Weekly Comic Review – 3/16/11
Another week down and it’s time for my review. I’m even including one issue that I missed picking up last week. I’ll start off with that one.
Venom #1 – I was a fan of the Venom mini-series from the mid-1990s. It was interesting to see him as a vigilante. When I heard there was a new series coming up, I was intrigued. The look n the pictured released by Marvel to hype the book was definitely different from how we’ve seen Venom so long. The identity of the new host wasn’t revealed though. It ends up that the new host is now paraplegic long-time cast member Flash Thompson. He’s secretly working as part of the military “Operation Venom” where exposure to the symbiote is limited to keep it from taking control. When Flash’s temper gets out of control, you see the costume take on it’s more traditional form. It’s an interesting concept though I don’t see myself reading it regularly.
And now onto the current week.
Adventure Comics #524 – After last issue, Duplicate Girl chastises the entire team and grounds them. So, obviously, they all (except for Variable Lad) head off planet to Chemical Kid’s home where they get n a whole load of trouble. There’s even a cameo by the academy’s “senior class” (how long have they been in there?) including Nightwind and Crystal Kid. Hopefully the future of these long term academy members will be revealed soon.
Avengers Academy #11 – It’s the return of Korvac as Veil messes up yet again. The big guns come in to take on Korvac whole the academy members protect his wife — which proves unnecessary. It turns out that the real solution to Korvac is the Avengers in training. Looks like we have a peek coming of what the future hold for our little team.
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – Young Avengers #1 – This is a one-shot to fill in to show what led Iron Lad to appear back in the present. We get a view of the future of the Young Avengers as well as a flashback to the early days when the boys first got together. This story leads back into issue #5 of the mini-series. As usual, any Young Avengers stuff seems to take forever and the next issue isn’t out until next month.
Brightest Day #22 – This is an all Firestorm issue as he fights the Anti-Monitor and the Black Lanterns for possession of the White Lantern battery. With the loss of one of the main characters of this storyline, Ronnie finally reaches the point to get his life back and escapes with the lantern only to run into Deadman. Hopefully this will turn out better than the other encounters. Only a couple issues left to see what happens with Firestorm, the other returned characters who haven’t had their life returned, and those the white ring killed. Other than re-killing the other characters and introducing Aqualad, not much of substance has come from this so far.
Charmed #8 – Paige saves an innocent’s baby and takes it home. A battle with the new big bad and her minions leads to the revelation of her identity.
DC Universe Legacies #10 – The final stretch of the DC Universe history is explained as we finally find out who he was talking to — a nursing home attendant. Far from impressive. The backup story revolves around the Blue Beetle.
Marvel Zombies Supreme #2 – Hyperion the zombie explores the world looking for his version of fast food. We get a parody of the whole Superman thing (even taking place in Kansas) leading up to a battle with a really lame super-group, most of whom don’t survive. And to top it off… the return of Jack of Hearts!
Thunderstrike #4 – Mongog attacks searching for Thor but only tracking the source of Thunderstrike’s power. Kevin learns that to be a real hero, he has to be himself and reinvents his look yet again. I was expecting the look from the M2 universe but it’s totally different but still kind of cool. The Avengers come to help takke on Mangog in the next issue. I wonder if Thunderstrike will end up joining the Young Avengers.
Overall, it really wasn’t a bad week. There are a number of good books which will make picking the top 3 a little harder but for a good reason for a change. That being said, my top 3 pics this week are Adventure Comics, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – Young Avengers, and Thunderstrike.
