Now These Books I Liked – The Week of February 20 in Review Part 4 of 4

Of course I did not read everything this week, but overall what I read had a lot of entertaining books. No matter how snarky or bitchy I get about many books there is a high amount of quality material being produced. So below I will list out a bunch of books and as I did with the number one issues I will give a reason why I’m buying the title.

Morbius #2 is probably not going to be a long lived title for me. I’m giving it a whirl mainly due to Joe Keatinge is writing the book. Joe writes Hell Yeah which is an interesting book that I’m also not 100% sold on, but I love giving new writers a chance. Often over time they get better and better. Elson’s art is nothing special and the story itself is somewhat pedestrian. Moribus is fighting a street level gang. It is a professional job but like I said nothing special. I will give it one more issue.

Indestructible Hulk #4 is on my list due to Mark Waid. I’m still not a fan of Yu’s scratchy style but it works okay. The story line is the real draw as Mark has constructed a good premise for the Hulk. Banner is now working to make things better and has a staff of scientists to help him. In exchange for funding and other support he acts as a weapon for Sheild. It is a cool premise as we no longer are dealing with the Bruce hates Hulk and vice versa theme of the book. As long as Mark can make this work it should be a fun ride. Waid has been at the top of his game lately and that is damn impressive given how long he has been in the game. I keep wondering when they will blow it up with a Hulk rampage, I hope never.

Avengers #6 I’m getting to follow Jonathan Hickman’s 500 50 issue long story and of course Marvel is blessing the title with some great artists as Adam Kubert is on the art at this point. You have to decide to be in for the long haul with Hickman. Right now he is doing a series of origins of the “D” list characters that is populating this group of Avengers. This has relegating the main plot line into the “B” slot. An entertaining book, especially if you understand it is a long game.

Superior Spider-Man #4 I keep getting out of fascination for the idea that Marvel has actually decided to keep Spider-Man as this essentially almost evil character. Will they or won’t they commit hard to Potto ® or not? This issue the bonus is Giuseppe Camuncoli’s art, he has a great fluid feel to his work that works very well with this book. Matthew’s continuous infectious love for the book (see the review) also makes me enjoy the book even more. I can’t help but feel like this book is a glorious car wreck and I can’t help but look at the carnage and see what happened.

Conan #13 was a great issue of the series. Brian Wood is the main reason for getting this book. The rotating artists are fine as there was only one artist whose style I thought was a detriment to the story. All in all Brian has maintained the character of Conan and made it more modern take in the way it is presented. I’m enjoying that they are doing a series based on one segment of Conan’s life and making it what is essentially a 25 issue (I believe) mini-series.

Captain America #4 I get as I love Rick Remender’s work and this is a radical change of what has gone before. I’m not a Romita Jr. fan, but if you want to evoke a Kirbyesque feel to the book he is a good choice. I loved the 11years time jump in this book. Also I’m curious to see how this will impact the Captain America status quo down the road. Right now in a different dimension you can do what you want, but Cap is a major player in the Avenger books and therefore making a major change would have to be reflected in other books. I’m a skeptic regarding any real change occurring and just enjoying the insanity.

Saga #10 I’m getting because this is a great series. I think Brian Vaughn has made me a believer in this book. I was leery because nothing else he has done has made me a long term fan. This book is 10 issues in and is just damn enjoyable. The art by Fiona Staples fits the story very well and the story telling is excellent.

Daredevil #23 is back to Mark Waid again. This series has been up and down, but more up then down. 

Chris Samnee’s art is a huge plus. His layouts and storytelling makes any writer better. SPOILER ALERT – I hope Foggy dies this time. This issue we find out Foggy has cancer. A good true impact for a long term series would be to force a change in the supporting cast. It is the type of shake up I would like to see Marvel actually try. Of course the story is that a bad guy is screwing with DD, so there is no reason to not suspect that the bad guy falsified the test results of Foggy.

Thor #5 I’m getting for the story and art. Esad Ribic’s art has captured the epic story feel that Jason Aaron has brought to the title. This is the best Thor has been in many years. I truly love the three timeframes of Thor. Often a writer is a perfect match for a book and Aaron and Thor seem to have that feel to it. We could be seeing a seminal run being done on a series.

That ends another week in review, come on back next week.