My Comics for the month of June 2010 [UPDATED]

I'm back again for another installment of Mark's pull list. Last month was quite eventful in the fact that I picked up a few series that I didn't mean to, and wasn't disappointed. But enough talk, I know what you want, you want to know what I want, so here we go (sorry, no linking to covers this month, the more comics the harder it is to find all there cover art. i'm a terrible blogger.):


Angel #34 (30/6/2010) - Well, seems I got my numbering wrong last month, so here we are at issue 34! James has revealed himself to be something that isn't in fact an angel, and now he's going to rip the Angel team a new one. By proxy of course. Elena Casagrande took over art duties from Denham last issue and did a great job, and Willingham's story is still a thrill. I always look forward to picking up this series every month, and so should you.

Angel Barbary Coast #3 (30/6/2010) - The final issue of this miniseries features many things: cable-cars, vampires and a dragon. What's not to love? Angel's chances of winning against a giant fire-breathing lizard don't seem to be great, but i'm sure he'll figure it out. The next miniseries after this one falls to Spike in 'Spike: the Devil you know'.

Avengers #2 (23/6/2010) - The Avengers are back and Kang has provided them with their first adventure: sort out your kids. So it's a hop, skip and a jump away into the time stream, but not before they find a time machine. Oh, and fight Wonder Man who's still convinced putting the Avengers back together is a bad idea. I'm interested to see where this title will go, and to see hwo the last member of the Avengers is, or if i'm imagining if there is anyone else.

Avengers Prime #1 (3/6/2010) - The story that bridges the gap between Siege and the Heroic Age is this! Steve Rogers, Iron Man and Thor go on a little side adventure to mend their broken friendship, so they can all get along again in the new world order. A bi-monthly, five-part miniseries.

Avengers: The Origin #3 (3/6/2010) - We're halfway through this miniseries and I don't feel any forward momentum whatsoever. Last issue was mostly a dream (or nightmare) which Loki sent to Thor's brain. Thrilling? Not so much. But i'm sticking with it to see them get together (eventually) as the Avengers. Plus a fantastic cover for this issue.

Batman #700 (9/6/2010) - As a lovely person on CBR's forum pointed out to me, if I want to start reading Batman, #700 is the issue for me. This issue is going to chronicle the lives of the different Bats (Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne) and serve as an anniversary issue. Perfect time to jump on for me and for anyone else who wants to start reading Batman. And 700 issues? Now that's a milestone.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 (16/6/2010) - An intriguing miniseries that has me wondering, what the hell is going on here? Now Bruce Wayne is on the swashbuckling high seas with Blackbeard, while Superman, the Green Lantern, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter try to find their friend before he destroys reality. I'm sticking with this series and trying to get into other Batman titles as well. Come on, it's Batman!

Black Widow #3 (16/6/2010) - With Elektra's appearance at the end of last issue, and looking at the cover for this one, I can guarantee there's going to be a little tension between the two ladies. Daredevil jealousy perhaps? The artwork for this series has been fantastic, I love the painted style and washed out colours. Buy this series!

Daredevil #507 (9/6/2010) - Daredevil is back after a bi-monthly stint (which is over now, thankfully), and racing towards Shadowland. But before we get there, Matt Murdock needs to resolve the Hand situation in Japan and figure out what's happened to White Tiger. We lose the Japanese theme in the cover this month, but gain a great display of DD's radar sense instead.

Darkstar and the Winter Guard #1 (3/6/2010) - Nostroyvia! The Winter Guard are back after the success of their Hulk one-shot. Who knows, if this three part miniseries sells well enough we might be seeing more of them in th months and years to come. I am certainly hoping that we do. Red Guardian! Darkstar (obviously!)! Crimson Dynamo! Ursa Major! Russians! ASSEMBLE!

