I love comics! Deadpool did indeed kill the Marvel Universe in DEADPOOL KILLS MARVEL UNIVERSE #2 (OF 4). Spiderman. Dead. The Avengers. Dead. Hulk. Dead. And it was actually a darn good read. It was creative, made comic book sense, and the ending was good. But Deadpool did not kill Sabertooth. No, no. That honor went to the Punisher in SPACE PUNISHER #2 (OF 4). Yes, the Punisher is in space. Yes, Sabertooth is in space. And Punisher took down Sabertooth with “Laser Claws to the Chest”. And, yes, that is a quote! 

Nominees! 

AMERICAN VAMPIRE LORD OF NIGHTMARES #3 (OF 5) – That was a gimme. Vertigo had a great week and I will also nominate FAIREST #6 which ended its first story arc real well. Next issue looks to be a one shot set in Hollywood in the 40’s and then a Rapunzel story begins. And PUNK ROCK JESUS #2 (OF 6) which was great. It reads real long. There is so much story. And yet the pace is great. It’s impossible to condense the plot to a couple sentences. There is so much story. My favorite part is that the whole thing is being live cast 24 hours a day and they have 3 billion people tuning in daily! That’s 27 Superbowls worth of viewers! A day!

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #1 – Good start. Set the characters. Set the plot. Had a nice twist at the end. The Valiant books are well worth trying.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #12 – It was the end of Terminus! So sad to see you go. All the Robins teamed up to stop him. But that was not enough. Batman had to put on his augmentation suit (otherwise known as Iron Man armor) to even up the fight. Quick Commissioner Gordon hit them with the Taser Web! Oh, no! Terminus has managed to launch a toxic missile that will kill everyone in Gotham! Quick Batman set your thrusters to maximum and stop that missile! Which of course he does. It was all very exciting. And if you pay close attention, you will notice that after detonating the missile, and detaching himself from his augmentation suit, you will notice that Batman is flying, okay, gliding, across Gothan city and he still hasn’t come down yet! On the Damian front. Dick told him to ease up. He already has an "R" on his chest and gave him a lead pipe. Which I thought was great! As to BATMAN #12, what was up with that? Very odd. And total filler. As to BATGIRL #12, she cried Uncle after one head butt from Batwoman and then got knifed at the end. Did I tell you I love comics? I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried! 

BEFORE WATCHMEN OZYMANDIAS #2 (OF 6) – Okay. There are three books on the list today that I think are worthy of Top Ten book of the month consideration. This is the first. It was fantastic. Ozymandias becomes a Superhero. It was super cool. He’s the smartest (and richest) man in the world and he showed it. Covers years in time. Gets down to a mystery. Whatever happened to Hooded Justice. Thought it was just as good as the first issue. Loved it. Although I do have a qualm. Would have liked to see a little different ending. Thought the wrong character showed up on the last page. Read it up. See what you think. 

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #7 – Conan was Conan. All the positive elements of the first six issues were intact. Did start a new story arc. Stage is just being set. Conan and Belit go to Cimmeria. It’s all good. And MASSIVE #3 also written by Mr. Wood was also good. Just like Conan did, it wrapped up the first story arc with the third issue. Reads well as a set of three and sets the stage for what’s to come. Renewed my confidence.

IDOLIZED #1 – No, this is not one of the three. And I was almost gonna include it just for the cover alone. I love me some Art Adams! And to be honest the cover was the only reason I even attempted to read it. But read it I did. And I liked. It is American Idol for Superheroes. Literally. A girl goes on stage in front of a panel of three judges and explains to them why she should be the next great superhero and join the Powered Protectors! Little bit different way of looking at people with superpowers. And how this world reacts to people with superpowers. Wasn’t cutting edge by any stretch. I did find it very interesting. Ordered a bunch more. I’m gonna make Ken read it. Your welcome to try it out. Heck, you could buy it just for the cover! 

INCREDIBLE HULK #12 – Okay. There are three books on the list today that I think are worthy of Top Ten book of the month consideration. This is the Second. Stop laughing! It was awesome. The Thing and Wolverine team up to fight the Hulk. Of course Wolverine and the Thing are the perfect duo to fight the Hulk. Wolverine was introduced in Incredible Hulk #181 and they have a long history of fights. Ultimate Hulk ripped Ultimate Wolverine in half! And the Thing has fought many legendary battles with the Hulk throughout Marvel history. This was awesome. Not for the fight scenes. They were good. But for the dialogue. Which was awesome. Oops. I said it again. Cause it was. And it was so funny. You really need to read this issue. And to anyone already reading Incredible Hulk we even got closure on Underwater Shark Cannons, Russian Bears in space, and Bruce Banner’s master plan. An awesome issue!

NEW AVENGERS #29 AVX – Mike Deodato’s opening double page spread was enough to get it nominated! As the Marvel Now news gathers steam I’m hearing from a lot of you that you are ready to have Mr. Bendis leave the Avenger books. I understand. This was another sit around a table and talk issue. A classic Bendis issue in every way shape and form. Sorry. I loved it. Especially what Reed Richards had to say.

RESURRECTION MAN #12 – Got killed on the second page! A GCPD police helicopter shot him out of the sky! Then Batman showed up. Then the Justice League showed up. Then Aquaman stuck his trident through Resurrection Man’s back on  page five! Then I thought Darseid was gonna eye blast him on page thirteen. But no. Only two deaths this issue. And it was all a virtual reality simulation anyhow. Boooooo! Only cause I was rooting for twenty! I liked it. Even thought the ending was great. Mitch Shelley finally meets the man he’s been after since issue one. All of the DC books are wrapping up their first year this month. Am actually really looking forward to all the zero issues next month. And believe it or not, I’m really not a violent person…

SPIDER-MEN #4 (OF 5) – Okay. There are three books on the list today that I think are worthy of Top Ten book of the month consideration. This is the third. Wow. Gwen and Aunt May’s reaction to seeing Peter was awesome! You gotta read this. And the pow-wow in the living room between Peter, Gwen and Miles. Wow. You gotta read this. Unless your anti-Bendis then you’re off the hook cause he did his talky thing in the middle. I absolutely loved it. Gwen’s reaction to the situation. Aunt May’s reaction to the situation. It was so well done. Everybody was perfectly in character. Actually thought this issue made the mini-series a must read. It was that good. 

As to the Best Book of the Week. Obviously I think it’s a three horse race between Before Watchmen Ozymandias #2, Spider-Men #4 and Incredible Hulk #12. Any one of them is totally worthy of the honor. But I’m going with Incredible Hulk #12 and it’s gonna be hard pressed to be beat for Best Book of the Month!

See ya!

Rusty