More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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Note: the first part of this article was written about 5 hours after the now infamous ‘Avengers Avenged’ blog was posted. A followup reaction to the strong reactions posted over the next twelve hours is attached at the end.

I woke up to this link of a comic fan at Wizard World pranking Rob Liefeld. Thank you, Yellow Hat Guy. Rob Liefeld‘s ridiculous lines are a part of comic book history, and this was a pretty good epic footnote to it.

you are a dick for expressing your views of this creation to the creator in a public setting

To the more eloquent defenders of Liefeld who commented on that link, I understand how you feel about something like this. “Here’s this guy who is pranking a creator at a convention while that creator is trying to work, this is an incredibly rude thing to do.” While it certainly was rude, it’s also a non-violent reaction to art work that inspired an emotional response.

Comics books are an artistic expression, and that expression has formed a community. The artists and writers who create them are exchanging their time, talent, and creative spark for a paycheck that, no matter how large, will never truly repay that creator for those moments of self-perceived genius they feel for getting the wording just right or the lines just so.

Readers are on exactly the opposite end of this. They cough up their paychecks to follow their favorite characters and stories every month, hoping to be inspired, tickled, and moved by the contents of these pages. Their entire goal is to have an emotionally charged opinion about about an issue.

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Despite a small (and rather sad) contingency of Marvel people at this year’s Chicago Comic-Con (you may know this as Wizard World Chicago), there are still a couple of Marvel panels to report on. The first of which happened on Friday afternoon – the Marvel Ultimate Panel – involving news and discussion of the Marvel Ultimate Comics line. In attendance were Jim McCann, Marvel’s PR guru, Lauren Sankovitch, Associate editor (formerly with the Ultimate line), Mark Paniccia, Ultimate line editor, and Mark Millar, writer of many Ultimate books and co-creator of the Ultimate Universe.

The panel started a little late, as Millar walked in and said that he was “taking a poo”. To which McCann replied that they are only 3 minutes late, like many of their books. This pretty much set the tone for the rest of the panel, which was as much filled with witty banter as with actual news on the Ultimate U.

As the laughter died down, McCann said that this is the first panel where they can actually talk about a lot of the Ultimate stuff, now that Ultimatum #5 has finally shipped. The first book coming out with be, as many of you know, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man this Wednesday. Paniccia said that these are his favorite books and Sankovitch said that they are resetting the bar even higher now after Ultimatum. The panel members said look for some huge surprises in Spider-Man from the very first issue. There was also a general praise for David LaFuente’s art on the book.

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Captain America #50 Cover

I’d like to preface my review of Captain America #50 by stating that I not only love what Ed Brubaker has done with Captain America, but I pretty much love everything that Brubaker does. I can’t say for certain, but I’m pretty sure I am buying everything that the man puts out right now. As you’d expect, I was stoked for Captain America to come out this week. Yeah, it’s a landmark issue at #50, but I didn’t expect it to be too mind-blowing, as the Cap crew will be celebrating the 600th issue next month. Still, despite Brubaker likely saving up his best for June’s big issue, I still expected 50 to continue in the great tradition of Brubaker’s run. Not only that, but at $3.99 with a few extra pages, issue 50 appeared to be a nice, big, juicy Bucky-Cap adventure. Sadly, I was gravely disappointed almost from the first frame.

I’ll tell you why Brubaker failed to impress after the break.

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After a long hiatus (sorry about that), I’m finally back to bring you more previews of solicited comic books. This time, I’m showing you what to look forward to in August. And boy, is there a lot to be excited for. It seems like the comic book publishers decided that they wanted to get in on the summer blockbuster action and decided to pull out all the stops in August. Some of the biggest titles of the year look to be coming out, so let me break down some of the big ones to keep an eye on.

The Marvels Project #1

The Marvels Project is likely to be the biggest Marvel comic this year, if not the biggest comic of the year period. While Blackest Night over in DC land might overshadow it slightly, The Marvels Project is likely to be the critically acclaimed hit of the year. Much like the smaller, more story-based movie compared to the summer blockbuster, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting are celebrating Marvel’s 70th anniversary in style, by retelling the origin story of the entire universe! With talent this great and a story to match, how could you not be excited to see what is in store from this limited series?