Green Arrow #1 (23/6/2010) - Green Arrow gets a relaunch this month, so I thought what a perfect place to jump on and read me some DC! The Emerald Archer is living in Star City Forest and shooting at punks (as you do), and i'm looking forward to reading this one. If it's good, i'll continue. If it doesn't impress me, could it lead to Mark not buying into DC Comics anymore? Stay tuned! I'll be reviewing this one.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #1 (3/6/2010) - Now this is a series i've seen waiting for! I love Hawkeye, bow and arrow rules, screw modernity. Clint Barton is back together with Mockingbird, his erstwhile wife and current girlfriend, and along with a new team are taking on the world's terrorists. This book has mega potential and i'll be very excited to get my hands on it this week.

Heroic Age: Prince of Power #2 (9/6/2010) - BUY THIS SERIES. DO IT NOW.
Fantastic miniseries and I hope it won't be the last we see of Amadeus Cho and Hercules, as well as the plethora of fantastic supporting characters. We last saw Amadeus being confronted by Thor after Vali Halfling tricked the boy genius into sneaking into the Asgardian apple orchard right after all the apples were stolen! Why is this starting to sound like a kids' book...

Secret Avengers #2 (30/6/2010) - Ed Brubaker's team of secret heroes are on their way to Mars to rescue Nova, who discarded his awesome helmet for the Serpent Crown. Roxxon, that oh-so-evil energy corporation are at something again and it's up to Steve Rogers and his super spies to figure it out. With Shadow Council Nick-Fury-lookalike man attacking Sharon Carter back on planet Earth, when will we find out just what the hell is going on? Great series, buy it!

Serenity: Float Out #1 (3/6/2010) - We all loved Firefly, we all loved Serenity, we all loved Wash. So Joss Whedon stuck the nose of a spaceship through him. Why do I put up with you Whedon? A one-shot story from Dark Horse that chronicles three different stories of Wash from three different people who knew him. Written by Patton Oswalt actor/comedian/writer/(minor bad guy in Daredevil? Chico, look him up) and illustrated by Patric Reynolds, this will be a great add-on to the growing Serenity comics library.

The New Avengers #1 (16/6/2010) - One thing Marvel likes to do is spread their characters across several teams. A marketing strategy you say? No! They wouldn't do that! Anyway, New Avengers gets a relaunch this month with a few old faces but a few new ones too. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Man, Wolverine and The Thing are the members i'm sure of, but let's hope there are some different characters in the mix as well. Doctor Strange and Iron Fist seems like good and likely candidates. *cough* Iron Fist *cough*

The New Avengers: Luke Cage #3 (23/6/2010) - The final issue of this miniseries, which has been an interesting look back at Luke's days in Harlem. We're still slugging our way to the bad guy right now, but run ins with Hammerhead and Wheelchair-man have kept the action moving along nicely. Nothing fantastic in this series but if you're a fan of Luke Cage I think you'll enjoy it.

Thunderbolts #144/#145 (OUT NOW/ 23/6/2010) - A great series brought to my attention again by CBR, with Luke Cage taking the reins of another title's team. I've been reading Thunderbolts for about 20 or 30 issues back and i've found it really interesting. I wasn't going to pursue the series monthly (maybe getting the hardcovers if and when they came out) but after the review it got (here) I thought i'd better get out and take a look. Issue #144 came out last week but I neglected to get it, so here it is listed today. They better not be sold out...

'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2' thoughts

As you may have guessed from my frequent Marvel posts, I'm not a big reader of DC comics. Besides Batman, I've never been a huge fan of the DC characters. Superman can do just about anything, where's the fun in that? So, I choose Marvel as my source of entertainment, and I think it's a wise choice; nothing against DC but I prefer my heroes in New York rather than Metropolis. But 'Green Arrow' #1 comes out next month and I will give it a try, promise.

So my decision to read 'The Return of Bruce Wayne' was influenced merely by the review of issue #1 courtesy of Comic Book Resources.com. I'm completely out of the loop on DC events, so Infinite and Final Crisis mean nothing to me except that Batman is back in time and has no idea who he is. So it was interesting to see in issue #1 that the bat motif follows him everywhere (even in caveman times), and that he's making his way back to the 21st century. Just after we see Batman disappear into time again Superman, the Green Lantern, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter turn up and Superman states he can hear every heartbeat on the planet and Bruce Wayne's isn't one of them. Get over yourself Kent.

