Secret Warriors #1 Cover

The anticipation was killing me as I entered the comic book shop today. I grabbed the pile of new comics out of my designated spot in Tardy’s hardcore customers box (my personal name for it) and immediately flipped through to make sure my copy of Secret Warriors was nestled in amongst the other great, but less anticipated, comics of the week. And there it was. All the little Caterpillars’ faces staring up at me and Nick Fury’s badass mugshot giving me the evil eye. Oh yes, this was going to be good.

Obviously, this was the first book I decided to read this week. And I flew through it. I read it so fast, I had to go back and look at the ads cause I didn’t even notice they were there (it’s a weird thing with me. I like the ads cause I like to see the teasers for upcoming comics). By the end of the issue, a strange emotion came over me. It was part confusion. It was part joy. It was a lot excitement. It was a little disappointment. But let’s just stop being generic (and stop talking about my boring story of reading the comic) and actually dive right into the review of this bad boy.

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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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Wow. Usually, solicitations are the typical new issues of a series. Sometimes they are the start of an exciting arc, but mostly, there’s not a lot to get excited about. The few new series or mini-series are what are usually most exciting. This month, the comic book publishers (mostly Marvel) decided to pull out all the stops and bring out a bunch of really interesting stuff. Seriously, this post is going to be really long, as I have a lot to feature. So sit back, grab a drink and get ready to find out what comics are going to be making headlines as the weather starts to turn warm again.

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The horrible thing about comic books (aside from the smellier denizens of  cons and shops) is filing them. If you’re going to buy a comic, it’s incredibly unlikely you will throw it away, even if you hated it. Something about ink addiction, I imagine, or just sheer pack rattitude.

all hail the conquering skrull puncher

Event titles that come out after the arc is complete, even one-shot epilogues like Secret Invasion: War of Kings, tend to bug me for that very reason. The idea of dragging out a moth-balled long box just to stuff one more comic inside causes my head to wobble from side to side, strained animal noises to emit from my throat, and my arms to flail around like a nine-year-old on his long, tortured pathway to an early bedtime.

In fact, I think that’s the point, really. We readers, many of us who even enjoyed Secret Invasion, have put it to bed. Why haven’t you, Marvel?

Oh, it’s because writing team Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are having a really awesome party in space and you are invited to come along. Let’s go!

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Cable #10 Cover

After two HUGE weeks in comics, this week brings a much needed break, which is great for my sanity (and my wallet). Still, though, there are a bunch of great comics that you should pick up this week at the shop.

Cable #10

This week brings the end of the “Waiting for the End of the World” arc in Cable. Duane Swierczynski has been rocking this series all along, but this arc has really upped the ante on the whole Messiah Complex thing. Will Bishop succeed in killing Cable and the baby? Probably not. But things should continue to get more interesting as we get closer and closer to the big Messiah War crossover with X-Force.

Dead of Night Featuring Werewolf By Night #1

While we are talking about Duane Swierczynski, he’s got another book coming out this week. The Dead of Night series continues from Marvel MAX imprint with the first issue of this limited series featuring Werewolf By Night. Just like the other 2 Dead of Night series, I know nothing about this character, but this series does a great job bringing these minor horror characters back into the spotlight.

Secret Invasion: War of Kings Cover

Secret Invasion: War of Kings

Coming directly out of the Inhumans Secret Invasion series and leading directly into the upcoming War of Kings cosmic event comes this one-shot. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (aka DnA) never fail to write great cosmic tales and this intro into War of Kings should be no different. Check it out!

Punisher #1

Frank Castle finally matters again in the Marvel universe. Punisher relaunches this week with an all new series by Rick Remender. Punisher is mad as hell about the events of Dark Reign and is looking to do some… well… punishing. Check out this first issue for great, bloody action as only the Punisher can bring.

No Hero #3

This week continues Warren Ellis‘ amazing new series, No Hero. We’ve covered how great this series is several times on this site, so you should know you should be buying it. Just thinking about it makes me wish I was at the comic shop right now…

That’s it for this week, ladies and gents. Don’t forget to make your weekly pilgrimage down to the LCS and happy reading!

Mighty Avengers #20 Cover

Even though Secret Invasion has been over for 2 weeks and all of us Marvel fans have been busily preparing for Dark Reign and sorting out our pull lists, many of us adding tons of new books, it fees like Dark Reign was really ushered in this week. One of the books that helped kick off the new Marvel status quo was Mighty Avengers. Not surprisingly, the Mighty Avengers are right in the middle of all the Dark Reign stuff.

This month’s issue of Mighty is officially called the epilogue to Secret Invasion, and while there’s a lot of the aftermath in this issue, it really feels like a new beginning. This is the last issue that Brian Michael Bendis is writing the series, but still, there’s a distinct tone of setting the pace of what is to come when Dan Slott takes over the book. Focusing mostly on Hank Pym and the death of Janet Van Dyne, this issue is at once heart-breaking and dramatic and, in my opinion, makes Dark Reign look all that much more exciting.

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Secret Invasion: Dark Reign Cover

Hello again, everyone! I’m back once again with the Weekly Previews post. Took last week off cause, well, last week was crazy. Hopefully you all got along fine without me. Didn’t feel too lost at the comic book shop, did ya? Things get a little slow this week, unfortunately. Apparently, following the end of Secret Invasion, Marvel needs a week off. And over on the DC side… well, it’s DC, they don’t come out with much of interest anyway.

