It’s a thick week of comic books.  Didn’t there used to be slower weeks?  We seem to be missing them since the new year began.  It’s a mix of comics but Siege tie-ins and “X” related comic books dominated the stack.

How is Siege comparing to Blackest Night?  Has Necrosha improved?  Check out our thoughts below.

Monthly Comics

Avengers: the Initiative #33 – We get to see the battle from two perspectives, the assault on Asgard and Taskmaster’s role in the battle as well as the assault on Camp Hammer.  It’s a decent comic but not up to the usual standard for the series.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Batman and Robin #9 – Batman does what he can to save Batwoman as Alfred and Damian must deal with the zombie Batman.  The overall arc I think was pretty weak, especially when compared to the first one.  I also think that Dick’s conclusion at the end is ridiculous from what occurred as one has nothing to do with the other.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7

Blackest Night #7 – The battle against Black Hand and Nekron continues as the combine Corps. attempt to get along.  We also learn why Nekron focused on Earth and the secret the Guardians have been hiding for so long.  Even with the final panel ruined by others on the internet it was still very cool to see.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Blackest Night: JSA #3 – The JSA continue to fight the Black Lanterns and build their device to take them on.  It’s an ok ending but is off somehow.  It’s one giant fight scene while a device is built.  DC needed to do something with some of the Black Lanterns it raised and that’s what these limited series served as.  But the writing and story come off as tacked on and not thought out.  Stick with the main three series dealing with the Blackest Night storyline and skip all of the limited series offshoots.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.75

Choker #1 – The latest noir series to hit the comic racks but enough of it is original to make it interesting.  The story involves a private detective who is offered his former job as a police officer back if he catches an escaped villain.  The world is interesting and different and the art is beautiful.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75

Deadpool #20 – Didn’t an issue come out about two weeks ago!?  No matter, the Deadpool and Spider-Man team-up actually works and is hilarious.  The two must deal with Hit-Monkey who has Deadpool as it’s next target.  A great mix of humor and action that left a smile on my face.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Fantastic Four #576 – Jonathan Hickman tries something different with an issue mostly devoid of dialogue.  The story sees the Fantastic Four traveling to a lake isolated from the outer world and taking on agents of A.I.M.  This is the second part of the greater four cities arc we’re seeing.  It’s an interesting issue and Hickman gets points for giving it a try.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

Image United #0 – When I think of Image comics lots of action and not much plot come to mind.  Image United is quickly falling into that stereotype.  This is the prelude to the Image event given it’s own comic book.  The art is off (didn’t the garbage can get thrown into the side of the building in the alley, and not the front of the building?), the dialogue cheesy and plot non-existent.  If you’re a fan of Image comics then go right ahead, but this is a pretty average comic.

Story: 4.5 Art: 5.5 Overall: 5

Irredeemable #11 – Mark Waid continues his deconstruction of the super hero comic as we learn the dirty secret Bette has been hiding.  Also, we learn more about the Plutonian’s history and why he turned out the way he is.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

the Marvelous Land of Oz #4 – Still haven’t caught up.  I’ve read very positive reviews elsewhere.

Story: ? Art: ? Overall: ?

Nation X #3 – Four short stories involving various members of the “X” community after their move to Utopia.  None of the stories are bad yet none are memorable.  The art is all over the place.  If you’re a big “X” fan, it might be worth the read, but it’s not a must get.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75

New Avengers #62 – Spider-Man and Spider-woman continue their battle with some of the Hood’s gang.  Also, Steve Rogers is reintroduced to the New Avengers.  With two issues of Siege down, this seems to be behind the storyline we’ve already seen and overall a fairly weak issue.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #4 – The Inhumans must deal with Maximus’ betrayal with a twist at the end concerning that.  Also the team in the fault must deal with their discovery as well as an unexpected twist.  The Realm of Kings storyline as a whole has suffered without one main series driving the storyline but taken by itself this limited series is pretty decent.

Story: 7 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7

Thor #607 – We get to see the lead up to Siege from the view of Asgard.  It’s an interesting issue and shows a bit of the society of Asgard.  So far it stands as one of the better Siege tie-ins and definitely the best of this weeks tie-ins.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Thunderbolts #141 – The team is sent on a mission that befits their covert ops background as Scourge continues to loose his cool.  I’m definitely a bit tired of this teams make up and dysfunction and I’m looking forward for the announced new direction in May.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Unknown Soldier #17 – Moses continues his search to figure out who stole the medicine and killed the doctor.  The answer is definitely unexpected and shocking.  This just shows how impressive this series is.  A definite must read that you have to check out.

Story: 9 Art: 8.75 Overall: 9

the Walking Dead #70 – The group arrives at their destination and meet the leader of the community.  But is everything too good to be true?  Kirkman continues to ratchet up the tension even when no action is occurring.  This is a perfect example of his brilliance at story telling.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Dark Wolverine #83 – Daken gets a look at his fate and must decide his destiny.  It’s an interesting take on Siege and a character who’s manipulated so many people.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 8

X-Factor #202 – This is the weakest chapter in David’s crossover with the Fantastic Four.  The team heads to Latveria and finds out what the deal is about the evil Reed Richards.  It’s an ok ending to the arc, but not up to Peter David’s usual writing brilliance.

Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

X-Force #24 – The last few Necrosha issues have been rather weak but this issue is an improvement as the team makes it to Hammer Bay.  My biggest complaint is how dark the art is.  It’s difficult at times to tell what’s going on.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

X-Men: Forever #18 – Chris Claremont continues his series that sees where he would of taken the X-Men if he didn’t have to worry about long term continuity and marketing.  The series has taken a while but it’s finally getting it’s footing and the art has definitely improved.  This issue focuses on Cyclops and his family as well as the ongoing Consortium storyline.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

X-Men: Legacy #233 – It’s the end of this series involvement in the sub-par Necrosha storyline.  This series storyline however hasn’t been quite as marred as others dealing with the rise of dead mutants as their battle focused on a battle with Proteus and the return of Destiny.  Take out the Necrosha tag and the last few issues would of worked on their own.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8

X-Men: Second Coming Prepare – Marvel tends to release teaser previews of major events allowing individuals to catch up and often it includes sketches and a list of collections you can purchase to catch up on past stories.  This preview of the upcoming Second Coming event does include a story.  I’m assuming it has to deal with the “one will fall” tease we’ve seen as various characters reflect on their decisions and loss of a friend.  It’s a good story and free.  You have no excuse not to pick it up.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5