Anyway, this post has nothing to do with any of that, I'm here to talk about Frazer Irving's artwork in #2. Grant Morrison's story is interesting to say the least, and I look forward to pirate Batman next month, but I honestly hope Irving is done. After Chris Sprouse's straight forward pencils of issue #1 where the characters are easily indentifiable and clean cut, Irving's renderings are horrible. I'm sorry, but they are. I have the utmost respect for different approaches to comic artwork (Brian Michael Bendis' "Echo" arc on Daredevil and the current run of Black Widow are fantastic examples of beautiful artwork that moves on from the norm), but Irving's character work is awful. His forst scenes are BEAUTIFUL, the oranges, yellow and reds of the trees in autumn are stunning and the colouration fits in perfectly with the Halloween vibe I got from this issue. But at times it is nigh impossible to determine Bruce Wayne from fellow witch hunter Malleus (Nathaniel Wayne, his great ancestor of course), and in one panel it looks like Booster Gold's face is melting off his skull. What happened to the awesome bat themed costume on the cover? It had a great mix of Salem witch hunt and Batman and looked fantastic, it's a shame we didn't get to see it anywhere in the story.

Now I hate, hate, HATE having a go at comic book artists (I'm fine with attacking writers) because I know I'll never be able to do what they do. It seems any drawing talent I once had has eradicated itself from my body, who knows how many times I've tried to draw Iron Fist and failed miserably, but I also hate seeing artwork that ruins the characters in a story. With Yanick Paquette taking over art duties next issue, all I can do is hope that 'The Return of Bruce Wayne' develops into a great little miniseries and doesn't kill my interest in DC stone dead.

Review: Secret Avengers #1

Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Mike Deodato

Well, I just put it down and I feel like I need to read it again. Maybe after I post this.

'Secret Avengers' is another series that has spun out of 'Siege', and unlike 'The Avengers' isn't a return to the norm in a sense. The newly formed team is run by Steve Rogers (former Captain America, current Steve Rogers) and includes the Black Widow (Natalia Romanova), Beast, War Machine, Moon Knight, Valkyrie, Nova and Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady), with Sharon Carter (Ex- S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent/former hypnotised murderer of Captain America) in a consultancy position. Now, to me, almost half the team are heroes I don't really no much about. Beast i've read some of in Joss Whedon's 'Astonishing X-Men', War Machine guest starring in Matt Fration's 'The Invincible Iron Man' and everybody knows the Black Widow and Captain America; but Ant-Man, Moon Knight, Valkyrie and Nova are relatively new characters in my eyes. While this leaves me in something of an uncomfortable position, I'm also kind of excited to see how they operate in a team environment. It might even inspire me to look into their titles.

Our story begins in Dubai, with the eveil energy corporation Roxxon in possession of something obviously dangerous, and after Valkyrie blows the mission, we find out it's a crown with tentacles that as Beast says seems to only move between moments. Weeping Angels, anyone?

From then on we get to see the different elements of the team coming together. Beast as their scientist, Black Widow on espionage, War Machine for firepower and as a pilot, Ant-Man and Moon Knight as infiltration and Nova as their off planet powerhouse/spy/possessor of cool helmet. Now everything isn't going super smoothly as the Shadow Council begins to follow our Avengers as soon as they leave with the creepy artifact, and Nova, as Steve tells us, has dropped out of communication on Mars after trying to find out what Roxxon is doing up there. So as Nova is consumed by another creepy snake/octopus crown thing, and Sharon Carter is attacked by the Shadow Council (whose leader looks like Nick Fury?), issue #1 closes and leaves me wanting more. now I just need to make it a month to get my fix...

