The Pull List

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #629: First of all I would like to say this is something of a personal milestone for me. This is the 100th consecutive issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN I've collected since I started reading this series again. Granted since the series is put out three times a month it isn't a major milestone but it's the longest I've been able to keep up with this series.
Okay, so this month we learn who Captain Universe is and why he has such a hate-on for Juggernaut. Apparently, he was employed in an office when Spidey and Juggy fought their way through it effectively ruining the man's life. So, it's a 'you hurt me I'm going to hurt you' thing.
Another layer was added to Juggy's character here as we see him as a person with a soul rather than a maniac who just destroys everything. After he saves the day, shock to me too, he realizes what he's done to the young man and...apologizes. Very nicely done!
The art is very well done and, well, not really part of The Gauntlet but still a nice story.
We got a special back-up story, at no extra cost(!), featuring Dr. Curt Conners who is better known as The Lizard. Art by Chris Bachalo which I've always enjoyed, and a very nice set up for the Lizard's return in the next issue!

DEADPOOL #22: As DP continues his quest to be a hero he ends up being on a bus in Georgia and the bus gets robbed. Deadpool ends up on the short of of the fight but quickly figures out what's going on and sets out to dish out some justice.
Seems the cops are behind the robberies and have pretty much set things up where they break the law and get away with it.
In the end we had a fairly entertaining issue where Deadpool cracks some decent jokes and, well, it's a pretty typical issue for the character.
Art is alright, a bit boxy but it flows nicely and that's all that matters.
Overall, this felt like a filler issue. Nothing was really accomplished and there isn't a real ongoing story here.
This is something I hope changes very soon with the onset of the Heroic Age.

I really do like the cover though.

FANTASTIC FOUR #578: Alright, things are starting to come together now. A few issues ago an older Franklin Richards showed up to warn Valeria of a war between 4 cities. Over the last few months we've been slowly introduced to 3 of them. This issue introduces the fourth: An all-new Annihilation Wave.
Seems that the wave has taken over the prison that Reed Richards built in the Negative Zone and made it into a city of sorts. That makes this the fourth and final city to be introduced before this war starts.
The series continues to be entertaining and the art is fun and fits the series very well.
It's also nice to have a story that takes a few issues to set things up. I miss that.
And the cover...

How can you not like this cover? It's sweet!

JACK OF FABLES #45: Things come to a head for Jack Frost in this world terrorized by a monster.
First, he isn't terrorizing anything. He just hangs out in his floating station thing and leaves everyone alone.
Second, the witch of the woods who is guiding Jack wants this monster killed because the monster, apparently, dumper her.
Third, the King who wanted Jack to stop the beast set the whole thing up to get money.

This was a fun story, I'm starting to warm up to Jack Frost. It's odd having an actual good guy in this series instead of the asshole that Jack Horner was.
But I miss Jack Horner.

MARVEL ZOMBIES 5 #2 of 5: Machine Man and Howard The Duck end up in the War of the Worlds universe.
This was a fun issue, had a few cool moments and the art is good but this issue seemed like another filler issue.
Maybe it's because I never read the Killraven books and really have no idea who he is and what his deal is but this one just didn't do much for me.
Love the cover though and Machine Man's cracks are top shelf as always!

NEW AVENGERS #64-Final Issue! and THOR #609: Siege! I'm going to do these together since they are both part of the Siege event and neither really had much happen in it. These are filler issues for certain. but I expected it to some extent because SIEGE #4 is coming out soon so these last few Avengers releases will do nothing more than put all the characters in the places they need to be when Siege ends.
In NEW AVENGERS we see that The Hood doesn't have all the control he thinks he has. He loses his powers when Asgard falls and takes off which is what a smart man would do. Where did his powers go? Apparently Captain America, Iron Man and Thor got it. Means they can kick all kinds of ass.
THOR finishes off the Volstagg story and shows the reactions to the fall of Asgard by the Asgardians. It's all coming to a head and these lead in stories to SIEGE #4 have me very excited!

