Due to various reasons all reviews won’t be posted until late Monday evening.  Please check back then if you really care what we think that much (and thank you if you do).

It’s a thick stack of books this week with quite a few debuts.  How does Doomwar, ZVR Aventure and Chase Variant hold up?  Is Blackest Night still holding up?  Find out those answers and more below!

Monthly Comics

Avengers vs. Atlas #2 – It’s Atlas versus some old-school Avengers in one giant fight scene.  The issue was entertaining but it’s nothing special.  If you’re a fan of either it’s worth it, otherwise might as well skip it.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Blackest Night: the Flash #3 – This final issue shows what happened post Barry Allen receiving the Blue Lantern ring and before joining the greater fight.  It’s a bit confusing cause it seems to contradict those similar events in the main Blackest Night comic book, but oh well DC has always had continuity issues.  The final issue of this three part limited series is so much superior to the first two issues, doing a proper comparison between the Flash’s battle and the Rogue’s fight against the Black Lanterns.  The final few pages in particular stand out.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Captain America #603 – The fight between the Watchdogs and Captain America continues as we learn more about the motives behind the rogue Captain America.  This issue doesn’t quite have the controversy of the previous issue, but we’ll see if anyone decides to continue to raise a stink.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Chase Variant #1 – The story is an interesting concept and is either the story told by two kids playing a card game or their card game is affecting things in a world.  Either way, it wasn’t enough to keep me coming back for more.  The story was so-so and art the same with the pretty stereotypical Image look of generic throwaway villains and super heroes.  Oh well.

Story: 5.5 Art: 6 Overall: 5.75

Dark Avengers #14 – The meltdown of the Sentry continues as we also see a bit more into the mind of Norman Osborn as well.  This series has been a pleasant surprise, but sadly it doesn’t quite tie into Siege as much as I’d hope.  But a very solid issue.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Deadpool #19 – After trying to be an X-Man, Deadpool has instead set his sights on becoming like another great super hero, Spider-man.  The issue is fantastic with a mix of humor and action that we have come to expect and love.  The question I have is, if Deadpool is going to team up with people in this monthly series, then what’s the point of Deadpool Team-up?

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Deathlok: the Demolisher #4 – This series was unexpected as to how good it would be.  I knew the character of Deathlok growing up but it always seemed that Marvel never quite got the hang of him.  This out of continuity story shows how bad ass he can be.  Roxxon has decided to take him on directly with lots of guns and explosions.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Doctor Voodoo #5 – And the series ends not with a bang, but a whimper.  The battle against Nightmare comes to an end as Doom and Voodoo must join forces to defeat him.  A decent ending and a nice tease at what might come in the future if the series were to pick up again, but overall I’m not shocked it didn’t find an audience.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Doomwar #1 – I was a huge fan of this comic and that has everything to do with the political speak and undertones.  Plus, seeing T’Challa take charge and find out more of Doom’s plans was worth the wait.  I think this might have been a stronger opening that Siege.  Who can’t say that final scene wasn’t just plain old awesome?  Politics, action, Doom and the X-Men?  We’re in!

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Green Lantern #51 – The battle on Earth continues as it’s a big drag out fight between Parallax and the Spectre.  Can Hal be saved from the yellow light after he’s done?  It also sets up the final showdown with Nekron.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Green Lantern Corps. #45 – The Corps. fights to save Guy Gardner who’s still corrupted by his red ring.  It’s a decent issue, but seems I felt it could of done a bit more with the Blackest Night storyline.  The fight against the Black Lanterns ended abruptly and the series seems like it’s set apart from everything else that’s happening.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

Guardians of the Galaxy #23 – The team handles the return of the Galactic Senate and plays Secret Service.  At the same time, the team thought lost must deal with being captured and dealing with Magus.  We also learn how he swept them away.  As always, a fantastic series.

Story: 8 Art: 7.75 Overall: 8

Incorruptible #3 – The flip side to Irredeemable we see the flipped world from the villain’s point of view and finally find out why Max Damage has turned to the side of good.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Joe the Barbarian #2 – This is very much a modern day Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz as a boy is sucked into the world of his toys.  It’s beyond fantastic and as usual Vertigo puts out another amazing series. This is a must read.

Story: 9 Art: 8.75 Overall: 9

Marvel: Eyes of the Camera #6 – Some times comic books come to you at just the right time.  Not too give too much away, this is one of those for me.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

Psylocke #4 – The limited series comes to an end as Psylocke comes to grip with what she now is, but to get to that point she must contend with Wolverine.  We’ll see if this has any repercussion in their relationship in the main series, but it’s a decent four issue limited series.  Entertaining and worth the read.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

Punisher #14 – I can’t say I’ve been the biggest fan of the Frankencastle storyline and am tempted to give the series a rest until the real Punisher returns, but the use of the little respected Marvel monsters is original enough to keep me coming back for now.  We’re also treated to the background of the villain behind the monster genocide.  The entire issue is dedicated to that and it seems rare that an issue deals with the villains origin nowadays.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Spider-Woman #6 – Lets get it out of the way, Alex Maleev’s artwork is beautiful and worth the purchase alone.  In general the story is top notch too.  This issue deals with Spider-Woman dealing with the Thunderbolts.  What should be the usual fight issue doesn’t come off like that and is actually pretty damn entertining.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Uncanny X-Men #521 – Wolverine and his team continue to tussle in New York City as the science team heads underwater to help build the pillar that’s holding up Utopia.  Also, Magneto is found mediating on top of a mountain top, using his power to reach out to something, but what?  Find out, cause it’s a doozy.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

ZVR Aventure #1 – It’s three short stories.  The first is the beginning part of a tale about a zombie invasion from an army officer’s perspective.  The art is fantastic and story actually decent and not a retread of what we’ve seen so many times before.  The second story focuses on robots, and is definitely original and again the art is top notch.  The third story is a mix of robots and zombies but doesn’t quite get to the zombie part.  The setting of Haiti is a little odd too and takes you out of the story due to current events.  A case of bad timing.  This is definitely a new comic that’s worth the purchase if you like zombies and robots.

Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9

Graphic Novels

Hellblazer: Pandemonium – John Constantine is dragged into the war in Iraq as he must deal with a captured demon.  It’s a pretty good graphic novel, with some great questions about the morality of war and torture.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75