Secret Avengers, the concept is viable enough, an Avengers team formed off the radar to handle pre-emptive strikes against enemy forces. Sounds good to me. But why are they going to Mars? The leap that was taken in this first issue definately surprised me, I was expecting a pretty simple 'let's show the reader what these guys can do to protect us' storyline, not to say that it hasn't piqued my interest. Ed Brubaker has achieved immense success with his 'Captain America' and 'Daredevil' (and 'Immortal Iron Fist') and obviously Marvel thinks he can handle his own team of Avengers, and I have to agree. While I have yet to see the individual power sets of some of the characters, the already established heroes seem in form (Brubaker should be able to write Steve and Sharon), except for Valkyrie's outburst. Isn't a black ops team all about seamless deception/inception/extraction? If she's going to be that volatile every adventure, Steve might want to rethink her as a team member.

Mike Deodato's artwork... I can take it or leave it. Having experienced it in 'Dark Avengers' I wasn't really expecting much, his renderings of the characters sort of freak me out. It's hard to explain but in some scenes they just look too plastic. Black Widow and Valkyrie's lips look like they're about to leap off their faces at some points. Some panels are fine, others make me squirm. Sorry Mike Deodato, but once again I want to see Oliver Coipel handle an Avengers title.

In summery, I was really happy to read this issue of what will no doubt be a very popular title. With a strong cast, and the talents of Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato at the helm, i'm looking forward to the future adventures of the Secret Avengers.

The Winter Guard: Perils of a Russian Superteam

In the cold Siberian wastes of Mother Russia, one team and one team alone stands in the face of all that is wrong and against the country's interests: The Winter Guard!


With the current roster including the seventh Red Guardian (Russia's answer to Captain America), Ursa Major, the third Darkstar and the thriteenth Crimson Dynamo (essentially the Russian Iron Man), one things does make me wonder. Why would you join a team with such a high rate of turnover? Oh yes, and death?

In his interview with CBR, writer David Gallaher said, "They're Russia's GI Joe, essentially. Russia's got other super human teams, but these are the top guys. These are the guys that, when they show up, everything stops. It's like, 'Holy crap. It's the Winter Guard. We're in big trouble.' I think Russia wants their heroes to feel immortal. They want their heroes to feel proud and everlasting. With the Winter Guard, there is no case to set a better example by. As opposed to our heroes - like Captain America who got assassinated or the X-Men who die on a regular basis - in Russia's mind, their heroes never die."

Personally, I'm a big fan of Russia, especially the Soviet Union. I wish I could speak Russian so I could sit on the tram into the city and pretend to be a spy, but that's my cross to bear. Now I know Stalin was a bit of a complete maniac, but something about the sense of perseverance and solidarity of Russia and its people really draws me in. And who doesn't love a bear on a superteam? I've never encountered the Winter Guard in my comics reading before (except for the former Crimson Dynamo in The Invincible Iron Man), but i'm certainly looking forward to getting to know them in the coming months.

The new three issue mini-series Darkstar and the Winter Guard, written by Gallaher and illustrated by Steve Ellis, comes out June 3rd.

Is Wonder Man the last Avenger? [UPDATED]

After reading issue #1 of the new Avengers ongoing today, I'm wondering who the final member of the team is. Just before Kang appears to warn the Avengers, Tony Stark asks if 'This is everybody?', with Steve Rogers replying that it isn't and then'I thought he'd show'.

Now earlier in the issue Steve Rogers had gone to recruit Wonder Man (Simon Williams) with litlle success, as the former Avenger told him that all the recent problems in their universe occured because of some instance of the Avengers trying to reform. Steve left hoping that Simon would change his mind, and Wonder Man noted that if Steve didn't change his own view, Wonder Man would. Now with the preview of next issue showing an image of Wonder Man attacking the newly formed team, the theory that he will join them seems less likely, but who really knows?

And if it isn't Wonder Man, could it be Iron Fist? I know I'm hoping it is. Any compelling evidence? Iron Fist's appearance in the two page spread showing many other members of new Avengers affiliated teams (New Avengers, Secret Avengers and Avengers Academy), and the Avenger's children. One of the boys is of African American decent (and with Danny Rand and Misty Knight expecting a child...), and he seems to be in a fighter's stance. If he isn't an Avenger, I can only imagine him as a New Avenger (since he's already appeared on the solicit cover for issue #3 of New Avengers).

