thorstone's Profile

Of course we need a good story with depth, especially with Avengers, and Aaron is well-known for building up his stories, although some slower than others. This has surprisingly been the best arc so far of his run, as each issue has been fairly full of exciting action, but this one takes the cake as a great finish and a template for how awesome and kickass every issue of Avengers should be.

No doubt has this series been intriguing from the get-go. That could be a mixture of it being the follow-up to No Surrender (which was awesome) and the fact that I'm a huge fan of Hercules (who is sorta front-and-center in this), or maybe it's just really good. Ewing, Zub and Waid have done a great job giving each character enough time to have a bit of purpose, so even though this is about the downfall of the Olympians, it's also about each and every Avenger featured here. Up until this issue the whole thing has been simply satisfying, but it has been riding a steady pace, and with this issue it really starts to go on full blast. If you haven't checked out No Road Home yet, now is the time to catch up and do just that, because now it appears it may actually end up better than its predecessor.

It hasn't been since Original Sin that we got an event where certain characters team up that you'd never imagine teaming up. Here, we get Conan and Scarlet Witch. While it could've been handled terribly (and there's even a moment where the writers hint at how aware they are of that), and this particular team-up takes up the good majority of the issue, it still ends up being a really entertaining read, and a rather core issue. When it shifts gears to the other characters in this event, in that brief period of time it ends with perhaps the most pivotal moment of the entire series, one that is the equivalent to Hulk returning in No Surrender.

This is one of the smartest comics I've ever read.

The thing with Ta-Nehisi Coates that I assumed was a one-time thing with Black Panther, but isn't the case because it applies here too, is that, while he creates interesting stories, he seems to have an issue with being vague about his ultimate goal. Yes, it creates a mystery, and ultimately, a hook, but it's somewhat irritating that each issue seems to repeat the same narrative as the one before it. That being said, although I made it seem like a big deal, it is only a small issue I have with this series, as Coates really understands Steve Rogers and is handling him quite well with the aftermath of Secret Empire. Almost everything about this series is compelling, the action, the story, the characters, and so on. It's enough that this will probably go down as a top-tier volume in the Cap library, but I can only hope that it can get somewhere near the scale of significance of previous runs.

It seems like things just keep getting better for Guardians fans. Maybe not for fans of the lineup from the movies that have been the norm in comics for the past 10 years (as that's now a thing of the past after Infinity Wars), but each time we get a new writer, it seems that we get closer and closer to the popular "as good as DnA" level that Guardians comics get judged upon. When Duggan took over, it was definitely a breath of fresh air for the team, but now with Donny Cates in charge, one issue in and we're introduced to one heck of a story and one hell of a new Guardians team that appears to be closer to that level than... well... since DnA. The forced humor we saw in the Bendis era is mostly gone, and this continues Duggan's trend of fixing things from that series as well as raising the stakes and adding a much-needed seriousness, in what is one of the best #1's I've read in a while, as I had high hopes for this series and they were met or exceeded on almost every level. Of course, the final, official, new lineup isn't what many probably expected from the big roster showcased on the cover, but it's still promising enough to guarantee this will be a must-read series.

When I reviewed the first issue in this series, I brought up the fact that Donny Cates could truly be bringing the Guardians back to that level in which all Guardians books are judged: whether or not they match the greatness of the Abnett/Lanning series from over a decade ago. That issue raised my eyebrows with intrigue more than anything else since that time, but one has to always consider that a series can quickly go downhill after a good #1, and the matter of it living up to those standards was still in question. With this issue, I don't believe it is anymore. Not only does it bring back a lot of characters from the Annihilation era (Nova, Gladiator, even Annihilus), but it manages to have the feel of those cosmic events, tie-ins included, within one narrative, which is something I feel a lot of cosmic fans have been wanting for some time. With so many interesting characters, the only downside I can think of is that we may not see more of their story (I would honestly not mind a separate Dark Guardians book), although we are getting a Surfer series, and Wraith's added depth makes it seem like we'll see more of him elsewhere in the future (saying where exactly would be kinda spoilerish). If this series continues to be this good (and I hope/belive it will be), people will later judge future Guardians books on whether or not they match the greatness of the Donny Cates series.

