More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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He's keeping a running tally of all the continuity mistakes...

What has come before: Norman Osborn (formerly the Green Goblin, now the Iron Patriot) pretty much runs America. Clint Barton (formerly Hawkeye, now Ronin) seems to be more upset about this than anyone (even Spider-Man, oddly enough).
This comic dredges up some mixed emotions in me. I’ll get into it further after the break, as there are some spoilers contained herein.

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Mondo Marvel Panel

Hey everyone, Mike here reporting from Chicago. Nick and I covered some panels today, so look out for his DC Nation post sometime soon.

Today, though, I hit up the Mondo Marvel panel featuring Jim McCann, Mark Paniccia, Dan Slott, Jason Aaron, Sean McKeever, Chris Yost and Craig Kyle. There was a little bit of information at this panel, just a bit more than the Ultimate’s panel, but nonetheless it was informative. I took notes on my iPhone so if I missed some small stuff, I’m sorry.

The convention covered a bunch of things, but I’ll just spit it to you as I got it:

Dan Slott featured a teaser for his arc that will be coming up in Amazing Spider-Man featuring none other than Mysterio! (But I thought he was dead?! Oh wait, this is Marvel mwhahaha). This should be showing up around issues #618 or #619.

Paul Toben and Patrick Scherberger will be putting out a 4 issue limited series called Spider-Man and the Secret Wars–yeah, from way back then–which will cover a bit of retelling of Spider-Man’s place in Secret Wars and his view of things.

More after the break

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Yeah, it’s serious business with Deadpool. This issue was the last in a small arc (3 issues) that ties into all of this Dark Reign stuff. The tie-in isn’t so much tied in like every other comic where the Dark Avengers simply show up and try to kick the hero’s ass, but instead it’s just one of the Dark Avengers: Bullseye.

If you didn’t know, Bullseye and Deadpool have a bit of history. They’ve worked together in the past, they’ve fought in the past, but now… it’s the final battle… because Norman Osborn wants Deadpool gone (If you’re not sure why, see also issues #1-4 of Deadpool). Of the three issues, this last issue tops the other two in the arc by far.

In case you missed it last month, we were left with a big ass battle that ended with Deadpool kicking Bullseye’s ass via a sickle through the back out the front. Mind you, Deadpool did rock a bad ass meat suit, but it all ended with Deadpool appearing pretty damn victorious.

More after the break… (spoilers abound)

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Bullseye gets a Hawkeye mini, and Ms. Marvel’s title has been taken over by Moonstone. Ares is conquering various books and has his own three issue Dark Avengers tie-in on the way. Hell, even Wolverine Jr is series-jacking one of his old man’s titles.

the sinister spider-crotch

In all these offshoots, the titular hero saves the mission, if not the day, and makes the other Dark Avengers who show up in that scene look like chumps.

But what about poor ol’ Mac Gargan, aka Venom? He doesn’t have any beef with the jerks he works with; all he wants to do is punch who he’s told to punch and maybe do a little good in the world. Sure, maybe get the girl. Maybe show some people that you can’t keep a good Gargan down.

Maybe eat your face.

I’ve been too busy getting bingo on my celebrity death pools to watch the recent solicits, so Sinister Spider-Man #1 was a welcome surprise. Chris Bachalo‘s cover really does drag your face in and nibble on it quit a bit. Once inside, it’s mean and fun mean and whispers creepy promises of fast, modern, pulpy goodness.

The first issue delivers the goods while still setting us up for the rest of the four-issue run. This oh-so-Sinister Spider-Man has all the set pieces of his Amazing counterpart – JJJ, Osborn, Six goons who are fairly Sinister in their own right, and lots and lots of girls.

Well, ok, skanks and whores. This is Mac Gargan, after all.
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We’re getting close to the monumental issue of #600 in the Amazing Spider-Man series and boy oh boy is this new arc, titled “American Son,” creating some great building blocks and also tieing Spider-Man into Marvel’s Dark Reign.