Oh yeh, bought two more Immortal Iron Fist back issues today. Ka-ching.

NEWS FLASH BUT NOT REALLY

I just discovered after reading CBR's review of Avengers #1, that the Avenger's children or 'Next Avengers' have been in their own direct to DVD animated movie. Checking the Wikipedia page for the film, I discovered that the child I was hoping was the son of Iron Fist and Misty Knight is actually the son of Storm and the Black Panther. Oh well, there's still a chance Iron Fist will be a New Avenger. Fingers are still crossed.

Review: The Immortal Iron Fist, issue 7 'The Story of the Iron Fist Wu Ao-Shi: The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay'

Story by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction
Pencils by Travel Foreman, Leandro Fernandez and Khari Evans

Bet you thought i'd forgotten didn't you?

As I went to the comic shop to purchase my monthly comics last Wednesday, my lovely friend... let's call her... Rebecca Petraitis, pointed out IMMORTAL IRON FIST BACK ISSUES. Enter my Kryptonite. Of course, getting a mint copy of issue 7 jolted my mind into remembering to write these reviews, so here we go.

Once again, issue 7 is scripted by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction, but has a trio of artists employed to handle the pencils. Travel Foreman takes care of pages 1 to 6, Leandro Fernandez wrestles 7 to 13 and Khari Evans wraps up the issue with pages 14 to 22. All colours are beautifully added by Dan Brown.

Besides the insight we got into Orson Randall's tenure as the Iron Fist in the first arc, this issue gives us our first story of another member of the 66 people who possessed the chi of Shao-Lao before Danny Rand. Wu Ao-Shi grew up in Kun-Lun and might not have made it past the age of 10 if not for the intervention of the Thunderer, and why did he? All we get is he saw something in her, and for me that's all I need. That's how much I love the character of the Iron Fist.

This story gives us something we don't see much in the series, a love story, and Brubaker and Fraction handle it tremendously. The mystery surrounding her husband finding two perfect silver rings while gutting a fish is just the kind of things we expect from Eastern fables, and it does't detract from the martial arts madness in the slightest. As the writers note, Wu Ao-Shi defeated Shao-Lao faster than any challenger before her (girl power, am I right?), but can never forget the fact that her husband chose to leave her as he could never bear to lose her to the fate of an Iron Fist: Death.

As she leaves K'un-Lun to search for her beloved, the action only intensifies as she chooses to become a mercenary to fund her search. Wu is a very ruthless character, and knows what she wants, something that many of the Iron Fist's seem to possess as well. She proves herself a capable martial artist by defeating the pirates who occupy Pinghai Bay (where have I heard that before...), and an important element to the legacy of the Iron Fist; the first person to charge a held weapon with the chi of Shao-Lao, in her case firing arrows from a bow to blow up enemy ships. Yes, blow up enemy ships. Take a look at Orson's Gun Fu for further examples.

The writing of this issue is really witty and quick, a trademark of the series. It never forgets its humour as the story progresses, no matter how dark it gets. The artwork for this issue is fantasticly graceful, and the cover is simply stunning. The colours in this issue blend vibrants with subdued, and David Aja's design for Wu Ao-Shi and her costume is great. Not only does the traditional green/gold colouration and mark of Shao-Lao, but Wu's eye make-up mimics the scar Iron Fist Bei Ming-Tian received from the famous dragon, further tying the Iron Fist legacy together.

In closing, a great issue, almost a one shot but one that ties in with the overall continuity and run. it almost makes my mind explode. Rush out and get this comic, it is well, well worth it. Now!

My Comics for the Month of May, 2010 [UPDATED]

It's finally happened. I've gone over to the dark side. I've gone full nerd. I've started buying comics monthly.

Already i've got my entire year planned, yet in no other way than which comics are coming out for which month of the year. And it breaks my heart. Truthfully I had to restrain myself, the Heroic Age (which I think fully justifies capital letters) is just about here, everything is right in the Marvel Universe once more. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad. No more Green Goblin running a worldwide security task force; how the president of the United States ever let that one slide I will never know.