The Pull List

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #628: The Gauntlet continues! It's Spider-Man trying to save Juggernaut from Captain Universe...That sound really backwards to me.
Anyway, here we have Spidey trying to keep people and Juggy safe from a Captain Universe who seems hellbent on killing him. We don't know who this Cap is or why he hates Juggy but the fighting is pretty dang good.
While this isn't really part of the ongoing Gauntlet storyline, I did enjoy the action sequences and the art. Heck, even the cover is fun, kind of reminds me of the covers Marvel used to do back in the 1980's and 90's.
There is a backup story here featuring the recently unemployed Peter Parker who had one of the worst interviews a person could have.
Then again, how could a guy have a good job interview when dressed as Spider-Man and while fighting a rather angry Absorbing Man.
Sadly, Parker didn't get the job and we got a really nice final panel which brought back the early days of the series.

DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #10 of 13: More adventures in the Zombieverse as Deadpool and gang try to figure out a way back to their home universe.
This series is, as you can see, ending with the thirteenth issue which serves as a lead in to the new DEADPOOL CORPS series.
While the book started off pretty fun, I have to admit, Deadpool is starting to get tired from being put in so many books. Perhaps losing this one will help but Marvel is still having a good time pumping this guy into everything they can.
But at least in this issue we found out that A.I.M. Agents are tasty.

DOOMWAR #3 of 6: It's long overdue, this story is.
Alright so this one starts with a recap of everything Doom and Black Panther related starting from the Civil War up to today. I liked this because I'm not a reader of Black Panther's book so I had no real idea how Doom could have gotten to the point he had. thanks to Marvel for working this in.
Now, in this issue we learn about Doom something pretty much what everyone thought for years: Doom doesn't see what he's doing as being wrong or evil, he sees his actions simply as a means to an end. It's not his fault everyone else is to stupid to realize what is going on.
This issue felt like a "take a deep breath because it's all downhill from here" issue. Most of the players are in place and everyone is gearing up for the end of the war against Doom.
Next issue we get the final player: Deadpool!

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #25: Thanos. That's pretty much all you need to say about this issue. Thanos.
Okay, so...here's what we know: The Universal Church Of Truth, now lead my the Magus (called Adam Magus for some reason) had many cocoons. Apparently, for some reason, the goal was to bring back the Mad Titian.
Magus succeeded and Thanos came back only he was feral, insane and out of control. He killed Phyla-Vel without batting an eye and laid waste to the entire planet the Church was located on.
Moondragon, Cosmo and Mantis all tried to access his mind to shut him down but there were powerful blocks.
So, the bulk of this issue is a naked Thanos beating the tar out of anyone who got in his way.
It took the last bit of power in a Cosmic Cube to get the mind right in Thanos. Before being put in a coma he uttered the following: "you...forced me...to live...again...For that...e-everything...d-dies..." Yeah, after years of trying to be at Death's side Thanos finally reached his goal when Drax ripped his heart out at the end of ANNIHILATION. Being forced to live again has pissed the Mad Titan off. The plus is with the gods from the Fault wanting to destroy death i nour universe, Thanos might be the best chance to stop this from happening. Basically, I'm VERY happy to have Thanos back!
Oh, and this cover? I want it on a poster! And speaking of covers that should be posters...

NOVA #36: While the Guardians are dealing with Thanos, Nova has his hands full with the Evil version of the original Quasar and gets a taste of the Gods from the far end of the Fault.
And they are nasty.
It's Nova and Darkhawk fighting to prevent this thing from coming to earth and it's a nasty fight.
Overall, this issue felt like it was a filler, defiantly not one of the better issues of the series but it does help to show the impact of the threat of the Fault and the things that reside in it.
So, next month begins the Thanos Imperative event and both NOVA and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY go on hiatus. I really hope they return as soon as these event is over because I love these books. And, Marvel...PLEASE don't start them over with new #1 issues, that's lame and I'm looking forward to NOVA #50!

SIF: This one-shot follows Lady Sif as she tries to come to terms with being alive again and having her body hijacked by Loki for a long time.
I'm not really sure what the point overall was for having a one-shot but I am liking what I'm seeing from Lady Sif and I hope to see more.
Also, it was nice seeing Beta Ray Bill.
But, really, there isn't much to say about it. Sif is having issues, Beta Ray Bill needs help and she offers to aid him, good fights with freaks in space and we get all this with only the MENTION of the Thunder God himself but Thor does NOT appear in this book at all.
Good for fans of the Thor line but not much here for a casual reader.