To say the least, just as Hickman and others promised, this issue is one that will be talked about for years to come. I didn't expect I would enjoy this series as much as I have so far. Honestly, I feel like the lack of truly engaging/interesting X-stories in the past few years has made me lose interest in that side of Marvel, to the point that I wasn't expecting this to get me to love X-Men again, but boy was I wrong.

This series is already revolutionizing X-Men (again), and perhaps the Marvel Universe as a whole, but that is a given at this point. What must be acclaimed the most about Hickman's masterful epic is his ability to make us question what we thought we knew about sci-fi elements such as artificial intelligence, dystopian futures, alternate realities/universes, time travel, cloning, resurrection, and memory cataloging (is that what you call it?) and expanding on it in a manner that only the best sci-fi writers of all-time have. And this is a key issue in that expansion, pulling back the curtain a little more on the mystery of this story that's been unraveling over the past month, and ending on one of the highest of high notes. This is a game-changer for one near-irrelevant mutant, while a classic villain finally steps in to join the fun (can you guess who?).

When someone who doesn't read comics says they're "for kids", you show them Immortal Hulk.

Not really a demanding tie-in for Infinity Countdown, but nonetheless it is a great Captain Marvel story, and most importantly, a breath of fresh air for Carol fans who have felt somewhat letdown with the character's portrayal in recent years. The concept within this story of multiple realities (the part "Captain Marvel" fans will like) is excellent. Displaying the potential of the Reality Stone Carol possesses in light of the upcoming Infinity Wars, all of this connects to Carol's insecure personality to show why she's the perfect person to be holding this stone and why we needed a comic about that.

So, I don't seem to have the same things to nag about this issue as others. While some want more of the Wastelands (the Old Man Logan alternate-future version of Earth), I actually wanted the opposite. Sure, I want this taking place in the same future, but I was actually looking forward to a future version of the Guardians NOT on Earth. I just wanted future cosmic Marvel, where there aren't many helping hands from anyone on Earth. It looks like we might see some of that, as we did in this issue, but it looks like they're going straight to Earth, so everyone else is getting exactly what they want. Now, all that aside, as I can't be mad that this isn't what I wanted, what it is is still pretty great. This first issue sets up an interesting story, leaving many questions unanswered already. As a Guardians fan, I'm a sucker for a good writer tackling these characters, especially Quill, and Sacks proved he can handle this world quite well with Old Man Hawkeye, and he looks to continue that streak with this series, so consider me onboard the Milano (even though it crashed).

The series may seem to be moving a little slow at the moment, but it is at least giving us a good dose of action, character moments and cool nods to classic Marvel characters, while also setting us up with enough mystery to make me want to keep reading. As if I wouldn't already, because this is one of Marvel's best alternate realities, and Ethan Sacks has chosen one of the best ways possible to expand on it with this series.

While it's going to be difficult to top House of X #2 in terms of surprises, this is definitely the biigest game-changer so far. While other issues have been jumping back and forth between four timelines, this one stays a hundred years in the future throughout the issue with the remaining X-Men as they infiltrate Nimrod's base. Staying this focused gives us our most emotionally gripping (as well as heartbreaking) chapter yet, since other issues have focused more on exposition and building this world Hickman created. The biggest takeaway from this is that now I have no idea where this is headed now. All in all, you can't say you weren't surprised by the end of this issue.

Equally as devastating as it is entertaining, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's been a while since Sentry was utilized properly in a comic, as he is as risky a character to write as he is a character to exist in the Marvel universe, and I felt Donny Cates was treading dangerous grounds by bringing him back in his Doctor Strange arc, but Jeff Lemire has proven so far he understands Bob Reynolds/Sentry almost as much as Paul Jenkins (who created the character). So far we've been introduced to a very intriguing and fascinating new world in this story, and Lemire turns it into a roller coaster ride that takes turns and jerks your heart with amazing precision. I was very skeptical about this series at first, for reasons I stated already, but with just these two issues it's already my favorite of the "fresh start" titles Marvel has released so far, and unless Lemire ends it perfectly (since it's supposedly only a five-issue mini), I'll be very sad that we're not getting more of this.