And so we come back to probably the biggest hoo-hah in something nearing a decade. The Avengers are back. Not the New Avengers, not the Mighty Avengers, and thankfully not the Dark Avengers. The REAL Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man; the triumviate of awesome are back at the helm of the heroes, and everything just feels right (except maybe for the fact Bucky Barnes is wielding the shield and not Steve Rogers, but we'll get into that at another point in the near future).

So here I am, humbly awating the 19th of May, when Avengers #1 hits stores (theoretically), and i'm excited. Genuinely excited. Hawkeye, my 3rd favourite comics character, is coming back AS HAWKEYE mind you, not Ronin, Goliath or some kind of Clint Bartron (a robot, obviously). No; Clint Barton, the original Hawkeye is back and not only back with the Avengers, he's back with Mockingbird. Naww. Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1 hits shelves in June, and yes, i'm excited.

So, onto business, my picks for this month. This is going to bankrupt me, I just know it:

Angel #32 - Last issue we got to see Illyria bust the titular hero out of his plaster and reinforced steel body-cast, and now he's asking where his son is, what's been done with his blood and for a pair of pants. Bill Willingham has been providing some quality writing for his stint, and the artwork is really fantastic. I've often complained about IDW's seemingly odd choice of 'Angel' illustrators, but finally Brian Denham has provided what I was desperately hoping for: artwork that actually looks like the actors from the tv series! Talk about taking a page out of Dark Horse's book.

Angel: Barbary Coast #2 - David Tischman is helping IDW provide us with yet another 'Angel' miniseries, and this one is shaping up to be pretty good ('Angel: Only Human' never really did it for me, might have been having Illyria and Gunn as the leads...). In issue #1, we found Angel brooding about in San Fransico, looking for a Chinese medicine man to remove his soul so he could become a killing machine without the guilt. Isn't that what we all strive to be, really? last issue also left us with a bit of a puzzler, everything seemed to be okay until a mysterious woman of the Orient flashed the twins at our favourite vampire, and knocked him down with the magical crucifix on her chest. I know I want answers. Franco Urru provides the reliable artwork, which many readers will recognise from earlier installments of 'Angel' as well as 'Spike: After the Fall'.

Avengers #1 - The Avengers are back! Yay! Everything is good again, until Kang turns up and ruins the world. Again. Bastard. With a new line up of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and maybe more Assemble! and take on all the evil that's thrown at them. Eisner award winning, superstar writer Brian Michael Bendis is going to take the team all over the place and defend you, me and everyone else for quite some time to come, I cetainly hope. John Romita Jr. is handling the art for the revived series and ha proven himself to be a capable artist time and time again. Personally I wouldn't have chosen him to illustrate a series with the kind of gravity that the Avengers have (I've always felt his artwork is a bit cartoony) and would have opted for someone like Oliver Coipel, but this is the series that could, and probably will, prove me wrong. I know I want the Romita Jr. cover for my #1.

Avengers: The Origin #2 - A good little miniseries that helps to explain how the Avengers first came together to deal with Loki, Thor's evil half-brother. Stars Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, The Wasp and Ant-Man (What?! No Captain America?! no, he got defrosted later) as well as a guest appearance from Rick Jones, singer, songwriter, sidekick. Written by Joe Casey and with artwork by Phil Noto, this miniseries is great fro younger Avengers fans who may be in the dark about how the team came together. or ASSEMBLED! heh...

Black Widow #2 - Welcome to the Soviet Union, we hope you enjoy your stay. 'Black Widow' is the new ongoing series featuring everyone's favourite Russian ex-pat, Natalia Romanova. Marjorie Liu spins us a tale of communist hijinks as someone is after the Black Widow (more specifically, something in her stomach), and they almost killed her to get it. We had get appearances from Captain America (the Bucky Barnes version, currently her b-b-b-b-boyfriend), Tony Stark and Wolverine in issue #1, and now Natalia's out for some answers in issue #2. I'm really enjoying Daniel Acuna's artwork for this series, his cover for issue #1 was fanstatic, combining lots of red (yay soviet union) with some old allies and espionage themes. I will kill for the variant cover of issue #2, it's awesome.

