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...