The thing about Dark Reign that is bugging me the most is how addictive it is. Seeing the bad guys doing bad things (primarily Norman Osborn) and getting away with it and having the good guys (ie. Ms. Marvel, the New Avengers, etc.) unable to do anything is like crack to me. I can’t get enough of the stuff. Chances are Brian Michael Bendis will cause me to overdose, but nevertheless, Spider-Man getting added to the mix perplexes me as I wait to see what the brilliant Joe Kelly writes up for this arc.

More after the break.

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I hesitated when this series first came out. I mean, I love Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman is pretty awesome too, but I wasn’t sure about it. We were coming out of Secret Invasion and I was mad at Marvel because Dark Reign sounded like another huge event–as far as I can tell, it doesn’t seem to be… yet–but after being into things a bit… I’m starting to like where things are heading. I don’t know about you guys, but I love seeing the good guys shake a little and sit and be scared every once and a while. Plus, it’s great to see everyone knowing there’s one main bad guy–Norman Osborn. But that’s all beside the point. Secret Warriors is developing a really cool story that is working behind the scenes of behind the scenes of the Marvel Universe, but what can you expect with Nick Fury heading the comic book?

Read on after the break.

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Agents Of Atlas #1 cover

So, I got this cool new idea for a way I want to review comics, specifically new comics, that I have never read: TPKC.

Theory – My idea of the comic going in and/or why I decided to read the comic
Punch – The part of the comic that “irked” me or I didn’t like.
Kick – The parts of the comic I did like
Conclusion – My overall sum up of the comic along with a rating as to if I think you should read it.

For each part of the nice little abbreviation I’ll go into an explination for the comic. And let’s begin.

Theory: I’ve seen a preview for Agents of Atlas #1 probably 30 times in the back of my Marvel comics for the last month or so and was like, “What the hell? Why is Marvel pushing this so hard down my throat?” Going in I had no idea what this comic was about and really, I was kind of sucked in by the talking Gorilla and Namora, but, nevertheless, as a Dark Reign tie-in, I figured it was worth checking out and trying for at least one issue. So I decided to check it out. I figured it was going to be something lame ala War Machine or something, but I still tried–I mean when Marvel pushes something on me, 70% of the time I assume it’s going to bad (unless it’s X-Men related).

Catch the rest after the break. (minor spoilers)

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I don’t know how many of you were really worried about Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ baby at the end of Secret Invasion but I personally was freaking out. I think that Bendis has been doing a simply wonderful job building Luke and Jessica’s relationship throughout New Avengers, Civil War, and Secret Invasion and now I can honestly say that I care about them and their child (and to think that a few years ago they were floating in relative B-list hero obscurity). Which brings me to issue 49 of New Avengers. Luke has found the Jarviskrull.

Unfortunately Luke had to go to the most deplorable man in the MU for help; a deal with the devil most certainly. He went to Norman Osborn and in exchange for the goblin’s help Luke agreed to be Norman’s man whenever he was needed. Given his sordid past I was a little disappointed with Luke after issue 48. You’re a hero Luke, act like one. But he redeems himself in stellar fashion and proves that he deserves to be an Avenger. Out of all of the heroes I’ve watched grow in the recent past, Luke Cage seems to be the one whose changes actually feel substantial, tangible, and hopefully, lasting.

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Secret Warriors #1 Cover

Apparently, this is the week of the “#1″ issues. Seriously everyone, there’s just a ton of new comics starting this week. If you can’t find something new to pick up, you aren’t trying hard enough! Being that there’s enough first issues to fill 2 of these posts, I’m going to focus completely on these in this post. So check out the list below and pick out a couple of new books to start reading this week!

Secret Warriors #1

Secret Warriors is likely going to be the star book of the week (and probably the month). From the creative brain-mass of Brian Michael Bendis (I like to call him BMB) and written by up-and-coming superstar Jonathan Hickman, Secret Warriors is set up to be the spy book of Dark Reign. Oh yes, Nick Fury and his band of not-so-merry men (and women) are digging deep into the seedy underbelly of Norman Osborn‘s administration and pulling out all the juicy little secrets for us. Don’t miss this one!

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