Daredevil: Cage Match #1 (one-shot) - Andy Diggle has described this one-shot as a fun little side story, basically, who would win is Luke Cage fought Daredevil, all I can say is I think we needed a lighthearted Daredevil yarn after everything he's been through lately. But htis could also be the downfall of Diggle, are people used to a much darker, more realistic portrayal of Daredevil thanks to the fantastic runs of Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker? Is there room for magic and sparring matches in Diggle's work? Only time will tell. Personally I think he is doing very well, and there's always going to be a very discerning eye on a new writer when a critically acclaimed run ends. Good luck Andy Diggle, i'll still buy your comic books. This one-shot bridges the month long gap we get between Daredevil #506 and #507 to give us a taste of our friend from Hell's Kitchen and keep us from tearing apart our own cities out of boredom. So far it's working.

Heroic Age: Prince of Power #1 - Something I forgot to add on this list the first time around, is the first issue of this 4 part limited series. Amadeus Cho is one of those great characters that started as sidekick and is now blossoming into a hero in his own right. After recently losing his best friend in the form of The Incredible Hercules, Amadeus has been tipped by Athena (Herc's cunning sister) to be the greatest hero of the new age. As the seventh smartest person on the planet and a fiercely loyal friend, Cho is a great lead for his own miniseries and I can only hope that his search for Hercules and his little sister goes well.

New Avengers: Luke Cage #2 - Luke Cage. Hero for Hire. Dad. Thunderbolts leader. New Avenger.
Another miniseries form Marvel, this time a three parter, chronicling a side story of Luke returning to Harlem to investigate why one of his old proteges is in hospital, nearly beaten to death, and yet saying he deserves worse. This miniseries is chock full of guest stars such as Spider-Man, Ronin, Jessica Jones, Mr. Negative, Hammerhead and the Hippo. BUT WHERE THE HELL IS IRON FIST?! HE'S LIKE, CAGE'S BEST FRIEND!!
I'm sure he'll pop up soon. He better... John Arcudi is writing this mother, with Eric Canete providng the artwork. I really like the rough style he uses to portray the characters, especially being able to see Spider-Man's nose in the mask. I always wondered where that thing went. Oh yeah, tigers!

Siege #4 - This is it folks, the final chapter. The Sentry/Void has ripped Asgard a new one and it's put up or shut up time for the Marvel Universe's heroes. Brian Michael Bendis has handled this Event miniseries spectaculary, every issue has had you wondering what the final result is going to be, although all the Heroic Age images and teasers kind of make it obvious that the good guys win, as usual. Oliver Coipel, I love your artwork, I mean who can deny that seeing Ares get ripped in half, way back in Siege #2, was awesome? Well, maybe Alex from the Secret Warriors, but still. Where is Iron Fist during all this though? He may not be the most powerful hero out there but look at the Hood's losers, they still made it to the fight. Anyway, this issue is the last and final one of Siege, despite a few one-shots and miniseries wrapping things up in the coming months, so be sure to check it out.

Well, that's all for May of 2010, look out for this segment again in June. Hopefully something Iron Fist related will have surfaced by then...

First Look: Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Well, yesterday we were given our first promotional image of former 'Home and Away' star Chris Hemsworth as the Marvel comics incarnation of Thor, and here it is.



My personal thoughts: thank the All-Father they went with the new Olivier Coipel design of Thor's costume. Call me old fashioned, but the sleeveless number made famous in yesteryear just wouldn't have worked on the big screen. It's a shame we don't get to see Thor's helmet though, like Mjolnir and his cape, Thor's helmet is an integral part of the costume. The chainmail sleeves look great, but i'm not crazy about the stubble. Thor, generally, has always been clean shaven but we'll have to wait and see what Kenneth Branagh has in store for us.

'Thor' will be released in cinemas next year along with 'Captain America: The First Avenger', as Marvel Studios charge towards the much anticipated 'Avengers' movie.