It was a week dominated by comic books involved in various events occurring as well as some debuts.  Which event holds up the best and are any of the new series any good?  Find out below!

Monthly Comics

American Vampire #1 – With the name of Stephen King on the cover I guess I expected more from the beginning of this new vampires meet western series.  It’s an interesting start, but I can’t say I’m blown away.  The art is far superior to the story.

Story: 7 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.5

Avengers vs. Atlas #3 – The two teams team up to take on a rampaging Hulk.  It’s a decent issue with nothing great, but nothing bad either.  There’s a bit of a retro feel but if you like either classic Avengers or Atlas this might be for you.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Choker #2 – Jackson continues to hunt down the criminal he put away as he must deal with his new partner who’s a bit of a nut.  It’s a different take on the detective/noir comics that are all the rage now.  It’s just different enough to make it stand out.  The downside is while I enjoy the art it’s some times hard to tell what’s going on and comes off as a bit muddled and the writing at times makes you put together what’s going on, something the art doesn’t help achieve.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Dark Avengers #15 – Hawkeye carry’s out his plan to get rid of the Sentry’s wife while the tower is under attack.  I’m not quite sure why this is under the Siege banner as it has nothing to do with the current storyline other than connecting the dots to some items that occurred in the past.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Deathlok: The Demolisher #5 – Deathlok continues his march as Roxxon continues to attempt to figure out how to deal with the situation.  The art is great and storytelling top notch.  This could easily be the sleeper limited series of the year.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Doomwar #2 – The battle rages on as Doom attempts to break the final seal.  T’Challa and his army fight the Desturi for control of Wakanda as both sides show no mercy.  I’m digging the limited series so far, but feel what’s going on should be having greater impact on the rest of the Marvel universe.  It feels very limited and cut off from the bigger picture.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Fables #93 – It’s the second part of King Ambrose’s story involving the first murder in his kingdom and how he must deal with it.  It’s an excellent diversion from the Mr. Dark plot line and as usual shows the excellent writing of the series.

Story: 9 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5

Green Lantern Corps. #46 – The Corps. continues it’s battle against the Black Lanterns as they head to Earth to take on the Anti-monitor.  The issue is ok, but not quite up to the level of recent issues.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Guardians of the Galaxy #24 – The team guarding the Imperial Senate battles the assassins sent to stop it’s first meeting as they play an interesting card.  The other team members captured by Magus continue to make their way through the church as we finally learn what’s been in the cocoon.  The next arc should be a doozy.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7.25

Irredeemable #12 – Plutonian continues to deal with his family issues as Bette must deal with the fact that she could of ended this madness before the death of millions.  Mark Waid continues his excellent deconstruction of the super hero comic.

Story: 8 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

Joe the Barbarian #3 – While this issue falls a bit into Grant Morrison’s habit of making things a bit confusing, what it comes down to in it’s basic form is a modern day Alice in Wonderland and Never Ending Story.  It’s a fantastic series, and with only the third issue, I can say I’m a bit disappointed there’s only five issues left.

Story: 9 Art: 8 Overall: 8.75

Nation X #4 – The end to the limited series.  Again made up of various stories with various artwork.  None of it is amazing yet none of it is bad.  If you’re a fan of the X-Men it might be worth the pick up.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Prelude to Deadpool Corps. #3 – The third installment of the Deadpool gathering his alternate selves for some universe saving mission.

Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #5 – Gladiator takes the Imperial Guard into the fault to save his expedition force.  It’s an issue with lots of death and destruction and a decent ending.  Overall Realm of Kings has felt like a bridge to what’s next.  And we learn the answer to that on the last page, Thanos!

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Siege #3 – With this issue, we’d expect a massive battle occurring, but Brian Michael Bendis has done a masterful job of adding just enough side stories to make it something more than a giant fight scene.  From the perspectives of the action to the artwork and awesome pivot at the end, this is a great limited series and event that I’m sorry to see end in another issue.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75

Siege: Embedded #3 – Siege: Embedded does an excellent job at looking at how news is manipulated to bring us a certain viewpoint and how it’s been used in the past few years to glorify war and reinforce the righteousness of the war.  Though this issue isn’t quite as focused on it, it still moves the story and theme along nicely.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7 Overall: 7.5

Spider-Woman #7 – Sad to see the series end, but that’s what happens when artists and writers overstretch themselves.  It’s the end of the arc as Jessica takes on the Skrull she’s been hunting for and we finally learn why she was the one abducted and replaced.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #6 – It’s pretty much a fight issue as Moonknight takes on Bushman.  It’s a decent issue as the intensity builds up to the point we wonder if Moonknight will kill his nemesis.  Can he resist the urge?

Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

X23 #1 – A one shot that focuses on the title character and the madness and issues she’s dealing with internally that can get lost in the team books she’s recently been involved with.  The art is very nice with some great styles and visuals.  It’s this weeks pleasant surprise.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

X-Factor: Forever #1 – Much like X-Men: Forever Marvel has launched this branching title that sees what might have happened to the original X-Factor series.  In the first issue it attempts to catch up those who didn’t read or just don’t remember the series from so many years ago.  The art is much better than it’s “X” cousin but suffers the same issue of over explanation.  We’ll see if this is on purpose to catch us up or the overall style of the series.  It’s ok, but not great.

Story: 6 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.25

X-Men: Legacy #234 – Rogue assists in helping locate the Phoenix Force, and deals with how she’s gone about it.  It’s just a space filler until Second Coming begins next month.  Unfortunately that’s what this series has turned into, between it’s involvement with Necrosha and next Second Coming, it needs to be given a few issues to find it’s own legs instead of being driven by events around it.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Graphic Novels

the Bronx Kill – The latest entry into Vertigo’s noir series is top notch.  A murder mystery, a writer is accused of killing his wife.  The graphic novel mixes pictures with text from the writer’s novel, a very interesting mix and affect.  If you enjoy crime novels, murder mystery’s or noir in general, this is a can’t miss.  It had us both dreading and excited about each page turn an amazing accomplishment.

Story: 9.5 Art: 9 Overall: 9.25