Batman: The Widening Gyre #1

While much of the DC fanbase will have their eyes turned towards the previously mentioned Blackest Night event, a little Batman book by acclaimed writer Kevin Smith is set to hit the stands. Set to be a 12-issue maxi-series, Widening Gyre will be 2 6-issue story arcs, separated by a 3 month publishing gap. According to Smith himself, the 3 month gap will allow him to start writing an on-going series about one of the characters he will introduce in Gyre. While some might be skeptical about whether the often-late Smith can really pull out this much writing, I have faith and hope, cause this sounds like a great series from one of comic’s top writers.

Daredevil #500

Nothing shouts “70th anniversary” like milestone issues. And dammit if Marvel hasn’t had their share of them this year. From Thor to Cap to Hulk to the up-coming Amazing Spider-Man, this has been the year of landmark issues (and the return to the original numbering). Add to that list Daredevil, which will hit issue 500 this August. What Brubaker has in store for us is anyone’s guess, but it is sure to be a doozey as he ends his legendary run on Daredevil and passes the reigns over to the capable Andy Diggle.

Incredible Hulk #601

Ok, so this isn’t a milestone issue, but the one after, so what gives? Why is this so exciting? Well, I’ll tell you. Greg Pak is returning to Hulk. Yeah, Jeph Loeb is still going to be fucking up the beloved character over in the Hulk book, but hopefully Greg Pak, the man who brought us the amazing Planet Hulk, can restore the green giant to his former glory.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 and Avengers #1

Speaking of Jeph Loeb fucking up beloved things, Marvel’s Ultimate line relaunches as Ultimate Comics in August with the debut of Spider-Man and Avengers. Fan-favorite Brian Michael Bendis continues his outstanding work with Spidy in the Ultimate universe (though, it might not be Peter Parker, if Loeb has anything to do about it). And even better, universe co-creator and certified badass Mark Millar returns to the Ultimate Line with Avengers, a book which is set to focus on groups or characters in the Ultimate universe (no, this is not replacing Ultimates). Millar has stated that each arc of Avengers will be like a mini-events, so this will be a book to watch. Honestly, I’m pissed at what Loeb is doing to my beloved Ultimates line and I disagree with the “relaunch” and renumbering, but with any luck, we’ll survive this editorial mistake and still have a good universe to enjoy.

Blackest Night: Superman, Batman and Titans

With Blackest Night starting in July, DC is set to start releasing their tie-ins to the universe-altering event in August. Can’t say I’m all too excited about the Superman or Titans tie-ins but Batman should be a book to watch. Not only is it written by the great Peter J. Tomasi, but it might just feature the supposedly dead Bruce Wayne as a Black Lantern. We’ll see when the series launches in August, but those following Blackest Night will probably want to pick up at least 1 of these tie-ins.

Amazing Spider-Man #601, #602 and #603

Coming off their own landmark 600 issue, the ASM crew is not slowing down. Starting at issue 601, Mary Jane is back!!! As a huge fan of MJ and one of many who were sorely disappointed at the breakup of one of comic’s most beloved couples, it is great to see that the Spidy writers are finally bringing her back. Likely, she will not be a romantic interest in Peter Parker’s life (at least not right away), but at least she’s back in the fold and the possibility is there. Here’s hoping we also get some more answers about what exactly Mephisto did at the end of One More Day.

Fantastic Four #570

Last but not least (seriously, any other month, an issue like this would be at the top of things to look forward to) is Fantastic Four #570. Why’s this such a big deal? Well, that would be because writer Jonathan Hickman is taking over the writing duties on Marvel’s first family. Not only has Hickman proven himself to be a great writer with his indie work and his outstanding work on Secret Warriors, he’s proven that he can writer the Fantastic Four like nobody’s business with his work on Dark Reign: Fantastic Four. I, for one, am looking forward to him bringing his unique voice to FF and hopefully continuing Mark Millar’s work at bringing the Fantastic Four back to the top of the Marvel line.

