kindt's loose and expressive art. As the main story trucks on, an expository flashback story is told in the bottom margins of each page. A mysterious commentary deepens the mystery in the left margins. Images and notes overlap the art, creating the impression that you're not holding a comic, but some kind of hastily assembled conspiracy nut's document. This is a remarkable issue of a remarkable series.

The Trophy Room: Frankenstein, Captain Marvel, and Talking Cats

Hello, folks. I've asked Jacob Hall to come up with a regular feature, and this is it, in its inaugural form - The Trophy Room. Jacob is a writer for Screencrush.com and Movies.com, and a lover of storytelling in all of its forms. With The Trophy Room, he'll give weekly awards to the comics that he thinks stand out.

Welcome to the Trophy Room, where I'll recap my week in comics through arbitrary awards. Everyone's a winner! Unless you're a loser. And then you're probably not a winner. Sorry.

Hickman-iest Comic of the Week: New Avengers #2

The second issue of New Avengers has everything you'd expect from a comic penned by Jonathan Hickman: a few dramatically blank (wasted) pages, lots and lots of dialogue that's bound to pay off three times over in twenty issues and a villainous scheme so complex that it literally requires Mr. Fantastic to pull a Doc Brown and draw a diagram to explain it to the rest of the Illuminati (and the reader). This book certainly isn't going to win over Hickman's detractors, but if you like your superhero stories decompressed and filled with all kinds of nutty hard science fiction, well…then you really should be reading New Avengers.

Unadorned variant cover to Savage Wolverine #1, art by Milo Manara. Marvel Comics.

Least Hickman-iest Comic of the Week: Savage Wolverine #1

On the opposite end of the spectrum from New Avengers, you'll find writer/artist Frank Cho's Savage Wolverine, which manages to squeeze a ridiculous amount of action and momentum into its debut issue. I'm not enough of a Wolverine fan to pick up issue two (I hugely prefer Jason Aaron's silly take on the character over the every-popular growling badass), but this is a perfectly fine book that's going to please fans of the character and satisfy those who hungering to see Wolverine snikt his way through legions of baddies.

Best Use of a Talking Cat: Saga #9

What's up with talking cats becoming the break-out characters in my favorite books? Socks, the Animal Totem turned house cat over in Jeff Lemire's Animal Man, is somehow one of the best characters currently inhabiting the DC universe, but he's got stiff competition in this category from Lying Cat over in Image's Saga. The sidekick/companion of the mercenary known as The Will, Lying Cat is able to detect whenever a character is lying, no matter how petty the mis-truth. It's no exaggeration to say that I laugh out loud each and every time Lying Cat makes an appearance, so I was more than happy to spend an issue away from the series' protagonists and get to know The Will and his world a little better. This issue doesn't get the Comic of the Week award only because this series would win that honor every time it comes out and that's just not fair.

Best Horror Comic Disguised as a Batman Comic: Batman #16

There are parts of me that are deeply uncomfortable with Scott Snyder's Batman, mainly because I can't help but imagine an eight-year-old Batfan picking up an issue and being traumatized for life. But I'll just have to get over that because Snyder and artist Greg Capullo have turned Batman into one helluva horror comic, albeit one starring the Caped Crusader. Although the "Death of the Family" arc has been consistently unsettling, issue #16 is a special brand of grotesque, following Batman as he navigates an Arkham Asylum that's been completely taken over by the Joker. Readers looking for more friendly Batman adventures should check out John Layman's exceptional Detective Comics - Snyder's is a comic for grown-ups with strong stomachs.

Cover to Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #16, art by Alberto Ponticelli. DC Comics.

Most Confounding Final Issue For a Series That's Been Unceremoniously Cancelled: Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #16

Despite being one of the most consistently entertaining titles on the stands, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. is no more and its final issue is baffling, to say the very least. That doesn't mean it's bad, per se, it just means that it ignores everything that went down in the past couple of issues, leaps backwards in time, revives a bunch of dead characters and tells a story set prior to the events of the "Rotworld" crossover event. I get why this happened - it lets the series end with our titular hero and his Creature Commandos triumphant - but it feels wrong, especially since the whole "Rotworld" thing is still ongoing over in Swamp Thing and Animal Man, leaving Frankenstein's side of the tale feeling woefully incomplete. This is a perfectly entertaining issue, but there's something quietly insulting about it. Instead of an actual ending, this final issue promises future adventures…which we'll never get. Because the series is canceled. Delightful.

Runner-Up Comic of the Week: Daredevil #22

Fact: there is no superhero book on the stands better than Daredevil. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee continue to tell the ever-pitch dark story of Matt Murdoch without wallowing in grime, walking the finest of fine lines between fun and morbid. Daredevil is telling a story about damaged people at the end of their ropes, but it's still, somehow, an absolute joy and pleasure to read. Bonus points for Waid's take on the Superior Spider-man, which made me realize that character is going to be genuinely hilarious as he navigates the dense Marvel Universe.

Comic of the Week: Captain Marvel #9

For its first eight issues, Kelly Sue DeConnick's Captain Marvel has been a consistently entertaining series with a solid grasp on its characters and fun (if not especially memorable) conflicts. Well, something went wonderfully right with issue #9 and the result isn't just good: it's Matt Fraction's Hawkeye and Waid's Daredevil good. Instead of sending Carol Danvers on another journey through time and having her fight another giant robot, DeConnick sends the former Ms. Marvel on her most interesting adventure to date: a very, very busy day in New York City (drawn by Filipe Andrade, whose anime-influenced pencils are stunning). By keeping her on the streets instead of in the cosmos, DeConnick grounds Danvers and her conflicts, making scenes like a battle with two time-displaced dinosaurs somehow relatable (because it's going to make her late for her cat's vet appointment, you see). I don't know if this signals a major shift in the book's tone or if it's just a one-off, but consider me a big fan of this (pardon the pun) grounded Captain Marvel.