So what do I have? Well, Dark Reign starts. Also, Punisher relaunches. Over at DC, new Nightwing. And then there’s my indie pick, back once again! Don’t go anywhere, there’s more to come!

Secret Invasion: Dark Reign

Sick of Secret Invasion yet? Well, too bad! Cause this week, we’ve got the Dark Reign one-shot to read. If you are excited about Dark Reign like I am, you have to pick this up. Bad idea to call this a Secret Invasion title, as we are all tired of SI, but nonetheless, you should check this out. Brian Michael Bendis is writing it and the impeccable Alex Maleev is providing the art, so it’ll be interesting and beautiful.

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Secret Invasion #8 Cover

I had two editorials floating around in my head and I had thought about doing them separate. Then, I realized that both ideas tied together quite nicely. One was on the end of Secret Invasion. The other, the beginning of Ultimatum. What is even more interesting is the fact that this is a perfect time to be talking about both of these major stories. Secret Invasion just altered the Marvel Universe in interesting and crazy ways and Ultimatum is set up to do the same in the Ultimate Universe. And, as my title suggest, both events are “game changers”.

Game changers are always interesting, no matter what subject you are talking about. In sports, the game changer makes you stand up and cheer or shake your head in disbelief. When we’re talking about episodic story telling, like in comics, we get much the same reaction. Some marked issue 8 of Secret Invasion as a sign of great things to come. Others felt that we are in for a bunch of… well… bullshit.

So why do writers plan the “game changer”? Well, look no further than Joe Quesada’s own explanation in this past week’s “Cup O’ Joe“, where he said the following:

But the truth of the matter is, we wanted it to be more unpredictable. Being unpredictable, I believe, leads to better storytelling. It’s not clichéd storytelling. Again, we get or characters in a place that readers don’t necessarily expect, get their backs against a wall, and see what happens. Look, at the end of the day, I think that’s what leads to great storytelling—put your characters in a place that readers never saw coming.

I think that anyone who read the end of Secret Invasion and information about what Dark Reign is going to be feels the sense of uncertainty. A sense of unpredictability. Personally, since this is an editorial, this made me so very excited for the next year of Marvel comics and beyond. I immediately decided that I’ll be buying New and Mighty Avengers. I had already decided that Dark Avengers is going to be sweet. So, what did Secret Invasion do for me? It got me into Avengers books. And that, my friends, is a good thing.

Ultimatum #1 Cover

On the other side of the Marvel pond, we have the Ultimate Universe, which just started the Ultimatum big event. It is hard to judge Ultimatum yet, because there’s only been 1 issue thus far, but it’s hard to get as excited as I did for Secret Invasion. And I really, really, really want Ultimatum to be awesome. I love the Ultimate Universe and it has seriously been going downhill recently (except Ultimate Spider-Man, of course. Love ya, BMB). So far, however, things are not looking good for Ultimatum.

First, the delays. I don’t know whether to blame Jeph Loeb for this or artist David Finch. According to what I’ve read, it is because the other Ultimate titles are not lining up correctly with the Ultimatum story and they are not quite ready for the end of Ultimatum. This is quite disappointing. Marvel did a great job keeping Secret Invasion on track, for the most part, and was able to immediately launch into the post-SI/Dark Reign world.

This brings me to my other problem with Ultimatum thus far: it is causing the end of 2 of the Ultimate books, Fantastic Four and X-Men. Now, of course, either one of these books (or both) could both be relaunched, as it is hard to imagine a Marvel universe without these characters, but as it stands right now, these books are gone at 60 and 100 respectively. So what does that leave? Spider-Man and the already announced Ultimate Avengers, which is less like Ultimates and more of a book that will focus on a bunch of different characters. This is not enough to keep this universe going. If this is the big game changer for the Ultimate Universe, it feels more like the game is going to be the end of the universe. And that would be a very sad day.

So, what’s my conclusion? Game changers are good. In fact, they are great. Whether you agree with the change or not, it helps keep things interesting. I was upset about Brand New Day at first. Now, I still don’t know if I agree with a lot of it, but at least Spider-Man is interesting now. In fact, it is one of the most interesting Marvel books right now. However, this game changing events need to be handled correctly and, unfortunately, this is not happening in Ultimatum.

they are smiling because they like this comic book

Reviewing Secret Invasion #8 will honestly be akin to reviewing the Declaration of Independence. Everything in the Marvel Universe really has changed, only one minor and not altogether crazy ret-con, and truly breathtaking art on damn near every page.

Secret Invasion #8 is a testament to why I’m a Marvel fan.

So good I needed to grab a smoke, even.

Uffda, let me collect my thoughts.

…. OK.

Secret Invasion is an eight issue mini-series/major-event by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu. Skrulls, those murderous little shape-changing alien bastards, have long since infiltrated all aspects of civilian, government, military, and superpowered life, starting with the Avengers disassembling. The culmination of that invasion, and this review, starts after the break.

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So, this new idea came to mind just a few days ago that we here at DestroyTheCyb.org should get together and let you guys all know what our favorite comics were for the month of November. We all have our favorites and even with the short amount of time we all managed to come up with our favorites, so without further ado, DestroyTheCyb.org’s Favorite Comics of November.

**possible spoilers after the break**

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