The Pull List

Another small week:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: GRIM HUNT - THE KRAVEN SAGA: This ties into the a biggest part of the current Gauntlet storyline running in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
What we have here is a look into the life and times of Kraven The Hunter. It provided excellent filler and some information about the character I honestly didn't know about.
His brother is the Chameleon? I honestly didn't know that.
So, we get a small story where Madame Web tries to contact Spider-Man in order to warm him of the upcoming storm but get caught doing so and the new Kraven apparently tortures her for it.
We get a Saga style retelling of Kraven's life and times which is very informative. I always like the Saga releases. Besides being free they provide excellent liner notes about the lives of characters and groups. The only thing I wish they would also provide is what books these stories appeared in.
Overall, for a free book, this one is very useful and anyone reading Amazing needs to find this. It'll only add to the enjoyment of The Gauntlet!

DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #894: Franken-Castle! Apparently after the son of Wolverine killed the Punisher he was rebuilt as a Frankenmonster by Morbius The Living Vampire.
I'm sure there was a very good reason for it.
But having Morbius living in the sewers again with a bunch of other monsters really doesn't make much sense...especially when some of those monsters are Man-Thing, the Living Mummy and Werewolf By Night (who was recently infected by the Zombie Virus in MARVEL ZOMBIES 4)
Basic run down here: Deadpool is hired to kill Frank by a woman who says he murdered her accountant husband while trying to kill mob bosses. He searches the sewers and locates the cast of Nightbreed and fights Franken-Castle.
Later, he finds out he was duped by the chick and...well, beyond that there really isn't much to talk about with this issue. It's pretty lackluster and nothing really stands out about it.
Other than Franken-Castle is a very stupid idea.

FABLES #94: First thing I want to say is with this issue, FABLES becomes the longest running monthly series I've collected since issue #1. It's a personal milestone that I think is made even better considering I'm also celebrating 20 years collecting comic books.
Now, the story:
It's not bad, which is normal from this series. There hasn't been a bad issue yet. The main part focuses on Rose Red, Snow White's sister, who had something of a breakdown during the war and the death of Boy Blue shortly after.
Seems Sheriff Beast and his wife Beauty think it's a good idea to remove her from her leadership position in the Farm. It does make some sense though, Fabletown was destroyed and the Fables now face the unknown evils of the Mister Dark who seems to be taking over the former Fabletown area of New York City.
Bigby and Snow disagree, they think removing her from leadership will only strain relations in the Farm which are now nearing a breaking point.
Rose, meanwhile, is still in bed, looking very sickly, and still being lectured by the pig head. After the Pig realizes and admits he's not getting anywhere he changes form. First Blue, which was nice to see even though it wasn't really him, then to the mother of Rose and Snow. That got a reaction from Rose and give the lead into next months origin story. This will also lead into the upcoming 100-page FABLES #100!

SIEGE: LOKI: While all hell is coming loose in Asgard one person is missing from the scene: Loki.
This one-shot tells of what Loki is doing and it's very difficult to tell if he's right or wrong.
He apparently really thinks Asgard should NOT be on Earth and he sets up Osborn to attack Asgard. This also brings about the fall of Osborn as he acts without proper permission and thus ends Dark Reign.
He then enslaves a group of Asgardian women who were cast from any Asgardian afterlife because of their hunger for Asgardian flesh. Very creepy looking chicks who were cursed to only be able to feed on the spirits of wandering Asgardian souls. Which is why they haven't eaten in centuries, these souls never wander from Asgard.
He arranges a dead with Mephisto and leases(?) part of his real for 'a thousand and one years' in exchange for ownership over the cannibal spirits for 'a hundred and one days'
So, Loki has secured the return of Hel, realm of Hela but the big question is: Why? Why go through all this trouble? We're to find out very soon in SIEGE #4 of 4 and THOR #609 but it's Loki's response to Mephisto who also questions the god: "This isn't mischief" says Loki, "This is mayhem. Just watch."