So much is to be said about this short yet game-changing story, but I'll keep it short, too. First off, Donny Cates was a steal for Marvel, and it shows when he goes 100% into whatever he's writing. This is a prime example, as it ties in to his biggest contributions to Marvel history from his runs of Venom and Thanos (and probably Thor too when he writes that), but the addition of Tradd Moore on art (while Geoff Shaw and Ryan Stegman are great too) makes all the difference here with his eccentric and uniquely mesmerizing visuals. This truly is a trip of a story that anyone can get sucked into pretty quickly, and although Surfer fans always want more Surfer, this might be the one that actually gets us more Surfer in a way we've deserved for a long time.

Of course it won't take you as long to read this as it will to play the game it's adapted from, as you'll probably be spending hours (like I did) swinging around the city just for the fun of it. This takes all the exciting bits from the game and adds extra touch-ups here and there to provide a cohesive and thrilling story for those who would rather read it than play it. However, if you have played it, you're not missing much and shouldn't be left on the edge of your seat by any cliffhangers, but you know how great the game is, and it's just as much for the story as it is for the gameplay.

Good stories in Marvel's "supernatural" department are hard to come by these days, or stories in that department in general actually. The Spirits of Vengeance mini-series has a lot of entertainment packed into 5 issues, a story almost on the scale of Jason Aaron's "Heaven's on Fire" Ghost Rider epic, except that it's crammed into 5 issues with a very rushed and anti-climactic ending. The artwork is mesmerizing though, and the characters of Johnny Blaze, Daimon Hellstrom and Satana are written very well. As much as I want more Blaze comics, I now want a series following the two children of Satan. However, Blade, the fourth member of this "team," is very under-utilized and felt very pointless on the grand scale of things, aside from maybe one scene that still had little impact on the overall story. I'm a sucker for any Marvel comics dealing with the "occult," although I'll admit when something actually sucks. That isn't the case for this series, though, as I will definitely be adding it to my collection.

A great start for something I'm sure a lot of people were approaching with caution. With there being so many Spider-people in the current Marvel universe, their didn't seem to be much need for a new Superior Spider-Man comic beyond popular demand. However, Christos Gage proves that he means business as this issue does exactly what a #1 issue should do. This feels like a direct continuation of where the last series left off (with everything that happened in between of course), which is a good thing, and promises to take Otto in new directions he couldn't achieve before while stuck in Peter Parker's body/life, which is also a good thing, because this needed to prove it could distance itself from being a second-tier Spider-Man title, and it did just that.

Like many Carnage comics before it, Carnage Born rehashes the history of Cletus Kasady before and after he bonded with his notorious symbiote. And like many Donny Cates comics before it, this one adds to that history to develop the character in ways not seen before. While Cates is usually great at building to a character's history without rewriting aspects of it in ways that will turn away longtime fans, this seems to be a bit of an exception. While it is intriguing as it ties it in with the mythos Cates has built in his Venom series, it is also a bit odd as it ties it in with the mythos Cates has built in his Venom series. There is a lot to be taken away from this issue, as Kasady seems to have more purpose in the big picture than ever before, but, as mentioned before, he is also no longer just the simple psychotic killer he used to be. It will definitely be interesting to see where Cates takes Carnage from here, and anyone who isn't already hooked onto his Venom series should be now as Marvel's most dangerous and deadly villain has been thrown into the mix in a very epic way.

Another stellar entry in this very underrated mini-series. As Marvel seems to be hitting it out of the park with its minis as of late, this is the best one coming right now, and the only disappointing thing about it is that there's only one issue left.

I'm not entirely sure why Wolverine has to be the main hero in this series. Maybe we'll find out later, or maybe Marvel just wanted to make some use of him for the time being. Nevertheless, the story itself is pretty interesting, being a direct spin-off from the so-so Infinity Wars event. This issue in general wasn't anything spectacular (save for the inclusion future Phoenix Logan), but as it seems to be building up to something cool with the new direction of the Infinity Stones, hopefully that's what we'll get.