War Machine #2 Cover

Alright, so I’m a little late on this one. Various factors have lead to me being a little behind on comics these last few weeks. Given that, I didn’t really intend to review War Machine #2. Then I read it and decided I needed to vent.

Why the frustration? Well, when I heard that War Machine (aka James Rhodes) was getting his own title, I was pretty excited. I can’t say that I really knew much about War Machine, but I like to see a secondary character given the chance to shine in his/her own title. Then we got a little preview of what an all War Machine title would be like when Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D was turned over to War Machine for a couple issues during Secret Invasion. And frankly, it wasn’t good. But still, I held out hope. Christos Gage wrote the Secret Invasion arc and Greg Pak would be penning the on-going, so I thought maybe Pak would speak through the character better. Just take a look and what he and Fred Van Lente have managed to do with Incredible Hercules. Unfortunately, through 2 issues, I can’t say that Pak has managed to find his voice.

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Ultimate Hulk Annual Cover

Over the past few months, Marvel has been pushing out a bunch of Ultimate annuals to prepare its readers for Ultimatum. These annuals have been of varying quality. Spider-Man and Fantastic Four/X-Men annuals were pretty decent. Ultimate Captain America annual was… well… not. The much delayed Ultimate Hulk Annual came out this week and is, unfortunately, grouped into the latter category. Apparently Jeph Loeb‘s annuals… well… suck. One would think that the writer for Ultimatum would write better tie-ins, but that’s a complaint for another post.

The Ultimate Hulk annual actually seems to focus much more on Zarda, Power Princess herself, of Squadron Supreme. The beginning of the issue focuses on Captain America’s analysis to Tony Stark about whether she is cut out to be on the Ultimates or not. The rest of the issue features her encountering and fighting in the Hulk.

Click through for the rest of my review.

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Incognito #1 Cover

This week marked the release of a comic that I have been waiting for since solicitations for December came out more than 3 months ago. It’s a book that is written by Ed Brubaker, one of the finest writers in the business today. Mix him in with Sean Phillips, who is easily the best pulp artist working and you have a sure-fire win. This is the creative team that are behind such great books as Sleeper and Criminal. But now, they bring you Incognito. And let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.

The hero (or should I say anti-hero) of our little tale is Zack Andersen, who was formally known as Zack Overkill, a terrorist super-villain who has been in the witness protection program for 3 years after testifying against his former boss, The Black Death, to put him behind bars. Now, Zack struggles to live a normal life, taking drugs from the government to suppress his superhuman abilities. As you can imagine, he is less than satisfied with his life and when he finds out that taking illegal drugs counteracts the drugs the government has been giving him, he starts to feel the power of his former… well, power… again. More reviewing after the break.

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The holidays are, for the miserable, a time for reflection. Usually, this time is spent looking back on the circumstances of their misery. My own booze-soaked reverie finally rolled from past loves to comics, and boy was my time well spent.

Spider-Man’s red-haired, green-eyed wife became Mephisto’s bride. Cap’s dead, Bruce Wayne is probably dead, Superman is no longer unique and special. Green Arrow has the most masturbatory book in existence; a Moon Knight book still exists. Wonder Woman is dating a frat boy. Emma Frost is evil, not evil, and confused about whether or not she is evil, and there have been enough Wolverine one-shots to effectively make a new series…

But hey, at least the Wasp is dead.

Directing one’s attention to past issues and plot threads can make one wistful for what might have been. Fortunately, Marvel has a tradition of offering that very thing, if only as an equally wistful possibility that never was.

Unfortunately, it has most recently taken the form of What If? Fallen Son.

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It seems to happen every year. All your favorite comics start ramping up their storylines. Something big is coming. They are all leading to something. The big summer event! And, like moths to the flame, we get extremely excited about the upcoming crossover in our favorite universe. Finally, all our beloved characters join together to fight a common threat and we flock to the comic shops to pick up endless tie-ins.

And then, 4 months later, suddenly, our passion for this event, this amazing, life-changing book that will forever alter the comic world forever, dies and we are left wondering when this epic story will end and we can get back to loving our comics again. This, my friends, is what we call event fatigue and it can happen to the best of us.

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