Not a bad week for only getting 4 books. I would recommend all but DEADPOOL TEAM-UP this week.

The Pull List

A little late on this one, I'm sorry but here's what I got LAST Wednesday:

CINDERELLA: FROM FABLE TOWN WITH LOVE #6 of 6: I loved this miniseries! I really hope they work more minis with other characters from the FABLES series.
This issue wraps up the mystery of who was trading Mundy weaponry for magical items. Cinderella and Aladdin end up in a small kingdom in the Homelands where the new ruler has outlawed being anything but happy.
So, who is the villain? Cinderella's Fairy Godmother(!) and she isn't as nice as we thought. Apparently, she got sick of her powers being weakened to the point where her spells fade at Midnight.
So, to fix this problem she took over a small Kingdom called Ultima Thule where the sun sets and it's dark for a very long time. As Cindy says, Midnight comes only once a year.
So, after a quick origin of Fairy Godmother Cindy decides to bring it all down. She uses her final animal friend, Dickory (Hickory, Dickory Dock...) who runs up the clock and the clock strikes one...
Fairy Godmother loses her powers and instead of killing her and she should, Cindy instead hands her over to the poor people she terrorized for a long time.
Great series and, just like FABLES, filled with great art and some of the best covers in comics.

DEADPOOL CORPS #1: Alright, I'm a pretty big fan of Deadpool. I collect all the books he currently has and I was kind of excited about this one mainly because of the involvement of the Elders of the Universe. I love these guys, each is a dick in his own special way.
However...there is ONE major complaint I have about this book which I'll get to in a minute.
Ok, to the story breaks down to Contemplator telling the Deadpool Corps (DPC) about a massive threat that devours the mind much like Galactus devours planets. So, the DPC's first mission is to stop it. The banter between the different versions of Deadpool is alright, there is room for improvement there.
But the confrontation between the DPC and the Elder called Champion was very funny. Although Champion is a little out of character here and very different from the guy who took on Thanos during the THANOS QUEST.
Now, my complaint: Rob Liefeld. Everyone knows I can't STAND this guys 'art' and this issue is no exception. Most artists who start out not so great tend to improve over the years. Most. Liefeld is the exception to that rule. Let me say if he is going to be a long running artist on this series I may just drop it.

MARVEL ZOMBIES 5 #1 of  5: I love Marvel Zombies. This issue is no exception.
So, picking up from MARVEL ZOMBIES 4, we have Machine Man aka Aaron Stack, hopping realities trying to find a cure for the zombie plague.
One thing I like about this is the introduction of the variations of Zombies in the Marvel Universe.
So, Machine Man ends up in an Old West reality tracking down a meteor which creates zombies from ANY dead person regardless how long they've been dead.
Now, this story focuses more on the people who live in this reality that on Aaron. I liked this, it gives you something solid to grasp onto.
When Aaron finally shows up he's right on task, same jokes and same disdain for humans or Fleshies as he calls him. But the truely golden moment was the reveal of his partner during this quest: Howard the Duck! I gotta admit I was just as surprised at this as I was for the Thanos reveal in last months GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.
So, it's Machine Man and Howard The Duck tracking down zombies and looking for a cure and that makes for a GREAT comic! This could very well be the best Marvel Zombies book since the original miniseries!

ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS AVENTURE #3: Let me just say, if you like something different from your zombie comics then you need to track down this series.
You get 3 parts of 3 stories taking place during different times of the Human/Robot vs Zombies War.
Kampf continues the story of a general trying to fight the legions of the undead to protect his wife and make up for the loss of his son and daughter. Though we know his daughter was kill by zombies we don't really know what happened to his son until that last page of this issues installment.
Masques shows how well a janitor does in a Iron Man-type suit while facing the undead. And apparently that isn't very well. He does kill a lot of them but he also takes out a military helicopter and almost takes himself out.
Zuvembies Vs Robots shows a bad situation getting worse as our Witch Doctor creates an even larger army of zombies in hopes of fighting the uncontrolled swarms of the undead in Haiti. It's goes to worse when a group of robots shows up and puts and end to his control...but what happens when voodoo created zombies no longer have someone to control them?